BLOOMINGTON, IL. (ECWd) - Local Watchdog Diane Benjamin, blnnews.com, says she caught the Bloomington High School using public funds and students to advocate for guns control bills. First the school denied having the printed flyers, admitted to copying them but gave a ridiculously low price that...
DOWNS, IL. (ECWd) - Less than one month after drafting a sexual harassment policy, according to recently released emails and other documents, the Downs Fire Protection District apparently held a Christmas Party on December 2, 2017, and sometime during said party, things turned sexual. The new...
MADISON CO., IL. (ECWd) - A member of a public body cannot sue that public body, and then turn around and settle the lawsuit without creating a prohibited interest in a contract (settlements are contracts). Michael Parkinson is a Granite City Police Officer and a member of...
CARLINVILLE, IL. (ECWd) - The April 2, 2018, Carlinville City Council meeting was, for the most part, uneventful, considering what transpired at their previous meeting. The city council behaved itself during comments from the public, the attorney stayed quiet for the most part, and the only short...
SPRINGFIELD, IL. (ECWd) - The State Journal-Register reported (here) that Frank Vala was resigning as Woodside Township Trustee, "rather than go through a legal battle that could cost taxpayers money." Sounds good on the surface, doesn't it? First, any legal battle would not have cost the taxpayer anything,...
HUME, IL. (ECWd) - On Decenber 14, 2017, at approximately 10:40 a.m., I observed the Shiloh School District's van being used for apparent personal business, and I notified the Superintendent of what I saw, and was told it would be looked at. I observed this van at...
NEWTON, IL. (ECWd) - Once again, Jasper County School District is making up its own rules which we believe violate the letter and intent of the law. We wrote about it in a previous article (here) and now the Attorney General's Public Access Counselor is reviewing this...
SPRINGFIELD, IL. (ECWd) - Frank Vala was Gov. Rauner's appointee to Chair the Illinois Procurement Policy Board in 2017, he was appointed Commissioner to the Springfield Airport Authority in 2002 by the Sangamon County Board, and was Elected as Woodside Township Trustee in 2017. Vala had previously...
[caption id="attachment_44060" align="alignleft" width="393"] ECWd photo Clarksburg Schoolhouse - July 2017[/caption] CLARKSBURG, (Shelby County) IL. (ECWd) - History up in flames. After months of sometimes heated debate about the future of Illinois' last known two-room wooden schoolhouse, the building is gone. Some residents wanted to restore the building,...
DECATUR, IL. (ECWd) - Several months ago I requested dash-cam video of an accident in which the Decatur Police Department was involved in a high-speed chase after a homicide on October 31, 2017. They denied my request for the footage citing at least 4 seperate exemptions in...
