The City of Fairfield will hold a public hearing on March 8th before a City Council meeting to discuss the possible implementation of a business district in the city. The move would increase sales tax by one percent within the district boundaries. Mayor Mike Dreith says the city currently has a seven percent sales tax rate, the lowest in the immediate area, and the proposal would move it to eight percent. He also claims about 67 percent of money spent inside the proposed boundaries comes from outside the City. The City of Harrisburg recently added a similar district. Mayor John McPeek says he implement a .75 percent tax increase for a district in January 2021, and it went into effect in June. He says it has brought in a significant amount of money from out-of-town shoppers who want to hit some of the bigger chains present in Harrisburg. He is also cognizant a tax increase of any kind is a tough pill to swallow, but it is his belief cities need some way to bring in income. The Village of West Salem says South Albion, South West, and all connecting streets are under a boil order until further notice. The Illinois Eastern Community College Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet tonight at 6:15 at Olney Central College. After executive session, trustees are set to discuss the filling of a board vacancy created by the resignation of Trustee Al Henager in January. The meeting will also be held via Zoom, and information for joining is as follows: https://zoom.us/j/91881566935 Meeting ID: 918 8156 6935 Dial in number: 312 626 6799 The SSM Health Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation has announced applications are available for the Dr. Jean M. Modert Scholarship. Applications can be found at http://bit.ly/SSMHealthScholarships, or people can call 899-1048. The scholarship is offered to students who are dependents of an SSM Health Illinois employee or who have a permanent residence in Wayne, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Marion, Perry, or Washington counties for a year prior to the application date. Scholarships must be delivered or postmarked for delivery to the Good Samaritan Foundation office by April 1st. The IDPH reported 34 new cases of COVID-19 in Wayne County since Thursday afternoon and eight new cases in Edwards County. Wabash and Clay counties had their numbers increase by 21, Hamilton County by16, and White County by 44. Lawrence County jumped by 41, Richland County by 16, Jefferson County by 95, and Marion County by 55. As a state, Illinois announced 14,269 new cases and 224 additional deaths. Statewide totals sat at 3,001,771 cases and 32,019 deaths. The Southern Region had a seven-day positivity rate of 9.5 percent on the 11th, down from 9.9 percent on the 10th. Its seven-day average availability for ICU beds was four percent. River stages as of early this morning: the Little Wabash east of Fairfield stands at 19.22 feet, above the 17 ft. flood stage. Meanwhile, the Skillet Fork at Wayne City has a reading of 6.35 feet (flood stage is 15 ft.). The Little Wabash below Clay City is at 15.27 feet (flood stage is 18 ft.). Bonpas Creek at Browns reads 3.90 feet, and the Little Wabash at Main Street in Carmi reads 15.57 feet. The Wabash River at Mt. Carmel sits at 11.99 feet. Today's crude oil price is $88.50, up $2.50 from yesterday. The March crude oil price is $92.90, down $0.34 from yesterday morning. The guest today on the Community Connection will be Carrie Halbert, with Frontier Community College. Community Connection airs at 7:30 on AM 1390 and 103.3 FM. "Morning Coffee" will feature Jeremy Smith and Drew Pountain. "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.