City Beat

    Decatur area residents, along with the rest of the state, have generally reacted favorably to Governor JB Pritzker’s announcement last week that he is extending the stay-at-home and social distancing order until the end of May. (Complete details of the announcement can be found on page 12 of the print edition.)            Obviously,…

         • AS I am writing this column there’s been 11 COVID-19 deaths of Macon County residents.  Ten of the deaths have been among residents at Fair Havens.  Every time there is a report of someone passing away or being infected with coronavirus, it should not only make us sad, but strongly…

    How are you doing? I hope you are staying as safe from the coronavirus as is humanly possible. We’ll get through this, and we will emerge in a much better position, with limited hospitalizations and/or deaths if we all work together, follow the rules of prevention and look out for each other      As…

           AS ALL of us continue to cope with the changes in our lives brought on by the COVID-19 Pandemic, I pray that you are safe and healthy and the destruction of lives from this terrible disease will soon be over. Obviously, publishing a print newspaper each week has not been easy, but that’s…

         • SAD NEWS — The announcement Tuesday evening that a Macon County resident had died from COVID-19 was sad to hear and read.      The following statement was released: “The Joint Crisis Communication Team is saddened to announce the death of a Macon County resident with COVID-19. We would like to extend our heartfelt…

         • We knew it was going to happen sooner or later in Macon County even though daily updates from the Joint Crisis Communication Team kept reporting that residents who had been tested had negative results for COVID-19. The “negative results” good news updates ended Friday evening when the Joint Crisis Communication Team…

     Governor JB Pritzker’s “stay at home” order on Friday (more details in story elsewhere on this site) has impacted our community more than anything during the many decades that I’ve been publshing this newspaper. So much of what has been “routine” for all of us, is no longer “routine”, and the uncertainty of when all…

         THE COVID-19 Pandemic has impacted Decatur and Macon County in a way that’s mind-boggling and difficult to grasp. I’ve never seen such a changing impact on a community and nation in such a short period of time. Since there has been. and continues to be, a lot that we don’t know about this…

       Decatur and Macon County voters will have few decisions to make on primary ballots this time around — because there aren’t that many contested races. There’s a shortage of candidates, even though two of the major county offices — state’s attorney and circuit clerk — will have new officeholders after November’s General Election as…

            • PLEASED to see Macon County’s law enforcement agencies employ another tool in making our roadways safer with the No-Refusal Program that was announced last week.  Big THANKS to Macon County Sheriff Tony Brown, Decatur Police Chief Jim Getz, and Macon County State’s Attorney Jay Scott. Impaired driving is dangerous and a threat to…