1. Art and Diseño

www.arcolarecordherald.com
Volume 153 — Number 26
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2015
Maggio
Found Guilty
In Shooting
Of Brother
ARCOLA CITY COUNCIL
TIF Extension Plan
Going To State Level
By Chris Slack
A year after filing a postconviction petition to have
his guilty plea overturned, a
Savoy man’s claim that he
shot his brother in selfdefense was brought before
Champaign County court last
week.
Brian Maggio’s attempt for
a Champaign County jury to
either reduce his 35-year sentence in 2011 or agree that
Maggio acted in self-defense
of the killing of his brother,
former Arcola Family Foods
grocery store owner Mark
Maggio, failed. The jury
rejected Brian Maggio’s selfdefense claim and found him
guilty of first-degree murder
on Friday, January 29.
As a result of the guilty
verdict,
the
46-year-old
Maggio faces a minimum of
45 years in prison.
Brian Maggio had pleaded
guilty in June 2011 to the
first-degree murder of Mark
Maggio and was subsequently sentenced to 35 years in
prison. Mark Maggio, 32, was
shot and killed by his brother
at the family’s grocery store
in Tolono, Maggio’s IGA, on
July 21, 2010. The shooting
was a culmination of an
apparent ongoing dispute
between the brothers that
was related to finances.
Brian Maggio managed the
IGA in Tolono that was
owned by the family.
According to information
provided in Champaign
County court when Brian
Maggio entered a plea agreement in June 2011, Mark
Maggio had stopped by
Maggio’s IGA in Tolono early
in the afternoon of July 21,
2010, to speak with the store
manager.
At the time of his arrival at
the store, Brian Maggio was
reportedly away from the
store at lunch. But Brian
Maggio returned to the store
while Mark was still there
and an altercation ensued
between the two brothers.
Witnesses testified that
Brian Maggio hit and pushed
his brother, causing both to
lose their balance. Mark
Maggio
then
reportedly
ONE SECTION — 12 PAGES
•Intergovernmental Agreements OK’d By Local Taxing Bodies
By Chris Slack
Mark Maggio is pictured above in 2008 as he readies for
the re-opening of the Arcola grocery store he would call
Arcola Family Foods. His brother, Brian, was found guilty in
Champaign County court last week for fatally shooting Mark
Maggio at the family’s grocery store in Tolono in July 2010.
Record-Herald file photo
turned and began to exit the
store when he was chased by
his brother and shot at close
range with a .357 Derringer
gun. Mark Maggio had reportedly turned toward his brother near the exit and was shot
from about five feet away.
It was revealed in court
nearly four years ago that the
brothers were at odds with
one another and that financial problems apparently
were a motivating factor
behind the shooting.
In his self-defense claim,
Brian Maggio said he saw
what might have been a gun
and that Mark Maggio’s arm
was coming up. It was at this
point when Brian Maggio
fired his gun. The bullet
traveled
through
Mark
Maggio’s chest and severed
his aorta.
Champaign County First
Assistant State’s Attorney
Steve Ziegler disputed Brian
Maggio’s claims, noting in
court Maggio’s assertions
were made after the fact and
that he never saw a gun, a
flash or Mark Maggio raising
his arms.
Brian Maggio’s public
defender, Janie Miller-Jones,
contended that sheriff’s
investigators failed to ask
more detailed questions of
Brian Maggio following the
shooting. She also said there
were conflicting stories from
the eyewitnesses at the scene
of the shooting.
The new jury trial in which
Brian Maggio was pursuing
his self-defense claim began
Monday, January 26, and
concluded late Friday afternoon after 5 1/2 hours of
deliberation by the jury.
Brian Maggio’s sentencing is
scheduled for March 11 by
Judge Heidi Ladd.
Mark Maggio opened his
grocery operation in Arcola
after the community went
about 14 months without a
full-service grocery store. An
article appearing in the
August 16, 2007, issue of the
Record-Herald announced the
brothers’ plans to open their
store after they reached an
agreement with Kirby Foods
and owner Jerry Reynolds.
The store was initially
called Arcola Family Foods
and officially opened in April
2008.
See Maggio...p. 3
A tedious process that city of Arcola leaders
initially began about seven years ago has
cleared a significant hurdle.
It was announced at the Arcola City
Council meeting on Monday night that all of
the impacted taxing bodies have approved an
intergovernmental agreement in which the
city proposes to extend the life of the Tax
Increment Financing (TIF) district an additional 12 years to 2027.
The final hurdle was cleared when the
Arcola Township Board of Directors and the
township road district’s representative
recently voted in favor of the TIF extension
agreement. The TIF extension proposal could
not have advanced to the state level unless all
impacted taxing entities signed off on the
city’s plan.
For more on the township’s decision, see a
letter to the editor that appears in this week’s
Record-Herald by Arcola Township Clerk Bill
Coombe.
City leaders expressed their appreciation to
the taxing bodies — all of which are affected
financially by the presence of a TIF district —
for their decisions to support the extension
plan.
Mayor Larry Ferguson said, “I want to
thank all of the taxing bodies. I think it will
give Arcola great potential to bring more business to town.”
Ferguson also said that if the extension is
approved at the state level, the chances for
continued growth on the Green Mill Village
development are enhanced. Green Mill
Village, a 63-acre development on the city’s
east side, currently features the Best Western
hotel and the Carriage Crossing Senior Living
facility.
Plans were also announced last October to
develop the “Green Mill Village Theatre.”
Green Mill Village Theatre promises to
bring Arcola and surrounding communities a
fun, family-friendly entertainment option
and provide area visitors another entertaining evening option. The first production is
expected to premiere in June at the Best
Western.
