Work is about to begin on the Green Street and Odin Road safety improvement project. Guinzey Construction of Ashley, which was earlier awarded a $3.4-million bid to complete the work, says they are starting to mobilize equipment for the project Monday and urge caution. The Green Street Road will remain open throughout the project, but will be reduced to one lane in places starting on May 20th. Guinzey officials say the one lane section of roadway will be done in half-mile to mile long segme...

All 45 unclaimed bicycles offered for free during a Saturday bicycle giveaway by Salem Police found new owners. Deputy Police Chief Susan Miller says the bikes were all picked up over the past few years and were never claimed. She says the police department could easily return bikes if they were registered. "If someone has registered their bike then we would be able to return it to them. But unfortunately, these bikes have not been registered so we have no way to contact an owner.&qu...

A 64-year-old Centralia man was injured early Sunday morning when his motorcycle struck a deer on State Route 161 east of Centralia. Marion County Sheriff's Deputies say Guy Lanter of East Calumet was traveling eastbound when he struck the deer and the cycle rolled over. It then hit the edge of a driveway culvert and came to rest in the roadside ditch. Lanter was taken to SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital for treatment of injury. The crash occurred around four Sunday morning.

The Salem Elk's Lodge held its annual awards ceremony over the weekend and presented the Citizen of the Year Award to Ola Chapman. Chapman was honored for being highly involved in the Salem community. She said she was thrilled and deeply honored when surprised with the award. "I just love people. I like to talk to people and I think one of my things is the Hospital Foundation. All the friends I've made. I'm always glad to help out with anything. If there was a tournament at the Cou...

The 2024 Salem Community High School Prom King and Queen are Dyson Hails and Miranda Podergois. They were crowned during a Friday night coronation at Salem Community High School's B.E. Gum gymnasium by 2023 King and Queen Rex Brashear and Maya Susmena. Click on any of the photos to open the photo gallery and for larger versions of the photo. Photos by Bruce Kropp.

The Illinois Department of Transportation has announced that the structure carrying Illinois 127 over the Norfolk Southern Railroad just north of Illinois 161 near Posey will be reduced to one-way travel beginning Monday, weather permitting. Temporary signals will maintain traffic for the duration of the project which is expected to be completed by early July. Motorists should expect delays and are encouraged to use alternate routes during the closure. Drivers are urged to reduce speed, be al...

As legislative session nears its end, policy platform part of ongoing clean energy debate By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com A group of lawmakers and influential environmental advocates are calling for broad changes to the state's energy industry and a massive increase in state oversight of Chicagoland's transit system - which faces a projected $730 million budget shortfall. Advocates for the policy platform, which is broken up into three bills, describe mu...

CREVE COEUR, Mo. (AP) - A 79-year-old Missouri man is accused of killing a woman in her suburban Chicago home - a crime that happened nearly six decades ago. James Barbier was arrested Monday at his St. Louis County home and charged with first-degree murder in the November 1966 death of 18-year-old Karen Snider in Cook County, Illinois. The break came when police reopened the cold case and sent blood evidence to a lab in December 2022, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The blood matched ...