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Today's News

  • John Wakefield an early force in county

    Early this fall I attended a garage sale at Rob and Doris Wehrle’s on U.S. Route 51. While Rob took my husband to the back shed to show him some records he had for sale, I looked everything over pretty well, and settled on a box of back-issue Country Living and Colonial Home magazines.

    Happy with my purchase, we trotted off home and I spent the next several days leafing through the mostly 1999 and 2002 issues.

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  • Petition work for April election under way

    Though Fayette County residents just went to the polls last week, a number of people are already looking toward the next election.

    Those individuals include Rick Gottman, who is planning to seek a third term as mayor of Vandalia.

    At the consolidated election on April 7 of next year, county residents will be electing mayors or village presidents, as well as half of the city councils or village boards in their communities.

    Also on the April ballot are seats on area school boards and park districts.

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  • St. Elmo holds groundbreaking ceremony for the President

    Four days after the citizens of the United States elected a new president, residents of St. Elmo gathered for an inauguration ceremony of sorts for its new President.

    Despite cold, windy weather, a large crowd assembled in an open field east of Driftstone Pueblo on the town’s southern edge for a groundbreaking ceremony for the 85-year-old riverboat that will be converted into a hotel and convention center.

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  • FCHD has smoking 'quit kits'

    Go Cold Turkey this year on Thursday, Nov. 20, during the 32th Annual American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout. This event encourages smokers to quit smoking for a day, spotlights the dangers of tobacco use and acknowledges the challenges of quitting. To commemorate the Great American Smokeout the Fayette County Health Department will offer free “Quit Kits” to encourage smokers to quit for a lifetime by starting with just one day.

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  • Lady Eagles fall in sectional semis

    Up 11-5 in the opening game of its semifinal match against Lincolnwood Tuesday at the Dieterich Sectional, the St. Elmo volleyball team seemed to have enough momentum to extend its unlikely postseason run to Thursday's championship and beyond.

    "We came out (early) and played good volleyball," Lady Eagles coach Elise Asher said. "We were making good passes and getting the ball to our setters."

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  • St. Elmo wins own regional

    An old saying states it's not important how you start, but how you finish.

    It proved to be doubly true for the St. Elmo volleyball team Saturday night in the championship of its own Class 1A regional.

    The second-seeded Lady Eagles made sure their season did not end the way it started - with a loss to South Central - by racing out to a 9-1 lead in the decisive third game of a 25-16, 18-25, 25-18 upset of the top-seeded Lady Cougars.

    The regional title was St. Elmo's first since 2003.

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  • Vandals blitz Wolves, now on Comets' tail

    For 11 long years, the Vandalia football program had a monkey on its back.

    But it took just 77 seconds for the Vandals to shake that stubborn primate loose Friday night.

    Coach John Stout's team then sacked the past into oblivion, rolling to a 34-12 win over Flora at Mark Greer Field for its first postseason victory since 1997.

    Jake Etcheson scored from 89 yards out on the opening kickoff and added an 11-yard TD run a little more than a minute later, after VCHS recovered a Flora fumble.

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  • Lady Vandals' historic season ends

    Coming off a regular season in which it accomplished just about everything it set out to do, it was only natural for the Vandalia volleyball team to want even more success in the postseason.

    A regional title was not in the cards, however, as a hard-hitting Newton team ended Vandalia's historic 2008 campaign Saturday with a 25-17, 25-23 win over the Lady Vandals in the championship of the Olney-East Richland Class 2A Regional.

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  • E911 approval good for county

    Like voters across the nation who broke new ground by electing the first Afro-American president, Fayette County voters departed from two earlier negative votes to approve funding for an Enhanced 911 emergency telephone system.

    That system, which will be funded by a $2.75 monthly surcharge on county residents’ phone bills, will allow law enforcement and emergency services personnel to respond quickly and accurately to calls for help.

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  • Vandalia a stop on the Underground Railroad

    The busiest time of the Underground Railroad (UGRR) was between the years l840 and 1860. Untold thousands of slaves were ushered between “stations” on this most secret of roads.

    The main points of entry into Illinois were Chester, Alton and Quincy. It is believed that five separate lines started at Quincy, which had one of the largest organized cells of the Underground Railroad in the entire state.

    For Fayette County, proof of the Underground Railroad has been a little long in coming.

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The Leader Union is your source for local news, sports, events and information in Vandalia, Il, and the surrounding area.