Viewpoint: It's only a matter of time

By Clark Brooks, Editor & Publisher

---

---

I was going to scribble today's editorial yesterday, but I received some unsettling news. The original piece was going to reflect on how I empathized with Illinois State Rep. Darren Bailey, who was granted a temporary restraining order against Governor J.B. Pritzker’s "shelter-in-place" order.

There are a lot of things I miss right now, too. I can't wait for life to return to something resembling the pre-Covid days. If things turn out better, well even better.

Right now, I miss going to the grocery store to pick up fresh vegetables or frozen pizza and a six pack of craft beer. This buying for a week business has got my spending habits out of whack.

I miss playing a vigorous game of tennis. However, while entertaining, my teammates probably don't miss me tossing my tennis racquet against the back fence or slamming it ground in frustration after losing a point.

I miss walking to Black Dog, Bunnies or Courier Cafe in downtown Urbana for a beer and something to eat when I'm feeling too lazy to cook.

I miss my work. I miss covering sporting events for clients and doing postgame interviews with coaches and athletes for Sentinel articles.

In his grand, noble gesture Bailey, who lives in Xenia (pop. 364), told reporters he is only trying to defend residents in his district that are struggling financially because of COVID-19 restrictions put in place by the governor. His goal, he told reporters, was to help get businesses re-open in his district.

I sympathize with that, too. There are people all over the country, not just in Illinois, struggling through stay-at-home orders. I'm one of them. I miss my livelihood, too.

Believing Gov. Pritzker has exceeded his authority and is violating the civil rights of residents by extending the state’s stay-at-home order beyond the 30-day limit, Bailey benefiting from a compassionate bench, is the only resident in the state with TRO relief from the Gov. Pritzker's executive order.

A privilege that he paid $306 in court fees plus attorney fees - probably between another $1,200 to $2,000. That's money he could have maybe loaned or even donated to constituents who might need food to get through the week or help a business with this month's rent. Instead, he spent his hard earn dollars to buy his personal freedom, at least for now temporarily.

There is a growing seed of discontent among residents in the central and southern part of the state. Some 38 days into the social distancing strategy, cabin fever is on an upswing.

Bailey, fanning these flames, reminds me of Dathan, son of Eliab in the Old Testament. Together with his brother Abiram, the Levite Korah and others, Dathan rebelled against Moses and Aaron as they led the Israelites away from Egypt to the Promised Land.

While the majority of the reported cases in the state our in the Chicagoland area followed by border counties on the Illinois side facing St. Louis in second, Clay County, which off the beaten path, with no interstate traffic or tourists attractions of note, has reported just two confirmed cases of the virus since the outbreak.

The coronavirus is a Chicago thing, not a downstate thing.

It will be interesting to see which way the first-term representative steps when the number of cases start to skyrocket in his county. It is only a matter of time.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reports nearby Newton, a half hour drive away, has 44 confirmed cases with four virus related deaths. Mt. Vernon, an hour to the south, is reporting nearly twice that amount with 80 cases and 11 lives lost.

While now everything seems peachy in the land of milk and honey around Xenia, but it is only a matter of time before that changes for the 13,850 that live Clay County.

In a farm community about 75 miles north from Bailey's hometown, I have a relative living in an assisted nursing home. The county where it is located currently has five reported cases, two announced this past Sunday and the latest yesterday.

It was in yesterday's phone call when I learned the newest confirmed case is an employee at his care facility. I was told she self-quarantined as soon as she started exhibiting symptoms.

I got my game face on. I am trying not worry about him or the other residents and wonderful staff there. It hard not to when you hear news about the virus in nursing homes like the one over by Springfield in Sherman.

Yes, Mr. Bailey, you should worry. It is only a matter of time.

Plotner signs on to Skyhawk program, college running dream comes true

St. Joseph-Ogden senior Jillian Plotner announced on social media that she officially joined the University of Tennessee Martin running program yesterday.

The four-year cross country and track & field athlete is ecstatic at one of her dreams coming true.

"I am so blessed and excited to announce this! I want to take the time to thank all my wonderful friends, coaches, teammates, fellow competitors, and my family," she wrote in a Facebook post. "It’s been a crazy adventure but I’m so excited for the future!!"

Joining the Skyhawks is also a step in the right direction for Plotner, who wants to become a forensic anthropologist. In August, she will join the College of Education, Health, and Behavioral Sciences to work toward her degree in Criminal Justice with a concentration in forensic science.

"I’m very excited to continue my running career to the college level!" she said via a Twitter interview. "It’s been a dream ever since I was younger. This opportunity has shown me that all my hard work does show off and that it is being seen."

Plotner said she was initially contacted by graduate assistant coach Karson Hahn and later meet with him and first-year head coach Kevin Mangan at the IHSA state cross country meet last November.

"They watched me compete and it was such an experience and I absolutely liked them both when I met them," explaining how she was recruited. "I honestly don’t know what I did to get on their radar but somehow it worked!"

Keegan McCarty: "Everyone has a special meaning"

Going into this baseball season, Keegan McCarty had a long list of personal goals he was set on accomplishing this season.

