Fairfield Police are investigating a stolen municipal vehicle from the Fairfield Waste Treatment Facility on 09/28/22. The vehicle has been recovered. Officers have identified the juvenile suspects and the investigation is continuing with charges pending. If you have any information regarding crimes, please contact the Wayne County Crime Stoppers phone or text at (618) 842-9777. Your tip could be worth a cash reward. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Completed artwork from this week's Fairfield PaintOut will be on exhibit for public viewing today, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at the Floral Hall on the Wayne County Fairgrounds. There is an admission of $5 per person, which will be entered for an opportunity to win an original painting from Spencer Meagher, a local artist. More than 200 works of art will be on display by the 20 artists who have been painting in Wayne County this week. The public is invited to come view the paintings, visit with the artists, and support the Fairfield PaintOut. Judging of the artwork will take place Saturday morning. Award winners will be announced at Noon on Saturday to conclude this year's PaintOut. The committee thanks the Award Sponsors, Host families, donors, and the community for their outstanding support of this annual event. The Wayne City Unit School District # 100 is concluding their Child Find/Preschool Screenings for Birth to 5-year-old children not yet enrolled in public schools, and who are not kindergarten eligible for the 2022-2023 school year, today 8:30am-2:30pm at the Wayne City Baptist Church. This screening checks each child's progress in hearing, vision, speech, language, and coordination skills, to give parents a better idea of how their child is progressing before he/she begins school. This screening program is free, and parents will receive immediate feedback on how their child is developing. Pre-K personnel will also be present to explain their program and other services available in the area. If you live in the Wayne City school district, call 895-0357 to make an appointment or for more information. Children that are screening before they are 3 will be screened by Early Intervention and will not be eligible for Pre-K until they are 3. Petitions for the Consolidated Election to be held on April 4, 2023 for the election of Mayor (two-year term), First Ward Alderman, Second Ward Alderman, Third Ward Alderman, and Fourth Ward Alderman are currently available in the office of City Clerk Tina Hutchcraft. Office hours are 7:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. A Mayor will be elected for a two-year term to fill the unexpired term of Mayor Dreith and one alderman from each of the City's four wards will be elected for a four-year term. Petition circulation began September 20. Filing period for those petitions is December 12 – December 19. On 09/27/22, at 9:10 AM, Fairfield Police responded to a traffic crash that occurred at the intersection of W Main Street and SW 7th ST in Fairfield that resulted in one of the lanes of Main ST being closed for approximately 40 Minutes. A gray 2020 GMC pickup, being driven by Randall D Fenton, 73 of Fairfield, was Southbound on NW 7th ST when it struck the side of a 1997 Honda passenger car, being driven Westbound on W Main ST by Norman W Overturf, 21 of Bonnie, IL. The passenger car was towed from the scene. No medical assistance was requested. Fenton was cited for Disobeying a Traffic Control Signal and Overturf was cited for having a tinted front windshield. On 09/24/22, at 5:55 PM, Fairfield Police responded to a minor, parking lot crash at 1939 W Delaware Street, Fairfield. A 2005, Buick passenger car, being driven by Joyce M McKitrick, 86 of Fairfield, backed into the rear of an unoccupied 2019 Honda SUV while exiting the parking lot. McKitrick departed the scene and was later located by Officers. There was minor damage to both vehicles and no injuries. The Wanda Douglas Excellence in Nursing Scholarship Recipient has been named. Max Short of Albion has been named the recipient of the Wanda Douglas Excellence in Nursing Scholarship. Max is a 2021 Edwards County High School graduate. He completed the Health Careers and Occupations course during his senior year. Upon graduation he enrolled at Frontier Community College to continue his pursuit of obtaining a nursing degree. He is currently in his second year of the nursing program at Frontier. Max is also a member of the Student Nurse Association. He is the son of Nathan and Jeanne Short. This scholarship is named in honor of Wanda Douglas, long-time nursing instructor at Frontier Community College. Monies are donated annually by two FCC Alumni of the nursing program to the Frontier Community College Foundation for expressed purpose of identifying a worthy candidate of the nursing program in honor of Wanda and her long-time service to the health care field and the education of future nurses. On International Coffee Day, October 1 ILLINOISouth Tourism is launching a coffee trail to promote independent coffee shops in their 21-county region. The ILLINOISouth Tourism Coffee Trail features 28 independent shops throughout southern Illinois. Participants can receive discounted items at each shop, and if they visit five shops, they will be entered into a raffle of merchandise from the businesses on the trail. The trail will run from October 1st until the end of the year to give participants enough time to fully explore all that the ILLINOISouth region has to offer. Participants can keep track of their progress one of two ways: through the ILLINOISouth app or with a passport book that is available for pick up at any of the participating locations. The app makes it easy to check into each location and can even map out the route to take folks to their next stop. Businesses participating in our listening area are: 6:10 Coffee Company in Salem Around the Corner Coffee Company in Maeystown The Bold Goat Coffee Company in Fairfield Café on the Abbey in Columbia Casey Coffee Company in Casey Colyer Coffee House in Albion Common Grounds Coffee Lounge in Flora Cornerstone Coffee House in Norris City Flo's Coffee Bar in Newton Fusion Coffee in Fairfield GypsyQueen Coffee Bar in Marshall June's Breakfast + Patio in Shiloh Latte Dough Coffee Shop in Marshall Melinda's Coffee and Bistro in Centralia Milk & Honey Coffee and Tea in Mt. Carmel Off the Square Coffee Company in Red Bud Olde City Café and Bar in Breese Pour@322 in Belleville Press Coffee and Tea in Trenton RAIL Coffee Room in Centralia The Red Porch Café in New Baden Rosie's Coffeehouse and Bakery in Centralia Shimoji Coffee in Greenville Shimoji Coffee in Vandalia Louis Coffee World in Mascoutah Sweet Katie Bee's Cupcake & Coffee Bar in O'Fallon The Traveling Mug in Casey WhitLeigh's Coffeehouse in Norris City To learn more about the ILLINOISouth Tourism Coffee Trail, visit their website: https://www.illinoisouth.org/Dine/coffee-trail The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has released their bi-annual Report Card: Performance in Recent Assessments, looking at how U.S. students are performing and advancing in the fundamental areas of education. Illinois Public Schools results are as follows: Of those students testing at or above the NAEP Basic Level, Grade 4 results show 77% mathematics, 64% reading, and 73% science. Grade 8 students tested 69% at or above basic in math, 74% in reading, and 63% in science. Grade 12 students showed results of 65% math, and 76% reading. 38% of students in Grade 4 scored at or above the NAEP Proficient Level in math, with 34% in reading and 35% in science. Grade 8 students scored 34% in math, 35% in reading and 28% in science, while Grade 12 students scored 27% in math and 39% in reading. 8% of Grade 4 students tested at advanced levels in math, with 9% in reading, and 1% in science. Grade 8 students tested 10% in math, 5% in reading, and 1% in science. With only 3% of students in Grade 12 testing advanced in math, and 5% in reading. Overall results do show an increase of 4% in science at the Grade 4 level in