Today's News

Vandalia Community High School senior Will Cowger is a big guy. At 6 feet 3 inches and 230 pounds, he stands out from the crowd. His size isn’t the only thing that separates him from the rest, though. Cowger is a three-sport star at VCHS. In the fall he’s under the lights on the football field, in the winter he’s on the hardwood of the basketball court and in the spring he’s under the sun, in the shot put ring.

Even with the demands of his athletic schedule, Cowger maintains a 4.0 in the classroom and is currently at the top of his class.

A 3-3 vote by the St. Elmo City Council at a special meeting on Thursday night means that Mayor Larry Tish’s dismissal of Ken Thomason from the chief of police position stands.

About 240 city residents were on hand for the meeting, which was moved from the Phillips Building to the St. Elmo Elementary School because of the size of the crowd. About a dozen area police officers checked everyone with handheld metal detectors as they entered the building.

The Vandalia City Council was asked on Monday night to take care of what city officials expect to be the last of unwelcome surprises related to the downtown streetscape project.

While tearing out the sidewalk on the south side of the 400 block of Gallatin Street, workers learned that part of the foundation of Something Special Florist was setting on that sidewalk.

“They tore out part of the foundation when tearing out the sidewalk,” Something Special owner Donelle Conaway told the city council.

Driving in the Ramsey Creek bottoms the other day, I slowed down to watch the graceful ballet of three Case-IH combines as they performed the dance of "gathering the harvest" in the field below me.

Chaff and dust rose up behind the combines, fully engulfing them as they made a sweeping turn at the end of the row. The men and women in the cab know exactly how far to go before executing their turn so that the beans are fully harvested.