Headlines for Thursday, June 16th

The West Salem Volunteer Firemen’s Association plans to hold a Freedom Celebration on June 25th and 26th. The West Salem Masonic Lodge will hold a breakfast at the firehouse on the 25th, beginning at 6 a.m., and the village will have yard sales beginning at 7. At dusk on the 25th, Centennial Park will play host to a fireworks display, and Tristan Brock-Jones will perform. The celebration will conclude on the 26th with a community worship service on the square, beginning at 10 a.m.

24-year-old Rodney A. Esmon was served a Wayne County warrant on a host of charges while in the Wayne County Jail yesterday. He was arrested earlier this month after police responded to an incident in Sims. Warrant charges include two counts of armed violence, three counts of aggravated domestic battery, three counts of domestic battery, and aggravated unlawful restraint. Esmon was held in the jail, with bond set at $15,020 on the warrant.

State Senator Darren Bailey, a candidate for the Republican nomination for Illinois Governor, will have his bus tour stop in Wayne County on Thursday (June 23). The event will be held at Skateland Rollersport in Fairfield at 12:30, and the tour will then move to the Albion Town Square at 1:45. Bailey or his running mate, Stephanie Trussell, will be at each stop. Bailey and his team are in the midst of a bus tour to visit each of Illinois’ 102 counties in the 14 days leading up to the June 28th primary.

The Fairfield City Band will hold its third concert this evening at 7 at the Fairfield First Christian Church. The concert is normally on the courthouse lawn, but it has been moved tonight due to the extreme heat. The City Band will hold concerts each Thursday this month, culminating with a patriotic concert on the 30th.

Congressman Mike Bost has joined a list of legislators, law enforcement officials, and local leaders in endorsing Justice Barry Vaughan for the Fifth District Appellate Court Judge. Bost says, now more than ever, it is important to elect the right people to serve on the bench. He says judges need to be honest and fair jurists, not political opportunists who will impose personal beliefs on people they are supposed to serve

Yesterday was World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. Illinois Department on Aging Director Paula Basta says it is estimated one in 10 older Americans is abused or neglected each year, and she says financial exploitation is one of the most common forms of abuse. Warning signs of elder abuse include a senior not being allowed visitors, bruises, an unkempt appearance, large ATM withdrawals from bank accounts, and frequent injuries.

The Fairfield Retail Merchants have postponed their Shopping Tournament that had been scheduled for this Saturday. Wayne County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Libby Lingafelter says it will now be held in the fall, and the delay is due to a lack of pre-registered teams. In other Chamber business, she says the monthly Chamber mixer, sponsored by Conard Financial and DiMaggio’s Pizza, is scheduled for tomorrow from 5 to 7 at Chris Conard’s home.

The City of Fairfield says its water department worked on water issues on the north end of town yesterday, and a boil order has been issued for all of Shoreway Drive, Lakeview Drive from Shoreway to Florence, and the south side of York Drive. All residents in the affected areas should boil water for human consumption until samples have passed inspection.

Missouri officials have filed a motion for a speedy trial in the pending cases against 41-year-old Ray E. Tate, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to the murder of Wayne County Deputy Sean Riley. Last month, a motion was filed in Wayne County Circuit Court to withdraw that guilty plea and to vacate its accompanying life sentence in prison. A hearing on the motion is to be set, and a status hearing is set for June 28th at 11 a.m.

The Clay County Board met Tuesday evening. Clay County Hospital CEO Bob Sellers reported they will welcome Dr. Harry Carter to CCH on September 1st. Carter comes to Clay County from Christopher Rural Health Clinics in Flora and Fairfield and will see patients at the CCH Flora and Clay City Medical Clinics. He lives in, and is originally from, Louisville.

The IDPH reported eight new cases of COVID-19 in Wayne County yesterday. Marion County added 16 cases; Jefferson County added 13; White County added seven; Clay County added six; Wabash County added three; and Richland, Lawrence, and Edwards counties added one. Hamilton County held steady on the state website. As a state, Illinois announced 5,737 new cases and five additional deaths.

Once again, schools will be able to take advantage of free COVID-19 tests from the University of Illinois’ SHIELD Program. About 258 districts and several private schools worked with the program in the most recent academic year. Supporters say the quick-saliva test helps slow the spread of the virus by identifying it early. Interested schools should sign up at shieldillinois.com by July 15th to ensure tests are available for the first day of class.

There are currently tens of thousands of open manufacturing jobs in Illinois for those seeking work, but the Illinois Manufacturer’s Association says the jobs remain vacant; IMA President Mark Dinzler says people think of the jobs as dirty and dangerous, which he calls an antiquated view, so they need to change the mindset of what a manufacturing job entails.

River stages as of this morning:  the Little Wabash east of Fairfield stands at 5.98 feet, below the 17 ft. flood stage. Meanwhile, the Skillet Fork at Wayne City has a reading of 5.05 feet (flood stage is 15 ft.). The Little Wabash below Clay City is at 5.00 feet (flood stage is 18 ft.). Bonpas Creek at Browns reads 1.59 feet, and the Little Wabash at Main Street in Carmi reads 3.89 feet. The Wabash River at Mt. Carmel sits at 8.02 feet.

Today’s crude oil price is $108.25, down $3.75 from yesterday. The July crude oil price is $119.07, down $3.22 from yesterday morning.

Community Connection with Wayne County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Libby Lingafelter