Local News

Mostly Sunny & Warm Today---NWS says Erratic Fire Spread Conditions Today
We will see sunshine and warm conditions for today. We are looking at mostly sunny skies for today with a high of 80. Winds from the southwest will gust up to 20 miles per hour today. Then, we'll see partly cloudy skies for tonight with a low of 47. Meanwhile, the National Weather Service in St. Louis says there are ...
9h ago
Vandalia School Board Approves Several Bids for Construction Projects in the District
The Vandalia School Board during their monthly meeting on Thursday night approved several items that will see renovations and construction projects for the district. For the two largest items, a bid was approved from Mettler Development in the amount of $824,440 for the OKAW 2.0 Project and a bid from D7 Roofing in the...
9h ago

City of Vandalia working on new website & mobile app
The City of Vandalia will very soon have a new website and mobile app. At Monday's Vandalia City Council meeting, it was mentioned that City Administrator LaTisha Paslay would be meeting with the new web company this week. Speaking on our podcast "Talking about Vandalia," Mayor Doug Knebel talks about the co...
9h ago
Lawmakers push bills to close loopholes, increase penalties for child sex offenders
A state lawmaker says it is time to change Illinois law that allows people who record or transmit video of minors without authorization to avoid registering as sex offenders. State Senator Darby Hills said Senate Bill 2381 would require people to register as sex offenders if they exploit a minor without unauthorized re...
9h ago
Film Production In Illinois Reaches Record Level
(Springfield, IL) -- The Illinois film industry is booming. Governor JB Pritzker announced this week that film production companies spent more than 700-million dollars in the state last year. That, according to Pritzker, is the highest total in Illinois history. The governor stood alongside actor Joe Minoso, best known...
9h ago

Gradually Clearing Skies & Mild Today
We continue our warm up today. We will start off with mostly cloudy skies but we will gradually clear after that and see a high of 71. Then, we'll see partly cloudy skies for tonight with a low of 49. The warm up will continue as we'll see temperatures in the mid-70's for Friday and Saturday and possible reaching 80 ...
Mar 19, 2026
Despite early voting, voting by mail and other options voter turnout for Tuesday's Primary in Fayette County was very low
In Illinois, early voting begins 45 days before the election. There is also voting by mail and other options for people to be able to cast their ballots. But, despite all that, voter turnout in Fayette County for Tuesday's Primary Election was very low. There are a total of 14,574 registered voters in Fayette County....
Mar 19, 2026

After months of discussion, the City of Vandalia should get some better direction on what they need to do start fixing the Vandalia Lake siltation issues
After a lot of discussion and talking about some different possible solutions to the siltation issues at Vandalia Lake---but never really getting hard and fast prices on what is would cost--the City of Vandalia should finally start getting those answers this spring. During Monday's Vandalia City Council meeting, City E...
Mar 19, 2026
Farmer's Share Breakfast to be held Friday morning
The Fayette County Farm Bureau Women's Committee will hold their annual Farmer's Share Breakfast on Friday morning. The breakfast will be from 7 am to 9 am at the Fayette County Farm Bureau Office at 1125 Sunset Drive in Vandalia. The breakfast includes biscuits & gravy, eggs, sausage and bacon and is just $1. To...
Mar 19, 2026
Drive-Thru Food Giveaway to be held Saturday morning in Vandalia
A Drive-Thru Food Giveaway will be held on Saturday morning at 10 am at Vandalia Junior High School parking lot at 1011 W. Fletcher Avenue in Vandalia. It is open to all residents of Fayette County, no registration is required and there are no financial or income requirements. It is one box per family--they ask that ...
Mar 19, 2026
Holy Cross Lutheran Church holding Ring the Bell Service Today
Today at 2 pm, Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Vandalia invites you and the community to gather a short devotional and prayer in front of the Church. Following the devotion, those in attendance are welcome to stay for their own quiet prayer time in the Church. A devotional will be given at the door to use here or to ta...
Mar 19, 2026
Chicago-Area Man Charged With Threatening Gov Pritzker
(Frankfort, IL) -- A Chicago-area man is accused of threatening Governor Pritzker. Timothy Shemitis of Frankfort was arrested Tuesday on charges of threatening a public official and harassment by telephone. State police say on March 3rd, agents were notified about numerous voicemail threats received by the Governor's O...
Mar 19, 2026
Fayette County State's Attorney Brenda Mathis captures close win in nomination for 4th Judicial Circuit Judge race
Fayette County State's Attorney Brenda Mathis looks to have pulled out a close win in the Republican nomination for the 4th Judicial Circuit Judge Race. Over the 9 county circuit, Mathis received 8,118 votes with Judge Wesley Gozia receiving 8,093 votes. Effingham County State's Attorney Aaron Jones was 3rd with 6,956...
Mar 18, 2026

Gradually Clearing Skies and Warmer Today
We will begin our warm up today. We will start off with clouds, but we'll see gradually clearing skies today with a high of 59. Winds from the south will gust better than 20 miles per hour today. Then, we'll see increasing clouds for tonight with a low of 39. We will continue to warm up through the rest of the work w...
Mar 18, 2026
Challenger Kara Dugan defeats incumbent Jessica Barker for Fayette Co Clerk, all other race unopposed
In Tuesday's Primary Election, Republican challenger Kara Dugan defeated incumbent Jessica Barker in the Fayette County Clerk race. Dugan finished with 1,827 votes to 1,305 votes for Barker. Dugan will now run as the Republican candidate for Fayette County Clerk in the November General Election. As of this time, the...
Mar 18, 2026


















