Mt. Morris village computer system hacked

MT. MORRIS — Mt. Morris Village Hall computers were hacked earlier this week, Village President Phil Labash announced at the Jan. 25 board meeting.

Official village email accounts are sending out links to a document that contains a virus, he explained. There doesn’t appear to be any malicious or permanent damage to the systems and the situation is being monitored, Labash said.

“As a reminder, to the board and to the public, if you’re not expecting that email and it looks at all fishy, do not open any documents that are a part of it,” Labash said. “You’re better off reaching out to the party you think sent it just to confirm whether or not that’s a real email.

“Just be overly suspicious,” he added. “Pick up the phone, make the call. If it is something we sent, we’ll verify it and you can open it.”

Passwords are being reset as a way to counteract the hack, Labash said.

Mt. Morris Village Hall is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The phone number is 815-734-6425. Contact information for all village officials, including phone numbers, can be found at: http://mtmorrisil.net/administration.

DLR proposed closure

Also on Tuesday, Labash gave a brief update to board members and members of the public in attendance regarding the proposed closure of David L. Rahn Junior High School.

Oregon School Board members plan to rescind their Aug. 16 vote to close DLR at the end of this school year and will revote on Feb. 22.

“We are revoting to be in compliance with the law that was passed just before our original vote. We will rescind the August vote before revoting on the DLR closure and the acceptance of the Jr./Sr. High plan,” Oregon School Board President Bryan Wills wrote in a Jan. 19 email to Shaw Media.

Labash said the move was a “victory.”

“This is a win for us, in the short term,” he said. “That gives us a chance to make our case over the next 30 days.”

He strongly encouraged village board trustees and members of the public to voice their concerns and attend the Feb. 22 school board meeting.