The Fairfield City Council met last night. It voted to approve the use of credit or debit cards to pay various departments, not just utility payments. Acting Mayor Gary Moore detailed various fees associated with card usage, but the City is currently paying a one percent fee; he said he doesn't like the idea of paying a fee to use his own money and was not keen on adding a fee structure to the City. Alderman Tyler Lampley agreed and said Save-A-Lot chalks up the fee as a cost of doing business. The Council indicated the City should absorb the cost at no additional charge to the customer and unanimously approved that motion. Acting Mayor Moore also said a town hall meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on June 30th at City Hall. He says he wants to give residents an opportunity to voice concerns, see what can be done better and what has been done well. The town hall will be open to any city resident, and there will be no time limit as long as the conversation is constructive. Acting Mayor Moore provided a financial report to attendees as well for the month of May. Fairfield revenues topped $1.66 million and expenses about $1.36 million, for a total revenue of about $301,000. He said the General Fund balance was about $2.45 million, and the City had payroll expenses of about $336,000. He says he will continue to give financial reports at each meeting going forward. Fairfield Memorial Hospital says Urgent Care will begin seeing patients at its new location on the first floor of the new Surgical Pavilion starting today. Patients needing to be seen in Urgent Care can enter through the main doors of the Surgical Pavilion, and Urgent Care will be straight ahead. Hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and 7 to 5 on weekends. The Emergency Department began seeing patients on the first floor of the new building Monday night. Patients seeking care after 10 p.m. will need to ring the buzzer at the entryway to be admitted by security. Before 10, anyone needing emergency treatment should follow signs to the new department. Tomorrow, the FMH Orthopedic Clinic and Urology Clinic will see patients on the second floor of the Surgical Pavilion. The Pain Clinic will move to Suite C in the Medical Arts Complex tomorrow, as well. University of Illinois Extension Offices in Wayne and Edwards counties are offering free testing of dial gauge pressure canners this summer. Anyone interested in a free test can drop off lids at the Wayne or Edwards county offices, and, once lids are checked, people will be contacted for pickup. Offices are open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays but are closed from noon to 1 for lunch. The Wayne County Office is at 2B Frontier Drive in Fairfield and can be reached at 842-3702, and the Edwards County Office is at 350 North Seventh in Albion and can be reached at 445-2934. The IDPH reported nine new cases of COVID-19 in Wayne and Wabash counties yesterday. Marion County added 12 cases, Clay County added eight, Richland County added six, Lawrence and Jefferson counties added three, Hamilton County added two, and Edwards County added one. White County held steady on the state website. As a state, Illinois announced 3,879 new cases and 21 additional deaths. River stages as of early this morning: the Little Wabash east of Fairfield stands at 5.96 feet, below the 17 ft. flood stage. Meanwhile, the Skillet Fork at Wayne City has a reading of 5.08 feet (flood stage is 15 ft.). The Little Wabash below Clay City is at 5.20 feet (flood stage is 18 ft.). Bonpas Creek at Browns reads 1.78 feet, and the Little Wabash at Main Street in Carmi reads 3.99 feet. The Wabash River at Mt. Carmel sits at 7.65 feet. Today's crude oil price is $112.00, down $2.00 from yesterday. The July crude oil price is $119.07, down $2.81 from yesterday morning.