(Taylor Springs)--Two people were injured Sunday when a car hit a pedestrian on Route 127 at Route 185. According to State Police, a vehicle driven by 21 year old Alexa Elam of Taylor Springs was northbound on Route 127 at Illinois Route 185.

A pedestrian, 27 year old Diana Schmidt of Hillsboro, walked into the path of Elam's vehicle. Schmidt was taken to Hillsboro Area Hospital for treatment of injuries. Elam was taken to St. Francis Hospital for treatment.

Schmidt was cited with pedestrian under the influence.

The Girard Chamber of Commerce will hold a reception for Jim and Dawn Cherry Thursday evening from 5 until 7pm at Doc's Soda Fountain in Girard.

The event will mark the ending of the Cherry owned family grocery stores in Girard which spanned three generations.

A formal presentatin to the Cherrys will be made at 6:00pm.

The Cherry's IGA Store was sold in March to County Market.

The Carlinville Rotary Club is sponsoring a food drive for the Good Samaritan Food Pantry at Carl's IGA on Saturday, April 26 from 8am until 1pm

The Rotary Club will accept food or monetary donations. All donations raised stay in the local community to help residents in the Carlinville School District.

Each month, the food pantry serves between 200 and 250 families.

The Coal Country Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with the City of Benld and Madison Communications, will hold and "Ecycling Day" on Saturday, April 26, at the Benld Civic Center.

Anything metal with a cord will be accepted, including TV's , computers, printers, VCR's, plus small and large appliances. There will be a limit of two CRT TV's under 32" per recycler and one CRT TV greater than 32" per recycler.

For more information, contact the Coal Country Chamber at 217-710-5218.

Illinois 4-H members will compete in the first Illinois 4-H Shooting Sports State Shoot on Saturday, May 31 at the Brittany Shooting Park in Bunker Hill.

Macoupin County will be the host for the first ever 4-H Shooting Sports State Shoot. The shoot is open to 4-H members only. Youth must have been 14-18 years of age on Jan. 1, 2014 to be eligible and must be currnet members of a 4_H shooting sports club. Shooting events will be offered in archery/compound, archery/recurve, air rifle, smallbore rifle and shotgun.

Youth must complete all registration documents and return them to the local Extension office by the May 16 deadline. All registration materials are available online at //web.extension.illinois.edu/shootingsports or the local Extension office in Carlinville.

Youth will compete as individuals with the top four individual scores composing 4-H club/county teams. Trophies, plaques, medals and ribbons will be awarded to individuals and teams.

U.S. Representatives Rodney Davis and John Shimkus will be hosting an "Academy Night" in Godfrey this month.

The event in Godfrey will be held on Monday, April 28th, at 7:00pm in the Commons Room at Lewis and Clark Community College.

Any area student interested in applying to a service academy is encouraged to attend the Academy Night event to learn more about the nomination process and speak directly to representatives from each of the service academies., including the U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, U.S. Naval Academy and U.S.Coast Guard Academy.

Service academies offer fully funded four-year scholarships to young U.S. Citizens who qualify by age, academics, and who demonstrate desirable leadership qualities. A four-year education at one of the service academies has an estimated value of more than $300,000.

The event is open to all junior high and high school students, parents, school administrators and guidance counselors. For more information or to RSVP contact Jennifer White at Jen.White@mail.house.gov or contact one of the Representatives offices.

(Hillsboro)--Clean up at the Eagle Zinc site in Hillsboro could begin later this year under a plan released by the EPA. According to the EPA, plans will include the demolition of the 22 buildings on the site.

A meeting between the EPA, county officials, and the City of Hillsboro is expected to take place in the next couple of weeks. The site is currently zone industrial, and plans have been discussed to redevelop the site.

A new warning siren has been installed and is operating in the city of Mt. Olive.

According to Ryan Dugger, Chief of Police, all of the testing of the new siren has been completed and the new siren will have serveral different sounds that residents should remember.

There will be a 5pm siren each day with an eight second solid tone.

The severe storm/tornado warning will be a hi-low wail sound that will last for three minutes. Once a storm has passed an "all clear" siren will be sounded. It will be the same as the 5pm siren.

During tornado season, the siren will also be tested the first Tuesday of the month at 10:00am.

The new siren is now a rotating siren; therefore, the sound will get louder and then fade as it rotates.

(Hillsboro)--On Wednesday morning, the South Central Illinois Drug Task Force, along with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office arrested a Mascoutah man in Nokomis on drug related charges.

According to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, Scott Hassebrock was taken into custody pending formal charges and a bond hearing. Hassebrock reportedly had a quarter pound of cannabis on him. Authorities from St. Clair County also conducted a search of his home in Mascoutah where around five pounds of marijuana was found.

Hassebrock is currently facing multiple charges in St. Clair County as well.

Two winning Illinois Lottery tickets were sold at the same location in Carlinville on Sunday, April 6th.

According to Illinois Lottery officials two winning Lucky Day lottery tickets were sold at the Fast Stop located on North Broad street. The winning tickets, each worth $125,000 matched all five winning numbers. The sale of two winning tickets at the same location on the same day is consider a rare event.

The Fast Stop will receive a bonus of $2,500, one percent of the prize amount, for selling the winning tickets.

University of Illinois Extension Macoupin County takes the opportunity of National Volunteer Week April 6-13, 2014, to celebrate 4-H adult and youth volunteers who guide and support 4-H in Macoupin County.

This week is about inspiring, recognizing and encouraging people to seek ways to engage in their community. 4-H volunteers are actively engaged in their communities, impacting the lives of Illinois youth by sharing their time and talents through 4-H clubs, special interest groups, after-school programs, camps and short term groups.

There are serveral options for short or long-term volunteer service with the Illinois 4-H program. To become involved as a new volunteer, contact the University of Illinois Extension office in Macoupin County at 217-854-9604.

Macoupin Economic Development Partnership will be hosting "Birdies, Bogeys, and Business Golf Outing" on Friday May 9 at Timber Lakes Golf Course in Staunton.

The outing is a 2 man scrable/shotgun start at noon with registration from 11:00am until noon.

Costs includeL player entry, 18 holes of golf, golf cart fee and one drink ticket. Prizes will be awarded for first place team, second place team, highest score, hole-in-one prizes, men's and women's longest drive and closest to the pin. Price is $65 per person.

Proceeds to benefit MEDP, a nonprofit helping to create and retain jobs in Macoupin County. To register go to www.macoupinpartners.com or call Courtney at 618-409-6044. Deadline to register is May 2, 2014.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is accepting public comments on a plan to inject carbon dioxide beneath Morgan County.

FutureGen Industrial Alliance wants to capture carbon dioxide from a coal-burning power plant in Meredosia, then inject it into underground wells near Jacksonville.

FutureGen wants permits to inject 1.1 million metric tons a year for 20 years in a practice known as carbon sequestration. The permits would be the first in the nation for injecting and storing the gas underground.

The comment period ends May 7, when the EPA will hold a public hearing at MacMurray College in Jacksonville.

(Hillsboro)--Montgomery County Board Chairman Roy Hertel is reminding county residents that despite the forcasts of rain, conditions in the county is still very dry and residents should be careful with outside fires or avoid burning if possible.

Residents are asked to not burn unless they can control the fire. Fire Departments in the county have been called to several ground fires started by residents who were not able to contain the fire. Local fire departments were called to handle the fire, which at times covered several acres.