Benton, West Frankfort, Illinois News | Franklin County News
Newspaper covering Franklin County, Illinois
WEST FRANKFORT at Carbondale
Marion, Hamilton County at WEST FRANKFORT
WEST FRANKFORT at Herrin
BENTON at Marion
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (Herrin) at THOMPSONVILLE
WEST FRANKFORT at Herrin
BENTON at Marion
THOMPSONVILLE at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (Herrin)
All events weather permitting
by Steve Dunford
Several games were washed out yesterday afternoon. Here are the scores that I have.
CHRISTOPHER 9 Unity Point 2 RyAnn Clark 3-4 with a triple, Courtney Parks 3-4, Regaan Gilbert 2-3 with a triple for the Bearcats.
Johnston City 13 ZEIGLER-ROYALTON 3 . Skylar Hudson 2-3, Lainey Morris, Hadleigh Swetz, and Shelby Grove each had a hit for the Tornadoes. Next Game at Home against Unity Point.
ZEIGLER ROYALTON 4 Johnston City 1 – Matt Jones complete game 5 Ks, Talon Mills, Matt Jones, Chase VanHoorebeke, Cole McKinney and Kylar Phillips picked up hits for the Tornadoes. Next game on the road with Unity Point.
http://www.bentoneveningnews.com/business/20170816/southern-illinois-hotels-reap-benefits-of-eclipse
(John Homan, Gatehouse Media, Southern News Service. Please click on the link for the full story. Here is an excerpt below.)
The Hampton Inn in Carbondale, is charging $499 per night per room this weekend, with no vacancies. (Hotels.com photo)
Of the thousands of curiosity seekers who will be in southern Illinois this week for Monday’s total solar eclipse, many are out-of-towners, who booked hotel rooms months ago.
Full hotels translate to an influx of cash also spent at local restaurants and in stores, a dream event for local business.
There was a concern initially that SIU’s return to fall classes early next week would overlap the eclipse effect, meaning parents would be looking for rooms at the same time as eclipse chasers.
From the Benton Police Department
The following person is presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law
BENTON, IL – On August 14th, 2017 Benton Police arrested Issac M. Goosby, age 25, of Benton on an active Franklin County warrant for petition to revoke.
Goosby was transported to the Franklin County Jail for further processing.
From the Southern Illinois Miners
NORMAL, IL – The Southern Illinois Miners fell behind in the first inning, and despite answering back right away in the next inning against the Normal CornBelters, could not get closer in a 5-2 loss at The Corn Crib on Wednesday night, the team’s third straight defeat.
For the second night in a row, the CornBelters batted around in the first inning, this time scoring four runs on three hits as well as a pair of errors by Culver Plant that made two of the runs unearned against Robby Rowland. This time, however, the Miners responded with two runs of their own in the very next half inning- Ryan Lashley doubled and Brett Wiley followed with a single to make the score 4-1. Three batters later, after a two-out single by James Alfonso kept the inning alive, Plant came through with an RBI single to cut the deficit to 4-2.
Rowland (0-2) then settled into a groove on the mound, retiring 12 straight batters and 13 of the next 14 Normal hitters to come to the plate. Two batters into the sixth inning, a solo home run by Jesus Solorzano extended the CornBelters’ lead to 5-2, but Rowland finished with a quality start of three earned runs allowed on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts.
Unfortunately, the Miners’ offense again struggled overall against Scott Sebald (8-1), who pitched seven innings and permitted seven hits and two runs to earn his second-straight win against Southern Illinois. In the eighth, against Chad Gendron, Craig Massoni walked and Lashley singled to put the tying run at the plate, but Southern Illinois got no runs in the inning.
Lashley finished 3-for-4 in the game with two doubles and a run scored while Wiley and Plant both went 2-for-4 with Wiley scoring and driving in one run to pace the Miners at the plate.
Southern Illinois will look to salvage the series finale on Thursday night at 6:35 p.m., with Corey Sessions pitching for the Miners against Normal’s Edgar De La Rosa.
The Southern Illinois Miners are the 2016 Frontier League West Division Champions, the 2014 and 2015 Frontier League East Division Champions and the 2012 Frontier League Champions. They have been awarded the Frontier League Organization of the Year award three times since their inception, and also set a new Frontier League attendance record in 2007, their inaugural season. For ticket information, contact the Rent One Park box office at (618) 998-8499. For any additional information, visit our website at www.southernillinoisminers.com.
There is a marginal (Level 1 of 5) risk of severe weather for the counties east of Interstate 57
A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 90. South wind 3 to 6 mph.
This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of southern
Illinois, southwest Indiana, western Kentucky, and southeast
Missouri.
