Watchdogs 2023 Review; Request For Donations –

Paris, IL. (ECWd) –

As 2023 comes to a close, we are sharing some of the things we exposed and wrote about this year and also ask that you kindly give a donation to assist in keeping the Edgar County Watchdogs operational.

Without the generous donations from our readers, we would not be able to report on these issues of public importance.

Please make your donation at (this link) or mail to:  ECWd, Box 124, Paris, Illinois 61944.

During the 2023 calendar, we have reported on the following, and more:

• Former Shelby County State’s Attorney’s resignation to take a job with the Illinois State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor’s Office
• Veterans Assistance Commission of Madison County’s unauthorized and illegal ways of conducting public business
• Harrisburg Township’s use of 96% of its general assistance funds for payroll
• Our intervention in Naperville Liquor Commissioner Dana Davenport’s DUI arrest and trial; successfully unsealed the trial records including mugshot
• The AG’s determination that the now-former DuPage County Election Commission violated the Freedom of Information Act – it took nearly 5 years for the Attorney General to issue this opinion
• AG confirmed our complaint that Kansas Township violated the Open Meetings Act by holding a special meeting on a holiday, which resulted in the township abandoning its attempt at increasing tax levy
• Madison County Veterans Assistance Commissions alleged forging of meeting minutes – meeting video reflected non-board member voting, but minutes did not reflect the same
• Passage of the new Military Veterans Assistance Act which fixed most of the problems we previously reported on with the Will County and Madison County Veterans Assistance Commissions
• We covered the Rantoul Electoral Board’s hearing on attempts to remove a referendum from the ballot to dissolve the newly adopted election by the district; the referendum was removed from the ballot as premature
• Poplar Grove Electoral Board’s attempt at holding a meeting on a holiday – and the village attorney claiming, in writing, that Martin Luther King Jr. Day was not a holiday recognized by the village
• False Statements of Economic Interest filed by Mahomet Township Road Commissioner
• Owen Costanza’s loser defamation lawsuit against political opponents and reporter – he admitted it was all true, but claimed it was too old to be written about
• Two Madison County Board Members asking for illegal $65,000 pay raise
• Former Coles County Assistant State’s Attorney’s 32-count felony indictment – we had exposed his misdeeds several years earlier
• Bonnie Kurowski’s signed apology letter to the Edgar County Watchdogs and other Plaintiffs in a Federal Lawsuit in the Middle District of Florida. Kurowski admitted what she wrote was false and that she knew it was false when she published it. She also admitted to republishing a racist flyer against a Black Woman running for political office. We settled this lawsuit for the apology letter and Kurowski’s turning over of nearly two dozen websites and Facebook groups to the Edgar County Watchdogs. This followed the Federal Court in Illinois’ entered Judgment in our favor and dismissed the retaliatory lawsuit Kurowski filed against us after we filed the one in Florida
• Former Wapella Township Road Commissioner indicted on 32 felony counts of forgery, theft, and official misconduct. We had exposed his misdeeds in 2022. He made a plea deal and pled guilty to one charge of official misconduct in exchange for the dismissal of the other charges
• Thornton Township Supervisor and Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard and her various misdeeds and violation of law, including, but not limited to, illegal use of Municipal Police license plates – federal and state criminal investigations are ongoing
• Indictment on 18 felony charges filed against Oakland Fire Protection District Trustees after our article exposing their illegal use of public funds and credit
• Numerous issues at the Sangamon Valley Water District including firings, threats, illegal contracts, and Orders of Protection
• Cook County Commissioner Monica Gordon’s unlawful holding of two incompatible offices
• Court sealed Benton IDOT workplace alleged gun violence records until trial is complete – we exposed this incident in earlier article
• Theft, Cheating on Promotion Interviews, and Timecard Abuse at the Benton IDOT division
• Former Madison County Clerk permitted IBEW and other unions to take control of and use county voting machines, ballots, and absentee envelopes
• Former Plainfield Township Supervisor pleads Guilty to wire fraud, sentenced to prison and $1.37 million in restitution
• Will-Grundy-Kendall County Regional Offices of Education and their alleged illegal contract and many other things…
• Intervened in a Bankruptcy case in the Middle District of Florida; won the unsealing of those records filed with the court
• Shelby County Board Member Teresa Boehm’s improper holding of an office that was prohibited by law.
• Our Motion to Intervene in Brady Allen’s (former Coles County Assistant State’s Attorney) criminal case resulted in the unsealing of his mugshot
• McDonough County Sheriff’s Office making false claims to Attorney General PAC regarding records requested under FOIA.
• Most recently the Will County and Grundy-Kendall County Regional Offices of Education
• and many more…