THE
Daily Egyptian SERVING THE SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY SINCE 1916.
DAILYEGYPTIAN.COM
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2026
VOL. 109, ISSUE 26
InsiDE Horstman’s announces closure, Page 3 | Illinois primary election results, Pages 6-7 | SIU extends Nick Hill’s contract, Page 10
ICE agents arrest Carbondale man Daughters watched from a nearby window as their father was taken into custody JACKSON BRANDHORST jbrandhorst@dailyegyptian.com
Federal immigration agents arrested a Carbondale father and business owner outside of his home less than a month after minor traffic tickets against him were dismissed in court. Bulmaro Perez Ramirez, who has lived in the United States undocumented for more than 25 years, was taken into custody on March 17 outside of the home where he has lived with his family since 2011, according to relatives. It was his second time being detained by immigration agents outside his residence. In February, a Perry County judge dismissed two citations — for allegedly speeding and driving
without a valid license — that stemmed from a September traffic stop in Du Quoin, court records show. It was the 52-year-old’s first violation of southern Illinois law in two decades. On the morning of his arrest, Perez Ramirez was in his front yard working on a lawnmower for the landscaping business he started in 2018, unaware that federal agents were waiting nearby, his family said. About 10 minutes later, his daughter Fernanda heard him yelling her name. “I thought he just needed something from me. He usually yells my name from outside whenever he needs help while working,” Fernanda said. “As I was walking out of my ICE | 4
Sisters Julissa and Fernanda hold a photo of themselves with their father who was recently arrested by ICE agents March 21, 2026 in Carbondale, Illinois. Lylee Gibbs | @lyleegibbsphoto
Carterville coach under investigation City Council hears concerns over camping ordinance in has history of disciplinary action special Friday meeting
JACKSON BRANDHORST MOLLY PARKER jbrandhorst@dailyegyptian.com mparker@capitolnewsillinois.com
John “Jake” Wakey, the Carterville High School assistant football coach and teacher at the center of an ongoing criminal sexual abuse investigation, had been previously disciplined by the district for inappropriately texting students and letting them hang out at his house late at night without any other adults present. As a result, Wakey was suspended for 10 days without pay in December 2009 by Carterville Unit 5 District’s Board of Education, according to school records obtained by Capitol News Illinois and the Saluki Local Reporting Lab under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. In an eight-count “notice of
charges,” the district at the time also accused him of drinking in front of students before driving to catch the bus headed for a football game that he helped coach. It also said that he let students remain in his home unsupervised. He did not face criminal charges. Wakey joined the Carterville district in the fall of 2003, days after he ended court supervision for a misdemeanor conviction for providing liquor to minors earlier that same year in Coles County, about 150 miles north of Carterville, court records show. The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office announced last month that it had opened a criminal sexual abuse investigation into a district employee, but didn’t name Wakey at the time. CNI and the Saluki Lab first reported last week that Wakey was the subject
of the abuse allegations, upon obtaining three subpoenas served to the district seeking school records about him and 17 former students. The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, which is leading the criminal investigation, and the Illinois State Board of Education, which is conducting a separate investigation into his teacher’s license, served the subpoenas on the school district. A subpoena is a legal process that compels the production of records or interviews in an investigation. It does not indicate that wrongdoing has occurred, or detail any allegations, and Wakey — who has worked in the district for more than two decades — has not been charged with a crime. He has not responded to multiple calls and text messages to his cellphone seeking comment.
CARTERVILLE | 3
ORION WOLF owolf@dailyegyptian.com
The Carbondale City Council did not take action on an ordinance that would have banned public camping in the city after three hours of public comment in a special meeting Friday morning. The public offered alternative approaches to addressing homelessness in Carbondale, and the City Council offered their own ideas as well. The council chamber was filled with people, and more chairs were brought into the already crowded room to account for more residents and neighbors who had come to comment on the ordinance. The proposed ordinance would have declared public camping to
be a “nuisance,” which is defined as “‘a significant and unreasonable interference’ with the rights of the public,” according to Justia. The ordinance included an exception for camping on land that the city authorized for the specific use of public camping. If adopted, it would have imposed fines on those who violate that. According to the meeting agenda packet, the ordinance was introduced to create a structure of clear, set rules on the use of public property for camping and to address health and safety concerns involved with such encampments. Alongside this ordinance was another item of discussion regarding the standards of communication ORDINANCE | 5