Petitions for the Consolidated Election to be held on April 4, 2023, are now available in the office of City Clerk Tina Hutchcraft. A Mayor will be elected for a two-year term to fill the unexpired term of Mayor Mike Dreith, and one alderman from each of the city's four wards will be elected for a four-year term. Petition circulation began on September 20th. Filing period for petitions is December 12th through December 19th. The City Clerk's Office hours are 7am to noon and 1pm to 4pm Monday through Friday. The Wayne County Historical Society monthly meeting will be tonight at 6 in the Fairfield Library meeting room. A short business meeting will be followed by a discussion with Judith Puckett of the Local Landmarks Project and Country Churches Project. Members and guest are welcome. Wayne City Bean Days Continues through Saturday. Today's event is the Wayne City Methodist Church at 6pm. Tomorrow will be the 5K at the WCHS parking lot at 6pm. Saturday will feature events
WFIW News Director Jeff Vaughan has announced he will leave the radio station on July 1st. Vaughan began working in the news department in August 2018 under the late Mike Dreith, former Fairfield Mayor and former Station Manager. Vaughan is on assignment for the next several days but will return on the 28th for the Illinois primary election. The region experienced another earthquake Thursday morning . The magnitude 2.5 tremor was recorded four miles east-southeast of Parkersburg. Officials recorded the quake at 7:14 Thursday morning. Officials with the U.S. Geological Survey reported the tremor originated at a depth of approximately 20 kilometers. The last major earthquake to rattle Southern Illinois was a magnitude 5.2 earthquake on April 18, 2008 and was centered near West Salem. Hamilton Memorial Hospital District has been cleared to accept emergency room patients. All emergency patients will continue to enter through the front of the hospital, proceed to the ED waiting room, and pi
The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service has issued its June Crop Production report. Harvested area for winter wheat is forecast at 660,000 acres, up eight percent from 2021. Winter wheat yield is forecast at 78 bushels per acre, down one bushel from 2021, and total production is forecast at 51.5 million bushels, up seven percent from last year. Wayne County deputies arrested 36-year-old Louisville resident Jody R. Beccue, 37-year-old Rinard resident Cody L. Cook, and 41-year-old Flora resident Dale E. Dugan last night after a traffic stop on methamphetamine-related charges. According to police reports, deputies initiated a traffic stop for failure to signal. The driver, Dugan, was also charged with driving revoked and was wanted on a Clay County failure to appear warrant for driving revoked. Deputies found a total of 8.5 grams of suspected meth in three baggies, along with four glass smoking pipes. All were charged with possession of meth and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The Fairfield City Council held a special meeting last night to elect an Acting Mayor in the wake of the passing of elected Mayor Mike Dreith. Alderman Gary Moore was nominated to serve as Acting Mayor and was approved by a 7-0 vote. Acting Mayor Moore was sworn into office by City Attorney Darrin Rice and declared he will vote as a mayor in council meetings, meaning he will only vote to break ties or when a supermajority is needed. In other action, the council authorized the signature of the acting mayor to bank accounts and designated him as an authorized agent for the IMRF. It also approved a new three-year FOP contract after failing to do so in the past two meetings. Some changes in the contract include an expansion of residency requirements to a 45-minute radius from the police department in an effort to attract a larger applicant pool. The next contract cannot include another residency expansion, and the current contract will also include a 12 percent pay increase in its three ye
Fairfield officials have detailed the procedure for filling a vacant mayoral seat following the tragic and unexpected death of Mike Dreith on May 30th. Aldermen have called for a special meeting to appoint an acting mayor tomorrow. At the special meeting, aldermen will nominate one of their number to serve as acting mayor until the election this coming spring. In Spring 2023, an individual will be elected to serve a two-year term to fill the remainder of Mayor Dreith's intended time in office. Illinois population estimates continue to cause debates about whether the state's population is growing or shrinking. A recent Census follow-up survey showed the state was undercounted in the 2020 Census by nearly two percent. A new U.S. Census report, however, shows Illinois lost 104,000 people in the year leading up to July 1st, 2021. Updated migration data from the IRS shows Illinois lost 101,000 people. Edwards County Commissioners will meet today at 4:30 at the county courthouse. B