A Mt. Vernon woman was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in a 2025 murder that took place in the home where she was living. Laura Beneway, 61, was sentenced Thursday in Jefferson County Circuit Court after pleading guilty to one count of second-degree murder. Attorney General Kwame Raoul's office is also prosecuting a second defendant in this case, Peter Harris, 67, of Mt. Vernon, whose trial is set for October 6 at the Jefferson County Circuit Court. Harris was charged with two co...

The Marion County Drug Court Support Board (MCDCSB) is looking for financial assistance through fundraising and community donation to provide better resources to people in the Drug Court system. The next fundraiser the board is hosting is a Drive-thru pulled pork Fundraiser at Moken Nissan on July 25th. Sponsored by Monken Nissan, the pulled park drive through is from 11am to 2pm. Sandwiches are 8$ and a pound is $15. The meat is being prepared by Wes Monken. The MCDCSB is a nonprofit group (...

The Missoula children's theater is performing The Little Mermaid by Jim Caron and Michael McGill this Saturday at the Salem Community Theater. This story follows Celia, a little mermaid who loves music. On her sixth birthday she is allowed to go to the surface to learn of its secrets. This new version of the age-old tale has lots of music, plot twists, and humor. Tickets for the performance are $5 available at the door or online. The show is from 3 to 5:30pm. This year's week long Missoula ch...

Salem Township Hospital CEO Jim Timpe says the $16-million renovation and expansion project remains on schedule and on budget. He provided an update to the hospital board Wednesday afternoon. "All the demolition on the current ER is done," Timpe said. "It's completely empty inside there. They're starting from scratch. They're putting in all of the utilities and those kinds of things right now, and then they'll start putting up the walls. That part, there's a lot of medical equi...

Salem Township Hospital CEO Jim Timpe says two new clinics will start at the hospital by late summer. He says the first is a Covanin Clinic. "Coumadin is a medication that is given to folks as a blood thinner when they have blood clot issues," Timpe said. "You have to have your blood tested frequently to make sure your blood's not too thin or that it's not thickening again, and then your dose has to be adjusted. This is a clinic so that instead of the primary care physician hav...

by Nikoel Hytrek and UIS Public Affairs Reporting (PAR), Capitol News Illinois June 24, 2026 Article Summary JB Pritzker signed a bill into law that would protect abortion-seekers in Illinois from potential retaliation by shielding their digital medical records from out-of-state entities. Pritzker and leaders from the General Assembly who sponsored the bill called the law another step in Illinois' mission to protect abortion patients and support critical healthcare that's being restricted in ...

A 69-year-old Centralia woman had her pretrial release revoked after new charges were filed against her for allegedly walking out of the Marion County Courthouse on Monday and stealing a vehicle. Judge Ericka Sanders had released Joyce King of Heritage Circle in Centralia on pre-trial conditions after her first appearance for aggravated battery to a nurse and criminal trespass to property. Her new charges are unlawful possession of a stolen or converted vehicle and theft. Salem Police say th...

A 41-year-old former Worship Minister at the Calumet Street Christian Church in Centralia has been sentenced to 14 years in prison after his four-year probation on five counts of child pornography was revoked. Ian Maphet had earlier pleaded guilty to a petition to revoke his probation for using the internet to connect to two dating sites. Provisions of his original sentence of four years' probation allowed him to only use the internet to try and obtain employment. Judge Ericka Sanders senten...