The Wayne County Board met last night and opened the meeting with a moment of silence in honor of Deputy Sean Riley. County Highway Engineer Dennis Seidel told board members preliminary paperwork and engineering studies should begin soon to change the intersection at Enterprise Road and Route 161 to a four-way stop. Rebuild Illinois funds will be used for the project, and he anticipates it to get started in late summer. Chairman Amy Pollard also said a plaque honoring Deputy Sean Riley would be placed in the courthouse, and Sheriff Chris Otey thanked board members and county officeholders, along with the public at large, for their support. The Fairfield Park Board met last night and discussed its splash pad possibilities. Board President Jay Fyie said, since the fall, the district has had about $30,000 in donations come in for the project, even without an official fundraising effort, and he also said the baby pool would likely not be in operation this summer due to concrete issues. Board member Linda Monge has checked on grant possibilities through the county, though not many options presented themselves, but she said she will check with the county Farm Bureau and the Greater Wabash Regional Planning Commission, as well. Meanwhile, the board will continue discussions with Olney and Robinson regarding their proposed and completed splash pads to potentially emulate their process and progress. Monge also plans to begin getting a list of community members interested in joining a committee for the work. The Wayne County Farm Bureau and FNB will sponsor the 2022 Farm Finance Forum next Friday at the Fairfield First Christian Church. Registration and refreshments will begin at 8:30, and County Farm Bureau Manager Doug Anderson says speakers will kick off at 9. People should RSVP by the end of business today by calling 842-3342 or by going to waynecfb.com/forum. The event is free and open to the public, and the RSVP is merely to get an accurate headcount for a lunch catered by Matt Kinney. According to the CDC, Wayne County has had 250 COVID-19 cases from the 6th through the 12th, along with six new hospitalizations. Edwards County had 72 cases and no hospitalizations, and Wabash County had 218 cases and six hospitalizations. Hamilton and White counties had 215 and 95 new cases, respectively. All counties were deemed high in community transmission, and the CDC recommends everyone wear a mask in public, indoor settings. As a reminder, local health departments are no longer to issue case numbers, as Illinois has centralized its COVID reporting. The state Department of Public Health announced 37,048 new cases yesterday and 142 additional deaths. Statewide totals sat at 2,560,001 cases and 28,946 deaths. The Southern Region had a seven-day positivity rate of 15.6 percent on the 10th, up from 15.3 percent on the 9th. River stages as of early this morning: the Little Wabash east of Fairfield stands at 17.42 feet, above the 17 ft. flood stage. Meanwhile, the Skillet Fork at Wayne City has a reading of 5.65 feet (flood stage is 15 ft.). The Little Wabash below Clay City is at 8.30 feet (flood stage is 18 ft.). Bonpas Creek at Browns reads 4.14 feet, and the Little Wabash at Main Street in Carmi reads 19.52 feet. The Wabash River at Mt. Carmel sits at 13.58 feet. Today's crude oil price is $75.00, down $0.75 from yesterday. The February crude oil price is $82.51, down $0.02 from yesterday morning. The guest today on the Community Connection will be Wayne County Farm Bureau Director Doug Anderson. Community Connection airs at 7:30 on AM 1390 and 103.3 FM. "Morning Coffee" will feature Mark Turner and Abbi Rivers. "Morning Coffee" is between 8-9 a.m. on 104.9 weekdays. To listen to a podcast of Morning Coffee and Community Connection, click on "About Us" on the top right of wfiwradio.com. Then, from the dropdown, make your choice of program.