The Greater Fayette County Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday for This-N-That, 120 N. Fifth St. Owner Karen Sharp said she first opened a storefront near McDonald’s last July. Sharp had always had an entrepreneurial spirit and picked up selling different kinds of items from home because it gave her…

A number of Vandalia Community High School seniors were recognized recently for receiving academic scholarships. The annual Academic Signing Day on Wednesday morning celebrated 11 soon-to-be graduates received more than $500,000 in scholarship awards. Recipients included: Abby Guffy, who was awarded the Provost Scholarship and will be attending Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Ryan Kaiser, who…

By Rich Bauer The current group of CEO students finished up their year on Sunday by offering their individual products and services at the annual Trade Show. Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities is “a yearlong, experiential, learning-based course designed to utilize partnerships in the community to provide local young people with an overview of business processes and…

By Mark Hoskins For the first time in three years, the Vandalia Soroptomist Club was able to hold their annual awards banquet in person. The banquet was held at the Vandalia Moose Lodge on April 1. The Soroptimist of the year was awarded as well as many awards for women of distinction. The women of…

Williams brings years of reporting, online publishing to role   The Leader-Union is pleased to announce Leah Williams as its new editor. Williams has a bachelor’s degree in news-editorial journalism and a master’s degree in professional media management, both from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. While working on her master’s degree, Williams held several graduate assistantships,…