Fairfield Upward Sports will be holding Registration and Evaluations for the Upward Basketball and Cheer Season for boys and girls enrolled in kindergarten through 6th grade. Evaluations will be held at Fairfield Cumberland Presbyterian Church on Wednesday, January 4th and Thursday, January 5th, from 5:00 – 7:00 pm. Registration forms can be completed prior to the mandatory evaluations at https://registration.upward.org/UPW83684 or in person at evaluations. The Upward season will kick off with practices the week of January 29th. The first game day is February 11th and the season will conclude March 11th. Registration fee for the Upward Season is $40. Basketball players have the option to add shorts for an additional $12.00. The Blue Point Church will have a Senior Grocery Giveaway on Tuesday, January 3rd from 10:00am to 12:00pm at the church's east entrance. This is for anyone age 60 or over. You may pick up your package at 1147 County Road 1975N, Cisne. For more information cal
Fairfield Memorial Hospital honors an employee each month who has been nominated by their peers for providing extraordinary patient care and customer services within and outside of the Hospital. Steve Bruce, who works in Plant Operations at Fairfield Memorial Hospital, was selected as the December 2022 Employee of the Month. Steve has been with Fairfield Memorial Hospital since July of 2021. Steve is extremely efficient and hardworking and is praised by his co-workers. "It takes many trades to run a hospital and to run it smoothly. Our Plant Operations crew take on new challenges daily to ensure our facility runs effortlessly and efficiently. We are proud to have people like Steve who are willing to step in and step up at any given moment to guarantee tasks are completed timely and proficient. We are honored to announce Steve Bruce as Fairfield Memorial Hospital's December Employee of the Month." stated FMH CEO Katherine Bunting-Williams. The Blue Point Church will have
The Edwards County School Board met in regular session on Monday and heard from Lisa Glover of the sports booster club. Glover would like to implement different levels of support for the sports programs in the schools. The board appointed Lora Holder as DCFS Liaison, and heard that the cafeteria program is in the red by 36-thousand dollars. Superintendent Cowger told the board during his comments that the Vocational Steering Committee would like to include an Industrial Arts instructor and possibly a Business teacher. Fairfield Upward Sports will be holding Registration and Evaluations for the Upward Basketball and Cheer Season for boys and girls enrolled in kindergarten through 6th grade. Evaluations will be held at Fairfield Cumberland Presbyterian Church on Wednesday, January 4th and Thursday, January 5th, from 5:00 – 7:00 pm. Registration forms can be completed prior to the mandatory evaluations at https://registration.upward.org/UPW83684 or in person at evaluations. The Upward s
By now, almost everyone in Illinois has heard that Jan. 1 will mark the beginning of a significant change in the state's criminal justice system – the elimination of cash bail. It's an issue that dominated the 2022 campaigns and has been both praised and criticized on editorial pages in newspapers across the state. It essentially means that starting Jan. 1, the decision as to whether a criminal suspect should be held in jail while awaiting trial will be based on public safety and the likelihood the suspect will flee rather than their financial ability to post bond. And while that criminal justice reform has received widespread attention, it is by no means the only new law that will take effect when the calendar turns over to 2023. For most people who work a minimum wage job, the new year will bring a pay raise to $13 per hour, a $1 increase over the current wage. That's the result of a law Gov. JB Pritzker signed in 2019, his first major legislative victory after being
The Illinois unemployment rate for November was 4.7%, slightly higher than 4.6% in October. Even though the jobless rate rose, nonfarm payrolls in the state increased by 17,500 as the number of workers rose. The industry sectors with the largest gains in employment included Leisure and Hospitality, Professional and Business Services, and Educational and Health Services. The industry sectors with the largest payroll declines included Trade, Transportation and Utilities; Government; and Manufacturing. The state jobless rate compared to the national unemployment rate of 3.7% for November, which was unchanged from October. A couple from Cisne is taking the lead on raising funds to replace the roof at the historic Nostalgia Theater in Flora (formerly the Town Theater). They have issued a challenge to others like themselves, who are so excited for the future of the Theater. This anonymous couple recently attended the North Pole's Got Talent Christmas Play at Nostalgia over the weekend a