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Today's News

  • Recycling drive canceled

    Saturday's recycling drive in Vandalia has been canceled due to the weather.

    The Fayette County Recycling Committee will hold its next collection on Saturday, Feb. 12. Drives are held on the second Saturday of each month, from 9 a.m.-noon.

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  • Flora wins seventh holiday tournament title

    After some upsets on day one and thrilling games throughout the tournament, the final day of the 38th annual Vandalia Holiday Tournament was far from sensational. The closest game was a 70-61 win by Pana over Altamont, and only two lower seeds beat higher seeds (No. 5 Greenville over No. 3 Wesclin and No. 9 Shelbyville over No. 8 Central A&M).

    The finale and title game Wednesday night was a blowout of No. 2 Stew-Stras at the hands of No. 1 Flora. The Wolves were led by sophomore Paul Knapp, who scored 28 and was named tournament MVP.

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  • Vandals end tourney with win against rival South Central

    With both South Central and Vandalia entering the ninth place game at the VHT sitting at 0-4 last Wednesday, only one team would finish the tournament with a win.

    Even with an 0-4 record, Vandalia arguably had the better tournament, losing by an average of only 4.5 points. Meanwhile, the Cougars were losing by an average of 26 points a game. Even so, Wednesday afternoon's game between the two Fayette County rivals was a toss-up for ninth place in the tournament.

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  • Lady Cougars place second at Dieterich

    With the boys basketball team struggling, it has been the South Central girls basketball team that has stepped into the spotlight.

    The Lady Cougars suffered only their second loss of the season in the Dieterich Girls Holiday Tournament title game against Cowden Herrick-Beecher City (CHBC), 71-56, last Wednesday.

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  • Residents asked to help thwart burglaries

    In frigid temperatures like we’ve been experiencing lately, most people stay out of the weather unless they’re required to work in it. But then, those who steal from others are not like most people.

    Vandalia Police Chief Larry Eason announced on Monday that his department is working to solve a number of recent burglaries, both in town and at Vandalia Lake.

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  • Input vital on river intake

    The Vandalia City Council has long been searching for a solution to the city’s inoperable raw water intake on the Kaskaskia River. On Monday night, it heard of a possible solution.

    Yet, there is still some varying opinions on how to deal with the situation.

    Gonzalez Companies projects that it will cost about $400,000 to get the intake working properly.

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  • P.G. Donaldson writes of hunting lessons

    In my last column, I shared several stories of Christmas "spreeing" that went on in the early days, as told by old-timers of Fayette County.

    The Rev. Presley Garner Donaldson’s story, “A Christmas Spree,” was among them, and his talk of sky-blue lizards and red-hot reptiles made me chuckle. This story was taken from Presley’s 1908 book, “Life and Adventures of P.G. Donaldson,” in which he tells tales of his life and childhood "in plain home talk."

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  • City asks that two blocks of Gallatin be opened up

    Despite the fact that work on the downtown enhancement project has been halted by the weather, it remains months ahead of schedule.

    But that’s no comfort to the merchants in the two blocks of Gallatin Street where the finished roadway remains closed to traffic.

    Prior to Monday’s city council meeting, Alderman Dean Black approached Mayor Rick Gottman about remedying that situation.

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  • Police alert residents of burglaries, ask for help

    The cold weather doesn’t seem to be having much of an effect on criminals.

    The Vandalia Police Department has been handling a number of burglary reports in recent weeks, and it’s asking for the public’s help in apprehending the criminals.

    Chief Larry Eason reported on Monday that his officers had handled three reports of burglaries and three more attempted burglaries.

    On Jan. 1, police received a report that someone had broken into a storage shed on a Vandalia Lake lot and taken an unknown number of power tools.

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  • Altamont beats Brownstown for third straight St. Elmo title

    Brownstown and Altamont gave the crowd in St. Elmo’s gymnasium a championship game worthy of the 50th annual St. Elmo Holiday Tournament on Saturday.

    The two teams battled for four quarters, with Altamont pulling off the victory, thanks to a strong performance in the fourth quarter. The Indians held the Bombers to only one point in the final quarter to get the 63-42 victory.

    “We played pretty well, we just got a little impatient,” Brownstown coach Terry Pruemer said.

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