Judge Mark Stedelin has affirmed the ruling of the Marion County Electoral Board that Republican Sheriff's Candidate Anthony Decker should remain on the ballot and his votes counted. The decision came Tuesday morning at the end of a judicial review of the electoral board's decision in favor of uphold Decker's nomination documents filed after a Marion County Republican caucus selected him as their candidate. The attorney for the four objectors who asked for the review admitted it was too late ...

The Salem City Council approved a $138,000 bid Monday night to complete the third of the four phase project to complete long deferred maintenance of the city hall building. Western Specialty Contractors was awarded the bid to complete masonry work. The council agreed to allow a total expenditure of up to $200,000 on the project if additional problems are found once the work begins. The council swore in new police sergeants. Patrolman Brandon Creek and Detective Trent Swagger took the oath...

The Illinois Department of Transportation has announced that Interstate 64 eastbound at U.S. 51 in Jefferson County will be closed from 10 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22, to 6 a.m. Friday, Oct. 23, for overnight maintenance work. Eastbound I-64 traffic will be detoured south on U.S. 51 to Illinois 15, then east on Illinois 15 to I-57/I-64 in Mount Vernon. During the same overnight work period, the southbound driving lane of I-57 will be closed just south of the I-57/I-64 merge. Motorists should expec...

Centralia Police arrested 45-year-old Blake Garden of Cricket Road in Centralia for alleged aggravated battery. He was taken to the Marion County Jail. Salem Police arrested 21-year-old Ethan Saltsman of Maple Street in Centralia on an outstanding Clinton County misdemeanor no bond warrant.

The UcamP campground on Missouri and Mills Cart has won the quarterly Keep Salem Beautiful Business Award for the beauty of their property. Co-owner Becky Phillips says people told her she was crazy when they began work on the project six years ago during COVID. "We knew what we wanted to build and we built it the way we wanted it," Phillips said. "So here we are, and it's been very successful. We've had so many people from all over the country, we've actually had people from o...

The 18th Annual Monster Crawl returned to the 300 block of East Broadway in Centralia on Saturday night drawing one of their biggest if not the biggest crowd yet. Co-coordinator Jessiycka Nix Coleman was pleased. "We added in some new activities this year," Coleman said. "Not only did we have our returning axe throwing, we also had a returning rail artisan, fire dancers and walkers, DJ, and all of the contests. We also added in Halloween cake wars as a fundraiser for six women....

by Bernarda Malevska, Capitol News Illinois October 15, 2026 Article Summary Two years after its launch, a state medical debt relief program has erased more than $1.4 billion in debt, exceeding the original goal by $400 million. Almost 700,000 Illinoisans across all counties had medical debt relieved. The state spent less than $10 million to relieve these debts through a partnership with a nonprofit that focuses on buying and relieving medical debt. This summary was written by the reporters a...

Seven will be inducted into the Salem Community High School Academic Hall of Fame this Saturday morning at nine in the school cafeteria as part of the All Class Reunion. The inductees include Frank Brinkerhoff - Class of 1953 - widely known as Salem's unofficial historian and was instrumental in the founding of the Marion County Genealogical Society. He spent his life in education, serving as a principal and administrator across Marion County schools. The Brinkerhoff family's connection to S...