Funeral services for Fairfield Mayor Mike Dreith will be held at 10 AM, Saturday, June 4th at the Johnson and Vaughn Funeral Home in Fairfield, IL. Dr. Michael Dreith, 65 of Fairfield passed away at 4:06 PM, Saturday, May 28, 2022, at Fairfield Memorial Hospital. Mike was a founding stockholder in WBGZ radio in Alton, IL, and was Dean at Lewis and Clark Community College where he founded their radio program and their station, WLCA. He became the first graduate of a community college to become a community college president in Illinois when he came to Frontier Community College in 2001. He later went on to be president of Western Texas College in Snyder, TX, John A. Logan College in Carterville, IL, and provost at St. Louis Community College in Wildwood, MO. After semi retiring, he came back to Fairfield to be general manager of WFIW and WOKZ before becoming Mayor of Fairfield in May of 2021.
Wayne City Market in the Park will be held on Friday, June 3 at 6 p.m. Frey Farms will be selling Watermelons for $6, Fresh Sweet Corn by the crate for $20, six pack of Tsamma and Sarah’s Homegrown Flavors $10. Vendors will be selling Handmade Crafts, Home Décor, Mugs, Hats, Keychains, Candles, and more. Randy’s Smokehouse will be serving food, and Hayden Brown will be the Musical Guest. The event is sponsored by Napa Wayne City Auto and Truck Parts.
5 churches in the Albion area are providing free lunches Monday thru Friday from 11am to 1pm at the Albion Pagoda during June and July. The free lunches are geared toward kids, but no one will be turned away.
Saturday afternoon at approximately 2:30 PM, Fairfield City Police Officers arrested Zachary S. Henson, 29 of Iuka for a Clay County Petition to Revoke warrant for Obstructing Justice/Destruction of Evidence. Henson was taken into custody in the 1500 block of West Main Street in Fairfield and transported to the Wayne County Jail. On Wednesday, at approximately 1:42 AM, Fairfield City Police Officers conducted a traffic stop on NW 9th Street for a vehicle traveling without headlights. The driver, identified as Renea M. Henson, 36 of Iuka was discovered to have a suspended license. When advised to exit the vehicle, Henson refused and drove away from officers. The officers pursued Henson west on Mt. Vernon Road. Henson then lost control of her vehicle and struck a utility pole at the intersection of Mt. Vernon Road and Basin Road. Henson was taken into custody and transported to Fairfield Memorial Hospital. Upon release, Henson was lodged in the Wayne County Jail for driving suspended and aggravated fleeing a police officer.
The White County Sheriff’s Department responded to a report about a theft at 2422 County Road 350 E in Mill Shoals, Illinois. On Tuesday, May 31st, 49-year-old Raychel Simms told the reporting officer that a theft had occurred at her residence. The front door was missing from her house. She stated that the door was white in color. On Tuesday, May 24th, at approximately 7pm an officer was dispatched to 236 County Road 2100 N in regard to someone driving through a field, causing damage to property. Rick Thomas of Springerton stated there was a green car that was driving through his field, damaging his crops. He provided the plate number for the vehicle that he spotted; we have no further information at this time.
A Clay County man is dead after a tractor roll-over accident on Saturday afternoon in rural Jasper County. Authorities say 77-year-old J.V. Frohning of Ingraham was moving dirt with his tractor and scraper when a stump was hit, causing the tractor to turn over on its side. Emergency personnel from Clay and Jasper Counties arrived on the scene shortly after the accident, which occurred at around 1:54 Saturday afternoon. Frohning was pronounced deceased a short time later.
An 8-year-old rural Kinmundy boy was airlifted from the scene of a four-wheeler crash at his home early Monday night. Marion County Sheriff’s Deputies say the boy struck a large log and flipped the four-wheeler on top of himself with the handlebars landing on his neck. While the boy had no apparent injuries, he was airlifted by Air Evac to a St. Louis hospital to be checked for any head trauma. Kinmundy-Alma Firemen assisted on the scene. The incident was reported at 6:10 pm.
Bond was set at $30,000 Wednesday in Clay County Court for a 29-year-old Alabama man accused of leaving the scene of a crash Tuesday in which several people were injured. According to the Illinois State Police, around 12:05 pm Tuesday, Tiberius Brooks was driving a 2013 black Hyundai Sonata north on US 45 when he failed to notice traffic slowing down for a school zone. Brooks reportedly struck the rear of a 2017 gray Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by a 25-year-old female from Montrose. Brooks didn’t stop his vehicle at that point, troopers say he continued traveling north on US 45 until his vehicle could no longer function. Brooks was transported by ambulance to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries while the Montrose driver was transported by family to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. A 27-year-old passenger in the Brooks vehicle, from Enterprise, Alabama, was flown to a regional hospital with life-threatening injuries. Two passengers in the Jeep a 38-year-old female from Louisville and 41-year-old female from Noble were transported by ambulance to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Brooks was cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, driving under the influence, operating an uninsured motor vehicle, improper lane usage, illegal transportation of alcohol, illegal transportation of cannabis and leaving the scene of a personal injury traffic crash.
