The Greater Salem Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting to welcome Modern Paw Pet Company to Salem. The business owned by Lauren Fox is located at 730 North Broadway in the former Paradise Flowers and Quinn Realty building. "We offer dog grooming services, small, medium, and large; it doesn't matter what size. We don't offer cat grooming, sadly. We do offer tons of retail for both dogs and cats." Shelves of dog and cat toys and treats, along with pet beds, fill the shop. [soca...

The Iuka Fire Protection District has purchased a new first-out engine for structure fires. The engine was purchased used from the Waynesville Rural Fire Protection District in Missouri. Fire Chief Kenny Eagan reports the plan is to have the new engine in service in January after some upgrades. One of those upgrades is being made possible by a donation from the Romine Prairie Presbyterian Church. The church is providing the money to cover the cost of an emergency lighting upgrade. The new ...

Split opinion allows consent decree to continue but says lower judge erred By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com Article summary The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals will continue to block the release of hundreds of undocumented immigrants that a lower court had ordered after they were allegedly arrested without a warrant. The split ruling also allowed a Biden-era consent decree governing warrantless arrests to continue during the Trump administration. It mark...

Centralia Police arrested 31-year-old Kyle Roe on outstanding warrants for failure to appear in Marion and Clinton counties. Roe was taken to the Marion County Jail where he is being held without bond until a Monday court appearance. Sandoval Police arrested 52-year-old Janie Lee of Mulberry Street in Farina on an outstanding Marion County felony no-bond warrant. Centralia Police are investigating a burglary at a home in the 800 block of Martin Luther King Drive. A neighbor reported seeing ...

by Maggie Dougherty, Capitol News Illinois December 12, 2025 Article Summary JB Pritzker signed a law Friday that will allow terminally ill Illinoisians to end their lives with physician-prescribed medication. The legislation will go into effect in nine months. The law will apply only to mentally capable adults who have been determined by doctors to have less than six months to live. Major depressive disorder alone does not make a person eligible for end-of-life medication. Patients must have...

by Hannah Meisel, Capitol News Illinois December 11, 2025 Article Summary State Sen. Emil Jones III, D-Chicago, will not face a scheduled January retrial in his federal bribery case. A Thursday hearing revealed he is set to enter into a deferred prosecution agreement with the government that would let him avoid a conviction. Under the agreement, Jones would likely see his three charges - including bribery, wire fraud and lying to the FBI - dropped a year from now. In addition to staying out o...

by Ben Szalinski, Capitol News Illinois December 11, 2025 Article Summary Several new public safety laws will take effect Jan. 1. One new law requires gun owners to store their firearms in a locked and secure location when children are present or face big fines. A law honoring Sonya Masey will take effect requiring police departments to do more in-depth background checks for new hires after Capitol News Illinois reporting raised questions about Sangamon County's hiring process. Other new laws...

The Centralia Community Concert and Jazz Band will present a Christmas Concert on Saturday. The show will begin at two on Saturday afternoon and is free to attend at the Centralia Cultural Society at 1250 East Rexford. The band is under the direction of Cliff Jourdan.