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Today's News

  • Orgill picks Sikeston over Vandalia

    Vandalia officials learned late Wednesday that their efforts to retain jobs at the local Orgill facility and procure more jobs at a new company facility were unsuccessful.

    Vandalia Mayor Rick Gottman and Orgill President Ron Beal both issued press releases confirming that Orgill had chosen Sikeston, Mo., as the home for a Mid-America SuperCenter.

    Vandalia and Sikeston were the finalists for the new distribution center that will reportedly employ about 350 people.

    Orgill officials said Wednesday that the new 795,000-square-foot facility will be built on a 70-acre site.

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  • South Central ends Vandalia Jr. Legion season

    With storm clouds looming in the west and just nine players in the dugout, the Vandalia Junior American Legion baseball team had to feel fortunate just to take the field Friday in an elimination game at the 23rd District East Division Tournament at Salem.

    Vandalia's luck ran out long before those storm clouds emptied onto the field in the middle of the seventh, however, as Post 95 saw its season come to an end with an 8-2 rain-shortened loss to South Central.

    The lopsided defeat came to a team that Vandalia beat earlier in the season.

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  • Murfin leads Post 95 to DH sweep with 1-hitter

    Moments prior to the second game of the Post 95 Senior American Legion baseball team's doubleheader at Centralia Tuesday night, Luke Murfin promised coach Steve Hosick a seven-inning no-hitter.

    "I was kidding around," Murfin said.

    Centralia would beg to differ.

    Despite throwing three innings the night before - and being just 15 years old - Murfin nearly delivered on his half-serious prediction, as the Patoka junior-to-be dominated an overwhelmed host team, completing a Post 95 doubleheader sweep with a one-hit gem.

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  • Gray and Reuscher to play golf at Blackburn

    Since Dallas Gray introduced Danny Reuscher to the game of golf back in junior high, the two recent VCHS grads have become fixtures on the links at Vandalia Country Club.

    "We both like to play together and watch each other, and see if there are any glitches in our swings," Gray said. "We play all the time."

    The duo's friendship and mutual love for the game helped the VCHS golf program put together an unprecedented four-year run of success.

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  • Sales tax option may help schools

    Though we have to start from the premise that the last thing most people want is another tax, there may be some merit in studying the benefits of a countywide sales tax to benefit our schools.

    The concept of a sales tax to provide funding for education is new in Illinois, but has been used successfully in several other states.

    The difference between this proposal and other current school taxes is that under this plan, funds are generated by retail sales rather than the more traditional property taxes.

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  • Grandpa's Indian discovery creates stir

    My mother, Cora Rebbe Torbeck, was reared along Flat Creek in Wilberton Township. The firstborn of seven children of Edward and Edna Moeller Rebbe, she was reared within a stone's throw of the home of her grandparents, Chris and Minnie Rebbe.

    One night, while sitting around the supper table, Mom told us of the time her father had unearthed the skeleton of an Indian while plowing a field along Flat Creek. Mom knew that this had happened while her dad was still a teenager, but she didnt know any of the details. The story intrigued me.

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  • Delay on picking Wodtka's successor

    Marsha Wodtka still doesn't know who will serve as her temporary successor when she retires at the end of this month.

    Wodtka announced in July of last year that she would not seek an eighth term as Fayette County's circuit clerk, and submitted in June of this year her plans to retire on July 31.

    In her retirement letter, Wodtka recommended that the Fayette County Board appoint Mary Sue Ruot to serve as the circuit clerk until the November general election.

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  • Kern resigns as AD; extra duties with closed campus

    In a move designed to prepare for the introduction of a closed lunch hour at Vandalia Community High School this fall, the Vandalia Board of Education on Tuesday accepted Brian Kerns resignation as high school athletic director.

    Kern, who has served in a split position as assistant principal and athletic director for the past two years, will retain his duties as assistant principal.

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  • Enhanced 911 on the November ballot

    Fayette County residents will decide in November whether Enhanced 911 service becomes available in this county.

    The Fayette County Board voted unanimously last Thursday to put an Enhanced 911 referendum on the general election ballot.

    County residents will vote on whether they are willing to pay $2.75 per month for each network connection for that service, which makes a large amount of information available to emergency responders at the time an emergency call is made.

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  • Orgill campaign continues

    The city of Vandalia continued to campaign for a new Orgill facility in a recent meeting with an Orgill consultant.

    Mayor Rick Gottman said the meeting with J.M. Mullif of Memphis, Tenn., represents the citys latest effort to land a distribution center that would employ more than 300 people.

    It was a face-to-face meeting where we could further explain our proposal, Gottman said.

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