St. Joseph mayor encourages everyone to fill out census online

Today, is Census Day and if you haven't completed yours online or mailed it back yet today, it's time to get'r done.

Mayor Tami Fruhling-Voges has bet with a couple of area mayors and is enjoying a significant lead in the wager and she needs everyone's help in padding the village's numbers.

"I looked up the numbers for March 25th and I currently have bragging rights for St. Joseph with ours being a 42.8% response rate," said Fruhling-Voges. "Mahomet is at 37.3% and Savoy is at 30.0%."

The purpose of the census is to figure out how many seats each state receives in the U.S. House of Representatives. The federal government also uses the data to distributed more than $675 billion annually to states for various programs.

If a household does not response or the form is incomplete, someone from the Census Bureau will follow up either by phone or in person to get the missing or needed information.

She is encouraging members of the community who have not yet done their part to do so.

"While we're all stuck at home get those Census responses sent in!" she said.

You can fill out the form online today at https://my2020census.gov/. The online questionnaire takes about 15 minutes to complete. The online portal is the fast and secure way to help the village and state receive the funding it deserves.

Bond set for the accused in St. Joseph murder, victims' identities are released

Judge Tom Difanis set bond for Jonathon Perry, accused of killing his girlfriend Kimberly Coyne, age 54, and her daughter Blair Coyne, age 24, at $2.5 million earlier today.

Perry, who is 28 years old, is being held responsible for shooting both women early Monday morning in the home they shared located just north of Interstate 74 at 1600 N. and CR2200E. He is charged with four counts for each victim for at total of eight.

The accused was located at his parent's home in Homer by the deputies after his mother contacted dispatchers around 4:15am. She made the call after her son made statements that raised her concern about the well-being of his girlfriend and her daughter.

Deputies were simultaneously dispatched to the Homer and St. Joseph. Kimberly's body was found in the home while Blair's was located face down in the driveway both with gunshot wounds yet to be disclosed investigators. Weapons were reportedly found near both of the deceased.

At the time of his arrest Perry was wearing multiple pairs of pants and had an empty gun holster in the leg of one pair. When questioned where the guns were, he said the guns were "with the Devil and the Anti-Christ".

Perry, who was released from prison in July 2016 after serving about four years of an an eight year sentence for residential burglary, is scheduled to be back in court on April 16 for a probable cause hearing.