As of today, the Illinois mask mandate for most venues has been lifted. Masks are no longer mandated by the state in bars, restaurants, and grocery stores thanks to a rapid decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations in the last month-plus. However, Governor J.B. Pritzker says cities, villages, and businesses are free to apply their own mitigations. Any federal mask mandates will also continue to apply, including in places like mass transit, healthcare settings, long-term care facilities, prisons, and daycares. The governor announced Friday the state's school mask mandate also ends today. The Illinois Supreme Court ended a temporary restraining order prohibiting masking for schools named in a lawsuit from Sangamon County Court Friday, but the governor says the ruling also said, if a mandates needs to go into effect in the future, the State does have that authority. CDC guidance does recommend masks continue to be worn in an area of high transmission, which does include Wayne, Edwards, White, and Hamilton counties. The Village of Wayne City has scheduled its spring town-wide rummage sale for April 29th and 30th. People should call Village Hall at 895-2241 by April 26th to be put on the sale list and map. Lists and maps will then be available at Village Hall and at various businesses on the 27th. In addition, the town-wide clean-up will be held on May 3rd. A list of items that can and cannot be picked up will be available at Village Hall. All items must be put curbside. Wayne City Schools will conduct Child Find/Preschool Screenings on April 7th and 8th for children up to five years old who are not yet enrolled in public school. The screenings will be held at Wayne City Baptist Church from 8:30 to 2:30, and appointments must be made by calling Tesia Maxey at 895-0357. The screening procedure takes about 45 minutes. Wayne City will also conduct Kindergarten Screening and Registration in conjunction with the Pre-K event. Eligible children must be five years old by September 1st, and this process will take five to 10 minutes to check for kindergarten readiness. Parents should bring copies of immunization records, dental and eye exams, and a school physical, of available. Again, people can schedule an appointment by calling Maxey at 895-0357. According to the CDC over the weekend, 6,338 people in Wayne County were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, or 39.1 percent of its population, including 48.2 percent of people over 18 and 68.5 percent of people over 65. 44.3 percent of fully vaccinated people had been boosted. 39.6 percent of Edwards County residents were fully vaccinated, including 49.3 percent of those over 18 and 74.7 percent of those over 65. 43.7 percent of vaccinated people had been boosted. Again per the CDC, Wayne County had 26 new COVID cases and one hospitalization in the last week, and its seven-day positivity rate was 5.3 percent. Edwards County had fewer than 10 new cases and no hospitalizations, and its positivity rate was 12.6 percent. River stages as of early this morning: the Little Wabash east of Fairfield stands at 26.21 feet, above the 17 ft. flood stage. Meanwhile, the Skillet Fork at Wayne City has a reading of 7.34 feet (flood stage is 15 ft.). The Little Wabash below Clay City is at 13.95 feet (flood stage is 18 ft.). Bonpas Creek at Browns reads 11.70 feet, and the Little Wabash at Main Street in Carmi reads 32.88 feet. The Wabash River at Mt. Carmel sits at 26.38 feet. Today's crude oil price is $84.50, down $1.25 from Friday. The April crude oil price is $95.80, up $1.89 from Friday morning. "Morning Coffee" will feature Mark Turner. "Morning Coffee" is between 8-9 a.m. on 104.9 weekdays. To listen to a podcast of Morning Coffee and Community Connection, click on "About Us" on the top right of wfiwradio.com. Then, from the dropdown, make your choice of program.