Arrest in Ipava murder
A Beardstown woman is charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of an Ipava man.
Donald Danner, 72, was found dead in his rural Ipava home Aug. 5.
Kelly Bradbury, 42, was arrested on a warrant. She’s being held in the Fulton County jail on $2 million bond.
Bradbury is also charged with aggravated hijacking with a weapon in Cass County. Authorities say she stole a vehicle at knifepoint on Aug. 1 in Beardstown.
She was detained in that incident in Monmouth and taken to Peoria for treatment.
Lovato case continued
Dylan Lovato appeared in court this week via Zoom from the McDonough County jail.
Lovato, 24, is accused in the shooting death of Ivan Almanza, 23, in March of 2022.
Defense attorney Andrew Stuckart told Judge Heidi Benson on Tuesday that he’s still waiting for a ruling on a motion to suppress, and is also pursuing additional information for the trial.
The next pretrial is scheduled for early November. Stuckart said he anticipates going to trial in the first couple of months of next year.
Prosecutors say Lovato drove to Macomb in the middle of the night from his home in northern Illinois, entered his ex-girlfriend’s apartment, and shot Almanza while he slept in her bed.
Lovato, who graduated from Western Illinois University in 2020 with a degree in law enforcement, has pleaded not guilty.
Galesburg’s Hawthorne Pool reopens
Hawthorne Pool in Galesburg is open again.
The municipal pool closed for major structural repairs in May of last year.
Repairs include a new roof, foundation, deck, pool lining, and windows; repointed brick walls; and steel plates around deteriorated steel columns in the walls.
The pool is open to the public and offers several aquatic programs as well as facility rental.
State grants for abandoned homes
Several western Illinois communities are getting state funding to deal with abandoned residential properties.
The Illinois Housing Development Authority awarded the grants through the Strong Communities Program
The following communities are getting grants to acquire and rehab or demolish properties:
Galesburg: $562,000 Macomb: $487,000 Monmouth: $212,000 Quincy: $330,000
The goal is to help communities bring vacant properties back to taxable use, or tear them down and make way for new developments, while making neighborhoods more safe.
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