52-year-old Kent Wiles of rural Albion died early Sunday morning when the Polaris RZR UTV he was riding in ran off a rural Edwards County road and overturned in a water-filled ditch. The driver, 49-year-old Allen Dallas of rural Albion was injured and airlifted to an Evansville hospital following the 12:28 a.m. crash. An autopsy is being scheduled to confirm Mr. Wiles’ cause of death. The case is being investigated by the Edwards County Sheriff’s Department and Coroner Mark Curtis.
The tornado that ripped through rural Crossville last Tuesday was an EF-3 tornado with peak winds of 152 mph. The twister killed Tom McCord and injured his wife Debra. Officials with the National Weather Service office in Paducah, KY say the storm traveled 44.6 miles from northeast of Carmi to southeast of Oakland City, Indiana.
The National Weather Service says that temperatures during the month of February were eight to ten degrees above normal. Daytime highs in the 60’s and 70’s were fairly common. Average temperatures for February were what you would expect during the month of March.
The Edwards County Varsity Scholastic Bowl team participated in the Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl in Bloomington over the weekend. The team defeated Pleasant Hill, Illini Bluffs and Argenta-Oreana, but fell to Keith Country Day School and Athens. The team will be back in action tonight in the IHSA regional tournament in Robinson.
A significant expansion of gambling is once again being considered by the Illinois General Assembly. The Senate gave its approval for six new casinos, including one in Chicago. Because more competition is expected, lawmakers say they want to cut the tax rate on casinos as part of their expansion plan.