From left: Former Quincy Police canine officer Jeff Baird, Danyelle Harrison of Harrison Monuments and QPD Chief Rob Copley pose with a plaque Harrison Monuments made and donated in honor of Baird's former partner, canine officer Max, who passed away late last year of cancer. The plaque will hang prominently inside the Quincy Police Department, Copley said.

HARRISON MONUMENTS IN Quincy recently donated a memorial plaque honoring Quincy Police Department canine officer Max, who passed away late last year.

Danyelle Harrison of Harrison Monuments Quincy location said she read online about Max dying from cancer, and she wanted to do something to honor his memory. Danyelle used to be a forensic scientist for the City of St. Louis Police Department, so she knows how important canine units are when it comes to drug investigations and arrests.

“I know how bad drugs are, and we have a special place in our heart for dogs,” she says, “so it was a pretty easy decision to make the monument for Max.”

Harrison Monuments, located right next to Greenmount Cemetery on South 12th Street, has its own “monument dog.” The Yorkie and Schnauzer mix named Emmie was adopted from a local shelter and is great with customers like the elderly and young children, Danyelle says.

Danyelle remembers back in the 1980s when a canine unit in Clark County, Mo., was killed in the line of duty, and her father helped make and donate a monument that is still in place in a Kahoka cemetery.

“We understand the importance of taking good care of pets, and we appreciate everything that Max did,” Danyelle says.

TWO THINGS HAPPENED Wednesday during the Darrold Wayne Frisbie trial in Quincy that I have never seen in a decade of writing about crime and courts.

As the jurors were being dismissed for lunch at about noon, Judge Mark Drummond was handed a note. After the jurors left the courtroom, he said the daughter of one of the jurors “had their water break” and was going into labor. The judge went back to check on the prospective grandmother, and there was a real possibility one of the two alternates would have to step in.

Drummond returned minutes later and the said the juror told him this was her daughter’s third child, and that her daughter had been informed she was in jury duty. I’ve seen many people use lame excuses to get out of serving on a jury, but never the other way around.

Earlier Wednesday morning, State’s Attorney Jon Barnard asked the courtroom be cleared since his victim was a juvenile when an alleged sex offense against him took place. Drummond agreed with the request, and the media, the defendant’s mother and a court advocate were allowed to stay.

Kevin Payne of WTAD and I are the only two reporters at the trial. We watched as the courtroom emptied, as about 20 people, mostly friends and family of the defendant, walked out. It was strange watching such riveting and often difficult testimony.

THE DARROLD WAYNE Frisbie trial is underway in Quincy, and it will be a long and grueling week at the corner of Fifth and Vermont. Click here for the story, it will be updated later this morning.

Frisbie is accused of having an encounter with a 16-year-old boy in his basement, among other things. The jury will have to decide how believable the victim comes across, and what weight to give DNA evidence.

DNA, as they say, doesn’t lie. But the human factor is the variable you just can’t predict in a jury trial.

PARENTS FOR MEGAN’S Law, a national not-for-profit community and victims’ rights organization, has launched a sex offender email alert program for Illinois residents. Community members who sign-up will receive sex offender email alerts at no cost.

The sex offender email alert program is funded by the United States Justice Department. Parents and community members are supported by the agency’s National Megan’s Law Helpline (888) ASK-PFML where they can learn about responsible use of information and be educated about sexual abuse/abduction prevention and Internet Safety.

Registering:

• Log onto www.parentsformeganslaw.org
• Click “Email Alert Registration”
• Click First Time User Registration
• Enter your email address and create your personal password
• Enter information requested and select the zip codes you want to notified about.

Email alerts will be sent to you containing a link to view important information about the offender.   Additional searches can be done across the state and nation.  The website has valuable prevention information and services available for crime victims.

Registration and support questions can be directed to the National Megan’s Law Helpline:

1 (888) ASK-PFML (1-888-275-7365)

QUINCY UNIVERSITY STUDENT Sidney Shackleton lives two houses down from the 20th and Chestnut fire scene. He took the above photos, one from his backyard, the other on the street.

