Daily Archives: November 2, 2008

City Council, City of Peoria, Crime

Mayor and council members at loggerheads with State’s Attorney (UPDATED 2x)

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Mayor Ardis, along with several council members, is demanding answers from the State’s Attorney’s office. I wasn’t able to attend the press conference today due to other commitments, but I received this summary from the City’s Communications Manager:

The Mayor and Council Members discussed the issue surrounding the shooting of Demetric Mobley. They discussed their concerns regarding his release from jail in addition to 4 other individuals. The individuals had guns and a large amount of drugs in their home yet they were released from jail. The individuals harassed and threatened neighbors. Mayor is asking for answers to why there is a lack of communication between the City and the states attorneys office.

The Peoria Times-Observer’s DeWayne Bartels was there and also has State’s Attorney Kevin Lyons’ reaction:

Lyons, today, said the city council press conference could interfere with the prosecution of the case. Lyons went on to say this smells of last minute politics.

“Politics has an ugly side to it. Sometimes it shows itself on Sunday,” Lyons said.

In response to demands for more communication, Lyons “said Manning had been given an explanation on Friday afternoon.” Apparently, that explanation wasn’t good enough.

Also pointed out in the article is the fact that those in attendance — Ardis, Councilmen Manning, Turner, Spain, Montelongo, and Nichting, all support Lyons’ challenger Darin LaHood for State’s Attorney in the upcoming election. Ardis denies that politics has anything to do with the press conference that was held today.

Other than claiming to be the victim of “politics,” it doesn’t appear that Lyons gave the press any answers to the questions raised at today’s press conference. Whether it’s politics or not, those questions deserve answers. Neighbors aren’t being threatened by council members supporting Lyons’ opponent — they’re being threatened by thugs let back out on the street by the State’s Attorney’s office. What’s the explanation for that?

UPDATE: DeWayne says that Lyons did in fact give an answer to Ardis’s questions, but he hasn’t had a chance to finish writing his story yet. However, the Journal Star has one answer Lyons gave:

Ardis said his office has received hundreds of calls since 22-year-old Justin Rodgers was released from jail on Wednesday. Rodgers was arrested at an East Bluff home and booked on charges of felony possession of weapons, possession of a controlled substance and possession and delivery of marijuana. […]

In response to Ardis’ questions, Lyons said Rodgers was released from jail because he planned to use Rodgers’ arrest this week against him at his Dec. 4 hearing to revoke his probation for previous Tazewell County drug charges. Lyons said his decision is Rodgers’ “quickest and most direct way to the prison door.”

The quickest way to the prison door is to let the guy out of jail for over a month without posting bond? Really? Perhaps this makes sense to a prosecutor, but to people like the neighbors of this guy who was arrested, it makes absolutely no sense at all. Maybe he explained more and the full story just hasn’t been written yet.

UPDATE 2: Okay, here’s some more explanation from Mr. Lyons, as reported in today’s paper:

About two pounds of marijuana, 45 grams of cocaine, eight rocks of crack cocaine, body armor and five guns were seized from 1123 E. Elmhurst Ave. Rodgers had previously posted $30,000 bond in Tazewell County, and Lyons said he feared he would do the same in this case.

“If we had charged Rodgers with an offense, he would have posted bond again,” Lyons said. “We’d have to charge this case first and that would trump the petition to revoke his probation on Dec. 4.”

I have a dumb question: couldn’t the fact that he violated his probation in Tazewell County have been used as justification for having him held without bond in Peoria County?

Also, what kind of a stupid statement is this: “Ardis and Manning went to Spalding High School with LaHood, Lyons said, so it’s no surprise the two were promoting his agenda.” Uh-huh. Because it couldn’t have anything to do with Lyons releasing felons into the neighborhood without posting bond, or blowing off and insulting the mayor’s crime task force, or anything like that. It must be because they all went to high school together.

Peoria Public Schools

Thomas Jefferson school damaged by fire

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As one of my alert readers mentioned in a comment to another post, Thomas Jefferson School was damaged by fire today. Fortunately, there’s a fire station literally across the street — Fire Station 11. Nevertheless, about $250,000 worth of damage was done according to the Journal Star. Classes will be canceled tomorrow and relocated to Loucks after that. Here’s more info from a District 150 press release:

Sunday Fire Causes School Cancellation for Students At Thomas Jefferson Primary

Students at Thomas Jefferson Primary School will not have school Monday, November 3 due to a Sunday morning fire at the school building. As to not disrupt the learning process and to help our many working families who are inconvenienced by school cancellations, District crews will be working non-stop to prepare the vacant Loucks-Edison building for the Thomas Jefferson students to return to classes on Tuesday, November 4. Classes will continue there until further notice.

Some of our special education students will be relocated to Jamieson and the Developmental Center. Contact with these families will be made on Monday to provide more details.

Starting Tuesday morning, a shuttle bus will be available for students who normally walk to Thomas Jefferson. These students need to be at the front of Thomas Jefferson School until 8:30 a.m. Students will be dropped off at the same location at the end of school, approximately 3:30 p.m. There will be supervision at the bus stop in the morning and afternoon. Parents who normally drop off and pick up are asked to take their student(s) to the Loucks building if possible. All regular bus riders will follow their normal schedules.

Thomas Jefferson staff will need to report to the Loucks-Edison library at 8:30 a.m. on Monday. Staff need to dress casual. Following an informational meeting, they will be setting up classrooms and preparing for the students’ return on Tuesday.

The District notified parents of Monday’s cancellation via the emergency phone system. On Monday, the District Administration will establish a hotline for parent questions and will make frequent updates to the District website, www.psd150.org.

There are currently 470 students enrolled at Thomas Jefferson, including 55 who are part of the special education programs.