The Fairfield Fall Fun Fest kicks off tonight with the Roasted Chestnuts, sponsored by the Wayne County Press, on the main stage at 6pm. At 7 it’s Church Night Gospel Music, sponsored by Johnson and Vaughn Funeral Home. Tomorrow is the FNB 5k run/walk, registration is at 4:30 on the corner of Court and 4th streets, the run/walk will start at 6pm, also on tomorrow is the Fun Fest Prince and Princess Contest at 5:30 on the main stage, sponsored by Fairfield Banking Company, and Miss Fall Fun Fest starts at 8pm on the main stage. Miss Fall Fun Fest is co-sponsored by The Chop Shop and Fry’s Excavating. A reminder to the public that Main Street (IL HWY 15) will be closed through Sunday morning (9/18). The closed portion of Main Street is from First Street, east to NE 4th Street, including the 100 blocks of NE/SE 2nd Streets and NE/SE 3rd Streets (FNB drive thru will be accessible from SE 3rd Street during daytime). The Illinois Department of Transportation has designated the detour route to be south on SE 4th Street, west on Center Street, then returning to Main Street by traveling north on South First Street. There will be no on street parking on any part of the detour route. The public is asked to please be aware of increased pedestrian traffic in these areas.
The Fairfield City Council met in regular session last night, working through an 11-item agenda in about a half hour. A Public Hearing was held prior to the regular meeting to receive comments regarding 2 rezoning proposals. With no opposition voiced, both rezoning requests were unanimously approved during open session. The parcels include property purchased by Fairfield Memorial Hospital rezoned from R-2 to a P Zone and City owned property next to Lakeside being rezoned from R-3 to a P Zone. The city’s trash collector, Sunrise Sanitation, was the source of a discussion on modifying the current agreement. It was agreed that the carrier has not lived up to some language in the contract and that some residents are to blame for not following their guidelines for large item pickup. In the end, the council voted to modify the contract and increase the rate per household by $1.50. Aldermen McGill and Eckleberry voted No on the proposal. The council approved changing the set back requirements for fences. Currently, the ordinance requires a 7′ setback from the property line. The new ordinance requires a 2′ setback. 2 TIF requests were unanimously approved by the council. The city’s water tower project will receive $727,000 in TIF funds and Ginger Ales will receive $30,000 in TIF money. Both disbursements were recommended by the TIF Committee. A street closing request was granted for the FCHS Homecoming Parade on Friday, October 7. The closing will be from 1:00- 3:30. Brett Birger was unanimously appointed to replace L Bryan Williams on the police Pension Fund. Birger will serve out the remainder of the unexpired term. Recreation Fund expenditures were approved which include $850 for inflatables for a Halloween event on the lot east of the post office and $10,492 was approved to bring back the ice skating rink, train, and vendor tent for the Christmas Holiday Season.
On 9/8 at approximately 1:15 a.m. Wayne County Sheriffs responded to a single vehicle traffic crash. 65-year-old Rick L. Doty of Cisne was travelling south on CR1600E in a 2009 Dodge Ram when a deer entered the roadway. Doty was unable to avoid making contact, causing damage to the front end of his vehicle. There were no injuries reported on the scene.
On 9/13 at approximately 9:48 p.m. Wayne County responded to the scene of a single vehicle accident when 57-year-old Sawyer A Newman of Fairfield was travelling east on IL 15 at CR2225E in a 2015 Ford Focus, when he struck a deer in the roadway causing damage to his vehicle.
Fairfield Public School district #112 along with Jasper, New Hope, and Geff School Districts are conducting Child Find/Preschool Screenings for 3 to 5-year-old children not yet enrolled in public schools and who will not be kindergarten eligible for the 2022-2023 school year. The screening checks each child’s progress in hearing, vision, speech, language, and coordination skills. This will give parents a better idea of how their child is progressing at this very young age before school begins. The screening program is free, and parents will receive immediate feedback on how their child is developing. Head Start and Family Enrichment personnel may also be present to explain their program and services. The preschool screenings will be held at North Side School today, as well as tomorrow, and Friday September 16th. The screening procedure takes about 45 minutes and appointments must be made to avoid a long wait period. To make an appointment, or for more information, call 842-6501.
The University of Illinois Extension College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences want to help you Find Your Healthier Lifestyle Today! Join Illinois Nutrition Education Programs for fun and free classes, and learn simple ways to eat healthier, move more, and save money at the store. Healthy Cents Program Classes will be held on September 15th, 22nd and 29th, at the Feed My Sheep Kitchen, located at 200 West Main Street in Fairfield. To register, or for more information, contact Jane Jones by phone at 842-3702, email Jane at jdj3@illinois.edu, or visit their website at go.illinois.edu/SNAPHealthyCents-FMS.
Do you have a talent? Show it to the world at Fairfield’s Got Talent on September 17 at the Fall Fun Fest. This event sponsored by Wayne/White Electrical CoOp will have a panel of esteemed judges awarding $500 in cash prizes to the top acts in each age group. Acts will be divided into 6-13 /14-17/18+. Talents of all kinds are welcome. If you can do something you think is cool, show it to us! To register, email your name, age, and talent to fairfieldsgottalent@yahoo.com, or register in person at Carnaby Square
Hamilton Memorial Hospital District is officially moving to a single, integrated Epic electronic health record (EHR) system on September 17. Epic, the EHR used by the majority of top-ranked healthcare systems, provides the most complete record of a patient’s health on a single platform. In addition, MyChart is a robust patient portal for helping manage and receive information about patients’ health, view test results, and even pay bills online. Hamilton Memorial Hospital District staff and operational leaders have helped to ensure readiness across key areas through training, workflow understanding, registration, and scheduling. A team of more than 40 SSM Health IT professionals and clinicians have been working with Hamilton Memorial Hospital District to ensure the EHR implementation and go-live process runs smoothly. SSM Health is a Catholic, non-profit health system with 23 hospitals across four states, including Illinois. In addition to providers and staff, SSM Health representatives will help navigate the transition, which will begin at 12:01 a.m. To assist with the Epic EHR transition during go-live and for the weeks following, patients are asked to arrive at least 15 minutes early to complete the registration process.
Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne M. Burke announced Monday she will retire from the bench effective November 30th, having served on the state’s high court since 2006. Burke has been chief justice since 2019. Burke, is the court’s third female justice, and will be replaced by 1st District Appellate Justice Joy V. Cunningham, who will follow current Justice Lisa Holder White as the second Black woman seated on the court. The court has announced Justice Mary Jane Theis, a 1st District Democrat who has been on the high court since 2010, will be the next chief justice. This November voters will grant a 10-year term to two justices, one in the 2nd district, and one in the 3rd District.
River stages as of this morning: the Little Wabash east of Fairfield stands at 6.48 feet, below the 17 ft. flood stage. Meanwhile, the Skillet Fork at Wayne City has a reading of 5.00 feet (flood stage is 15 ft.). The Little Wabash below Clay City is at 5.10 feet (flood stage is 18 ft.). Bonpas Creek at Browns reads 1.63 feet. The Little Wabash at Main Street in Carmi reads 3.82 feet, and the Wabash River at Mt. Carmel sits at 3.51 feet.
Today’s Crude Oil price $80.31 down $0.47 from yesterday. The October Crude Oil price $87.32 down $0.45 from yesterday morning.