Defendant’s lawyer seeks dismissal in insurer suit against ex-WTVP execs

In a Jan. 29 motion, the lawyer representing Linda McLaughlin, WTVP’s ex-Director of Finance and Human Resources, is seeking Judge Timothy Cusack to dismiss much of the lawsuit brought by the Cincinnati Insurance Co. to recover the $250,000 the company paid the TV station as part of WTVP’s claim of financial losses between 2019 and 2023.

Peoria attorney Philip O’Donnell’s combined motion to dismiss two counts of the suit says that the insurer’s amended complaint filed Dec. 29 “abandons all prior allegations of theft, unjust enrichment, fraud and conspiracy against [McLaughlin. It] now asserts claims against her solely for ordinary negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.

“Plaintiff [Cincinnati Insurance] now alleges that it was only Lesley Matuszak, WTVP’s Chief Executive Officer, who engaged in fraud and misappropriation of funds,” he says.

Matuszak died shortly after WTVP’s board questioned spending. She’s been accused of having improperly taken station funds for personal use and theft of WTVP funds. McLaughlin resigned the same week, when the board announced “questionable, unauthorized, or improper” spending.

O’Donnell writes that Illinois law doesn’t allow an employer or indemnifier to recover from an employee for mere carelessness or poor decision-making, especially without proof that the employee benefited from the act.

“Inadequate job performance, lapses in oversight and poor judgment do not create civil liability,” O’Donnell says. “Under Illinois law, poor employee performance is addressed through termination.”

Among other criticisms of the insurer’s amended complaint, O’Donnell said the insurer “alleges that a police investigation implicated Lesley Matuszak [but] does not include any similar allegation that Linda was the subject of a criminal investigation or accused of criminal wrongdoing.

However, the Peoria police investigation –which did find probable cause to charge Matuszak (and declined to bring charges since she was dead) – seemed to reference and possibly implicate McLaughlin, but police decided that “probable cause has not been reached for her arrest, unless she is able to be communicated with,” the police report stated.

The insurer claims WTVP’s insurance policy provided coverage for employee theft, fraud and embezzlement, but the amended complaint didn’t attach the actual policy.

In November, Cusack granted O’Donnell’s motion to dismiss the suit because it lack specificity, but the judge gave Cincinnati Insurance’s counsel time to amend its original complaint.

Matuszak’s estate also is named as a defendant in the suit, but no response has been filed on the estate’s behalf.

The next appearance is a case management conference on March 13.

HOW SWEET THE SOUND: Peorian’s music career is good and getting better

You never know when someone you meet is special – a quiet creative soul with depth. It could be a librarian, bricklayer or barber.

On the other hand, maybe everyone’s special.

One Arctic morning with temps in the single digits, bundled-up Emily How unwraps herself from a long, insulated coat, wipes frost from an eyelash and remembers writing one of her songs on a day like this: “I Hope I Die Inside a Fire.”

“It was the dead of winter and I hate winter,” she says, smiling some. “I was having a bad day and I was feeling dramatic and, almost spontaneously, it all sort of came together.”

However, her music and voice – whether on NBC-TV’s “The Voice,” public radio’s “Tiny Desk Concert” competition, or her album (“How Are You Lately?”, out last June), various online offerings and live shows – can also be reminiscent of philosopher and writer Albert Camus’ line, “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”

A graduate of PORTA High School in Petersburg, Ill., where she grew up before attending UIUC for a while, How evolved with some consistency.

“I started singing when I was about 7, and I was really into Taylor Swift until I was 13 or so,” she says.

Her 2018 appearance on “The Voice” with Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine’s team was a nice turn. Then she played in the Champaign area and eventually moved to Peorim, where she works at a coffee shop as well as further developing he talents as a singer, lyricist and guitarist (“I just got a new guitar, a Reverend,” she says with some delight.).

How is often slotted into the “indie” music label – like Americana, emo, shoegaze or other hard-to-define terms. But How is independent, creating, producing and presenting material on her terms.

Some hybrid comparisons to her music are thrown out: Lucinda Williams and Teddy Swims? Alanis Morissette and Tom Morello? Or, for readers from a different time, Grace Slick and Mike Bloomfield?

