Madison County resident Helen Hawkins will be inducted into the Senior Illinoisans Hall of Fame on Feb. 7.  She served as Nameoki township clerk among other accomplishments. (Photo courtesy of Nameoki Township)

Grand jury looking into Madison County FOI Office

Employees of the Madison County Freedom of Information (FOI) office appeared before a grand jury in closed session, Jan. 25.

The grand jury testimony came in response to a subpoena issued a week after a newly formed Madison County Public Corruption Task Force raided several offices at the county courthouse on Jan. 10, seizing computers and files.

Neither Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Gibbons, who established the task force, nor any other county official has stated publicly whether the grand jury investigation and the raid are related.  

Among the offices targeted during the raid was that of county public relations manager Cynthia Ellis, who until August had served as the county’s FOI officer.

County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler reportedly moved Ellis to her current job after e-mails from the state’s attorney’s office were released to a former employee who is currently suing the county.

The e-mails were reportedly requested by Andrew Kane, who claims in a federal lawsuit that he was harassed, retaliated against, and ultimately terminated without proper cause by an administrator in the office.

The Freedom of Information page of the Madison County website (www.co.madison.il.us/government/government_transparency/freedom_of_information.php) is now essentially blank, with only the words: “Freedom Of Information Moved.”  Visitors to the page are not provided contact information or referred to any other webpage.

However, FOI forms and instructions are still available on the county treasurer’s page (www.madcotreasurer.org/foia/).

Alorton city manager indicted

Alorton City Manager Lamar Gentry is scheduled to appear in federal court Jan. 31, in response to a charge of making false statements to federal agents.

An indictment issued Jan. 17 by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois alleges Gentry gave false statements to agents of the Southern Illinois Public Corruption Task Force, who were investigating a report of gunshots fired from a car registered to Gentry in his capacity as city manager.

According to the indictment, officers from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department stopped the white Chevrolet Impala in North St. Louis, Sept. 19, following reports of shots fired from a vehicle matching that description.  The occupants fled, according to the indictment. A license check revealed the car was registered to the Alorton city manager.

Gentry is scheduled to appear before Magistrate Judge Donald G. Wilkerson in United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois in East St. Louis.

Bond for Gentry has been set at $10,000.

He has previously been convicted for income tax evasion.

In addition to city manager, Gentry serves as Alorton’s tax increment financing officer.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman Smith is prosecuting the case.

Cahokia veteran’s story is box office hit

“12 Strong” – the cinematic tale of Cahokia veteran Steve Kofron and his comrades in U.S. Army Operational Detachment-Alpha 595 – finished strong at the box office during its first weekend in theatres.

The film depicts the now-declassified efforts of a Green Beret 5th Special Forces team to help bring down the Taliban in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center.

It grossed $16.5 million during the weekend of its Jan. 19 release; second only to the blockbuster, “Jumanji,” according to the entertainment industry website, BoxOfficeMojo.com.

“Thor” star Chris Hemsworth has the film’s leading role. A character based on Kofron — identified in the film as “Sean Coffers” — is played by actor Geoff Stults.

Kofron, a 1984 Cahokia High School graduate, joined the military in December 1985 and retired in October 2006.

Healthcare groups plan drug company

SSM Health — which operates numerous specialized health clinics across Metro East — is joining the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and three other private health care providers to open their own generic drug company.

The move is designed to save patients money by reducing prescription and other-the-counter drug costs, SSM spokesperson say.

The new entity would be an FDA-approved pharmaceutical manufacturer, which would either manufacture its own generic drugs or sub-contract with existing manufacturers.

Spokespersons say the new pharmaceutical company will be a not-for-profit entity and may be used to provide “loss leader” items to help attract patients.

Creve Coeur, Mo.-based SSM Health operates specialized clinics in Alton, Roxana, Edwardsville, Granite City, Maryville. Collinsville, Belleville Fairview Heights and Columbia, as part of an extensive nationwide chain of hospitals and other health care facilities.

The other partners in the project are Utah-based Intermountain Healthcare, Missouri Ascension Health and Michigan-based Trinity Health.

State Senior Hall of Fame induction set

Longtime Madison County resident Helen Hawkins, will be inducted into the Senior Illinoisans Hall of Fame during a 9.a.m. ceremony, Feb. 7, at the Madison County Administrative Building, 157 N. Main St., Edwardsville.

The Senior Illinoisans Hall of Fame was initiated by the state General Assembly in 1994 to commemorate the achievements and contributions of citizens age 65 or older under the Illinois Act on Aging.

Currently a Madison County Board member, Hawkins has also served as a township clerk and member of the Metro-East Sanitary and Levee District.

Long an environmental advocate for the American Bottoms area, Hawkins initially fought development in the floodplain; then, seeing it was inevitable, spearheaded the renovation and widening of the area’s network of ditches to provide adequate drainage.  She also encouraged the use of moats around homes and businesses to help control ground water.

Hawkins has two adopted children, five grandchildren, and one great-grandchild; with an additional great-grandchild soon expected.

State Sen. Bill Haine (D-Alton) nominated Hawkins for the honor.

Alton to host its own Groundhog Day event

Will Metro East have to endure six more weeks of winter weather this year?  

Murray the Groundhog will offer a local forecast, Feb. 2, at the Alton Visitor Center, courtesy of the Alton Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau.

According to a German-American legend, when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on the second day of February and sees a shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat into its den and winter will persist for six more weeks. If it does not, due to cloudiness, the spring season will arrive early.

The myth is most famously exemplified by Pennsylvania’s Punxsutawney Phil.

Murray is set to emerge from his burrow at 9 a.m., this Friday at the visitor’s center, 200 Piasa St., in Alton.  The public is invited to attend.

–Metro East Area News Briefs–