State Briefs: 11/22 and 11/23
Couple to get hitched during Chicago parade
BELVIDERE - Raychal Pritchett and Adam Buckhahn of Belvidere plan to exchange a unique set of wedding vows on Thursday.
Pritchett, 30, will wear long underwear beneath her dress as she and Buckhahn, 31, say their "I do's" inside a giant snow globe during the Chicago Thanksgiving Parade.
The long underwear will be necessary, Pritchett said, because the forecast calls for a chance of flurries with temperatures in the low 30s.
The couple entered a Chicago radio contest earlier this month and won their "fairy tale wedding" just last week.
It's been a quick turnaround since then. Raychal was fitted for her dress Friday, got the dress Monday and they're rehearsing for the first time today.
The wedding amenities are provided by McDonald's, the parade sponsor. Included in their prize package is a two-night stay at Chicago's Hotel Sax, a wedding reception for 10 people, the wedding gown, tuxedo, rings, and of course, a $100 McDonald's Arch Card.
The wedding should be broadcast about 9:40 a.m. Thursday on WGN (Insight 18).
Finally, RMTD to begin CherryVale service
ROCKFORD _ The Rockford Mass Transit District announced a new stop today, and people have waited decades for it.
Starting immediately, there will be regular ongoing bus service to CherryVale Mall from 7:45 a.m. to 10:35 p.m. The service will be part of the transit's East State Street service during daytime hours and the Perryville Alpine route during the night.
The stop at the region's largest mall has been the most-requested destination, with transit officials getting up to five requests daily for mall service. To help pay for the service, the transit district recently received a federal grant providing $114,000.
At a morning news conference at the downtown transfer center today, officials called the announcement "historic."
"I have been on and off of the (transit district) board for 20 years," RMTD Chairman Gary Marzorati. "It was the number one request when I came onto the board."
Transit officials said that bus service was provided to the mall when it first opened in 1973, but funding quickly dried up. Talks to reopen a route intensified in the past year, but those appeared to fizzle in July when Cherry Valley and transit officials could not agree on the funding for the service.
Large soccer complex May be developed in Normal
NORMAL - Normal may take a land offer from Mitsubishi Motors North
America to build a championship level soccer facility on the west side.
Town Council members agreed at a workshop this week to look into funding
a plan to get a 20-soccer field complex off the ground.
City Manager Mark Peterson said Mitsubishi has offered to lease 100
acres just east of the Normal manufacturing plant on College Avenue for
a modest lease amount. He said costs associated with the lease have not
yet been determined. The land is farmed by a tenant farmer.
Peterson said there may still be a year or two of fundraising before
plans to build the field are under way, but the complex could be
completed by 2011.
"We recognized that this would be tremendous opportunity for us to
support the community. At the stage at which we see it, this looks like
something we could work with," Mitsubishi communications manager Dan
Irvin said.
Peterson said council members have discussed contributing $1 million to
$1.5 million toward what could be a $3.5 million to $4 million project.
David Magers, former chairman of the Bloomington-Normal Sports
Commission, said he began looking into bringing a relatively large,
championship level, high caliber soccer complex to the area about five
years ago after receiving a number of inquiries. He said he and Peterson
approached Mitsubishi about the possibility of using its land about a
year ago.
The plan is to build 20 soccer fields, 10 of which would be lighted.
Former Astoria school board official faces February trial
PEORIA - The former president of the Astoria School Board will go to
trial in February for allegedly trying to solicit a prostitute in
Peoria.
Russell Prather, who resigned from the board on Nov. 7, appeared in
Peoria County Circuit Court and received a Feb. 27 trial date. An
earlier hearing will be on Feb. 14 to discuss any pending legal matters.
Prather was charged with solicitation of a sexual act for allegedly
trying to entice a police officer, who was acting as a decoy prostitute,
to have sex with him.
Solicitation of a sexual act is a class B misdemeanor and carries a
maximum penalty of six months in jail.
According to police, Prather, 52, of 2103 N. County Highway 2, was in
the 600 block of Northeast Madison Avenue when he tried to pick up the
officer.
Bird whisperer unavailable to Springfield City Council
SPRINGFIELD -- The wife of "bird whisperer" James Soules of Decatur is seriously
ill, so it is unknown when Springfield aldermen will get to talk to him, Mayor Tim
Davlin said Tuesday.
Ward 8 Ald. Kris Theilen has asked that Soules, who has a $164,000 no-bid contract
with the city, come before the city council to answer questions about his "secret,"
non-lethal method of ridding the downtown area of nuisance birds.
Soules and his employees have been accused of killing birds, though he denies it.
Cashier accused of double-swiping scheme
SPRINGFIELD - A discount warehouse cashier is accused of swindling shoppers out of
nearly $1,400 by double-swiping their credit and debit cards.
Roshuna N. Johnson, 19, of Springfield was taken to the Sangamon County Jail.
Springfield police on Tuesday said they don't get many reports of such activity, but
they urge shoppers to avoid becoming a victim by maintaining control of their cards
and never turning them over to someone else to swipe.
A manager at Sam's Club told police Johnson had been swiping credit and debit cards
for customers. When she swiped the cards, however, she would swipe them a second
time to obtain cash back.
Police said Johnson then would put the cash in her pocket. Sheallegedly
double-swiped cards 17 times and obtained nearly $1,400.
"We don't see a lot of this, but obviously it does occur," said Springfield police
Lt. Dave Dodson.
"The best way to prevent it is, one, if you can, use it as a debit card to where
you're typing in your number or, two, control your card - basically, you do the
swiping.
"If they ask you to swipe it again, ask them why. And if you're not satisfied with
that, ask for a manager to tell you why they're having you swipe it a second time."