Headlines for Tuesday, June 7th

The Wayne County Board will meet Thursday at 7 in the upstairs courtroom of the courthouse. It will hold a new ARPA discussion on the application process and the formation of the ARPA committee following discussions in the past two months. The Wayne County Housing Authority has sent a letter explaining a request to reduce their payment, and board members will discuss the matter. The Wayne County Humane Society is also set to discuss their contract.

18-year-old Cisne resident Jacob L. Lewis was booked in the Wayne County Jail early this morning. Wayne County deputies arrested Lewis on a charge of possession of methamphetamine, and he was held in the jail, pending the setting and posting of bond.

Ag producers who did not receive the 2017 Census of Agriculture and do not receive other USDA surveys or censuses have until June 30th to sign up to receive the 2022 Census of Agriculture at nass.usda.gov/AgCensus. The National Agricultural Statistics Service will mail ag census survey codes for responding securely online to every known U.S. producer this November; hard copy questionnaires will follow in December.

The Flora City Council met yesterday. Amy Allen with the Chamber of Commerce spoke on changes to Independence Day activities in downtown Flora, saying they would like to add a mini-parade event. There is a $10 entry fee for side-by-sides, but she stressed no floats will be allowed. She said she hopes to have enough entries to draw more people downtown for a pie auction and other holiday activities; following her remarks, the council voted to make the appropriate changes for the upcoming event.

Illinois now has an official state rock. Elementary students in Burr Ridge and Naperville began the quest to add a rock to the list of state symbols, and students across the state had a chance to vote for their favorite, with dolostone coming out on top. Dolostone is a type of limestone making up the majority of the state’s bedrock.

The Wayne-White Electric Cooperative held its annual meeting Friday at Wayne City High School. CEO Chris Hopfinger announced there would be no electricity rate increases this year for Co-op members, unlike several other utilities. Wayne-White will perform a cost of service and rate study later in the summer to see if and when future rate increases would need to be implemented. This will mark the ninth consecutive year Wayne-White will not have a rate increase. Wayne-White then announced more capital credits will be retired, and members who received electricity from the co-op from 1997 through 2001 will receive a check in July; Hoosier Energy also announced they will retire capital credits for 2021, so any co-op member on its power lines during 2021 will also receive a capital credit check.

The Albion City Council met last night. It discussed the upcoming eclipse event with Jessica Gwaltney and Michelle Ward, and organizers are planning a celebration for April 6th, 7th, and 8th in 2024. The council also heard some progress has been made on the water treatment plant, but no location for the plant has been set in stone. Members heard the Elm Street improvement project will go out for bid soon, possibly this week, and construction could begin in August; the total cost for improvements, including new brick in some areas, will be about $600,000. Aldermen heard a suit will be filed to collect the balance of money owed for training Austin Mulkey, who left the City to work for the Clay County Sheriff’s Department. Following executive session, the council employed Phil White of Parkersburg as a full-time police officer.

The Wayne County Sheriff’s Department is accepting applications for full- and part-time correctional officers until Friday, and the department anticipates hiring at least one full-time position this month. Applicants must be at last 21 years old to be hired, but they can apply if they will turn 21 during the two-year list eligibility. Anyone interested can pick up and return applications at the department at 305 East Court Street in Fairfield.

The IDPH reported 13 new cases of COVID-19 in Wayne County since Friday afternoon. Jefferson County added 19 cases, Lawrence County 17, Marion County 14, Clay and Wabash counties nine, Richland County seven, White County two, and Hamilton County one. Edwards County held steady on the state website. As a state, Illinois announced 13,798 new cases and 12 additional deaths.

May weather closed out spring and brought at taste of summer to Illinois. State Climatologist Trent Ford says May ended as the 29th warmest on record, and many areas hit record-high temperatures during the month’s second week. The state as a whole ended the month with below-normal precipitation; for the entire spring, rainfall was more than half-an-inch above normal. Far northern and far southeastern Illinois were rated as abnormally dry.

Illinois courts want to hear feedback from the public on holding proceedings remotely. An Illinois Judicial Conference task force has launched two surveys, per Appellate Court Justice Mary Rochford- one for the public and one for legal professionals. The surveys ask about the benefits and drawbacks to holding proceedings virtually and the barriers to attending. People can participate at ilcourts.gov by clicking on additional resources and remote proceedings. Surveys will be open until June 23rd.

River stages as of this morning:  the Little Wabash east of Fairfield stands at 6.44 feet, below the 17 ft. flood stage. Meanwhile, the Skillet Fork at Wayne City has a reading of 5.11 feet (flood stage is 15 ft.). The Little Wabash below Clay City is at 5.51 feet (flood stage is 18 ft.). Bonpas Creek at Browns reads 2.53 feet, and the Little Wabash at Main Street in Carmi reads 4.48 feet. The Wabash River at Mt. Carmel sits at 8.23 feet.

Today’s crude oil price is $111.50, down $0.25 from yesterday. The July crude oil price is $119.04, down $0.64 from yesterday morning.