Category Archives: Local News
Salem to be named 'Gig Certified Community' in ceremony next week
Salem will celebrate being named a 'Gig Certified Community' and 'Smart Rural Community' during a September 10th ceremony at Bryan Memorial Park. Mayor Nic Farley says the designation is important to ...
Sep 03, 2025
Centralia home damaged in Tuesday morning fire
Fire heavily damaged the kitchen of a Centralia home where electricity had just been turned on Tuesday morning for those who were just moving into the home. Firefighters say the fire was at a home jus...
Sep 03, 2025 Centralia Fire Department responds to the house fire on Dimick Street. Photo by Tim Ferguson.
Wamac City Council discusses Wamac Fest preparations
By Steven Stilt During their meeting Tuesday evening, members of the Wamac City Council received an update on preparations for the upcoming Wamac Fest. The event will run from 3 to 11 p.m. on Saturday...
Sep 03, 2025 File photo: Wamac City Hall
Centralia issues $1.4 million in building permits in August, mostly for solar arrays
The City of Centralia issued $1,379,633 in building permits in August. The cost of roof mounted solar systems amounted to more than $1 million of the cost. The biggest systems were an $835,000 mount a...
Sep 03, 2025
Resurfacing Planned on Two Sections of Main Street in Salem
The Illinois Department of Transportation reports two sections of Main Street in Salem will be resurfaced beginning this week with the project expected to be completed by late September. The two areas...
Sep 03, 2025
Police Beat for Wednesday, September 3rd, 2025
Salem Police have arrested 30-year-old Timothy Finley for criminal trespass to property and possession of under five grams of meth. Finley was on the former Family Video parking lot where he had earli...
Sep 03, 2025
As Trump declares 'we're going in,' Pritzker says 'terror and cruelty is the point'
Governor expects federal action to mirror recent deployments in L.A. as judge rules military use illegal By BEN SZALINSKI Capitol News Illinois bszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com Article Summary JB Pr...
Sep 03, 2025 Gov. JB Pritzker, left, speaks at a Sept. 2 news conference to reporters ahead of potential military deployments in Chicago. Pictured behind him, from left to right: Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and Attorney General Kwame Raoul. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Andrew Adams)
Illinois Department of Labor opposes federal rollback of minimum wage protections
The Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) issued a statement on Tuesday condemning actions by the Trump administration to roll back federal minimum wage and overtime protections for millions of home hea...
Sep 02, 2025
U.S. Justice Department files complaint challenging Illinois laws providing in-state tuition and scholarships for undocumented immigrants
The United States Department of Justice is challenging Illinois laws providing in-state tuition and scholarships for immigrant students without legal status. DOJ lawyers claim that these laws unconsti...
Sep 02, 2025
Rural Mt. Vernon man arrested for first-degree murder in connection with shooting death of his wife
A 51-year-old rural Mt. Vernon man has been arrested for first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of his wife at their home. Jefferson County Sheriff's Deputies arrested John Finney o...
Sep 02, 2025
