All the bananas are now gone! The Salem food pantry managed to get rid of all the bananas in just one day. The Salem Ministerial Alliance Food Pantry at the Grace United Methodist Church late Monday afternoon received a truck load of bananas. 970 boxes to be exact containing more than 100,000 bananas. The Director of the food pantry, Carol Ann Short, is the one who got the call for the banana truck. "Yeah, so we got a phone call Monday. They said we have a truck of bananas and we're tryi...

A 21-year-old Opdyke man was ordered held without bond after being charged in Marion County Court Monday in connection with a Wamac home invasion and armed robbery. Dreydyn Hart of North Opdyke Lane faces a Class X felony charge of home invasion for allegedly entering a home on Apple Avenue in Wamac on June 14th and causing injury to the occupant by striking her in the face with his hand. He was charged with residential burglary for allegedly entering the home with intent to commit a theft. ...

A 46-year-old Centralia man faces seven criminal charges, including a Class X felony of armed violence, following a stop while riding his bicycle in Centralia on early Sunday morning. Matthew White faces the charges because he allegedly had a handgun and possession of substance containing cocaine in his possession. He was also charged with possession of a controlled substance, two counts of aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon, as well as single counts of unlawful possession of a fire...

Salem City Attorney Matt Wilzbach has been asked to draw up an ordinance to ban the sale of Kratom at city convenience and tobacco stores. Mayor Nic Farley made the request at Monday night's city council meeting after seeing a growing problem with the substance. "It's something that I've seen multiple people have a lot of issues with," Farley said. "I've been getting calls on this since January. We've been working internally on this since probably that long, having internal dis...

Keep Salem Beautiful has presented its next Business Beautiful Award to Jason Green's Shelter Insurance on South Broadway. Shelter Insurance was recognized for its outstanding scenery, plant life, and welcoming environment. The Business Beautiful Award is presented four times a year. The winner receives a $250 cash award and a plaque. Members of the board of directors of Keep Salem Beautiful make the decision on the awardees.

Salem has a new city treasurer. Kelli Barrell-Drease, who is already the city's finance director, will replace the retiring Jill Combs. The city council had questions about whether there were any issues with the same person holding both jobs. They were told no, provided that a second person reviews and balances the checking account each month.

The Salem City Council has entered into a five-year agreement with the Marion County Board to merge the city's emergency management agency into the county's. The county has agreed to keep the city's accreditation in place. Any grant money received by the city would be turned over to the county organization. The county will also get the city's three Emergency Management vehicles, but those will have to be returned if the agreement ends before the five-year period. The council agreed to a o...

The Salem Grade School Board has approved a new three-year contract with the teachers' association. Superintendent Dr. Leslie Foppe says the agreement will give the teachers a four percent salary increase for the next three school years. She reports it also addresses the district's change in insurance cooperatives and gives teachers a choice of options. "We have a monetary amount set for each year," Foppe said. "They can pick one of the ten plans that's available to them with...