Editorials

All her life, Laurie Mabry has been a pioneer.
As a girl growing up in Vandalia, she pushed herself to blaze a path for girls to be able to compete in sports like their male counterparts.
In college, she welcomed the opportunity to expand even further the competitive outlets available to her.
But it was as a college coach and administrator that she really pushed the envelope for women. And she was a crucial part of the nationwide effort to institutionalize those gains for collegiate women athletes.

Though the state has appropriated about $5.6 million for the construction of the second phase of the Kaskaskia College Vandalia Campus, those funds still have not been released.
With Phase I of the campus now four years old, it’s time for the state to release those funds – which were originally appropriated for Phase I of the project but never released. As a result, the first phase was built with local funds that should’ve been matched by the state.

The bad news is that things are changing at the Vandalia Statehouse. The good news, however, is that things are changing at the Vandalia Statehouse.
Bottom line, the solid foundation laid in the past by faithful employees and volunteers there will carry us into a future that – though not without challenges – holds much promise.

Thirty-five years ago, a group of Fayette County Health Department employees banded together to make Christmas a little brighter for six local families.
That special holiday program quickly grew into Fayette County Caring & Sharing, which has for several decades provided Christmas baskets for more than 400 less-fortunate families in the county.
In its early years, all of those Christmas baskets were distributed at Mother of Dolors Catholic Church in Vandalia. Today, that church’s parish center is just one of a handful of distribution sites.