Benton, West Frankfort, Illinois News | Franklin County News
Newspaper covering Franklin County, Illinois
The Illinois Innocence Project at the University of Illinois Springfield has announced that Grover Thompson, who was wrongfully convicted in 1981 and died in prison in 1996, has received executive clemency based on actual innocence by former Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Here’s a link to the story at the Southern Illinoisan.
by Rick Warren
“Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own” (Luke 12:15 NLT).
In the parable, Jesus doesn’t praise the manager’s dishonesty, but he does praise his shrewdness. What is shrewdness? To be shrewd means you’re smart, strategic, and resourceful. You see a problem clearly, you know what needs to be done, and then you figure out how to do it. God wants you to learn how to be biblically shrewd with your money for the rest of your life.
From the story, we can learn four things that we shouldn’t do with our money.
Luke 16:1 says, “A report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money” (NLT). Because everything you have belongs to God and is a gift from him—including your money—you have to be careful not to waste what belongs to your master.
You’ve got to decide if God is going to be number one in your life or if making a lot of money will be your number one goal in life. You cannot make both your top priority.
“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money” (Luke 16:13 NLT).
I don’t care how much money you’ve got—you can always lose it. The manager learned this pretty quickly in Luke 16:3: “Now what? My boss has fired me” (NLT).
If you want to be secure, the center of your life has to be built around something that can never be taken from you. And there’s only one thing that you can never lose: God’s love for you.
If you think having more will make you happier, more secure, or more valuable, you are seriously misguided, because money will never satisfy: “Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!” (Ecclesiastes 5:10 NLT).
That’s why Jesus says in Luke 12:15, “Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own” (NLT).
NORMAL, Ill. – The Southern Illinois men’s basketball team rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit to take the lead, but Illinois State’s Phil Fayne hit one of two free throws with 5.7 seconds remaining to give the Redbirds a 59-58 win over SIU on Tuesday night at Redbird Arena.
The Salukis (9-9, 2-3 MVC) committed 13 first-half turnovers, and Illinois State hit eight of its last 10 shots in the first half to take a 35-27 lead into the break. The Redbirds (10-8, 3-2 MVC) took that momentum into the second half and built a 45-29 lead with 16:27 to go.
Illinois State held a 49-34 lead with 12:55 to go when suddenly the momentum of the game completely flipped. Marcus Bartley hit a 3-pointer to ignite an 18-0 SIU run that gave the Salukis a 52-49 lead. Bartley hit another trey—his third 3-pointer in a 21-2 run—to give SIU a 55-51 lead with 4:25 to play, but SIU would not make a field goal for the remainder of the game.
“We started defending,” SIU head coach Barry Hinson said. “All of the sudden, we had one segment where we had four stops in a row. On the offensive end, we were sharing the basketball. And quite frankly, we did not turn the ball over in the second half.”
SIU had only five turnovers in the second half and limited Illinois State to 25 percent from the field after intermission. Illinois State responded to SIU’s 21-2 run with a 7-0 run of its own to take a 58-55 lead with 1:42 remaining. Aaron Cook hit a free throw; SIU got a stop; and Eric McGill hit two clutch free throws to tie the game with 33 seconds to play. Illinois State held for the last shot and slipped a pass to Fayne, who hit the second of two free throws to give the Redbirds a 59-58 lead with 5.7 seconds remaining.
After three timeouts, SIU got the ball in cleanly on the inbounds and passed ahead to Eric McGill going towards the basket, but McGill got caught in the air trying to pass and misfired on a pass as the clock expired.
“We will get better defensively,” Hinson said. “One of the things that will help us from tonight, when we go back and look at the film, is that when you play that hard, you put yourself in a position to win ball games.”
SIU held ISU scoreless for more than six minutes during the momentum-flipping 18-0 run in the middle of the second half. Armon Fletcher led the Salukis with 17 points and nine rebounds. Eric McGill had 10 points.
Southern Illinois has lost three-straight in the MVC after starting league play 2-0. The Salukis are off until Sunday, when Bradley comes to SIU Arena.
“We go home now for two home games,” Hinson said. “We’re exactly where we were last year; we just have to find a way to turn it.”
ZEIGLER — Franklin County Sheriff Dave Bartoni said Jared Kirkendoll almost did everything right. After he found a woman near death on his property, he pulled the mother of five out of the cold, put blankets on her and tried doing chest compressions on her as they waited for an ambulance.
Here’s a link to the story at the Southern Illinoisan.
FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ill. — Former Illinois State Senator and the former mayor of Sesser, Ned Mitchell, is jailed in Franklin County tonight.
Here’s a link to the story at WSIL-TV.
FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ill. — Just hours before a Nicholas Price was arrested and charged with grooming and distributing harmful material to minors, he was substitute teaching at Ewing Grade School.
Here’s a link to the story at WSIL-TV.
Paul Austin 85, of Benton passed away Friday morning, Jan. 11, 2019 at his son’s home in Arizona.
He was born on Feb. 14, 1933 in Zalma, MO, the son of Earl & Edith Austin. He married Doris June (Neal) on April 11, 1953, and she preceded him in death on March 28, 2017. Mr. Austin was a Veteran serving in the U.S. Navy.
He was a member of the Immanuel Baptist Church in Benton, where he served for many years as a Deacon. He was a faithful servant of the Lord. Mr. Austin enjoyed gardening, and was an avid fisherman. After his retirement he spent a lot of time on Rend Lake, skillfully reeling in his catch that provided many fish dinners for his church family.
Mr. Austin is survived by his daughter Carol Austin-Dornhecker, and husband Bobby Dornhecker of Portage, MI; son Danny Austin, and wife Christine, of Benson, AZ; three grandchildren Jordan Austin, and wife Dominique, Staci Santefort, and husband Matthew and Stephen Lowe; great-granddaughter Grace Santefort; sister Susie Downs, of Beaumont, TX.
Mr. Austin was preceded in death by his Parents, by his wife-Doris June Austin, by a Granddaughter-Naomi Ruth Austin, and by his siblings-Harry Austin, Addie Market & Virgil Austin.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Monday Jan. 21 at the Morton & Johnston Funeral Home in Benton with Dr. Sammy Simmons officiating. Burial with military rites conducted by the Benton American Legion & VFW Posts will be in the Masonic & Oddfellows Cemetery in Benton. Visitation will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20 at the Morton & Johnston Funeral Home in Benton.
For more information or to sign the online guest register please visit www.mortonjohnstonfuneralhome.com
Charles “Charlie” M. Johnson, 76, of Royalton formerly of Coello passed away on January 13, 2019.
He was born on January 7, 1943 in Louisiana, MO to Mathias and Alice Marie Johnson. He was raised by his aunt and uncle, Edna and Leonard Cook.
He is survived by his children Marshall (Beth) Johnson of Christopher and Melissa (Doug) Reese of Royalton; 7 grandchildren; 9 great grandchildren. He was a meat cutter and was an auctioneer. He was preceded in death by his parents and his aunt and uncle. His wishes were to be cremated with no services. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Gilbert Funeral Home to help with funeral expenses.
For more information go to our website www.gilbertfuneralhomes.com
On his way out, the Republican governor made another push for reducing property taxes and other reforms.
Here’s a link to the story at Illinois News Network.
State officials announced Friday that Illinois residents who rely on federal food assistance will continue to get those benefits through February despite the partial government shutdown.
Here’s a link to the story at Illinois News Network.
