Tobias Wall
SJ-R Breaking News
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Past articles by Tobias:
Knox Presbyterian pastor retiring after 18 1/2 years
About 40 Knox Presbyterian Church members gathered for a farewell potluck following Sunday’s service to honor Pastor Kathy Swaar, who is retiring from the ministry after 18 ½ years at the church.We have seen (Swaar) as a compassionate leader with a dedication and tenderness to those who are ill, longtime member Jackie Stites remarked to the small congregation. We wish her a joyful journey for… → Read More
Traffic-ticket quota ban won’t affect local operations
Local police forces won’t have to worry about making any changes to the way they evaluate officers and deputies when a new state law banning the use of traffic-ticket quotas takes effect Thursday.Senate Bill 3401, sponsored by Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, sailed through the Senate by a 57-1 margin on April 10. The House followed suit on May 21, passing the bill 106-9 with one voting… → Read More
Copper theft spree targets area cell-phone towers
Detectives from the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office and the Springfield Police Department are investigating a spate of copper thefts from cell-phone towers.According to sheriff’s office reports, thieves have gone to at least seven sites over the past six weeks and stolen large chunks of heavy-duty copper wire from the electrical boxes that serve the towers.Among the towers hit were the AT&T… → Read More
Three Springfield businesses robbed in two days; one arrest made
Police responded to two armed robberies of Springfield businesses Tuesday night, but that doesn’t mean there’s truth to the perception that robberies, burglaries and thefts happen more frequently during the holidays, a Springfield Police Department lieutenant said.According to police reports, a man armed with a large knife robbed Mugshotz Pub, 1008 E. Ash St., at 6:25 p.m. Tuesday, making off… → Read More
Suspicious Jackson Street fire extinguished
Intense flames pouring from a home at the corner of McCreery Avenue and Jackson Street pushed firefighters out of the house on their initial attack Tuesday night.Fire crews arrived to the vacant white 1 ½ story home around 6:25 p.m. and attempted to enter it to attack the flames from inside but were turned back, fire chief Ken Fustin said. Flames that leapt out of the east windows of the home… → Read More
Springfield attorney Jack Davis named new 7th Circuit judge
A Springfield attorney is the newest associate judge in the 7th Judicial Circuit, Chief Judge Kenneth Deihl announced Tuesday.Jack D. Davis Jr., 39, of → Read More
Firefighters feed families, furnish gifts at Stevenson Inn
As Stevenson Inn residents filed through the motel’s tiny lobby receiving piles of hot food from volunteers, Springfield Fire Department Capt. Chad Bates said he was excited that he and his firefighters could team up with other community members to do something nice for the hard-luck folks who live there.In the midst of the Springfield Fire Fighters Local 37 12 Days of Christmas charity… → Read More
Dana-Thomas House luminaria event draws hundreds
Even though 12-year-old Adam Pressley has been to the Dana-Thomas House once before, he was amazed at what he saw during the historic site’s luminaria event Sunday evening.I think it’s amazing, the size of the house and how everything’s so ornate, Pressley said. It was a lot of fun, I really liked it.Pressley’s mom, Lori, was just as impressed.It’s gorgeous, she said. So many intricate… → Read More
Part of West Jefferson Street closed after gas main strike
Traffic in both directions on West Jefferson Street between Amos Avenue and Bruns Lane was diverted Sunday afternoon and evening as crews worked to repair → Read More
Police investigating shots fired near Brandon Court
Police are trying to figure out what prompted separate but likely related shootings near the Brandon Court apartment complex Sunday afternoon.Officers → Read More
Chatham residents: Village is all wet
CHATHAM Almost all of the 200 or so residents who packed the Chatham Community Center on Wednesday night have pretty much the same questions when comes to water quality in the village:Why are my water bills spiking, why is there black slime in my toilet bowl, and who voted to build the South Sangamon Water Commission treatment plant that some in the village see as a $55 million… → Read More
Extradition hearing upcoming for Jacksonville man accused in fatal shooting
Avery T. Berry, the 19-year-old Jacksonville man who police say shot and killed Marcus A. Jackson, 24, of Jacksonville on Oct. 24, could face a judge in → Read More
Man wanted in Jacksonville murder arrested
JACKSONVILLE The man sought in the October shooting death of a 24-year-old Jacksonville man is in police custody after nearly eight weeks on the run, Jacksonville authorities said.Avery T. Berry, 19, was arrested Monday by U.S. marshals and was being held in or near St. Louis, Jacksonville police Lt. Adam Mefford said.Berry is accused of shooting Marcus A. Jackson outside a home in the 300… → Read More
Singers gather in Washington Park to share holiday cheer
The balmy fog Sunday evening made Washington Park look more like a haunted Halloween graveyard than a festive Christmas wonderland, but carolers sang Christmas favorites anyway during the 33rd annual Caroling at the Carillon.An estimated 200 singers gathered around a bonfire to sing as Robin Austin, carillonneur of the Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon, played all the hits from his perch eight… → Read More
Springfield police continue search for gunman who fired at car
Police Thursday continued to search for the gunman who a day earlier fired at a car containing two women and a 3-year-old preschooler, narrowly missing → Read More
Shooter hits car; women, child unhurt
Police are searching for the man who fired a gun at a car with two women and a 3-year-old boy inside at the intersection of Eighth Street and Enos Avenue → Read More
Kincadi woman maced in armed robbery
The Christian County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in finding whoever allegedly entered a home in the 300 block of North Avenue in Kincaid, pepper spraying its owner and stealing two safes Monday morning.According to a release from Sheriff Bruce Kettelkamp, the woman who lives in the house called police shortly after 11:30 a.m. after a man she described as in his 20s,… → Read More
Fire extinguished in vacant home
Springfield Fire Department investigators are working to determine what caused a small fire in a vacant home in the 1500 block of North Ninth Street Monday afternoon.Firefighters were called to the two-story home around 3:45 p.m., where they located a small fire on the first floor of the home. Battalion Chief Eric Helms said the fire was contained to just one room and only took a few minutes to… → Read More
Quinn issues pardons to 126
Outgoing Gov. Pat Quinn added to one of his lesser known legacies the day before Thanksgiving: issuing executive pardons to scores of Illinoisans convicted of crimes, many of whom were part of a backlog created by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.Of the 311 cases Quinn considered in the latest batch of petitions, clemency was granted to 126 of them. The rest were denied. Since Quinn became governor… → Read More
One person taken to hospital after crash
One person was transported to Memorial Medical Center following a two-vehicle crash that occurred at Fifth Street and Lawrence Avenue around 12:20 p.m. → Read More