The Fairfield Public School District Board of Education met last night and unanimously voted to employ Kristina Gardner as its new Superintendent for the 2022-2023 school year, starting July 1st. Gardner will take over for Interim Superintendent Diana Zurliene at the end of this school year. Gardner is currently the North Side Principal in District 112. The Fairfield City Council will meet tonight at 6 at City Hall. The much-anticipated vote will take place on the potential business district, which would see a one-percent sales tax increase in its boundaries. If passed, the district would be in effect for 23 years, but Mayor Mike Dreith says a future council could terminate it at any time with a majority vote. If passed, he says it would go into effect in the fall. Mayor Dreith says the date for fireworks in Fairfield has been changed, per a request from its supplier. Independence Day falls on a Monday this year; the City was told it would have to spend more money to get the same entertainment this year due to supply chain issues, and availability may be an issue on the 4th. As such, the City is now looking to hold its event on the evening of the 3rd. The Edwards County Board of Education met last night. It approved memberships into the IHSA, IMEA, ISEA, and SIJHSA, and it heard a possible new activity next year will be a gaming competition through the IHSA. The current school calendar was approved; the final day this year is now May 24th, and the final day for seniors exempt from exams is May 11th. The IDPH reported four new cases of COVID-19 in Wayne and Jefferson counties since Friday afternoon. Wabash County added three cases, Lawrence County two, and White County one. Edwards, Hamilton, Clay, Richland, and Marion counties held steady on the state website. As a state, Illinois announced 2,451 new cases and 18 additional deaths. Statewide totals sat at 3,055,636 cases and 33,216 deaths. The Southern Region had a seven-day positivity rate of 1.6 percent on the 18th, unchanged from the 17th. Its seven-day average availability for ICU beds was 17 percent. River stages as of early this morning: the Little Wabash east of Fairfield stands at 17.32 feet, above the 17 ft. flood stage. Meanwhile, the Skillet Fork at Wayne City has a reading of 5.68 feet (flood stage is 15 ft.). The Little Wabash below Clay City is at 10.26 feet (flood stage is 18 ft.). Bonpas Creek at Browns reads 2.93 feet, and the Little Wabash at Main Street in Carmi reads 18.80 feet. The Wabash River at Mt. Carmel sits at 12.96 feet. Today's crude oil price is $105.00, up $7.25 from yesterday. The April crude oil price is $109.80, up $2.29 from yesterday morning. The guest today on the Community Connection will be Fairfield Mayor Mike Dreith. Community Connection airs at 7:30 on AM 1390 and 103.3 FM. "Morning Coffee" will feature Mark Turner, Drew Pountain, and Lisa Konopasek. "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.