The Marion County Health Department is reporting a positive mosquito batch for West Nile Virus in Central City. The Culex pipiens mosquito, commonly called a house mosquito increases in numbers during July and August and the percentage of infected mosquitoes also increase with the greatest risk from now until September 15th. Anyone who is infected can potentially develop West Nile Virus disease. However, people 50 years of age or older or who are immunocompromised are at highest risk for West...

A Dix man received minor injuries when his pickup truck ran into a moving train on Wednesday at the Baseline Road crossing in rural Walnut Hill. Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Bullard says Michael Reed was taken to Crossroads-Deaconess Hospital in Mt. Vernon for treatment of minor injuries. Reed was ticketed for driving with license revoked, failure to yield and no insurance.

Fire departments from at least five counties fought a fire that destroyed three downtown DuQuoin businesses on Wednesday afternoon. The fire began at the large Home Lumber Company and spread to BJ's Garden Inn and Cafe and Croessmann Wholesale Company. Firemen were able to save one other building in the block. The fire is under investigation by the Illinois State Fire Marshals Office. In all 30 fire departments responded to the call, many bringing tankers who help haul in water to the scene...

The Monken Chrysler Nissan dealership in Centralia showed off its finished remodel at a ribbon cutting on Tuesday. The remodel includes an updated interior and new showrooms. Wes Monken said employees had to move and make adjustments multiple times, and that they did a fantastic job of working through the remodel. Monken also thanked the community for its support, which Monken to expand through the years.

by Hannah Meisel, Capitol News Illinois September 1, 2026 Article Summary A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Forest Service to suspend a commercial logging project in southern Illinois' Shawnee National Forest, finding the agency's approval of the project under President Joe Biden violated the Endangered Species Act. Despite the agency's own preliminary assessment showing an endangered bat species lived in the roughly 70-acre area targeted for the tree thinning project, the Forest Service d...

The schedule for hearing objections to the Marion County Republican caucus that selected Anthony Decker as the party's sheriff's candidate has been set. The six original objections will be heard on Friday beginning at nine am and continuing through 5:30 as originally scheduled. The seventh objection filed Tuesday by Patoka precinct committeeman John Thompson will be held at nine Saturday morning. Most of the objections have been written by the same person in a legal format, with a space le...

A 24-year-old Centralia man has been charged in Marion County Court with three counts of harassment through electronic communications. Ethin Julian of Hickory Meadows is accused of threatening injury and threatening to kill or injure a woman in the text messages on August 10th. Salem Police say in addition, Julian sent pictures of two pistols, one which had a switch to make it a fully automatic machine-pistol. The alleged victim reported the text messages had been ongoing for about a week at...

A report of an accident on Lazy Acres Road southwest of Salem Wednesday morning turned out to be a woman who ran off the road into a ditch due to a medical problem. Salem Fire reports the woman was unconcious upon their arrival and at the time United Medical Response transported her to Salem Township Hospital. Her name has not been released. Firemen say the car was leaning sideways in the ditch and she had to be removed through another door of the vehicle. The Marion County Sheriff's Departm...