4-4-2006 



FIRE AT BALL BEARING FACTORY

Residents of Greenville were very likely aware of large amounts of black smoke in the southern part of town Saturday morning. Shortly after 11:00 am Saturday, Greenville firefighters were called out to a fire at the old Steel Ball Factory near the railroad tracks.

When firefighters arrived on the scene, they saw that fire was shooting out of an old tank at the building. As black smoke filled the sky, Greenville requested mutual aid from neighboring fire departments. Smithboro and Pocahontas/Old Ripley firemen responded to provide assistance. Firemen decided to cool down the area surrounding the burning tank and to let the tank burn itself out. Water sprayed on the outside of the tank eventually cooled the fire to the point where it went out.

According to Chief Bill Johnston, the fire started when workers scrapping the tanks ignited oil in the bottom of the tank with a cutting torch. The oil had been used for hardening ball bearings when the plant was in production and was thought to be only sludge in the bottom of the tank. The fire was confined to the tank by firemen who were on the scene for about 3 hours, returning to service at about 2:00 PM.

GREENVILLE MAN SENTENCED TO PRISON

43-year-old Marvin Beck of Greenville was sentenced in Bond County Court last week after pleading guilty to two felony counts. Beck was sentenced to seven years in the IDOC for a charge of escape and also sentenced to three years in IDOC for unlawful association by a child sex offender. The charge of unlawful association by a sex offender stems from last August after Beck allegedly was working for the carnival at the funhouse during the Bond County Fair. The funhouse was targeted towards people under the age of 18, and Beck, a child sex offender, was unlawfully working in that setting. The charge of escape stemmed from the day he was being escorted out of the Bond County Courthouse by a Greenville police officer after a court appearance and fled on foot. Beck was quickly apprehended. Beck pled guilty to the charges and his sentences will run concurrently.





STARK CONVICTED ON 27 FELONY COUNTS

58-year-old Danny W. Stark of Millstadt was sentenced to 24 and-a-half years in prison last week after being convicted on 27 felony counts. Stark was found guilty, after a four-week trial in September, of allegedly being a felon in possession of 14 firearms, conspiracy to sell stolen equipment across state lines, money laundering, and numerous instances of transporting farm tractors stolen in Illinois and Missouri to Kentucky. In addition to Stark's prison sentence, the court ordered $522,506 to be paid in restitution to the victims, forfeiture of $263,200, and a special assessment of $2,700.

WIDESPREAD DAMAGE IN TAYLORVILLE AREA


Strong thunderstorms damaged at least seven businesses and between 25 and 40 homes in Taylorville on Sunday. Roofs were blown off or damaged on several Taylorville buildings including a hardware store, a Pizza Hut restaurant, and a church. The roof caved into the sanctuary at the Taylorville Christian Church while people were in the building but luckily no one was injured.

HILLSBORO AND SCHRAM CITY STORM DAMAGE


Southern Montgomery County is reporting damage to buildings and sheds along with downed power lines and trees from the storm. In Hillsboro, the R.P. Lumber and Roger Jennings dealership were damaged and the roof over the gas pumps at the Casey's was destroyed. In Schram City, the village hall lost its roof.




BONE MARROW DRIVES FOR CHILD

Bone Marrow drives are going on for the son of Special Agent Dave Fort of the Illinois State Police. Fort's son Devin has Aplastic Anemia and will need a bone marrow transplant. Doctors have said that chances are better for Devin to find a match if the donor is of similar ethnic background, which is African American. To be a donor, you need to be between 18 and 60 years of age. If you can help Devin the next bone marrow drive is going on Saturday, April 8 from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. at the YMCA in Edwardsville located at 7348 Goshen Road.

LOCAL WRITER AWARDED MALICE DOMESTIC MYSTERY WRITER GRANT

Joseph Richardson of Greenville has been chosen as the 2006 winner of The William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grant for Unpublished Writers. Richardson received a $1,000 grant to pursue advanced courses in the field of mystery writing by the Board of Directors of Malice Domestic, Ltd. Malice Domestic is a national crime writer's organization that works to promote excellence in the genre of traditional mysteries-books best typified by the work of Agatha Christie. The grant is offered to writers who are unpublished in the field of mystery. On April 23 Richardson will be presented the grant in Crystal City, VA during Malice Domestic XVIII, the 2006 installment of an annual conference honoring traditional mysteries. The conference brings about 800 mystery readers and writers from the United States and Canada. Two grants are awarded nationally and each grant may be used to offset registration, travel, and other expenses related to attendance at a writer's conference or workshop. For the past 10 years, Richardson has written news stories and feature articles that have appeared in dozens of newspapers in Illinois, several regional magazines, and in national trade publications. Since 1998, Richardson has served as director of communications for Southwestern Electric Cooperative.

 

SPORTS

TUESDAY SPORTS

HS SOCCER
The Lady Comets were winless at the Litchfield/Staunton Tournament last week. Greenville lost on Friday 3-1 to Carlinville. Kristin Morgan scored on an assist by Rachel Zahniser. The Lady Comets fell 3-2 on Saturday to Roxana. Zahniser and Kelsey Spainhour scored goals. Spainhour also had an assist.

HS BASEBALL
The Comets took a doubleheader from Teutopolis on Saturday 1-0 and 5-4. Jake Spratt and Danny Leitschuh were the winning pitchers.

The Aces were 20-0 winners over Ramsey on Monday. Aaron Kendall threw a 2-hitter and struck out 6. He also had 4 RBIs. Devin Meisinger had three hits and 3 RBIs.

COLLEGE BASEBALL
The GC Panthers won a doubleheader over MacMurray on Saturday 2-1 and 5-2. Winners were Tony Glosser and Brent Kirchhofer. Tyler Burns got the save in the second game. Stefan Neece hit a homerun for GC.

OBITUARIES

NO AREA FUNERAL NOTICES TO REPORT

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