She seems flattered. (Or indulgent.)

On or all the mark, such parallels feature an infinite, intimate blend of thoughtful and electrifying words and riffs with fury and fear, confidence and confusion, a coming of age or disappointment about a static state.

“I write what I’m thinking, almost like a diary – sorting through my brain. Maybe I’m a little ADHD,” she added, laughing. “I use my creative muscles and write what I feel strongly about, and I can overreact and kind of throw a tantrum, musically.”

She fronts a tight band that includes Jacob Hill (lead guitar and producer), Bowie Adams (bass) and

Matt Filarski (drums). Together, they’re gritty, with growling vocals one moment, a plaintive, plea the next, and then a shriek like dolphin fleeing a shark.

Elsewhere, the 23 year old has been praised by the likes of the Chicago Reader newspaper, where Jamie Ludwig wrote, “ ‘I Hope I Die Inside a Fire”\’ goes from zero to 60 and back again; it starts with even-keeled indie pop and slacker rock, builds to an impassioned climax flooded with layers of haunting vocals, and drops off that cliff into a sparse, hair-raisingly lovely outro.”

Some may hear a sweet sigh but recall troubled, tortured singing here and there about daydreams and nightmares. Then How muses about life beyond writing, recording and performing, conceding she’s headed to work out at the Riverplex and noting that she’s listened to a Mixmaster mess of artists, from Nirvana and Ed Sheeran to the Lumineers and Big Thief, and has a bit of a green thumb and fascination with houseplants.

The group is busy via online platforms, earning thousands of views or Spotify, etc., plus posting on Instagram, Tik Tok, etc. They’ve issued some EPs (Extended Play records) and while she may not always wear her emotions on her sleeve, she carries them on her shoulders.

Some of the group’s repertoire stands out: Their number “Useless,” a melodic yet primitive song of frustration, was the tune voted in the Top 20 of more than 7,000 entrees in a 2024 contest for “Tiny Desk.” “Flight Behavior” has a delicate rage; the jaunty rhythm of “Brain Cells” is oddly cleansing; and her lyrics from the unreleased “Moss Avenue” offer a charming commentary on class differences along that storied neighborhood.

 

How has wowed crowds not only at Chillicothe’s Summer Camp festival or its next incarnation, Solshine, but at Kenny’s Westside Pub and the 3300 Event Center – and throughout the Midwest. Last month she played Book Club in Chicago, King’s Crossing in Normal, and the Brass Rail in Fort Wayne, Ind.

“On stage, I push myself,” she says. “Our last tour came out better than break-even, so that was good.” says.

In a nod to different organization or professionalism, they’ve added help to build on the regional success they’ve achieved.

“As far as a career goes, we just hired a manager, so that might give us more access,” How says. “Right now, it feels like we’re more in control, absolutely – like we’re in charge. Maybe we’ll decide to work with a label, but we want to protect ourselves [and] the music.

 “So far, so good.”

‘No Kings 3.0’ March 28 could be even bigger

If the Trump administration’s detention-deportation approach was to scare Americans to shut up and go home, it backfired, say people helping to arrange another coast-co-coast rally this month.

National and local organizers think the public will respond with greater involvement in reaction to tactics used by armed and masked federal agents seizing, fighting or even killing people without warrants or proof of their targets being the “worst of the worst” criminals.

Ezra Levin, co-founder and co-director of Indivisible, one of the groups behind the nationwide “No Kings” protests, recently spoke to Katie Herchenroeder, a contributor at Mother Jones magazine, and he said the next “No Kings” protest could have the largest turnout of the three, which started last June.

Organizers in metro Peoria commenting to the Community Word agreed.

“[The first] ‘No Kings’ was an effort to provide a stark narrative contrast to Trump’s version of reality,” Levin said. “He was throwing himself a ridiculous military birthday parade for himself, as authoritarians do. We wanted to make clear that he was small and weak and that the people were against him. The second ‘No Kings’ [in October] was largely in response to sending the National Guard to invade and occupy American cities. I think the third ‘No Kings’ is a response to the secret police force that’s terrorizing American communities.

