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Today's News

  • City learns it's costly to open Gallatin blocks

    Once they found out the cost, Vandalia officials weren’t so interested in getting a two-block stretch of Gallatin Street open when construction is delayed.

    The council declined on Monday night to take any action on a request from numerous individuals, including some aldermen and businesses in that two-block section, to open the 300 and 400 blocks of Gallatin open to traffic when weather brought a halt to work on the downtown project.

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  • LaDage, Bell receive Abe Awards

    Two individuals with long careers in Vandalia and equally long lists of volunteer involvements were presented Abe Awards at last Thursday’s annual banquet of the Vandalia Chamber of Commerce.

    Sharon LaDage received the Abe Award for non-chamber members, while Dave Bell received the award for chamber members.

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  • Low voter turnout on Tuesday

    With only one local candidate on the ballot involved in contested race, the main attraction in Tuesday’s election for Fayette County voters was the input in regional and statewide races.

    And because most of the local candidates were running unopposed, many county residents decided not to go to the polls. According to Fayette County Clerk and Recorder Terri D. Braun, only about 12 percent of the county’s registered voters turned out for the primary election.

    The county officeholders whose terms expire this year all ran unchallenged on Tuesday.

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  • Vandals pick up big win over Pana

    The Vandalia boys basketball team picked up a big win on Tuesday night over conference foe Pana, 57-39.

    The Vandals (12-9, 8-0 SCC) went on a 20-0 run at the end of the second quarter and the start of the third to pull away from the Panthers and move to 8-0 in the conference.

    "Obviously, that's huge," Vandalia coach Kevin Jackson said. "We settled in and played really good offense and I thought we guarded really well...and that's a big part of what we want to do."

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  • Lady Vandals rain threes in 51-41 victory

    The Vandalia girls basketball team seems to be peaking at the right time, or coach Michelle McNary and the Lady Vandals would like to think so, as Vandalia won its second-straight contest and fourth of its last seven games on Monday night. The Lady Vandals hit seven three-pointers in their 51-41 victory over East Alton-Wood River.

    "I saw a lot of good things tonight," McNary said. "I like to think we're peaking, but there's obviously a lot of improvement since the beginning of the season."

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  • Wrestlers take third at Litchfield Invitational

    Heading into the individual regional this weekend, the Vandalia wrestling squad is on a nice clip after picking up a third-place finish at the Litchfield Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

    "I though we wrestled pretty well all weekend," Vandalia coach Jason Clay said. "We had some matches that we could have won, but we had some matches that I didn't know how we'd do in. So it was a good tournament all the way around."

    Vandalia had eight wrestlers finish in the top five of their weight class, with two of them taking home first-place honors.

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  • Field of Dreams leaders to address chamber

    Two men who are involved in the Vandalia Field of Dreams project will present the program at this Wednesday's meeting of the Vandalia Chamber of Commerce.

    Luke Hohlt and Brian Buscher are among the local people involved in the project to improve the baseball fields in Vandalia.

    Also on Wednesday, new chamber President Shaun Murray will conduct his first meeting as president of the organization.

    The chamber meets at noon in the Lincoln Room at Ponderosa Steakhouse, with a luncheon followed by a business meeting and the program.

     

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  • LaDage, Bell receive Abe Awards

    A long-time educator and the publisher of The Leader-Union were honored on Thursday night for their service to the community.

    Sharon LaDage and Dave Bell each received an Abe Award from the Vandalia Chamber of Commerce during the chamber's annual banquet on Thursday night at the American Legion Home.

    Also at the banquet, the outgoing chamber president, Joanna Helm, handed the gavel to the 2010 president, Shaun Murray.

    For the complete story, see next week's issue of The Leader-Union.

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  • Clerk gives undervoting notification

    From the office of Fayette County Clerk & Recorder Terri D. Braun: The State of Illinois has enacted a law which requires our voting equipment to notify voters if they do not vote for every office on the ballot. This is referred to as an under vote. If you choose not to vote for all offices listed, your ballot will be returned to you by the tabulator, and a message will appear on the tabulator read-out, informing you of which office(s) you under voted.

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  • Vandals use third-quarter surge to beat Toppers

    "We have to go play," Vandalia coach Kevin Jackson said to his team at half time.

    The simple and obvious statement  shook Vandalia out of the vegetable torpor that it had fallen into in the first half against Hillsboro on Tuesday night.

    The Vandals went on an 8-2 run to start the third quarter and take control of what was a four-point game at the half, in recording a 54-42 win.

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