Local News
Lions Den adult store wants to reopen as a travel center
Owners of the now-closed Lions Den adult-oriented business in Montrose are going to court Thursday in an effort to reopen the business as a “travel center.”
Judge James Eder, who granted an injunction July 13 that eventually forced the adult store to close, will hear arguments on the motion for declatory relief at 11 a.m. Thursday in an Effingham County courtroom.
State’s Attorney Ed Deters said he would argue against the motion because Eder’s earlier ruling is being considered by the 5th District Appellate Court in Mount Vernon.
“I will be arguing that this issue is not properly before the trial court,” Deters said. He declined to elaborate, however.
“I don’t want to make my legal argument in the newspaper before I make it to the judge,” he said.
The store opened on the Interstate 70 frontage road north of Montrose with no advance notice to the community in January 2003, but it didn’t take some Montrose village officials long to voice their opposition.
Deters eventually stepped in on behalf of the village to seek the injunction. After an extended legal battle, Eder finally granted an injunction on the grounds that the store was too close to the village’s park and cemetery.
One Montrose village official thinks the motion is a ruse to resume the sale of adult-oriented materials at the site of the old Lions Den.
“I just think this is a ploy,” Trustee Carolyn Jansen said. “I think this is just part of the little game they are playing.”
Jansen said it would be difficult to enforce the sale of adult-oriented materials if the new store is opened.
“They claim they are going to sell pop, cookies and potato chips,” she said. “But who’s going to police them to make sure that’s all they sell?
“What would be keeping them from having something in the back room?”
Lions Den attorney J. Michael Murray was away from his Cleveland, Ohio, office today and unavailable for comment.
Bill Grimes can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 132 or bgrimes@effinghamdailynews.com.
- Local News
-
-
A dream come true
The Early Learning Center in Effingham has two new additions to its playground this year, and it’s not shiny new slides or colorful jungle gyms.
-
T-town village donates to school programs
Teutopolis hasn’t had a Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program for more than a decade, but the village still had a fund for donations that had been made to the program.
-
Alcohol sales stir up extra revenue
Since voters allowed liquor sales in Farina earlier this year, village officials and store owners have noticed a change — and it’s positive.
-
Police release 'person of interest' sketch in Schmitt murder investigation
Effingham police released a sketch Tuesday of a "person of interest" in the June murder of Effingham resident Jack Schmitt.
-
Elderly couple escapes burning house thanks to neighbor
An elderly Shumway couple was able to escape a house fire unharmed Sunday night thanks to a neighbor who alerted the fire department and came to the aid of the husband and wife.
-
Giving Back
In many ways, Autumn Worton is like many other 21-year-old women.
-
Making a Difference
Mack Myers of Kinmundy has lived with a hereditary neurological disorder his entire life, and he credits the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) for helping him cope with the disorder that’s affected him since 1947.
-
Area unemployment inches higher
Unemployment rates increased in nearly every area county last month, according to monthly statistics released this week by the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
-
Local historians want to preserve, relocate bowstring bridge
The old Flensburg bridge is a rare glimpse into days gone by, though the modern-day resident has to use some imagination to see the bridge’s historical significance.
-
Drug checkpoint questionable
Motorists traveling southbound on Interstate 57 near Kinmundy Tuesday morning drove through a drug interdiction checkpoint — the first-ever in Marion County — even though the U.S. Supreme Court has taken a dim view of similar efforts.
- More Local News Headlines
-
