State Briefs 3/20/08

Peoria Heights man jailed for allegedly scalding son

PEKIN - A Peoria Heights man is in jail after allegedly scalding his 2-year-old son over the weekend in a bathtub of hot water at an East Peoria home.

Marcos A. Menchaca, 23, of 815 E. Cox Ave. faces two counts of domestic battery in Tazewell County Circuit Court after putting the boy in the tub, causing second-degree burns on his ankles, feet and buttocks, court records stated.

Menchaca was watching his son Sunday while the boy's mother was at work. Menchaca called the woman and told her a 3-year-old girl turned the water on while the children were playing in the bathroom, reports said.

Menchaca later told police the boy turned the water on.

The boy was treated at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, where doctors said the burns appeared to be non-accidental. Doctors also found bruising and scratches on his back, shoulders and under his arms.

Menchaca, who has previously been convicted of domestic battery, is being held at the Tazewell County Jail on $250,000 bond.

Journal Star, Peoria

Par-A-Dice Casino license renewed for 4 more years

EAST PEORIA - The Illinois Gaming Board unanimously agreed Wednesday to renew the Par-A-Dice Casino's license for four more years.

Gaming Board spokesman Gene O'Shea said the board's 5-0 vote took place during a meeting in Chicago.

Several board members suggested the casino should increase its level of charitable giving, O'Shea said. They also asked for additional information about diversity in the Par-A-Dice's workforce and recommended the casino should more frequently utilize minority-owned and women-owned contracting firms.

The Gaming Board has a history of asking casino license-holders to focus more on those issues, O'Shea said.

"Diversity and charitable giving, the board has always been interested in," he said.

A spokesman for Boyd Gaming, which owns the Par-A-Dice, said the company is 'appreciative of where the board's coming from.'

"We think we've made steady progress in these areas over the past four years," spokesman David Strow said, adding the company isn't yet where it wants to be.

"We're absolutely committed to improving our performance in these areas," he said.

The Par-A-Dice opened in November 1991, operating on a temporary state license until getting its first permanent license in February 1992. The license has come up for renewal every four years.

Journal Star, Peoria

Board approves drug testing policy

SPRING VALLEY - Hall High School's drug testing policy was approved Wednesday night by the School Board with a vote of 6-0, with one member absent.

"The next step now is to educate parents and students in regards to how the policy will be implemented and administered," said Superintendent Mike Struna. "We'll send out a newsletter this spring and meet with parents and students next fall at parent/athlete meetings to accomplish that."

During the past four months, Struna has solicited public opinion to draft the drug policy. It's been revised to enforce the same punishment for students who test positive for nicotine and for those found guilty of using illegal drugs.

The School Board also expanded the policy to include all extracurricular groups, which brings about 80 percent of the student body into the testing pool. Students participating in activities will be periodically subject to random testing for substances throughout the year.

"Next month we'll hire an agency to conduct the testing," said Struna.

"I think this is a positive step forward to give students another good excuse to say no to drugs."

In the past five years, Hall High school has suspended seven students for drug and alcohol use and expelled five.

Struna plans to implement the policy by August 2008.

Journal Star, Peoria

Underage drinking party held at judge's home

CARLOCK - The son of a McLean County associate judge was arrested late Saturday night at his home and faces a charge of illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor.

McLean County sheriff's deputies were dispatched around 11:50 p.m. Saturday to a home in Carlock about complaints of an underage drinking party and reckless driving in the area.

Robert Freitag, 17, was among the six minors arrested, according to an abbreviated report of the incident made available to the media by the Sheriff's Department. McLean County Associate Judge Robert Freitag was listed as a parent on the report.

The Sheriff's Department would not release the full report of the incident Wednesday. The McLean County Circuit Clerk's Office had no record of formal charges being filed against the younger Freitag.

Also arrested were Emily Dunt, Heidi Hall, Jeremy Hafley and Robert Barling, all age 18. David Baer, 17, also was arrested. Addresses were not provided. Each faces an identical charge of illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor.

The charges are misdemeanors.

Journal Star, Peoria

While Southern Illinois gets rain, north prepares for snow

ROCKFORD -- The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for the Rock River Valley from early Friday to early Saturday morning with up to 8 inches of snow possible over much of the area.

The warning replaces an earlier winter storm watch that indicated heavy snow was possible.

The snow is expected to start after 1 a.m. Friday and continue through the day Friday before diminishing Friday night.

Some areas could see a mix of precipitation, which could lessen the amount of snow. In Winnebago, Boone, Ogle, DeKalb and McHenry counties, precipitation is expected to be all snow.

South of the Illinois and Kankakee rivers, the precipitation is expected to change to all rain.

Rockford Register Star

Worker killed when crane flips over

BARTONVILLE -- A crane operator at Keystone Steel & Wire Co. in Bartonville died early Thursday morning when the crane he was operating flipped over.

Peoria County Coroner Johnna Ingersoll said that Edward R. Schimmelpfennig, 62, of 209 S. Montana St., Morton, was unloading a tractor trailer filled with steel when the crane suddenly flipped over, crushing the cab in which Schimmelpfennig had been sitting.

Workers called 911 at 8 a.m. and paramedics were dispatched. Schimmelpfennig was pronounced dead at the scene at about 9 a.m.

An autopsy is scheduled for today. An inquest into the cause and manner of Schimmelpfennig's death will be scheduled at a later date.

Independent Steelworkers Alliance officials said the union had been asked by the company to funnel all calls about the accident through the company.

Union officials said they could not comment.

Vic Stirnaman, Keystone director of human services, said Schimmelpfennig began his long career with Keystone in 1964 and served about 44 years as a mechanical technician, doing all sorts of millwright work.

Stirnaman said a mobile crane became unbalanced and tipped, pinning Schimmelpfennig between the crane and the tractor trailer.

The Occupational Safety Health Administration and Keystone are conducting separate investigations to determine what caused the accident, said Stirnaman.

Schimmelpfennig was well like by all who knew him, said Stirnaman.

"He was great," said Stirnaman. "He was tremendously liked, well known and well-respected.

"This is sad -- it's tragic. These were tragic, tragic circumstances. Our sympathy goes out to the family and all who knew him. It's a great loss."

Pekin Times