Paris, IL. (ECWd) –
Not that this is anything new, we just thought we would point out the faulty reporting on the front page of the December 3, 2015 edition of the local weekly, Prairie Press.
Zeman, who is no stranger to local news, decided to run a story on the races for the upcoming primary election. First, she refers to Mike Heltsley, who has been a county board embarrassment for all of three years, as a “long time county board member” who chose not to run for reelection. Alan Zuber, who has been in office the same number of days as Heltsley didn’t get the same title. Few would consider one term board members as as long time county board members.
She then mentions Robert Bogue and John Chittick running for County Board District 7. Further claiming Bogue is “affiliated with” the Edgar County Watchdogs, and later mentioning “Bogue and fellow Edgar County Watchdog Kirk Allen“, which is a lie, but we have come to expect that from the PP after all the manufactured problems published about the 911 system prior to the last election.
What she could have written, is that Robert Bogue is a veteran, retired from IDOT, and has been active in attending county board meetings for the past several years. Don’t get me wrong, we would love to have Bogue as an Edgar County Watchdog, but the fact is, he is not.
When reporting on her obvious favorite, there is a fleeting mention of Chittick as a farmer, but most reporting was that his father was a long time “Edgar County Republican Party Chairman”. Like it should matter who his father is…but it appears some people in Edgar County still cling to the coattails of their relatives. She could have reported on the losers who circulated Chittick’s petitions, but we will do that when the time comes.
So, now that we know how things are lining up, we wish Zeman would have either asked Bogue or us if he was an Edgar County Watchdog prior to placing the lie in print.
16 Comments
Chris M. Gaines
Posted at 16:31h, 07 DecemberConsider this all the citizen watchdogs amongst us…. Secure Drop is an open-source whistleblower submission system managed by Freedom of the Press Foundation that some media organizations use to securely accept documents from anonymous sources. The project was originally coded by the late Aaron Swartz (RIP). Does the Edgar County Watchdogs utilize Secure Drop ? If not, they should consider it obviously. Thank you. Have a nice day.
Adonai Bennett
Posted at 22:01h, 06 DecemberMaybe someone should find out who is paying the electric bill on that Christmas Tree is the Edgar County Courthouse yard
I bet it is the poor taxpayers of Edgar County
Someone needs to ask
ROBERT O. BOGUE
Posted at 10:35h, 06 DecemberIf I may……….
Yes, I’m a Republican candidate in the primary election (to be held on March 15th, 2016) for the District 7 county board seat. I’m also a candidate for Paris 10 precinct committee (person) man. Every vote counts and every vote is important so, please vote (for me).
Yes, I’m a veteran, retired from IDOT, married for nearly 38 years to the most wonderful person whom is a native Edgar County resident: and we’re the proud parents of 4 equally wonderful young men that were raised here in Edgar County.
Yes, I’ve attended nearly every county board, county board study session and airport committee meeting for the past three years….maybe longer.
And yes, I practice the right of free speech, one that was guaranteed to all citizens of this great democracy by the sacrifices of our service men and women.
And yes, I visit with Kirk and John, the Edgar County Watchdogs if you will: two veterans and two of the most knowledgeable people in Edgar County when it comes to the law and government (along with just about anyone else that will visit).
I’m not afraid to put my name on my comments, to take ownership of what I’ve said, or to stand against lawlessness, crime and corruption. Proof of our counties illicit activities can be found by searching Edgar County on this web site.
I believe, it’s the message and not the messenger that needs our attention. If the message clearly points to illegal activities…with documented proof: such as the health insurance that our board members have illegally received: then it’s the message not the messenger.
If the airport manager, airport advisory board committee and county board claim there are 35 airplanes at the airport and there are not…then it’s the message not the messenger. That claim along with others caused the Office of the Executive Inspector General to halt the past airport grant.
If the Illinois State Attorney General determines there was an illegal meeting conducted by 5 members of our county board, then, we as a community need to pay attention to the message. At last count, four board members refuse to return the monies to the county they received for that meeting….where is the justice to the American taxpayer…we’re paying for this!
Why should it matter to anyone who is reporting the fire? Lets focus on the message!
In closing, if elected, I’ll push to get our county board meetings moved to the evenings so the gainfully employed, hard working tax payer can attend and participate in his/her county government. How could anyone attend, less they are retired, or giving up vacation to attend? Having these meetings in the mid morning only serves one purpose. That purpose to limit public involvement. There’s more, but later.
Every vote counts and every vote is important so, please vote (for me). Thank you for listening.