That dream was interrupted by what appeared to be a temporary postponement to the season, and then weeks later the inevitable cancellation of the entire 2020 season, courtesy of the Coronavirus pandemic.

"This was the year I was going to prove I was the number one and going to set so many goals to achieve for myself," he said confidently. "It wasn't as much about (me not being able to improve my game) statistics that disappoint me, but it’s the way it ended. I was expecting top end running onto the field winning the state championship, not this."

Advice from a senior

Don’t take anything for granted. Don’t wish things to be over quicker then they should be. Academically , don’t wait until the last second to do homework and study for tests. Athletically, enjoy the game and love every second you have with the team.

Baseball, especially playing with his fellow seniors after going through tears, joy together, and learning to fight through the difficult times, was the best thing to happen to him through high school. His best memories at SJO are from overnight baseball trips over the years and every one of the Homecoming assemblies he has attended.

"The pitchers and hitters were finally starting to click and all I could think was, 'Wow'... this year was going to be so special," said the four-year veteran hurler while explaining how much he had matured as player and personally. "This is why it’s all disappointing when there is so much potential and it gets taken in a matter of four or five days before the start of the season. Last year was not what we wanted, this was our revenge tour and no one was going to stop us."

McCarty is disappointed but not bitter about the season the will never be. He genuinely believes Gov. J.B. Pritzker has made the right decisions so far during the pandemic. He assured me if he was governor, he would have taken the exact same steps.

"I would rather things get shut down now to help slow down the number and flatten the curve so by next school year students are allowed back at school," he explained. "Even though we caught it at the wrong time and seniors are missing graduations and their final seasons it’s better to be safe than sorry.

"I just want to be able to play my first college ball in the fall and I know seniors across the country want to put their pads on for the last time and shutting things down now is what is necessary."

While fellow classmates are swallowing the bitter pill of no en mass graduation ceremony with family and friends until later this summer, a canceled Prom and no spring sports season, McCarty, with brutal honesty, described bigger, more bitter pills growing up.

"There’s been a couple difficult times, but I think the one that hit me the most was when I was younger," he said when asked what was the most difficult time in his life and what he learned from it. He hopes the story won't damage his relationship with his family, but a story nonetheless he wanted to share. "When I was younger I had to witness some horrible things that kind of affected who I am today."

Growing up he watched his father and step sister fight, in his words, "all the time."

"Sometimes it would be physical. One time I had to leave on a school day and go stay with my grandma in Indiana, and come back the next day for school," he recounted. "I had to witness cops come to the household countless times when my sister would run away or cause a disturbance with my dad."

McCarty, who lives in St. Joseph, feels like he acquired a high level of inner strength and resiliency from this turbulent period in his childhood. Through the emotional and difficult episodes one of the important lessons he learned was to value those around him.

"This taught me to respect those around me as everyone has a special meaning to someone’s life. Fighting with each other everyday can create negative effects on someone," he explained. "It taught me how to be strong on the inside and not let things get to me so easily. Although, sometimes it still happens and I keep everything to myself."

His favorite classes at St. Joseph-Ogden High School have been Accounting I and Accounting II with Mrs. Harbaugh and Civics with Mr. Beckett. His favorite teachers through the years include Mrs. Izard at PVO; Mr. Risley at St. Joseph Middle School; and Mrs. Veronica Harbaugh, Mr. Marshall Schacht, and Mr. Jeff Kieffer at SJO.

When the homework is done and practice is over, McCarty says he enjoys deer hunting, running and working out.

After high school, he will attend Lake Land College where he will major in accounting and play baseball. He chose the Lakers' program because they hired Julio Godinez, a former assistant at Eastern Illinois University. He is looking forward to expanding his knowledge and pitching skills from an experienced Division I pitching coach.

"I chose to go to Lake Land as it wasn’t necessarily close to home and I wanted to experience college life away from St. Joe and the Champaign area," he said. "There were opportunities to go further away but understanding I’m from a smaller school I wanted to go the JUCO route to get used to playing against bigger and better players.

McCarty said he will miss a couple things when heads off to college in the fall.

The most important one is his comedic sidekick and fellow senior Joey Acton. The duo, whose bond is as strong as any pair of sibling according to McCarty, will never fade.

"(We've) even have been asked if we were brothers countless of times," he said. "Our very own guidance counselor, Mrs. Rein, has mixed us up!"

Acton, says McCarty, has provided a number of side-splitting, hilarious moments throughout their years friendship.

"This dude does some pretty funny stuff, such as throwing a golf club into the little water areas when we putt-putt or crack jokes that make me laugh for five-plus minutes. Sad that we will be an hour apart in just four months."

When discussing his future after college, McCarty has no idea where he will be in ten years. One thing is for sure, he won't be living in Illinois. He is thinking California or maybe Florida. He is not picky as long as it is somewhere with warm weather, and maybe on a farm away from lots of people.

"It’s really hard to know," he said. "I think it depends on how college goes with baseball, but if that doesn’t work then I believe I will be working at a business as an accountant."

"I will try to reach and help out young ball players and coach a team hopefully," he added.