Police investigate fatal crashes in Woodford, DeWitt counties

Posted on January 10, 2017
Police car
Drivers were killed in crashes in Woodford and DeWitt counties on Monday. (Photo courtesy Flickr/DavidsonScott15)

By Eric Stock

CLINTON – Police in DeWitt County are investigating a late-night crash in which the driver was killed and one person was hospitalized.

DeWitt County Coroner Randy Rice says the vehicle was traveling westbound on Illinois Route 10 at 11:20 p.m. The vehicle left the road, rolled several times and landed in a field. Both occupants were ejected. The survivor was taken to a Champaign hospital. Their condition is not known. Rice later identified the driver as Tabitha Michelle Dickson.

A Woodford County woman was killed in a one-car crash just north of Goodfield early Monday. Woodford County Coroner Tim Ruestman said Sarah Blanchard, 22, of Lowpoint lost control of the car she was driving on Illinois Route 117 northbound and struck a tree. Ruestmann said Blanchard died of head injuries and was wearing a seat belt.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected]. 

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…