Volunteers for a Progressive Fairfield awarded Smile awards to Reta Mathews and Carol Nale Vaughan. The award was started by the late Mayor Mike Dreith. The group plans to award it annually. "SMILE" stands for SHINE,MOTIVATE,INSPIRE, LEADS, EXCEL. Reta Mathews and Carol Vaughan had been chosen as recipients by Mike before his death. Reta and her late husband Preston could be seen working daily during summer months keeping the landscape at Freedom Park attractive to visitors of the downtown area. Reta has turned over her park duties to Carol, whose commitment to Wasson Park has been ongoing for at least 17 years. Carol notes the Tennant Landscaping donations of plants at both parks and Elaine Gardner, Chuck Reynolds and Angela Vaughan help watering the parks. The girls live up to the meaning of the award: "Shine" through their handiwork they Brighten the community, they "motivate & "inspire" others to keep their own properties beautiful, they "lead" others to volunteer and make a difference in the community and they "excel" at having a green thumb at creating beauty. The Wayne County Sheriff's Merit Commission is accepting applications now until 5pm on December 2nd for the position of Deputy Sheriff. The physical and written testing dates will be announced after the application process concludes. Starting pay for new Deputies is $21.57 an hour. The Sheriff's Office continues to accept applications for lateral transfer for Deputy Sheriff. Full time certified law enforcement officers are eligible for a lateral transfer of up to 10 years seniority towards payroll. A 10-year Deputy's starting pay is $27.06 an hour. Full-time Deputies get the county employee benefit package, vacation time, personal days, and work 10-hour shifts, giving them a 3-day weekend. The Sheriff's Office will also be accepting applications for the position of both full-time & part-time Correctional Officer. If you have already returned an application for Correctional Officer this year you do not need to complete another and will remain on the eligibility list. Starting pay for a new full-time Correctional Officer is $19.14 an hour. Pay for a part-time Correctional Officer is $15.00 an hour. Full-time Correctional Officers get the county employee benefit package, vacation time, personal days, and work 10-hour shifts, giving them a 3-day weekend. The Sheriff's Office also continues to accept applications for lateral transfer for Correctional Officers as well. Full time certified Correctional Officers are eligible for a lateral transfer of up to 10 years seniority towards payroll. A 10-year Correctional Officer's starting pay is $23.38 an hour. Those interested can pick up an application at the Wayne County Sheriff's Office. The Fairfield Community High School Board met in regular session Thursday evening with all members present. In the Superintendents Report, Superintendent Jill Fulkerson complimented FCHS Instructor Angie Tucker for her work on the Make A Difference Day. So far, they have accumulated $20,000, which will be donated to the Park District for the new Splash Pad at the municipal swimming pool. Supt. Fulkerson also advised that the first tax payments from Wayne and White counties had been received. She also stated that a 2-person committee was reviewing the schools weighted grading system and would make a future recommendation to the board. In new business: The board approved a bid of $40,135 from Johanas Construction to install a new roof on the west end of the Ag Shop building. The board received the FY22 Audit from Dartt & Co., Supt. Fulkerson stated that no major discrepancies were noted, and the district's Financial Profile Score was a perfect 4.0. The board accepted the resignation of Rachael McKibben, effective October 12, 2022. The board voted to move the November board meeting to November 21. Fairfield Junior Football League representative Ken Otey thanked the board for the use of their facilities and staff. The league just concluded a very successful season. The West Salem Village Board met in special session Thursday night. The board accepted the resignation of Dan Baker as Village President and appointed Jeff Bradham as Interim President until the spring election in April. Fire Chief Harvey Fenton was officially appointed Fire Chief by the board. Both Bradham and Fenton were sworn into their positions. The board approved the resignation of Darrin Rice as Village Attorney and agreed to rehire him at next Monday's meeting as attorney. The board also voted to accept the resignation of Misty Mewes as board member and Kim Carlson as Village Treasurer. A reminder to Wayne City residents. The Village of Wayne City will be conclude flushing of fire hydrants today. This will include the Village of Keenes. Village residents might experience periods of discolored water and pressure fluctuations. Residents should check their water for discoloration before doing laundry or similar activities. The annual Sims Halloween Carnival will be held tomorrow (Saturday, October 22nd) at The Sims community center. The kitchen will open at 4:30 and the menu will include chili, vegetable soup, hot dogs, drink and dessert. Kids games will begin at 4:30. Costume judging will begin at 6:00 followed by a raffle and Cakewalk. Proceeds go toward funding community events and Community Center repairs. Wabash General Hospital (WGH) is honored to announce Dr. Lawrence Speir will be joining WGH on January 30, 2023. Dr. Speir will temporarily work at WGH Orthopaedic Department in Mount Carmel on Mondays, Thursdays, and every other Fridays. He will work out of the WGH Albion Medical Clinic in Albion on Wednesdays and every other Friday. To schedule an appointment at either location, please call (618)445-8170. We are working towards providing Dr. Speir's services on a full-time basis at the Albion Medical Clinic in the future. "I am excited to join WGH and continue providing chiropractic care to our community," stated Dr. Speir. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Illinois and Bachelor of Science in Human Biology from Logan University prior to completing his Doctorate of Chiropractic at Logan University. Dr. Speir has been a chiropractic physician in Albion for 18 years. He was raised in Edwards County where he currently resides with his wife, Holly, and son, Sam. Wabash General Hospital is delighted to expand services its services in Edwards County. The WGH Albion Medical Clinic opened in 2018 and continues to provide primary care services, orthopaedic, sports medicine, laboratories, and x-ray services. State Education officials say the latest school report card will show an overall improvement in student growth last year. The report cards for each public school in Illinois come out next week, providing a snapshot of student performance data. State Schools Superintendent Carmen Ayala says it looks like good news. Ayala credits federal COVID relief money which was used for things like tutoring, summer school, and social and emotional programs to help kids get back on track, but says student proficiency, meaning the child meets or exceed grade level standards has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels. A gusty southwest wind and dry conditions will continue to give us a heightened fire danger across east central and southeastern Illinois through the weekend. Residents should avoid outdoor burning and obey all local burn bans. Brush and trash fires, plus improperly discarded cigarettes can all start major fires that can spread quickly with gusty winds. People are encouraged not to burn anything outdoors at any time until our next significant rainfall. River stages as of this morning: the Little Wabash east of Fairfield stands at 5.04 feet, below the 17 ft. flood stage. Meanwhile, the Skillet Fork at Wayne City has a reading of 4.93 feet (flood stage is 15 ft.). The Little Wabash below Clay City is at 4.13 (flood stage is 18 ft.). Bonpas Creek at Browns reads 1.08 feet. The Little Wabash at Main Street in Carmi reads 3.23 feet, and t