Illinois State Police District 19 Commander, Captain Nathan Douglas has announced the results of Special Traffic Enforcement Patrol in Wayne County during May. This sTEP allowed the ISP to provide increased enforcement for impaired driving, occupant restraint, speeding, and distracted driving violation during the National “Click It or Ticket” Campaign. Three citations were issued for Occupant Restraint Violations, 46 for Speeding, one for Distracted Driving, for a total of 35 citations and 19 written warnings.
Illinois State Police District 19 Commander, Captain Nathan Douglas, has announced the ISP will conduct Nighttime Enforcement patrols in Wayne, Saline, and Gallatin Counties during June. NITE patrols allow ISP to focus on preventing, detecting, and taking enforcement action in response to impaired driving and occupant restraint violations especially between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. The number of unrestrained drivers killed in traffic crashes is significantly higher at nighttime and combined with impaired driving means even more traffic deaths during these critical hours. Officers will strictly enforce violations including: DUI, Safety Belt and Child Restraint use, Speeding, Distracted Driving, and all Illinois Vehicle Code and Criminal Violations. Alcohol and drug impairment are factors in more than 30% of all fatal motor vehicle crashes in Illinois. Over half of all fatal crashes in Illinois occur at night. The NITE program allows officers to work even harder at removing dangerous impaired drivers from the road and making sure everyone is buckled up. The project is funded through the Illinois Department of Transportation.
State Representative Adam Niemerg will have a Legislative Town Hall this coming Thursday night, starting at 7:00, at West End Reception & Events in Newton. The 109th District lawmaker will share with constituents an update from the recent spring session and discuss topics of concern for area families, farmers, senior citizens, business owners, and others. RSVP’s are not required, but are advised, by calling 217-813-6036.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 2,103 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease in Illinois, including 1 additional death overnight. Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 3,302,416 cases, including 33,814 deaths, in Illinois. As of Monday night, 1,163 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 109 patients were in the ICU and 48 patients were on ventilators. A total of 22,357,048 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of Monday night, 4,527,503 of those were booster doses. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 14,337 doses. Since Friday 46,251 doses have reportedly been administered in Illinois.
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will this week begin to mail the Conservation Practice Adoption Motivations Survey to more than 500 Illinois farmers. The new survey is aimed at better understanding conservation practice adoption and the role of technical and financial assistance. There are two versions of the survey this year, one requesting information on crop conservation practices and the other for confined livestock conservation practices. If NASS does not receive producers’ completed surveys by June 13, they may reach out to schedule telephone interviews. NASS encourages recipients to respond securely online at agcounts.usda.gov, using the 12-digit survey code mailed with the survey. Producers responding online will now use NASS’s new Respondent Portal. Completed questionnaires may also be mailed back in the prepaid envelope provided. Results from both versions of the survey will be available September 15th, 2022.
The cost of gasoline hit a new record high in Illinois yesterday. The average price of a gallon of gas climbed to $5.00 a gallon on Monday, up about a penny from Sunday and $1.58 higher than a year ago when the cost was $3.04 per gallon on Memorial Day 2021. Many analysts believe the cost has yet to peak and they expect only higher prices as the summer moves on. Illinois’ price is the 7th highest in the nation behind California, Hawaii, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska. The national average price is at $4.62 per gallon.
There were 3.9 days suitable for field work during the week ending May 29, 2022. Topsoil moisture supply was rated 4 percent short, 72 percent adequate, and 24 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture supply was rated 3 percent short, 78 percent adequate, and 19 percent surplus. Corn planted reached 89 percent, compared to the 5-year average of 84 percent. Corn emerged reached 76 percent, compared to the 5-year average of 71 percent. Corn condition was rated 1 percent very poor, 2 percent poor, 23 percent fair, 62 percent good, and 12 percent excellent. Soybeans planted reached 75 percent, compared to the 5-year average of 67 percent. Soybeans emerged reached 52 percent, compared to the 5-year average of 50 percent. Winter wheat headed was 91 percent, even with the 5-year average. Winter wheat condition was rated 4 percent very poor, 11 percent poor, 25 percent fair, 50 percent good, and 10 percent excellent.
River stages as of this morning: the Little Wabash east of Fairfield stands at 11.30 feet, below the 17 ft. flood stage. Meanwhile, the Skillet Fork at Wayne City has a reading of 5.27 feet (flood stage is 15 ft.). The Little Wabash below Clay City is at 6.96 feet (flood stage is 18 ft.). Bonpas Creek at Browns reads 1.87 feet, and the Little Wabash at Main Street in Carmi reads 12.04 feet. The Wabash River at Mt. Carmel sits at 12.76 feet.
Today’s crude oil price is $107.67, down $0.40 from yesterday. The July crude oil price is $116.47, down $2.83 from yesterday morning.