Planning is underway for the Green Mill
Village Theatre’s permanent location, which
is expected to open in 2016.
Ferguson was also appreciative of the
efforts of Arcola school leaders, specifically
Superintendent Tom Mulligan.
“Dr. Mulligan helped facilitate meetings
and got this out in the forefront. I really
appreciate what the school has done to get us
to this point,” said Ferguson.
Arcola City Administrator Bill Wagoner
said the TIF extension proposal has been forwarded to 51st District State Sen. Chapin
Rose, whose district includes Arcola and
Douglas County.
“Chapin will have to sponsor legislation and
he has assigned it to somebody on the GOP
staff to make sure we get a bill. We forwarded all of the agreements to Springfield. We
were waiting on the township to sign the
agreement and they did it last week,” said
Wagoner.
Wagoner hopes the TIF extension plan can
be approved during the spring legislative session, which concludes in May.
Wagoner is pleased that the proposal is
moving forward, but had hoped the process
could have moved along at a faster pace.
Wagoner said the city first began working
on an extension in 2007.
“The sad thing is it’s cost us millions of dollars in development potential. On the bright
side, we’ve got millions of dollars in the cue
that we can get pulled off. We could have had
that beautiful travel center that’s in Tuscola
at Green Mill,” said Wagoner.
The multi-year TIF extension process has
involved a back-and-forth between the city
and taxing bodies about the size of the proposed new TIF district and how public entities like Arcola Township, the Arcola school
district and the Arcola Public Library would
be affected financially from another 12 years
being added to the TIF.
In the intergovernmental agreement drawn
up by the city last year following a September
meeting between the city and affected taxing
bodies, revisions were made regarding surplus distributions to the affected taxing bodies based on equalized assessed valuation.
In the proposed new TIF, the city has eliminated all but TIF districts 1 and 6. TIF 1
includes the downtown area, commercial
parcels on the east side along Illinois 133, the
Arcola Industrial Park and the new Green
Mill development.
Areas included in TIF 6 are a portion of the
Libman Company property on the north side
of the city and commercial land in the southern section of the city where there is potential
for additional development.
The approximate total EAV of the scaleddown TIF would be cut in half to about $7 million, restoring about $7 million to the impacted taxing entities. The agreement adds that
at least $200,000 per year will be declared as
surplus for distribution to the affected taxing
bodies.
See City Council...p. 3
WHAT’S ON THE COMMUNITY AGENDA?
Stiff To Be Honored
Friday At Game
Arcola High School girls’ basketball coach Nancy
Stiff will be honored for her 700th career win at
halftime of the boys’ basketball game this Friday
against Cerro Gordo-Bement. Purple Rider fans
and former players are encouraged to come and
help celebrate Coach Stiff's milestone achievement.
Additional announcements are included
below:
Spring Soccer Registration
Arcola Recreation spring 2015 soccer registration
will be held at the Arcola Moore Park soccer concession stand for ages preschool (4 yrs old) through
eighth grade on Saturday, February 7, from 9 a.m.
to noon. For more information, please visit the website at www.arcolarec.org/soccer or email:
[email protected].
Chamber Community Dance
The Arcola Chamber of Commerce will sponsor
its annual community dance February 21 at the
Best Western PLUS hotel, located on the Green
Mill Village property in Arcola. The dance is open
to the general public; it is not restricted to those
who are Chamber members. The theme of this
year’s community dance will revolve around the
roaring 20s, the Great Gatsby. For more information, call the Chamber of Commerce at 268-4530.
Storytime Returns At Library
The Arcola Public Library has resumed its weekly storytime each Wednesday at 10 a.m. Afterschool programs are also being held each
Wednesday at 4 p.m. Programs will continue
through May 20. Among the program themes will
be Friendship/Valentine’s Day, Happy Healthy
Teeth, Bird Watching, Easter, Earth Day, Airplanes
and “Bug, Bugs and More Bugs.” The May 20 program is themed “Let’s Go Camping.” For more
information, call the library at 268-4477.
Distinguished Alumni
Nominations
Arcola Alumni Association is seeking nominations
for the Arcola Distinguished Alumni awards to be
designated in 2015. Forms are available at the
Arcola Record-Herald, Arcola High School, Arcola
Public Library, Arcola First Bank, First Mid-Illinois
Bank & Trust and on the alumni website at
www.arcolaalumni.org.
You may also contact selection committee members Randy Rothrock, Pat Fortney, Jim Clark, Sue
Stout, Rick Klopfleisch, Emily Coombe or Brad
Pullen to request a form. Nominations are due by
Monday, April 6.
Class Of 1975 Reunion
Being Planned
The Arcola High School Class of 1975 is planning its 40-year class reunion. Class members are
asked to send their addresses to
[email protected].
Arcola Rotary Club Meeting
The next meeting of the Arcola Sunrise Rotary
Club will be at 7:15 a.m. Thursday, February 5, at
the Dutch Kitchen. The Rotary Club meets each
Thursday. For membership information, contact
club President Bill Wagoner at
[email protected].
IN THIS WEEK’S ISSUE
Classifieds ........................................10
Courthouse News..............................4
Obituaries ..........................................6
HOW TO REACH US
• To fax news and advertising materials to
the Record-Herald, please call 217-2684938. The deadline is 5 p.m. each Monday.
Find the R-H on the web at
www.arcolarecordherald.com
• The newspaper’s mailing address is
118 E. Main St., Arcola, IL 61910.
Phone 268-4950.
• E-mail the newspaper at:
[email protected]