Douglas County

The NG had this fluff article about the FutureGen selection on Tuesday.

Brian Moody says it feels like Christmas Eve in Tuscola.

He just isn't sure if there will be anything under the tree if the announcement is made Tuesday on which town gets the $1.5 billion FutureGen plant.

"I haven't been sleeping very much at all this week," said Moody, the executive director of Tuscola Economic Development Inc. "This is the culmination of a lot of work by a lot of people."

Meanwhile, the Mattoon community is filled with nervous energy as it awaits the decision from the 14-member FutureGen Alliance board.

"We're on the edge of the seats," City Administrator Allan Gilmore said. "After all, we've been working on this since February of 2006."

Keep your fingers crossed for either Illinois site.

There's been lots of speculation that a FutureGen announcement may be coming soon:

Developers of a $1.5 billion experimental low-pollution power plant said today they are ready to announce whether it will be built in Illinois or Texas, despite an unexpected letter from their federal partner advising them to slow down.

The Futuregen Alliance, coal and power companies planning to construct the plant in partnership with the Department of Energy, says it will announce the plant’s future home at a news conference Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

Four towns — Mattoon and Tuscola in east-central Illinois, Jewett in east Texas and Penwell in west Texas — are in the running.

But a DOE official told FutureGen Alliance chief executive Michael Mudd in a letter Monday that the developers are moving too fast.

The department will not have issued what is known as a record of decision — a final step indicating all four sites are suitable — by Tuesday, wrote James Slutz, acting
principal deputy assistant secretary for fossil energy.

Arrangements for the announcement “(were) done without any consultation with the department,” Slutz said.

“We consider it inadvisable for the alliance to schedule any site selection announcement or media advisory at this time without prior consultation with the department,” Slutz added.

Just a hunch:  I think a delay hurts Illinois' chances.

(Hat tip: CapFax)

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2007/11/20/residents_dismayed_by_actions_of_players This story is on today's NG online, these guys must have thought they were playing in the NFL, where you can get away with any thing!

I hope they are proud of bringing this kind of attention to Tuscola.

In a previous thread, there was a lot of back-and-forth about the possibility of capital punishment for the two men accused of murdering Douglas County Deputy Tommy Martin.

Here's today's NG article - the prosecutor is seeking the death penalty.

"The factors fit and it's the murder of a police officer. Everyone has to understand if you kill a police officer, you're facing the death penalty. It's almost mandatory," said Douglas County State's Attorney Kevin Nolan.

Nolan's decision means a new set of judicial players will be needed to try and defend Yusef K. Brown, 23, and William B. Thompson, 26. Financial help from Illinois' Capital Litigation Trial Fund should be available to Douglas County for both the prosecution and defense of the men.

Even before Nolan filed his intent to seek the death penalty, Douglas County Judge Mike Carroll took himself off the case at Brown's request. Carroll had earlier informed the attorneys representing Brown and Thompson that he was a personal friend of Mr. Martin, 59, of Tuscola.

As it turns out, Carroll is not qualified to preside, as he has not yet received death penalty certification by the Illinois Supreme Court. Carroll has been a judge since last December and hasn't attended the necessary training.

Discuss if you'd like.

From an email:

I regret to inform you of the death of Douglas County Sheriff Chief Deputy Tommy K Martin, age 59, Tuscola, Illinois. Tommy passed away at 11:30 pm on July 17, 2007 at Carle Hospital, Urbana, Illinois, from complications of a gunshot wound he received while on duty on June 21, 2007 in rural Douglas County. Funeral arrangements will follow.

:-(

Originally posted in the comments, but here's the News-Gazette article:

A Douglas County sheriff's deputy was shot in a rural area between Villa Grove and Tuscola this morning, and a gunman took hostages later at a bank in Arcola.

Chief Deputy Tommy Martin was injured in the original shooting at midmorning, The News-Gazette has learned. He was taken by ambulance to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, where his condition was undetermined at about 1 p.m.

The incident apparently occurred on county road 1450 N about a quarter-mile east of county road 1050 E, which is about 4 miles straight north of Tuscola, between U.S. 45 and Interstate 57.

Police gave chase and one of those involved then took hostages in First Mid-Illinois Bank & Trust in Arcola.

I hope everyone is OK, and I hope this ends with nobody else getting hurt.