“The smoke filled my backyard and it was impossible to see or breathe back there,” Sidney says. “My windows were open and my whole house still smells like smoke.”

Early this afternoon fire trucks were still on the scene and the investigation into the cause continues.

H-W Photo/Phil Carlson

STAY TUNED BECAUSE we might, repeat might, hear more about the early morning fire at 20th and Chestnut.

Firefighters are being careful about what they say right now. But when you show up three minutes after being called and the place is up in flames, that’s suspicious right there.

Thank goodness nobody was killed. Seven people reportedly got out of the building after it caught fire. The siding was peeled off and you could see the blackened walls through open second-floor windows. Click here for our story, and we’ll have updates when they become available.

HAD A GREAT time Friday night at the Big Dam Film Festival watching the movie Beer Wars. Thanks to the YP folks for putting on the event, which led to the discovery of Boulevard Amber Ale during the tasting after the movie.

Budweiser, Coors and Miller were not shown in the best of lights, and some valid points were raised about corporate America and big business.

But …

Nobody will tell me I can’t sip a cold Coors Light after work on my porch or on the beach under a summer sun.

And ….

Our local distributors are good people who sponsor a lot of events. Rinellas, Adams and Haubrichs are the good guys around here, and nobody will tell me different.

That being said, I might have to pick up a six-pack of Boulevard next time I’m in the store!

JOHN ROOPE HAS forgotten more about child care than most of us will ever learn. He has a passion for kids and it showed during his brief but poignant remarks at the Kids Count press conference Thursday. Click here for the story.

Roope wrote at essay for the annual report and it’s well worth your time. We all pay a price when a child goes astray, and as Roope pointed out Thursday, we all make a difference.

Roope Essay is here in PDF form.

ALAN STEIGELMAN HAS seen a lot of change during his nearly 14 years at John Wood Community College.

The vice president of finance is retiring at the end of January 2012. He’ll be almost 65, and it’s time to hang up his keyboard and calculator.

“Obviously our new campus has been tremendous for the community,” Steigelman said Thursday. “We’ve gone from one president (Bill Simpson) to another (Tom Klincar), and I think we are trying to be more balanced with what I call vocational and transfer programs.

Steigelman believes JWCC has improved its standing and image in the community over the years. He has also tried his best to be careful with tax payer dollars, and his job has been increasingly tougher in the last few years because of the state budget crisis and lack of timely state payments to the college.

“It’s always hard to do the job you are supposed to do without the money you are supposed to be getting to do the job,” he says.

Steigelman picked January of next year to make sure there’s a smooth transition between the new VP of finance, since a lot of work goes into the budget, tax levy and other things between September and January.

He and his wife, Nancy Moore, plan to stay in Quincy. Moore is retiring this May as an AP literature teacher at Quincy High School. Steigelman plans to do some consulting and remain active in Great River Honor Flight, Rotary and other groups.

“I think I will miss most the feeling of a group trying to get things done,” Steigelman says. “I’ve always thought of John Wood as a business, but our business is improving young people’s lives. It’s such a good feeling to work with other people who have that as a goal.”

TUESDAY AT THE Adams County Courthouse, a man was found not guilty of stealing scrap metal from a local business parking lot, even though he admitted to doing it.

Read the story here. Apparently the jury believed it was OK for the man to be in the parking lot and take the scrap out of a large bin.

Perhaps there needs to be large signs on the bins saying DO NOT TAKE. Retrieving items from dumpsters is fairly common around here, if you believe the person who was on trial. The thought of jumping into a pile of garbage isn’t exactly appealing, but you never know what you might find. I guess.

What’s also very interesting is that the gal involved in the case, who was charged with a misdemeanor, is apparently going to enter a guilty plea Thursday. I wonder if she’ll change her mind, given the latest developments.