State’s attorney wants to clean up Pontiac parks

Livingston County prosecutors and law enforcement are trying eliminate illegal activity from Pontiac parks including Humiston Riverside Park. (WJBC file photo)

By Cynthia Grau

PONTIAC – The Livingston County State’s Attorney has partnered with the Livingston County Sheriff’s Police and Pontiac Police to clean up Pontiac’s parks and public areas.

State’s Attorney Randy Yedinak said that an increased police presence and community policing will hopefully rid the parks of unwanted nuisances and bring them back to what they were made for.

“We get complaints of individuals being unruly, causing problems, disorderly if you will,” Yedinak said. “Unfortunately, what you see in this county, one of the things I’ve talked about in the past, is that this county has an embarrassing drug problem and so you do tend to see some drug activity out in the public, not just in the parks. Anyplace you can go and congregate, so those are some of the things we’re really going to be really trying to snap down on and make sure that moms with young kids, things of that nature, can enjoy the parks and won’t have to worry about being a witness to something like that or being a victim of anything they don’t want to be a victim of.”

Yedinak said families should be able to enjoy the parks without encountering illegal activity.

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…