“We had 147,000 people register for the ‘Eyes on ICE’ training in January. These 147,000 people saw secret police force assault and murder fellow Americans, and one natural response you could imagine would be that people could do what the regime wants them to do, which is to be quiet and go home and not show up. Instead, we have the largest number of people ever to attend a training to learn how to do exactly what Renee Good and Alex Pretti were doing. The attendance tells me that there’s real demand for this.”

Indeed, after that training of protesters on exercising First Amendment rights in nonviolent ways, the final number of participants was more than 200,000.

In Peoria, where some 6,000 people participated in “No Kings” Oct. 18, Ann Schreifels of Peoria’s Democracy 309 group of activists says, “There are a lot of people who, for the last year, may have been upset about what was happening, may have opposed what was happening, but may have not been actively engaged in pushing back.”

Levin feels the same way.      

“I think we all feel powerless watching our government lie, cheat, steal and kill. But when we come together in a public display of solidarity we show the world that the citizens of the United States are not supporting the authoritarian regime headed by an addled, racist old man in the White House.

“It’s not all about just a one-day protest,” he continued. “We are developing organizational capacity that allows us to pull off historic levels of engagement in between these tentpole events. The ‘No Kings’ coalition is not just Indivisible, not just 5051, or MoveOn, or Working Families Party, or ACLU. We’ve all been working together.

“This is a movement that is being led and directed at the local level,” he added, “and I think that’s why it’s been so successful. When it comes to actually defending your community, you should not be looking to some talking head on TV. You should be gathering community with your neighbors and figuring it out yourself, because nobody’s going to save you but you.”

Peorian Jim Haptonstahl says, “Given the growing public sentiment against the lawlessness, cruelty, corruption and racism of the fascist regime, we at Peoria 50501 expect turnout for No Kings 3.0 will well-exceed that of our October event, and we’re planning accordingly for a major outpouring for democracy.”

In Tazewell County, Mari Osborne of the Fired Up! group, says, “I am 100% optimistic about the upcoming No Kings protest. Every day we wake up to this Republican administration's created chaos, stress, fear and anger – people are ready to make some noise and stand together in unity. We have plenty of time to plan and get the word out; it's going to be HUGE.

“I really am Fired Up about it!”

Insurer files amended complaint against ex-WTVP execs

The Cincinnati Insurance Co. on  Dec. 29 filed an amended complaint against two former WTVP-TV executives, changing the specific allegations against Linda McLaughlin and the late Lesley Matuszak.

In a suit filed last March, the insurer is seeking to recover the $250,000 the company paid the TV station as part of WTVP’s claim of financial losses between 2019 and 2023. WTVP’s insurance policy provided coverage for employee theft, fraud and embezzlement, the insurance company said.

Matuszak, WTVP’s former Chief Executive Officer, died shortly after WTVP’s board questioned spending. She’s accused of having improperly taken station funds for personal use (“conversion”) and theft of WTVP funds (“unjust enrichment”). Matuszak’s estate is the named defendant; no response has been filed on the estate’s behalf. McLaughlin, WTVP’s ex-Director of Finance and Human Resources, resigned the week the board announced “questionable, unauthorized, or improper” spending.

In November, Judge Timothy Cusack granted a defense motion to dismiss the suit because it lack specificity but gave the insurer time to amend its initial complaint.

The amended complaint seems to link McLaughlin’s responsibilities with the financial loss, which the station said totaled more than $870,000. A Peoria police investigation said embezzlement occurred and found probable cause to charge Matuszak, but declined to file charges since she was dead. Although implicated, McLaughlin never faced charges and “probable cause has not been reached for her arrest, unless she is able to be communicated with,” police reported. Police declined to comment further.

Concerning McLaughlin, the complaint now accuses the former Director of Finance of negligence and breach of her fiduciary duty “by virtue of her position. McLaughlin owed WTVP a duty to exercise reasonable care in the management, oversight and protection of WTVP's financial assets, accounts, credit cards, and internal financial controls.

The new complaint asserts, “McLaughlin further owed WTVP a duty to act reasonably in monitoring company credit card usage, bank accounts, lines of credit, investment accounts, and financial reporting, and to prevent unauthorized or improper use of company funds.

