Fairfield Community High School finished second in the 2022 Black Diamond Conference Scholastic Bowl Tournament at the Fairfield First Christian Church yesterday. Fairfield went 6-1 on the day and fell to Johnston City in the championship match. Trenton Jones paced the Mules with 32 answered toss-ups, and he was named to the All-Tournament Team. ECHS went 3-2 in pool play; The Lions were paced by Max Fieber with 21 toss-ups. Fieber joined Jones on the all-tournament team, as did Ava Anderson from Johnston City, Austin Zagorski from Goreville, and Kaylee Cole from Vienna. According to a survey by the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools, the state has a shortage of teachers and substitutes forcing it to cancel course offerings, move them online, or fill open positions with people who aren't fully qualified. FCHS Assistant Principal Bobby Wells says Fairfield has done well with staffing, but they do feel the shortages in substitutes, especially. Overall, 88 percent of responding districts said they had a shortage of full-time teachers, and 96 percent said they had a shortage of subs. Governor J.B. Pritzker plans to tackle inflation by sparing consumers nearly one billion dollars in taxes in the coming year, including freezing taxes on groceries and gasoline and offering a rebate to homeowners. The governor will include the plan in his budget proposal set for tomorrow in-person before the House and Senate. With inflation at seven percent, the budget would suspend the one percent sales tax on groceries for a year, along with the motor fuel tax on gasoline at 39 centers per gallon. The IDPH reported 77 new cases of COVID-19 in Wayne County since Friday afternoon. Edwards County saw its case number jump by 44, Wabash County by 67, and Hamilton County by 32. White County had its total increase by 78, Lawrence County by 108, and Richland County by 71. Jefferson County jumped by 373 cases, and Marion County increased by 119. As a state, Illinois reported 23,797 new cases since Friday afternoon and 225 deaths. Statewide totals sat at 2,920,971 cases and 30,913 deaths. The Southern Region had a seven-day positivity rate of 18.2 percent on the 28th, down from 19.3 percent on the 27th. Its seven-day average availability for ICU beds was at nine percent. River stages as of early this morning: the Little Wabash east of Fairfield stands at 6.76 feet, below the 17 ft. flood stage. Meanwhile, the Skillet Fork at Wayne City has a reading of 5.23 feet (flood stage is 15 ft.). The Little Wabash below Clay City is at 5.66 feet (flood stage is 18 ft.). Bonpas Creek at Browns reads 2.08 feet, and the Little Wabash at Main Street in Carmi reads 4.68 feet. The Wabash River at Mt. Carmel sits at 5.59 feet. Today's crude oil price is $81.25, up $1.75 from Friday. The March crude oil price is $87.92, up $1.13 from Friday morning. Community Connection will feature a replay of the Best of RFD Illinois from last week. Community Connection airs at 7:30 on AM 1390 and 103.3 FM. "Morning Coffee" will feature Mark Turner and Drew Pountain. "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.