A drawing for area youth to hunt deer will take place next month. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources will conduct a drawing on September 12th for three youth to hunt deer during the Illinois Youth Firearm Deer Season, October 10th through the 12th. The special youth hunt takes place at the Coffeen Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area Upland Management Area. To be eligible for the drawing, youth age 16 and under must put their name, mailing address and contact number on a 3x5 postcard and send it or bring it to the Coffeen Lake SFWA site by September 11th. The mailing address is P.O. Box 517 Coffeen, Illinois, 62017. Successful applicants will have until September 30th to apply for and report their Montgomery County youth firearm deer permit number to the Coffeen Lake site office. For more information, contact the Ramsey Lake State Park Office at 618-423-2215.
Thomack 8/25/15

With fall classes beginning this week, drivers should be aware of the changes in their daily commute. Litchfield Chief of Police Lee Jarman says children should also be aware of traffic when going to and from school.

"They should be instructed to cross the road only at marked intersections where there's a crosswalk. One of the most dangerous situations that we're faced with is when a child will run from between cars. The drivers don't have time to recognize that there's a child there because they're hidden by the cars and then before you know it, they're out in the roadway and most times the driver doesn't have adequate time to react to that hazard. Children are unpredictable, as we know, so I would remind everybody that as you're encountering children in the school zones or anywhere, actually, during the start of the school year, pay attention to your surroundings, watch for the children on the side of the road or on the sidewalks or playing in the area... You never know when they're going to dart out in the road so be prepared to stop, know your surroundings, know where there's children present."

Chief Jarman says the most important thing parents can do when taking children to school is to have patience.

"The first couple weeks it's always new for everybody - children are going to new schools, they're going to new classes, everybody is trying to get it figured out. We just need to be patient and slow down. If your children get to school a few minutes later than they'd like to be or even a few minutes later than school starts, I'd rather see that than a child get hit because somebody is in a hurry to try and get there on time."

Chief Jarman's other back to school reminders include:

- it is illegal to pass a bus when the red lights are on and the arm with flashing red lights extends from the driver's side of the bus
- in the state of Illinois it's illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving

Chief Jarman says they will be monitering cell phone use in the school areas especially and writing citations if anyone is found driving and talking on the phone.

The speed limit in school zones in 20 MPH from 7am to 4pm when children are present. Classes in Hillsboro and Litchfield begin this week.
Thomack 8/17/15

The Brubaker Playground in Litchfield will open in a few weeks. Construction on the playground being built in honor of Clyde and Helen Brubaker began in May. Litchfield Park District President John Leonard says the cars made for the playground will be put in next week.

"The cars will be from Model Ts all the way up to the last car will be an electric car and they're going to go on a rubber road that has a yellow line for the imagination for the kids to give them something great to have. It's going to be quite the playground when it's done. They'll be no other like it around. These cars are especially handmade... these are by design of the Brubaker family."

The grand opening ceremony for the playground begins at 11am on Saturday, September 5th at Davis Park next to Memorial Pool. A free swim at the pool takes place from 10am to noon that day. Pictures of the work and progress on the playground can be found on the Brubaker Playground Facebook Page. Other upcoming park events include a free summer concert featuring Scrap, Iron & Gold at 6:30 tonight (August 14th) at Walton Park. Also the Fall Festival at Walton Park takes place on September 26th.Thomack 8/14/15

August 14th-16thFriday

Litchfield Summer Concert featuring Scrap, Iron & Gold
- 6:30pm at Walton Park

Carlinville Moose Catfish and Talapia Diner
- 6:30pm at the Carlinville Moose Lodge

Movie Night at the Park (The Lego Movie)
- 8:15pm at the Robert E. Glazebrook Community Park in Godfrey

Saturday

Sausage and Pancake Breakfast
- 7 to 11am at the American Legion Post 436 in Litchfield

Farmers' and Artisans' Market
- 8am to noon at the corner of Landmarks and Henry in Alton

The Guardian for Outdoorsmen's Rights 15th Annual Membership Drive & Cookout
- 8:30am at St. Peter Sportsman's Club

Springfield Clinic's Passport to a Healthy Life
- 9am to noon on the Hillsboro Area Hospital Campus

Coal County Sports Complex Cookout
- 10am at Randy's Market in Gillespie

Billy Jo Jack Jimbob McGee Hot Rod Round Up Car Show and Cruise
- 11am to 4pm at the New Douglas American Legion

Alton Hauntings Walking Tour
- 1pm at the First Unitarian Church in Alton

Carlinville Church of the Nazarene Back to School Bash
- 2 to 4pm at the churchSunday

Christian Church of Witt's 60th Anniversary Celebration
- 10am at the church

Friends of Gillespie Library Paint and Wine Party
- 2 to 5pm at the Gillespie Civic Center

A Royal Lakes man has been charged in connection with a shooting Monday night in Royal Lakes.

According to Macoupin County Sheriff Shawn Kahl, 58 year old Rex Tandy has been charged with aggravated battery with a firearm. Bond has been set at $100,000.

The charge stems from a shooting incident Monday night in the 900 block of Mulberry Street in Royal Lakes. Reportedly, Rex Tandy shot his brother, 56 year old Isaiah Tandy, several times during a family dispute. Isaiah Tandy was airlifted to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis for treatment of his injuries. At last report, he remained in the hospital.

