Category Archives: Local News
New Dinner Theater Show Coming to Centralia Cultural Society
A dinner theatre murder mystery is coming to the Centralia Cultural Society stage this month. Irritation to a Murder, directed by Rob Jackson, centers around the death of Godfry Gatewood, a multi-mill...
Apr 03, 2026 Actors performing in rehearsal for Irritation to Murder at the Centralia Cultural Society. Photo by Austin Williams.
Today is Good Friday; Some Government Offices Closed
You'll find some government offices closed and some open on Friday for Good Friday. Area courthouses and Salem City Hall are closed. Centralia City Hall and most federal and state government offices a...
Apr 03, 2026 alexmillos / Depositphotos.com
Payroll Jobs Increase, Unemployment Rate Ticks Up in January
The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in January, up +0.2 percentage point from December, and up +0.2 percentage point from t...
Apr 02, 2026
Salem Township Hospital Board Passes Tight $54-million Budget
The Salem Township Hospital Board has passed a $54-million budget for the fiscal year that begins April first. Hospital CEO Jim Timpe says they should finish the year in the black, but it a much tight...
Apr 02, 2026
Kaskaskia College to Host Ribbon Cutting and Court Dedication for John W. "Bill" Hawley Court
Kaskaskia College will celebrate the opening of its new competition gym and honor longtime Board of Trustees Chair John W. "Bill" Hawley with a special ribbon-cutting and court dedication ceremony on ...
Apr 02, 2026 File: The KC Blue Angels in action on the new gym floor. Photo by Bruce Kropp.
Final Vote Totals Close Gap Between Two Judge Candidates to 15 votes
The final vote totals for judge in the 4th Judicial Circuit show Fayette County State's Attorney Brenda Mathis a winner by 16 votes over appointed judge Wes Gozia of Salem. Gozia cut Mathis' lead by n...
Apr 02, 2026
Centralia Man Ordered Held Without Bond on Meth Delivery Charges
A 51-year-old Centralia man has been ordered held in the Marion County Jail without bond until his next court appearance on three counts of unlawful delivery of methamphetamine. Jeffrey Foutch of Sout...
Apr 02, 2026
Marion County Sheriff's Department Makes Arrest in Hit and Run Bicycle-Mini Van Crash
The Marion County Sheriff's Department has arrested a 63-year-old rural Odin woman in connection with a March 25th hit and run bicycle-minivan collision on the Selmaville Road near Lowery Lane southwe...
Apr 02, 2026
Republicans, Pritzker point fingers over cause of rising property taxes
by Ben Szalinski, Capitol News Illinois April 1, 2026 Article Summary Republicans are blaming Democratic policies, such as unfunded mandates on local governments and school districts, for raising prop...
Apr 02, 2026 Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva, debates a bill in the Illinois House on May 21, 2025. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Jerry Nowicki)
Statewide warehouse pollution reduction bill fails to meet committee deadline
by Gabriel Castilho and Medill Illinois News Bureau, Capitol News Illinois March 31, 2026 Article Summary A House deadline passed last week with lawmakers declining to advance a measure to establish a...
Apr 01, 2026 The 700,000 square-foot Amazon fulfillment is one of several in the area south of Joliet. (Medill Illinois News Bureau photo by Gabriel Matias Castilho)
