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SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike will resign on March 14 after three years leading the agency and two years navigating a deadly pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 32,000 Illinoisans. Ezike, who was appointed IDPH director in 2019, became a widely recognized public figure in the…
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QUINCY — After weeks of speculation and scuttlebutt, Quincy Mayor Mike Troup pulled the trigger at Monday night’s Quincy City Council meeting and nominated former Adams County Board Chairman Mike McLaughlin as the city’s newest police and fire commissioner. The City Council then approved the nomination by a 7-5-1 vote, with Troup casting the eighth…
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QUINCY — The Taproom and Cafe, 104 N. Sixth, was closed Monday, will be closed again Tuesday, and its future is uncertain. The building is owned by Michele Wilkerson, who also owns the property at 601 Maine that was home to the former Grown ’n Gathered specialty food store. She announced in May that her…
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Although the mask sightings have been fewer and fewer in our area as the weeks have passed, as of 12:01 a.m. Monday, masks are no longer “mandated” to be worn indoors in many locations in Illinois. Some areas will still see a restriction including long-term care facilities, day cares and health care facilities. Federal regulations…
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The Executive Director of the Quincy Park District gets us ready for spring by talking about what the organization is gearing up for in the coming year. Muddy River News This Week is furnished by Harvey’s.
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QUINCY — Gordon Dobey knows of what he speaks. Dobey began his recovery journey on December 6, 2016. It’s a journey that will last the rest of his life. Now, he is trying to help others who have also struggled with addiction by giving them a new space to heal. This week, the Quincy Plan…
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QUINCY — Illinois Democratic Party Chair and Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-Illinois) made a stop in Quincy Friday evening to meet with local Democrats to encourage participation in local government at all levels. Kelly met with party leaders, then met with local media, before addressing Democrats as a whole in a function at The Taproom in…
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I write this today with a very heavy heart. After a 35-year run, the annual St. Patrick’s parade in Quincy has come to an end. Since the first parade in 1987, I have put my heart and soul into this event. It grew from just Dennis Oliver and me walking down the street to more…
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The next Quincy School District 172 superintendent talks about his vision and his path to becoming the man in charge. He also frankly addresses his sexuality and how, while it is who he is, he was not hired to be a “gay superintendent”. Muddy River News This Week is furnished by Harvey’s.
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QUINCY — Dr. Todd Pettit will be the next superintendent of schools for the Quincy School District. Pettit, a 1989 graduate of Quincy High School, becomes the district’s first alum to serve in that capacity when he officially takes the position on July 1. The Quincy School Board made the announcement and approved his contract…
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QUINCY — The Quincy City Council approved an agreement Tuesday night that will help kickstart activity at the site where Kmart was once one of the city’s top big box retailers. So which retailer will call the northeast corner of 36th and Broadway home? We’ll have to wait a couple of months to find out.…
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QUINCY — The trial of the former owner of the Barn nightclub, who faces one count of aggravated battery in connection to a March 2020 incident involving a former Quincy University student, has been delayed once again, this time until July. Steven Homan, who pled not guilty to the charge on May 12, 2021, appeared…
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Dear MRN: I recently saw one of the city’s garbage totes in my neighborhood with several bags of garbage that did not fit into the tote. Will the city still pick up all of those bags? Kevin McClean, director of Central Services, says he would tell employees in his department not to pick up the…
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QUINCY — Days after receiving a $1,252,041 grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to help expand local broadband access, Adams Telephone Cooperative in Golden informed customers it was declining a DCEO grant of more than $4.9 million. Each grant was to help broadband access to unserved homes and businesses in Adams…
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J. Robert Gough talks to the man who is leading the charge to re-open Quincy’s local dirt track as Quincy Raceways becomes Adams County Speedway. Muddy River News is furnished by Harvey’s.
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QUINCY — At approximately 9:30 a.m. Saturday, deputies with the Adams County Sheriff’s Department made an additional arrest in reference to an ongoing homicide investigation that occurred in the Gross Gables subdivision on Thursday. Devere S. Gholston, 27, was arrested for an outstanding Adams County arrest warrant for first degree murder (3 counts), residential burglary…
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QUINCY — The qualifications for a candidate to be Quincy’s next chief of police now are much less stringent. The job was posted earlier this month on the Illinois Police Chief Association website. However, the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners — Barry Cheyne, Steve Meckes and Kerry Anders — voted Friday during a special…
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QUINCY — A 15-year-old boy is being held in the Adams County Juvenile Detention Center, but the Adams County State’s Attorney’s office wants him tried as an adult. First Assistant State’s Attorney Todd Eyler appeared in court on behalf of the prosecution Friday afternoon as the teenage defendant made his first appearance in Juvenile Court.…
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An Illinois appellate court dismissed Governor J.B. Pritzker’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling against his mask mandate in schools, calling the request “moot” after a legislative committee suspended the requirement’s renewal. On Thursday, the Illinois Fourth District Appellate Court rejected the appeal, noting that the state’s department of public health on Feb. 14 had…
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MOUNT STERLING — Facing the man found guilty of murdering her daughter was nerve-wracking for Carolyn Woodward. “I’m not good at being the center of attention,” she said. Woodward read her victim impact statement before Thursday morning’s sentencing of John Michael Dean, who was found guilty Dec. 16 by a Brown County jury of shooting…
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UPDATED: Adams County Sheriff's Department arrests juvenile in connection with death north of Quincy
QUINCY — The Adams County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a 15-year-old male juvenile in connection with the death of an elderly man. Just after 7 a.m. Thursday, a deputy with the Adams County Sheriff’s Department observed what was described as “suspicious circumstances” at a residence in the Gross Gables subdivision on the north side of…
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QUINCY — The John Wood Community College Board heard a report on progress being made on the Workforce Development Center expansion during its Wednesday night meeting. The Workforce Development Center (WDC) expansion project is assisted with a federal grant that was awarded to JWCC in June 2021. It’s a $6.1 million project with 50 percent…
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Hannibal City Hall will close at noon today. Quincy Public and Parochial Schools Quincy University classes remote, all extracurricular activities are postponed. Hannibal Public Schools and Holy Family School Hannibal Head Start Dallas City Elementary Illini West Carthage Elementary Camp Point Central Hamilton Dallas City Elementary Brown County Schools Pleasant Hill Mendon Unity Griggsville Perry…
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QUINCY — The cases for Bradley Yohn and Karen Blackledge remain on the March 7 jury docket, though DNA and fingerprint evidence yet to arrive from the state crime lab could potentially delay their jury trials. Blackledge and Yohn both made appearances in Adams County Circuit Court on Tuesday morning. When Judge Amy Lannerd asked…
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QUINCY — The Adams County Board approved moving more than $920,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds at its meeting Tuesday night. The approved funding, provided by the federal government for COVID relief, was vetted by Bellwether, a consulting firm based out of Normal hired by the county to ensure all of the guidelines and…
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