Chris M. Gaines
Posted at 16:25h, 07 DecemberI agree with this statement. I consider “Government Watchdogs” to be a fundamental duty and part of being a informed citizen that is actually participating in our democracy, not just being spoon fed information (propaganda) from mainstream media outlets on TV,online mainstream media outlets and mainstream media print outlets, but you should be instead taking the time required to verify the evidence yourself. FOIA REQUEST public records, regular public open meetings attendance, and talk to the actual sources of information, if possible in person. Can you verify the information you get from mainstream media, can you verify the Truth? Yes! It requires time and substantial effort from each and every citizen in our democracy for it to properly be maintained, obviously. Otherwise expect to be lied to, abused, and manipulated into anything they want, NOT what you need. It’s our own fault. Quit blaming other people, start with yourself first. Be the change you want to happen. Be willing to take mitigated risks for other people to achieve this. Be willing to demonstrate that. Be willing to take action. Thank you. Have a nice day.
Quote: ” This is a classic example of why government watchdogs are needed in Illinois. These public entities think they can get away with making up stories, avoiding responsibility, stalling, and deliberately screwing the public over because they think no one is watching or paying attention. Public officials like those in Orland Park believe they are accountable to no one…until some watchdog catches them engaged in terrible behavior and exposes them for it and they are embarrassed. Only when they are embarrassed do these people ever do the right thing.”
homer
Posted at 06:38h, 06 Decemberthinking about other peoples posts on this sight many of those aren’t proven yet you post them a lot of he said she said yes i cant prove with paper but talking to former state employees who watched his actions and asked for it to be stopped is enough for me could you at least show what address he is using for district 7
jmkraft
Posted at 07:43h, 06 Decemberto find out his address, go to the county clerk and ask to see his petition packets. i do not have them.
Warren J. Le Fever
Posted at 21:53h, 05 DecemberNancy Zeman is doing the same thing to Bogue that was done to me when I ran for office. Theoretically, according to less than honest folk, it is presumed that claiming a candidate has or is been in contact with the Edgar County Watchdogs will make voters shun them like the plague. WRONG. My association with the Edgar County Watchdogs turned out to be an asset rather than a liability and I was re-elected despite extensive negative press declarations and not being allowed to publish my side in the local newspaper which included not being allowed to buy political ads. I campaigned every day and worked as hard as I could and as best as I knew how. I was and am proud to know the Watchdogs and let my voters know it. If Mr. Bogue is not elected, it will not be simply because of his association with the Watchdogs.
homer
Posted at 20:58h, 05 Decemberso you traveled to lerna as friends also you didnt post my other statement
jmkraft
Posted at 21:23h, 05 Decembertraveled to Danville and Clark County also…
I didn’t post your other statement because you can’t prove it, if you can, email it to us and I will post your other statement
homer
Posted at 19:22h, 05 Decembercoming from the verb “affiliate,” the adjective affiliated shares its history, starting with the Latin stem affiliare, meaning “to adopt.” As such, we “adopt” the ideals …
jmkraft
Posted at 20:54h, 05 DecemberWhich is why her second mention (“fellow” ECWD) proves how she defined “affiliated” in her first mention…
John Windmiller
Posted at 16:40h, 05 DecemberI am not so sure I would want to be affiliated with Bill Chittick. He managed to squander a fairly large inheritance in the futures market many years ago.
Watchdogwatcher
Posted at 14:19h, 05 DecemberBogue not affiliated with Edgar County Watchdogs…..Not that is some funny stuff right there. Your fiction is getting better each day.
jmkraft
Posted at 15:02h, 05 DecemberAssuming you can read, the definition of “affiliated” is: “officially attached or connected to an organization”
Later in her false writing, she stated “Bogue and fellow Edgar County Watchdog…”
If all it takes to belong is to attend board meeting with someone, then we should be called county board members LOL
Chris M. Gaines
Posted at 15:43h, 05 DecemberGoood one John. lol.
Chris M. Gaines
Posted at 15:57h, 05 DecemberConsider ” watching the watchmen ” not the ” Watchdogs ” roaming freely amongst us all just trying to inform people as we all should do, so they can make informed decisions based on the evidence they can easily verify because of their actions. You should thank the Watchdogs amongst us all, a Watchdog could be anyone, anywhere at anytime just quietly observing, watching, listening, recording it even for evidence and then reporting that information as evidence of it publicly. The ” watchmen ” ( our public servants ) need watching by us all, We the People are suppose to be “Watchdogs” of our government agencies and public institutions. It’s our duty as good citizens in this democracy we all struggle through and participate in the best we know how, obviously. Seriously. Consider that today. Thank you. Have a nice day.