Today's News

Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of a fire early Tuesday morning that destroyed four buildings in downtown Vandalia.

Cages, Donaldson Carpet, Gathe’s Tax and Accounting Service, and Dennis Gerkin’s State Farm Insurance Agency were destroyed in that blaze, which kept Vandalia firemen busy through much of the day.

Two investigators with the Office of the State Fire Marshal visited the scene on Tuesday, and a determination on the cause had not been made by press time on Wednesday.

Late Saturday afternoon, as wrestling fans returned to Assembly Hall following an intermission before the third-place matches in the individual state tournament, Vandalia had just one wrestler left, out of the five who had made the trip to Champaign to compete.

The other four wrestlers had lost out earlier in the day or during the Friday sessions. Sophomore Trever Pyle was the last man standing.

The word “phantom” can be defined as an apparition or an illusion. However, if a lawbreaker would come face-to-face with “Phantom,” the German shepherd who is a member of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office’s team, the perpetrator would have no illusion about Phantom’s size, strength and abilities to carry out his trained skills and duties in order to keep the Fayette County citizens and environment safe.

The Fayette County Hospital Board on Monday heard a presentation from the owner of an Effingham County ambulance service who plans to launch an ambulance operation in Fayette County this spring.