“McLaughlin was negligent and breached her duties in the following ways,” it continues. She failed “to properly monitor and review company credit card statements and transactions [and]  to ensure that credit card charges were supported by proper receipts and approvals; allowed unauthorized and improper personal expenditures to be charged to WTVP accounts; failed to properly monitor and audit and prevent the dishonest and fraudulent activity; to timely report irregular, excessive and/or suspicious financial transactions; to properly perform her duties and responsibilities as the Director of Finance, thereby allowing the misuse and loss of funds; to implement and/or follow reasonable internal controls designed to safeguard WTVP's funds; to properly perform her duties and responsibilities as the Director of Human Resources, and to properly supervise and oversee the officers and employees; and was otherwise negligent in the performance of her duties and responsibilities as the Director of Finance and Human Resources.

“As a direct and proximate result of McLaughlin's negligence, WTVP suffered a substantial financial loss in the amount of $375,017.29 [and] as a direct and proximate result of McLaughlin's negligence, Cincinnati Insurance paid $250,000.00 to WTVP pursuant to its insurance policy as reimbursement for a portion of the loss.”

McLaughlin’s attorney, Philip O’Donnell of Peoria, had not filed a response to the amended complaint as of press time. Judge Cusack gave the defense until Jan. 30 to file an answer.

The next appearance is a case management conference on March 13.

March primary has few competitive races, but sets up future contests

On Peoria ballots, the March 17 primary election doesn’t have many head-to-head races, especially locally, but Illinois voters will have some choices for state and federal positions and can see challenges ahead in November balloting.

The Peoria County has 13 positions on the ballot, but just one, County Clerk, foreshadows a fall contest, when incumbent Democrat Rachael Parker will be challenged by Republican Kari Gabbert. Filings for Peoria Public Schools District 150 has two races for five-year terms, with Sarah Howard and Douglas Shannon facing off in the Northern District and David Days and Andres Diaz both running for the Central District.

In Tazewell County, County Board District 1 has five GOP candidates vying for four seats.

Statewide, incumbent Reps. Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-92^nd), Ryan Spain (R-73^rd) and Travis Weaver (R-93^rd) are unopposed, as are Democratic challengers Nicole Dopler for the 73^rd and Zoey Renee Carter for the 93^rd.

The open Comptroller seat has Republican Bryan Drew now unopposed, the Illinois State Board of Election (ISBE) says, and on the Democratic side, Holly Kim seems to be leading a field including opponents Margaret Croke, Stephanie A. Kifowit and Karina Villa – all of whom have pending redaction requests, the ISBE says,

Meanwhile, Gov. JB Pritzker is unopposed on the Democratic ballot, and Republicans will have a choice between former gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey, Lake Forest businessman Ted Dabrowsky and DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick. An Emerson College/WGN-TV survey taken last month shows Bailey leading the Republican field with 34% support.

For the U.S. Senate seat, from which Dick Durbin is retiring next January, 10 Democrats and 6 Republicans remain on the ballot, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections, with three Democrats leading the polls. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Peoria native, leads with 31% support, Emerson says, with Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton at 10% and Congresswoman Robin Kelly, a Bradley University graduate, at 8%. Republican Patry Chair Don Tracy leads the GOP with 6%, but 84% of likely Republican voters are undecided.

The two area Congressional seats also show incumbents running unopposed. In November, Democrat Eric Sorensen of the 17^th District looks to be facing Republicans Vancil Dillan Jr. or Julie Bickelhaupt. And Republican Darin LaHood of the 16^th District will face a challenger for a first time since 2022 since Democrat Paul Nolley is unopposed on the Democratic ballot.

Nolley told the Community Word it will be tough campaign, conceding it’s a “David vs. Goliath” match, but “I’m very positive.”

LaHood reportedly has some $6 million to spend, but Nolley says LaHood’s “100% record of voting with Trump” could be a liability. LaHood voted for the controversial “Big Beautiful Bill” in May and voted against two measures that passed in January with Republican support: a vote to overturn President Trump's Executive Order ending collective bargaining rights for two-thirds of the federal workforce (which had 13 GOP co-sponsors), and a resolution protecting health-care subsidies (with 17 other Republicans voting for it).

Nolley’s issues include protecting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and helping to “revitalize manufacturing [by] coordinating federal investment in modern manufacturing and improve energy beyond prices to push for clean, renewable energy [in which] China is kicking our butt.”