The shooting incident remains under investigation.

Last night, the Litchfield School Board of Education approved hiring a new high school principal. Douglas Hoster of Seneca, comes to Litchfield following nine years as principal of Newark High School. According to School Superintendent Jeff Strieker, prior to being its principal, Hoster served as the high school Science teacher and Athletic Director for five years at DePue. During Hoster's previous twelve years of education, he taught science and coached athletics at Woodland, Mendota, Mt. Assisi Academy and Marquette H.S. of Ottawa. Dr. DeAnn Heck resigned as principal at Litchfield two weeks ago after accepting a position as superintendent at Central A&M.Thomack 8/13/15

The Litchfield Picker's Market experience now extends to the internet. The Picker's Market is a monthly event featuring vintage, antique and collectible items. A Facebook page now exists for pickers to share their finds. Litchfield Tourism Coordinator Sarah Waggoner says the goal of the page is to engage with people who come to the market.

"There are so many neat items that come into this market. We also know that our visitors are doing some amazingly creative things with their finds and we want them to post pictures of the room that they re-did, we want to see what art projects they're working on or where they've placed something in their garden. So we're hoping to be really interactive. Post your pictures, post what you find (or) your before and after shots. It should be more interactive - that was our goal for creating this page. We do our best to respond to all the messages people post or the questions you have. We wanted it to be vendors as well as visitors so you can connect with each other as well."

The Picker's Market this month takes place from 9am to 3pm on Sunday in downtown Litchfield.
Thomack 8/8/15

Weekend Events (August 7th-9th)

Friday:

Hillsboro Summer Concert Series featuring Bones Jugs N Harmony
7-10pm at Sherwood Forest

Saturday:

Gold Wing Road Riders Association Illinois Chapter E Charity Yard Sale
8am to 2pm at Niehaus Cycle Sale in Litchfield

Soleshine Shoe Roundup Drop Off Event
Collecting new and gently worn tennis shoes and sneakers for children and teenagers
9am to 3pm in the Dollar General Store parking lot in Hillsboro

Fillmore Sportsman Club Fundraiser
5pm at Fillmore Lake

Sunday:

Litchfield Picker's Market
9am to 3pm on the corner of Union Avenue and State Street in Litchfield

Southern Illinois' Homecoming Gospel Choir Concert
6pm at the Bethel Baptist Church near Vandalia

The last of the Hillsboro Summer Concert Series this weekend features a high energy band from Champaign-Urbana. Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lesley Pollard says it's been a successful season for the concert series.

"Every year it just keeps growing and growing. In the past, weather hasn't been on our side and you kind of take a chance when you hold the concerts in the summer time here in Illinois, but so far it's been really good. We've had some really good crowds... everywhere from a couple hundred to three or four hundred."

Pollard says the last concert this Friday features the band Bones Jugs N Harmony.

"A lot of people say, 'Well what kind of music do they play?' Exactly that. They play bones, they play jugs, they play xylophone and all kinds of really cool instruments. It's very family friendly and very high energy, so we're really looking forward to this show. We always try to save the best for last. All of our bands are really good but we always try to end the year with a big bang, so this will be the one to come see if you haven't been out there yet."

The free concert begins at 7pm on Friday at the Sherwood Forest Campgrounds, 920 City Lake Road. Find videos of Bones Jugs N Harmony performances here: Bones Jugs on Youtube
Thomack 8/4/15

Demolition began on Litchfield's Pizza Man Monday morning. A fire in May caused significant damage to the building. Pizza Man's Scott Chandler says in the past couple months, he and his family have been busy with new ideas and planning.

"We got to go up to Chicago (to) look at a pizza oven that we may be purchasing. It holds the temp better (and) the recovery time on it is a lot shorter than what we had. We had some old equipment in there. We went to a couple of equipment places and checked out some new items and talked (about) floor plans, etc. My brother and I came up with a flow, kind of, how we want the new Pizza Man and Ice Cream Man to look... we're just (continuing) to work on planning, tweaking the floor plan, the exterior, the look that we want, color schemes and themes - Hopefully get the feel that the customers were used to but a little more of a modern building."

He says the fireplace was salvaged and they plan to incorporate that into the new floor plan, along with other new ideas and improvements.

"We're all excited as a family - kind of lit a new fire under us. (We're) just excited about the newness of a new place, a new building. We're excited about seeing customers again. So it's really been a blessing overall. I know it was tough to see it go, but we're really excited about the future of Pizza Man."

Chandler says Ice Cream Man and The Panther Room will be included in the new floor plan. He says they hope to start building sometime in November and be ready to open by February or March of next year.
Thomack 8/3/15

The Hillsboro Police made an arrest on Sunday of a man suspected to have robbed Casey's on School Street last week. According to Hillsboro Police Chief Gary Satterlee, they received information the suspect was at a residence in Hillsboro. The police got permission from the owner to search the house and found the suspect in a crawl space in the basement. Thirty-three-year-old Paul Henderson is accused of entering the gas station last Sunday, passing a note to the cashier demanding money and threatening harm if the cashier did not comply. The cashier handed over $72.72. Chief Satterlee says Henderson's last known address is in Litchfield. Henderson is being held in Montgomery County Jail and Chief Satterlee says the incident is still under investigation.
Thomack 8/3/15