A house explosion north of Allendale late Friday afternoon sent two people to a regional trauma center with serious injuries. According to information from the Wabash County Sheriff’s Office, the explosion occurred shortly after 5:30 Friday afternoon. The Allendale Fire Department was dispatched, along with several other emergency services in Wabash County. Two residents were home at the time, and were flown to a Louisville, KY trauma center. A group of neighbors pulled one of the victims out of the residence before it was completely engulfed in flames. The Illinois State Fire Marshall has been called in to investigate.
28-year-old Cody Rector of Mt. Vernon, IL has been sentenced to 75 years in prison after a jury found him guilty earlier this week of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child under the age of 13 and two counts of possession of child pornography of a victim under the age of 13, all Class X felonies. Media reports indicated that Rector was arrested in May 2020 following an investigation by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, resulting initially in four Class X felony charges being filed against Rector, two for predatory criminal sexual assault and two for possession of child porn. A total of ten felony charges were filed against Rector, and in June of last year, jurors found Rector guilty of three of the ten felony charges against him. The sentence was handed down this past Thursday.
A Richland County murder investigation has led to the arrest of 42-year-old Robby G. Gantenbein of Olney, IL. Reports say he made his first court appearance earlier this week and was officially charged with First Degree Murder. He was being held on $750,000 bond. Gantenbein is in custody for the shooting death of 41-year-old Christopher Laird Friday of last week. Police had been called to a residence in Olney where the victim was found with gunshot wounds. Laird was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead. A status hearing for Gantenbein is set for next week, and a preliminary hearing Septebmer 8th, the report said.
The annual Hunting Heritage Banquet, hosted by the White County Wild Turkey Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, is set for today at the Floral Hall of the fairgrounds in Carmi. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. There will be a silent auction and live auction. Tickets to the event are $35 for adults. For more information call (618) 383-2004.
Area river stages as of this morning: Little Wabash River east of Fairfield is at 23.21 feet. Flood stage is 17 feet. At Clay City the stage is 6.35 feet. Flood stage is 18 feet. At Carmi the stage is 26.58 feet. Flood stage is 27 feet. The Skillet Fork at Wayne City is at 5.06 feet. Flood stage is 15 feet. The Wabash River at Mt. Carmel is at 3.62 feet. Flood stage is 19 feet.