LaHood has declined multiple attempts to get a comment.

'5 Questions' for neighborhood activist Andy Diaz

In Peoria’s North Valley between the river and the bluff from downtown to War Memorial Drive, longtime resident and advocate Andy Diaz holds court over coffee. Born and raised in the neighborhood, he graduated from Woodruff, attended ICC, worked at Tri County Regional Planning Commission, volunteered at Peoria Citizens Committee for Economic Opportunity (PCCEO), earned a degree at Bradley University, and for decades has worked at Caterpillar.

Diaz, 47, knows Spanish and French, and walked through Europe for seven months when he was 20, and has worked with clients including foreign governments, the State Department and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Living near his parents, who moved here in 1974, Diaz’ family attends St. Paul’s and St. Mark’s churches and includes four kids, and after returning to the neighborhood in 2016 he’s worked to help revitalize the area.

 

As someone with Mexican heritage, do you get asked about immigration – and get tired of the questions?

I was born here – first generation – and I’m living the American Dream. We can all live the American Dream. There’s no cause to get disruptive.

 

You say you originally studied to be a veterinarian. How do feel about animals?
We have two sheepdogs, Luna and Bruno. We love them and are training them to be service dogs, too.

 

You remember wrestling as a youngster. Sports fan?

Go Bears!

 

Any lesson you took from running for mayor in 2021 – especially campaigning for school board?

Yeah: Not every job is the one you want. But I talked to a lot of people, had good conversations and made great connections.

I’m a proud Northsider [and] I thought the City wasn’t taking care of our neighborhood – and felt ignored as “the Northside crackpot.” But everyone deserves to be listened to, in the North Valley or Detweiller Drive. I guess I was fighting the City then, but you can only fight so much.

As far as schools, I just want to see children succeed; I look at District 150 and I’m sad and scared. There’s too little transparency and accountability, whether picking the search firm for a new superintendent or getting an audit done when state law requires. When I went to Woodruff, there were students of all races from all over Peoria; that was great. Now, too many [student] boundary waivers create financial segregation.

 

What’s your favorite dessert?

All of them! It’s a weakness. I love the old saying, “Life’s short; eat dessert first.”

Bombing Venezuela prompted quick anti-war rally

Early in the morning of January 3, President Trump ordered U.S. military forces to bomb Venezuela’s capital Caracas and seize the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores.

Most Americans were surprised, many were angered, and some mobilized to take their outrage to the streets.

The same day, demonstrations occurred in Chicago and St. Louis, and also in Galesburg and Macomb. Between cities large and small were protests in Champaign, Decatur, Edwardsville, Rockford and Springfield.

“We didn’t want to leave Peoria out,” said Jim Haptonstahl, one of the organizers at Peoria 50501, which in a matter of 22 hours planned and carried out a January 4 rally at the intersection of Main and University.

“We thought the seriousness of the situation was such that we had to act to have some show of force,” he said.

Other Illinois towns had the same thought that Sunday, and additional protests took place in Bloomington, Quincy and Rock Island.

Weeks before ICE shootings in Minneapolis and Portland, everyday people were already increasingly frustrated and agitated.

More than 100 people turned out in and around Peoria’s Campustown block despite cold temperatures. The afternoon seemed warmed by crowd chants of “No blood for oil,” “No kings, no crown, Peoria will not back down,” and supporters in passing vehicles honked and rolled down windows to wave and thrust their fists in the air.

“Trump’s [poll] numbers are falling and there are cracks in his MAGA and Republican base,” Haptonstahl said. “Studies show that protests have an impact, and the impact is starting to touch legislators.”

Next month, activists nationwide are planning “No Kings 3.0” rallies to follow October’s “No Kings” events at more than 2,700 communities, where almost 7 million people in all 50 states participated, including an estimated 6,000 in Peoria.

Haptonstahl continued, “As [author and former Labor Secretary] Robert Reich states, ‘The nightmare has awakened much of the U.S. to the truth about what has happened to this country – and what we must do to get it back on the track toward social justice, democracy and widespread prosperity.’

“Be ready to act!” Haptonstahl added.