Opinion

Tax Increment Financing program has benefited the community in many ways since the state initiated the program, with numerous improvements that otherwise would not have been taken on. And, there have been changes on how the program is operated in Vandalia, one of which has been the implementation of the Best Practices document and the…

When trying to come up with a class business, this year’s CEO students kicked around some ideas before making a decision. But, they did know one thing – people are ready to get out and do things. As you can see by the story on the front page of this issue, this year’s class will…

To quote Yogi Berra – It’s déjá vu all over again. About a decade ago, Aaron Lay, Fayette County’s sheriff, agreed to take out of his budget $55,000 for vehicles, to help the county with its financial issues. But, at the same time, he asked the county to approve the purchase of a van to…

Just last week in this space, we talked about the value of the various law enforcement entities building camaradrie and training together.
This week, we saw how that pays off.
Monday afternoon, an inmate escaped from Vandalia Correctional Center, and within a short time, numerous entities responded to a call for help.

Once a year, we at The Leader-Union take a week to step back and consider what we do, and why we do it.
Well, actually, we think about those things a lot more often than once a year. But this first full week in October, we have a built-in reason to think about them – it’s National Newspaper Week. During this observance, we talk about our mission, and we share with our readers why that mission is important to them.

15 Years Ago

1997 – A number of volunteers and a crew from the Vandalia Correctional Center Work Camp strung holiday lights along the tops of businesses in the downtown Vandalia business district.
Fayette County Habitat for Humanity set a dedication ceremony for its first house, which was located at 1417 W. Madison St. in Vandalia.
Sarah Roberts scored 14 points to lead the Vandalia Middle School eighth-grade girls to a 36-12 win over Litchfield that gave the squad a share of the Jr. Mid-State Conference title.

Although the military history of his family goes back to the Revolution, to Commodore Chauncey in the War of 1812 on the Great Lakes and up through most of the wars including current day.

This week’s Mystery Banks Photo: This young man, pictured as a teenager about 55 years ago, grew up in Vandalia.

He was an over-the-road truck driver, and moved to Texas about 15 years ago. He retired and recently moved back to Vandalia.

Do you know him??If so, call The Leader-Union, 283-3374.

In last week’s Mystery Banks Photo were: Tom and Ed McCarty.

Identifying them were: The girls at McKellar, Robertson, McCarty and Click Insurance, Elaine Michel, Amy Meseke, Sharon Elmore and Marjorie Blythe,.