A 24-year-old Farina man has been arrested by Kinmundy Police for aggravated domestic battery and criminal trespass to property. Zachary Wooldridge of 650th Avenue in Farina was taken to the Marion County Jail to await a first court appearance. 48-year-old William Small of West 7th in Centralia was arrested by Centralia on a misdemeanor no bond failure to appear warrant. 25-year-old Matthew Polk of Carbondale was transported back to the Marion County Jail from the Jackson County Jail at Murp...

With the Medicare open enrollment period underway, older adults looking to change their existing Medicare plan can receive free, personalized assistance through the Illinois Department on Aging's (IDoA) Senior Health Insurance Program (SHIP). Illinois SHIP Director Sandy Leith says it is that time of year where people with Medicare will encounter numerous advertisements about the various Medicare Health and Drugs plans for 2027. Don't go it alone, Leith says let them put your mind at ease whe...

The Marion County Sheriff's Department reports no one was around Thursday night when they arrived at the scene of a car in the roadside ditch off the Green Street Road near Colestock Lane. The car had a bloody handprint on the top of the vehicle. The department was notified through multiple 9-1-1 calls. They are still trying to find the driver of the vehicle and to determine if he was injured.

A 50-year-old Salem woman pleaded guilty to an aggravated battery charge before her jury trial was scheduled to begin on Thursday. Dee Schwarm of North Trenary admitted to striking Michael Sills about the body with a bat during an altercation at Sills home in December 2024. He was transported to Salem Township Hospital and later transferred to an Evansville, Indiana hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. A second count of aggravated battery in connection with the same incid...

The Raccoon Lake Association voted at its meeting on Thursday to request the city of Centralia to establish a committee to develop a plan and apply for grant funding to stop shoreline erosion at Raccoon Lake. Association President Tom Hawkins gave a presentation on transitional wetland breakwaters as a possibility for preventing erosion. Breakwaters are designed to stop erosion by absorbing wave energy and have the effect of improving water quality by trapping erosion silt and mineral particu...

The Salem Grade School Board Thursday night approved applying for a $50,000 school maintenance project grant. Superintendent Dr. Leslie Foppe said if is approved, the money will go towards replacement of older playground equipment at Hawthorne. The grant would require the school district to provide at least $50,000 in matching funds for the project. Foppe says the state had adequate funding to approve most of the grant requests. The board received good financial news. New policies for Wor...

The City of Centralia will start the leaf vacuuming service for City residents of Centralia as of Monday, October 26, 2026. The vacuuming service will last for a period of 8 weeks ending on December 18, 2026. The service will follow routes as established in August 2012 (see website at www.cityofcentralia.org for map). The usual landscape waste and limbs will continue to be collected every week in approved paper bags. The following are simple rules that each resident is asked to follow to make...

The Marion County Board wants to take another look at charging fees to those wanting to site solar farms. The board had earlier tried to implement the charges, but were stopped by Marion County State's Attorney Tim Hudspeth who said it wasn't possible since the county didn't have zoning to attach the fees. But the board's finance and budget committee Tuesday night decided to bring the issue up again because Fayette County has reportedly implemented the fees. Like Marion County, they don't ...