A 36-year-old Wamac man has been arrested on three counts of aggravated domestic battery and three counts of child endangerment after allegedly choking his girlfriend's three children while babysitting them. Wamac Police arrested Justin Clegg of South James on Monday after an investigation of the incident that occurred on Friday. Police were told the choking and slapping around began after the children woke Clegg up at their mother's request. The children were 6 and 8-year-old girls and a...

The Marion County Board has approved salary increases for the upcoming four years for those elected as Supervisor of Assessments, Circuit Clerk, and Coroner. The board agreed to set the salary of the supervisor of assessments and circuit clerk for fiscal year 2024 at $71,200 and for 2025 at $75,200. The increases for those two years are the same as earlier approved for the final two years of office for the current County Treasurer and County Clerk. The increases for 2026 and 2027 will then...

The Marion County Board has approved a $6,145 bid from Shores Builders of Centralia to make ADA improvements to the jury box and witness stand in the large third-floor courtroom. Building Committee Chair Dr. Creighton Engel says the work will include adding two additional seats for alternative jurors and making it accessible for jurors in wheelchairs. The witness stand seat will be made larger and easier to access. Circuit Clerk Tiffany Schicker says that recently became an issue when a juro...

The Central City Village Board on Tuesday evening approved a budget for the village's 2024-2025 fiscal year which projects to carry a slight surplus. The budget contains projected revenues of $1,065,578 against anticipated expenses of $1,010,174. Mayor Neely Reed commended trustees RoseAnn Pickett and Siera Stoffel, members of the village's finance committee, for their efforts in preparing the budget. Central City's fiscal year starts on May 1. In other business, the board approved a resoluti...

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Detective Division has apprehended two child pornography offenders in separate investigations. They are identified as 49-year-old Ryan Taylor of Mt. Vernon and 28-year-old Anthony Powell of Opdyke. Taylor was arrested on April 20th after an investigation that started in January. The Sheriff's Office received multiple cyber tips through their membership with the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. The investigation led to search warrants fo...

Marion County Sheriff Kevin Cripps has announced Deputy Shane King will be the school resource officer for the Patoka and South Central School Districts. King will begin work with the two districts when school resumes for the next school year in August. King along with a second deputy who wants to be a school resource officer, Kevin Berry, are currently undergoing SRO certification training this week in Belleville. They will undergo additional training during the summer. Cripps expects Berry...

The Marion County Soil and Water Conservation District is selling the remaining trees from its Annual Tree Sale. Seven species of seedlings remain and the numbers are limited. The tree seedlings will be sold by appointment only. If you are interested in any of the remaining seedlings, please contact Burke Davies at 618-548-2230 extension three.

On Saturday evening, the 7th annual Odin High School Hall of Fame Ceremony was held at Ples H. Wilson Gymnasium. Here were the inductees. Glenn Benjamin: Glenn is highly regarded as one of the top pitchers the school has ever produced. He is listed 6 times in the IHSA Record Books: 9th for Career Wins (38), 12th for Season Wins (16), 8th for Career Innings (330), 3rd for Season Innings (148.2), 13th for Career Strikeouts (446) and 8th for Season Strikeouts (213). He was voted MVP of the MT...