The Fairfield City Council met last night and unanimously approved a change in fees for video gaming machines in Fairfield. Under prior law, municipalities could charge a maximum license fee of $25 per machine per year, but a recent update in the law allows them to charge $250 per machine. The licensing period was also changed to coincide with the City's fiscal year. The council heard concerns from Sheila Titzer regarding the appointments of Police Chief Richie Fulkerson and Assistant Chief Keith Colclasure, and Alderman Gary Moore questioned Chief Fulkerson's fulfillment of residency requirements to hold his job. Aldermen entered executive session after discussing the matter, but no action was taken. Mayor Mike Dreith recognized Gayla Grote last night with his quarterly SMILE Award. He says the Grotes decorate their home for the holidays, bringing in hundreds of visitors to the City. Last Halloween, they hosted over 2,000 Trick-or-Treaters, and he says the family is an examp
Richie Fulkerson will begin his tenure as Fairfield Chief of Police on July 12th, after he was appointed to the position and approved by the City Council Tuesday night. He says he has nearly 30 years of experience with Illinois State Police that will help him run a smaller city force, and, though the budget will be smaller, he says Fairfield is well-equipped. Several Fairfield FFA members were honored at an awards ceremony at SIU Friday as part of the District 5 State FFA Convention. Sara McGehee received her State Winner plaque for the second straight year in the FFA State Agri-Science Fair in Environmental Systems. Nine chapter members also received their State FFA Degrees this year. The Wayne County Board will meet tonight at 7 in the upstairs courtroom of the Wayne County Courthouse. Republican Chairman Ron Woodrow is set to fill one board vacancy for District 7 and put forward a name for a replacement for another position for District 4. The board will then discuss courthouse repa
The Fairfield City Council met last night and approved several appointments. Retired Illinois State Police District 19 Commander Richie Fulkerson was appointed as the new Chief of Police; Keith Colclasure was appointed Assistant Chief of Police, with Alderman Dewey Eckleberry voting no. Andrew Miller and Wade Gregory were reappointed as Fire Chief and Assistant Fire Chief. In his report last night, Mayor Mike Dreith said Fairfield police reported 77 traffic stops in May and issued 32 citations. They also gave property owners seven warnings and eight citations for local ordinance violations. Fairfield firefighters responded to 48 incidents last month, with 43 of them coming as EMS assists.