BIG NEWS FOR THE LITTLE TOWN

Big things are happening in little Blue Mound. My little town of only 1,200 people is all abuzz with today's going on. Only two blocks from my house, they are filming a scene in a major motion picture. This may be even more talked about than the earthquake that had us all shaking a few weeks ago at 4:30AM.

Yes, a stone's throw away from my home this evening is Matt Damon, who is starring in the upcoming movie, The Informant. This movie is based on the actual story of Mark Whitacre, a former ADM executive turned informant for the FBI. Whitacre and several other ADM execs were involved in a price-fixing scheme that ultimately resulted in the biggest anti-trust case for the FBI in history, with ADM repaying more than $400 million in fines and to plaintiffs and customers. At first thought a hero, it later became known that Whitacre himself was also involved in an embezzlement scheme in which he took almost $9 million, mostly during the time he was working with the FBI. Whitacre ultimately spent 8 1/2 years in federal prison for price-fixing, tax fraud, and tax evasion.

Quite a bit of the filming is taking place in Decatur because of the fact that the storyline centers around ADM (headquartered in Decatur) and where most of the the real-life story actually took place. I have heard that the movie folks are using the inside of our local P & G Quikstop because of its LACK of updating - - it apparently still closely resembles the time frame they are looking for. (So take THAT Casey's, with your ultra-modern cappuccino machine!)

I have tried to think of acceptable reasons that would make it necessary for me to go walk by the P & G so I could claim that I actually had a purpose for being out and about near the action, instead of just trying to do some celebrity gawking. Alas, no good reasons have come to mind, so here I sit at my computer, writing about Matt Damon instead of gazing at him through the gas station window.