A line of heavy thunderstorms prompted both severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings as it crossed South Central Illinois early Thursday night. Weatherology meteorologists noted areas of rotation in the clouds as the storm passed over the Boulder, Patoka, Vernon, and Kinmundy areas and again north of US 50 between Salem and Iuka. Fortunately, no building damage has been reported. A flag pole at the entrance to Central City on US 51 was bent by the strong winds. Hail as large as an inch and...

The Salem Community High School Green Team Recycling Day is Friday, April 26th from eight to noon. Sponsor Drew Johnson says the recycling will follow the same procedure as last year. Those who want to drop off no longer wanted electronic items should come to the back of the school and drive up in front of the agriculture building. Students will then unload your vehicle. Johnson says they are not allowed to accept some items. Those include smoke detectors, fire alarms and old-style compute...

The Iuka Fire Department has received good news. Its fire insurance rating has improved and the department has received a $26,000 grant to purchase new equipment. The fire department has been informed its ISO rating has improved from a seven to a six and is just about three points shy of a five. The rating from the independent company is used by insurance companies to set rates for fire insurance and should result in savings to district residents. Ratings range from one for an exemplary f...

A portion of the back wall of a vacant downtown Centralia building in the 100 block of South Locust collapsed on Wednesday afternoon. The outside wall was to an upstairs apartment. The bricks fell onto the roof of a nearby single story section of the building. Centralia Community Development Director Gayla Harting says the owner of the building at 129 South Locust, George Whitfield, was planning to make repairs after consulting with his insurance carrier. The building last housed several b...

Marion County Sheriff's Deputies say no one was injured when a car ran into the rear of a grain truck on the Green Street Road at its intersection with Lakeshore Drive early Wednesday night. The semi driven by 39-year-old Floyd Ponyi of Ullman Road in Centralia was stopped waiting for a car in front of him to be able to make a left hand turn into Lakeshore Drive. The driver of the car, 52-year-old Nicole Campbell of Bob White Lane in Salem, said she didn't see the stopped semi and could not ...

A 30-year-old Granite City man was arrested for alleged domestic battery following a rolling domestic dispute on I-57 near the Kinmundy exit on Wednesday. Marion County Sheriff's Deputies say Stephen Jackson is accused of striking his girlfriend. The two proceeded to the Farina exit where they stopped at one of the businesses along the Interstate and Jackson was taken into custody. He was transferred to the Marion County Jail to await a final decision on charges. The Marion County Sheriff...

The South Central School Board Wednesday night was told the virtual classroom equipment has arrived and has been set up in a conference room at the high school. Principal Jamie VanScyoc says the equipment will allow South Central high school students more class choices. "If we are short staffed or don't have a teacher, it allows us to provide an opportunity for our students to take a class. If we wanted to have a German or French class, we will be able to connect with someone virtually ...

By JERRY NOWICKI & DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com Weeks after two high-profile resignations at the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday appointed the first-ever executive director to help lead the beleaguered agency. To fill the newly created position, the governor tapped Jim Montgomery, who most recently served as director of administrative services with the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department in Massachusetts. His prior experience ...