Benton, West Frankfort, Illinois News | Franklin County News
Newspaper covering Franklin County, Illinois
A new report on Illinois underfunded pension systems says the state needs to put more money into the benefits programs before they become unsustainable and consume an even larger share of the state’s tax revenue.
Here’s a link to the story at Illinois News Network.
As a weeklong summit of U.S. Catholic bishops begins in the Chicago suburbs, groups of clergy sex abuse survivors are demanding more independent action, and for the removal of Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich.
Here’s a link to the story at Illinois News Network.
Emmy Award-winning writer Bob Einstein, who was best known as cocky stuntman Super Dave Osborne and Larry David’s newly devout friend, Marty Funkhouser, on HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” has died. He was 76.
Here’s a link to the story at the Chicago Tribune.
On December 30, 2018 at approximately 3:20 a.m. Benton Police conducted a traffic stop near Central Street.
Upon investigating, police arrested Colton B. Richardson, age 20, of Benton for driving under the influence.
Richardson was charged and transported to the Franklin County Jail for further processing.
On January 1, 2019 at approximately 12:45 a.m. Benton Police conducted a traffic stop at the intersection of Iowa and Petroff Road.
Upon investigating, police arrested Dakota S. Overturf, age 24, of Whittington for driving under the influence.
Police also arrested Sarah R. Walters, age 25, of Marion for unlawful use of weapons.
Both Overturf and Walters were charged and transported to the Franklin County Jail for further processing.
On January 1st, 2019 at approximately 2:30 a.m., Benton Police arrested Joseph E. Shepard, age 31, of Benton on an active Franklin County warrant for failure to appear.
Shepard was transported to the Franklin County Jail for further processing.
By Rick Warren
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30 RSV).
For many years I never understood that Scripture, because I didn’t know what a yoke was. When Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you,” it sounded to me like he was going to give me something else to deal with. My burden is heavy enough already, Lord! I don’t need to take your problems on me!
Then I learned that a yoke is actually a board with two arches in it that you put over two cattle so they can pull a cart.
The value of a yoke is that it halves the load. Without a yoke, one cow’s got to pull that entire load by itself. But if you yoke up the cow with another cow, then the two animals pull the load together, and the load is half as heavy.
When Jesus says to take his yoke upon you, he’s not saying he’s going to give you his problems. Jesus doesn’t have any problems! He’s saying he’s going to share your problems. He’s going to share your load. He’s going to take your stress on himself and bear it with you.
Wow!
He uses three notable verbs in this Scripture: come, learn, and take. Jesus says, “Come to me. Team up with me. Then, learn how I do it. Take on a lighter load. This is going to reduce your stress. This is going to make it easier for you to navigate.”
When you’re yoked with Christ, you move together with him. You move in the same direction and at the same speed. And you move in the right direction and at the right speed.
CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Southern Illinois men’s basketball team started Missouri Valley Conference play with a 75-70 win over Missouri State on Wednesday night at SIU Arena. The Salukis never led by more than 10, but also never relinquished the lead and won the MVC opener for the third time in the last four seasons.
Kavion Pippen built SIU’s lead quickly, scoring 14 of his game-high 23 points in the first half. He went 9-for-12 from the field and 5-for-7 from the free throw line in the win. Pippen’s performance proved especially important after fellow All-MVC center Thik Bol was held out with an ankle injury suffered against Winthrop before Christmas. SIU head coach Barry Hinson said Bol would have an MRI on Thursday.
“Last year, we lost the game when we got news about Thik before the game,” Hinson said. “Tonight, our guys got the news literally before we took the floor, and those guys responded. We talked in the locker room about how we have to band together. We have to pick everyone up. And then, of all things, Sean Lloyd got in foul trouble. I thought that was one heck of a gutty performance.”
Hinson was also quick to praise senior guard Marcus Bartley. When Lloyd got into foul trouble in the first half, and without Bol, Bartley stepped into the power forward position for the first time in his career, and Southern’s offense didn’t miss a beat, shooting 54 percent in the first half. The Salukis played unselfishly throughout the night, piling up 20 assists on 24 field goals.
Aaron Cook (15 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds), Eric McGill (14 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists) and Sean Lloyd Jr. (11 points) joined Pippen in double-figures. McGill hit four first-half 3-pointers and also recorded his third double-double of the season, leading all MVC guards. Lloyd scored all his points after halftime to earn his way into double-figures for the ninth-straight game.
SIU (8-6, 1-0 MVC) won its ninth-straight game over Missouri State (6-8, 0-1 MVC), extending the longest winning streak for either team in the series. Despite the one-sided results, the series has been intensely competitive–after tonight’s game, seven-straight games between SIU and MSU have been decided by 10 points or fewer.
Missouri State was led by Ryan Kreklow, who went 5-for-6 from the 3-point line. The Bears cut SIU’s lead to one possession eight separate times in the second half; but each time, the Salukis responded to stay in front. On opening night for conference play in the MVC, the league previewed what could be an unpredictable conference race. In addition to SIU’s five-point win, Evansville upset Drake in double-overtime, and Valparaiso overcame a 10-point deficit in the final two minutes to upset Illinois State on a half-court heave at the buzzer.
“It’s not going to be easy,” Hinson said. “It’s going to be an unbelievable year for fans to watch Valley Basketball, and it’s going to be a Kaopectate and Pepto Bismol year for every head coach in this league.”
SIU hits the road to face Northern Iowa on Saturday, January 5, at 7 p.m. The Panthers also won their MVC opener, an impressive 18-point road win at Bradley tonight.
A freshman Democratic state representative is filing discrimination claims against House Speaker Michael Madigan after she says he sent women lawmakers to coerce her to vote for him as speaker.
Here’s a link to the story at Illinois News Network.
Here’s a link to the story at Illinois News Network.
If congressional Democrats won’t provide the $5 billion President Trump has asked for to fund a wall or other physical barrier along the U.S. border with Mexico and end the partial government shutdown, then Republicans should offer an alternative proposal: $25 billion – five times as much – for border security.
Here’s a link to the story at Fox News.
The exodus from two of the nation’s biggest Blue States continues, according to new numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau. Many Red States, meanwhile, continue to gain population, the figures show.
Here’s a link to the story at Fox News.
