The Wayne Chamber of Commerce along with Gibbs Excavating and Land Management LLC in Fairfield are excited to announce a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to celebrate their Grand Opening. The ceremony will take place on Friday, August 19 at 11:00 am. Gibbs Excavation and Land Management is owned and operated by Austin Gibbs in Fairfield. Ribbon Cutting will be held at Save a Lot in the newly laid parking to the East. Meet the Mules is scheduled to kick off at 6pm today with the Girls & Boys Introductions, followed by the Girls Tennis introductions at 6:05. At 6:10 will the the introductions for the Girls & Boys Cross Country teams, with the Volleyball introductions to take place at 6:15. There will be a Volleyball scrimmage from 6:20 to 7, before festivities move out to the football field. Cheerleader introductions will begin at 7:05, Freshmen Football introductions are at 7:10, and Varsity Football introductions will be at 7:15. The night will end with a Football scrimmage from 7:25 until 8:15pm. Everyone is invited out tonight to Meet the Mules. The Fairfield Community High School Board met for their regular monthly meeting last night. In new business: Approved the tentative FY23 budget for a 30 day review. After the 30 day review, a budget hearing will be held prior to a board vote on the budget. Approved the 22-23 Consolidated District Plan. This plan is a formality that is required for grant funding. Approved the installation of a new door at entrance 17 for security purposes. Unanimously voted to allow RJ Marketing to create a Mulenation YouTube channel to stream FCHS sports contests live. The FCHS Media Class will be involved in the channel. After an Executive Session, the following personnel matters were unanimously approved: Samantha Weber was hired as an individual aide. Vicki Gifford was hired as a bus aide. Mary Sprague was hired as part time assistant tennis coach. In the Superintendents Report, Supt. Jill Fulkerson stated that the current enrollment at FCHS is 448 total students. She further informed attendees that a Club Fair will be held on August 30 to allow students to visit different club tables to learn more about club offerings at FCHS. The FCHS FCCLA (Family Career Community Leaders of America) offered an impressive presentation about their recent trip to the National Conference in San Diego. Several office holders shared their experiences and provided a summary of all the events they attended and also their social activities while in San Diego. Elizabeth Zurliene is the FCCLA Sponsor/ Currently, the club has approximately 45 students involved. The Illinois LINK system will be temporarily unavailable Saturday and Sunday. State officials are informing LINK Card customers that they won't be able to make purchases or ATM withdrawals from August 20th at 11 pm through August 21st at 6 pm. People with LINK cards are ask to plan ahead and buy groceries and withdraw cash you'll need during the shutdown. Additionally, you will not be able to access your account information from the Illinois Link Helpline at 1-800-678-LINK or the Illinois Link Card Website. The shutdown is due to scheduled maintenance. Officials say Illinois is transitioning to a new link card system. Effingham City Police arrested 39 year old Corey J. Fellows of Effingham for an Effingham County FTA warrant for criminal trespass. Corey was taken to the Effingham County Jail. Effingham City Police arrested 39 year old Shawn C. Clayton of Cassville, MO for driving while license revoked, obstructing justice, operating an uninsured motor vehicle without registration, and a Jasper County, MO warrant for probation violation on original charge of burglary. Shawn was taken to the Effingham County Jail. Effingham City Police arrested 30 year old Khristina S. Merrill of Cassville, MO for obstructing justice, riding a motorcycle without protective equipment, and a Newton County, MO warrant for probation violation. Khristina was taken to the Effingham County Jail. Four people were arrested on drug charges Tuesday when the Mt Vernon Police Department and Jefferson County High-Risk Team and Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System Tactical Team served a Jefferson County search warrant at a Bluford Home. According to the Mt. Vernon Police Department, just after 6:30 Tuesday morning, officers served the warrant at 319 North Poplar in Bluford and arrested 39-year-old Rose A McCormick, on charges of Aggravated Delivery of between 15 and 100 grams of Methamphetamine 15 – 100 Grams, Aggravated Possession of a Controlled Substance, Fentanyl, with Intent to Deliver, Possession of Drug Equipment and Aggravated Delivery of Fentanyl. 41-year-old Robert E Newbury was arrested on charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance, fentanyl, Possession of Drug Equipment, and a St Louis County Warrant for Felony Theft. 69-year-old Cynthia D Bruce was arrested on a charge of Possession with Intent to Deliver Less than 5 Grams of Methamphetamine; and 44-year-old Jon R Hartman was arrested on charges of Possession with Intent to Deliver Less than 5 Grams of Methamphetamine, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Fentanyl, and Possession of Drug Equipment. The search warrant was obtained after an investigation from the Mt Vernon Police Department and Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Narcotics Unit revealed illegal narcotics were being sold from the Bluford residence. During the investigation, narcotics detectives were reportedly able to purchase quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine from the primary suspect, Rose Ann McCormick. The two tactical teams were able to secure the four subjects, the residence, outbuildings, and various vehicles without incident. During a search of the property, detectives reportedly located quantities of methamphetamine, fentanyl, drug equipment, currency, and property believed to be stolen from a Jefferson County burglary. ll four subjects were taken to the Jefferson County Jail with bond to be set. The State Treasurer's live unclaimed property auction is tomorrow at the Illinois State Fair. Many of the items come from long forgotten safe deposit boxes and include Beatles memorabilia, a 100 ounce engelhard silver ingot, jewelry, a silver faberge picture frame and more. Treasurer Mike Frerichs says its fun to have an auctioneer come out to the fair and get the best price possible. The live auction begins at 11:00 am Saturday on the Lincoln State at the fairgrounds in Springfield. Anyone interested can preview the items starting at 9:00 am River stages as of this morning: the Little Wabash east of Fairfield stands at 24.19 feet, above the 17 ft. flood stage. Meanwhile, the Skillet Fork at Wayne City has a reading of 5.05 feet (flood stage is 15 ft.). The Little Wabash below Clay City is at 6.72 feet (flood stage is 18 ft.). Bonpas Creek at Browns reads 1.49 feet, the Little Wabash at Main Street in Carmi reads 26.22 feet. The Wabash River at Mt. Carmel sits at 3.88 feet. Today's crude oil price is $83.50 up $2.39 from yesterday. The September crude oil price is $89.40 up $1.42 from yesterday morning.