Illinois Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White has awarded nearly $6 million to libraries focused on responding directly to the COVID-19 pandemic by modifying services, transforming spaces and developing resources for their local recovering workforce. A total of 211 academic, school, special and public libraries around the state are scheduled to receive the grants, ranging from $5000 to over $1 million. Among the grant recipients in our area is the Edwards County library in Albion in the amount of $49,000 and the Grayville Groff Memorial Library in the amount of $6500.
Each month, Fairfield Memorial Hospital honors an employee who has been nominated by their peers for providing extraordinary patient care and customer services within and outside of the hospital. Fairfield Memorial Hospital has announced that Yadira Lake, who works as a Phlebotomist in the Laboratory Department at Fairfield Memorial Hospital, was selected as the January 2022 Employee of the Month. Yadira has been with the hospital since April of 1990. (pictured is Lake)
Illinois State Police at the District 12 post, headquartered at Effingham, report a fatal crash early Saturday morning in Richland County. 31-year-old Wendy S. Dunfee of Sumner, IL was traveling west on Elbow Road just west of Higgins Switch Road in a 2013 Buick Enclave and left the roadway to the left and hit a tree. Dunfee was pronounced dead at the scene. The accident occurred at about 2 a.m. Saturday.
Illinois is slated to receive $1.4 billion to help upgrade its deteriorating bridges under the federal infrastructure law approved in November, the state’s Democratic congressional delegation said Friday. Illinois’ allotment is part of a $27 billion program to repair and upgrade roughly 15,000 highway bridges nationwide. Illinois’ Democratic congressional delegation said Friday the funding over five years will include just over $274 million in Fiscal Year 2022 to upgrade over 2300 bridges in the state it says is in poor condition. The Illinois Department of Transportation will decide how to invest the money across the state for bridge upgrades.
Congresswoman Mary Miller has announced local office hours in her district this coming week. The closest location to Wayne County is in Casey, Illinois at the Casey City Hall at 101 West Alabama Avenue. The hours will be from 2 to 4 p.m. this Tuesday, January 18th.
Despite no snow currently in a large part of southern Illinois, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources is urging snowmobilers in the state to focus on safety this winter. They remind riders to make sure their snowmobile is in good running condition and wear the proper clothing and equipment, including helmets, gloves and goggles. People drinking while operating snowmobiles is another problem, and officials recommend always riding with someone else and keeping an eye on the weather.
Area river stages as of this morning: Little Wabash River east of Fairfield is at 11.86 feet. Flood stage is 17 feet. At Clay City the stage is 7.65 feet. Flood stage is 18 feet. At Carmi the stage is 15.14 feet. Flood stage is 27 feet. The Skillet Fork at Wayne City is at 5.56 feet. Flood stage is 15 feet. The Wabash River at Mt. Carmel is at 12.56 feet. Flood stage is 19 feet.