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Today's Opinions

  • Smoking ban enforcement will be a challenge

    Communities throughout Illinois have struggled with how to enforce a law that has banned smoking in public places since Jan. 1, 2008. Those include Springfield, which put into place a local law two years before that.

    Now, Vandalia joins Springfield as those seeking to crack down on violators.

    Springfield’s ordinance violation has prohibited smoking in public places since 2006. And, based on an editorial in the April 14 issue of The State-Journal Register, city officials are still fighting with the issue.

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  • In 1921, Dr. Mark Greer came face to face with an ailment that he could not treat – Milk Sick. 

    Dr. Mark, as he was affectionately known, started his practice in 1913 in Fayette County after graduating from St. Louis University. The son of a doctor, Dr. Mark began his practice much as his father had, afoot and with horse and buggy.

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  • Come to the fair!

    It only comes around once a year, and next week’s Fayette County Fair is an event you won’t want to miss.

    Beginning this Saturday with the junior horse and pony show and concluding a week later with the always-popular demolition derby, the fair offers a smorgasbord of sights, sounds, smells and tastes that is vintage county fair. Nowhere else can your senses experience the same delicious mix.

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  • Look at making changes to town branch

    Sunday evening’s deluge was not your typical summer thunderstorm.

    The strong cell that dumped wave after wave of torrential rain on Fayette County caused considerable damage in low-lying areas.

    Neighborhoods near the Town Branch in Vandalia were particularly hard hit.

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  • Mormon influence felt in Fayette County

    In early spring 1839 George Washington Hickerson had a vision – and in 1866, when he wrote his life story, his vision was preserved for posterity.

    One of the three children of William Loving and Malinda Luster Hickerson, George, along with brother, Andrew Jackson Hickerson, served in the Black Hawk War from Fayette County. George wrote in his memoirs that he was elected major of the militia in Fayette County.

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  • Timing of events may hurt success

    You know the old saying about not really appreciating something until you lose it. That saying applies to the Grande Levée.

    The period celebration returned, albeit in a downscaled version, to the Vandalia Statehouse grounds this past weekend, and it was, for the most part, very well received.

    Friday night’s attendance lagged behind that of past years, and, on Saturday, the crowd began to fade by mid-afternoon. That, we believe, was largely due to the high heat and humidity.

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  • Use of maiden name confounds historians

    One day while quizzing my dad about the family, he made a comment that has stuck with me over the years: “My grandmother was raised in the home of C.F.W. Walther.”  

    He went on to say that her mother worked as a housekeeper for the Walther family in St. Louis, and this is why his grandmother, Emelia Rau Torbeck, spent several years of her childhood in their home.  

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  • There's a lot to do this weekend

    Are you the type of person who looks for something fun and exciting to do on the weekends? If so, you will have a lot of choices this weekend.

    Fayette County’s weekend schedule includes the return of the Grande Levée on the Vandalia Statehouse grounds. The celebration kicks off, as usual, with dinner and old-time music, and gets into full gear on Saturday.

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