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Local News

  • Motown cancels on council

    Representatives of Motown Technology & Sports Facility, Inc., the Michigan-based firm that plans to build a $300-million sports and entertainment complex on Vandalia’s west side, won’t appear at tonight’s city council meeting, city officials said this afternoon.

    Kenneth Bardwell, chairman and executive officer for Motown, told officials Saturday afternoon in an e-mail the company would seek to reschedule because of a death in Bardwell’s family.

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  • Dr. Hans Rollinger honored by FCH district board

    Hans Rollinger, M.D., was honored for his service to the community at a reception by the Fayette County Hospital District Board before its regular meeting on Monday, Sept. 28.

    Delbert Miller, chairman of the hospital district board, presented a plaque to Rollinger in honor of his contributions to the district board as well as to the hospital.

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  • Vandalia opts for 'local,' not cheaper

    A Vandalia contracting firm won a six-figure city contract Monday, after officials rejected two lower bids in favor of keeping jobs here.

    “We need to make sure we look highly at the local men and women,” Mayor Ricky Gottman said, after aldermen voted 5-3 against accepting an Okawville-based contractor’s bid to perform a sanitary sewer extension project on West Main Street.

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  • Smiles all around

    It’s only one hour a week. But, the smiles that fill the room tell you it is one very big hour in many people’s lives.

    The gathering in Wesley Hall at First United Methodist Church in Vandalia last Monday was much like every other Evergreen Outreach session.

    There was singing, clapping, dancing, card-playing and, of course, a lot of smiling.

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  • Thursday at 4:40 p.m.-Motown asks for more time to secure funding

    The Michigan-based firm that plans to build $300-million sports and entertainment complex on Vandalia’s west side has asked the city for time to secure funding for the project.

    Under a contract approved in May, Motown Technology & Sports Facility Inc., had until Thursday to provide city officials with proof that they had secured funding for the project.

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  • Fayette County Hospital making cuts

    In response to declining revenues, rising expenses and lagging reimbursements, the chief executive officer of Fayette County Hospital on Monday announced an extensive slate of cost-cutting measures designed to save the hospital $500,000 over the next three months.

    Greg Starnes said that all of the hospital’s 320 employees would share in the cuts, which will go into effect Oct. 1.

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  • Family YMCA moving forward on plans for new facility

    The Family YMCA of Fayette County this week announced that it will move forward with plans to construct a $1.2-million building in Vandalia.

    The 14,560-square-foot building will include a full-size gymnasium, a weightlifting and cardio area, a walking track, a multi-purpose room and locker rooms. It will be located on a 4-acre tract of land behind Miller Field, across Rock Island Avenue east of the Vandalia campus of Kaskaskia College.

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  • BREAKING NEWS-Monday at 10:45 a.m.-Judge sides with AFSCME

    A Johnson County judge ruled on Monday that Gov. Pat Quinn's plans to layoff about 1,000 Illinois prison workers – including 127 at Vandalia Correctional Center – at the end of this month should be postponed.

    According to www.stltoday.com, the Web site of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Judge Todd Lambert granted the request of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees for a preliminary injunction, and ruled that the Union which represents the majority of state workers should seek arbitration on the layoffs issue.

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  • Friday-10:45 a.m. McCarter visits VCC; calls layoffs 'short-sighted,' 'dangerous'

    State Sen. Kyle McCarter (R-Lebanon) on Friday characterized as "short-sighted" and "dangerous" the decision by the Quinn administration and the Illinois Department of Corrections (DOC) to release 1,000 convicted felons early and cut front line prison staff at the Vandalia and Decatur correctional centers.

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  • Judge to rule on AFSCME suit on Monday

    After hearing a full day of testimony, a Southern Illinois judge said he issue a ruling on Monday on a lawsuit filed by the union that represents the majority of Vandalia Correctional Center employees.

    Vandalia Mayor Rick Gottman was among those in the courtroom as arguments were made on the request for a preliminary injunction filed by the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees-Council 31.

    The union has filed the suit to try to prevent the state from laying off more than 500 of its members, including 127 who work at VCC.

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