Local News

Many remember the good old days, when you picked up a telephone receiver, a pleasant voice asked, Number, please. The helpful operator directed your call to the proper destination with without further ado.

There were no electronic voices recordings with options and directions to press this number or that, no instructions to return to the main menu if none of the options were suitable, no If you want to speak to a representative (meaning a real, live person) or Sorry, your call cannot be completed as dialed.

Many Vandalia residents clamor for economic growth, and Mayor Rick Gottman said last week that figures support his claim that Vandalia is in trend of growth.

A lot of communities are concerned about their growth, with whats going to happen, Gottman said during his State of the City address at last Wednesdays Vandalia Chamber of Commerce meeting.

Our tax base keeps climbing, while others are starting to fall, he said.

The city of Vandalias budget for the coming fiscal year is pretty much like the current budget, as far as the total and some of the projects being funded.

But it does include some new items, including monies for an important infrastructure project.

The new budget has a bottom-line total of $13.4 million, which City Administrator Jimmy Morani said is unchanged from the current budget.

Under the bright sunshine on a warm spring afternoon, Vandalia sixth-graders ventured out of the classroom to learn about Vandalia Lake, water quality, soils and other conservation issues. A week ago, the agency that organized Vandalia Lake Appreciation Day were thinking that Mondays event would be the last of its type.