.DAY ONE…Today and Tonight
There is a chance of thunderstorms today. A few may produce
locally strong wind gusts.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN…Friday through Wednesday
There is a slight chance of thunderstorms Saturday.
On and off chances of showers and thunderstorms will be in the
forecast Sunday through Wednesday as well. Best chances are next
Tuesday and Wednesday.
Afternoon peak heat index values may approach 100 degrees in a
few locations next Monday and Tuesday.
.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT…
Spotter activation is not anticipated.
Thursday
Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 87. Southwest wind 8 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Thursday Night
Isolated showers before 7pm. Mostly clear, with a low around 65. West southwest wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 10%.
Friday
Sunny, with a high near 87. West northwest wind around 6 mph.
Friday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 67. Light south southwest wind.
Saturday
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 88. Light and variable wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the morning.
Saturday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 67. Calm wind.
Sunday
Sunny, with a high near 89. Light southeast wind.
Sunday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 69. Light south southeast wind.
Monday
A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 90. South wind 3 to 6 mph.
Monday Night
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 72. South southwest wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. West southwest wind 6 to 8 mph.
Tuesday Night
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 70. Southwest wind 3 to 6 mph.
Wednesday
A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 85. North wind 3 to 6 mph.
by Steve Dunford
As Franklin County falls in the four county corridor of areas that will have increased traffic flow from the eclipse, I talked with several emergency officials throughout the county yesterday to check their contingency plans.
Ryan Buckingham, of Franklin County Emergency management agency said the planning over the last several months consisted of four areas:
Buckingham states the Illinois State Police will monitor the situation here in Franklin, as well as the other three counties. Also the communications hub with the Franklin County Sheriffs office will be activated, as it is in severe weather events and other hazards.
Franklin County EMA has an eclipse resource page on the county website. Here is the following link below:
http://franklincountyil.gov/Eclipse
Derek Johnson, Chief Operating Officer of Franklin Hospital says they are fully staffed and supplied for the expected patient increase in the emergency room. He says with the increased traffic on Interstate 57, and the recent history of accidents on the interstate, there is the potential to have more patients in the emergency room than normal. There will be extra staff on call, and they will have multiple ways of communication in case the cell phone grid goes down.
With the hundreds of thousands of people ascending on Jackson and Williamson Counties, Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, Heartland Regional Medical Center of Marion, and Herrin Hospital might be overran with patients. He said there can be an increased number of traffic for people seeking care migrating north.
Johnson also said that the Walk-in clinic might be over ran with patients as well. He recommended you calling before coming in, as the wait could possibly be long. He stressed the ER is there, if you need them in the event of an emergency.
Shane Cockrum, Fire Chief of the Benton Fire Department, says his staff will be mobile during the event, in case there is a fire or other emergency, especially if there is an accident on Interstate 57,
He said the communities might have to take care of their own, instead of relying on mutual aid because of the traffic.
Bill Southerd, Christopher Police Chief, said they really don’t know what to expect. He said there would be extra officers on in Christopher, as well as Sesser and Zeigler.
With State Route 148 right in the middle of the interstate and US 51, there could be people migrating to 148, especially if Route 37 is backed up.
Starting Friday afternoon, I will closely monitor the traffic situation across the county. Other than possibly leaving for church on Sunday and watching the eclipse on Monday, I will be passing along emergency information. If I am overloaded, you might check the Facebook page first before the website.
ZEIGLER – Zeigler and Christopher firefighters responded to a vehicle fire on State Route 148 between the two towns this afternoon. (Zeigler Fire Department FB page with photo submitted by Kim McCullom
Press Release from Derek Johnson, Chief Operating Officer, Franklin Hospital
Franklin Hospital Cardiopulmonary Dept. Supervisor Frank Cline, CRT with the new Jaeger Masterscreen PFT System by CareFusion
BENTON, IL- Franklin Hospital is pleased to announce the addition of a new service offering. The Jaeger Masterscreen Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) System by CareFusion was recently installed in the Cardiopulmonary Department at Franklin Hospital.
“The Jaeger Masterscreen provides state of the art technology for Complete Pulmonary Function Testing,” according to Frank Cline, Cardiopulmonary Department Supervisor.
Franklin Hospital now has the equipment to measure:
Body Plethysmography (Gold Standard) for accurate measurement of airway resistance and lung volumes, Single Breath (Real Time) diffusion capacity (DLCO), Spirometry, both Pre- and Post-Bronchodilator.
The Jaeger Masterscreen PFT System quickly and safely provides accurate diagnostic results in patients with:
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Pulmonary Fibrosis, Asthma, Black Lung
Shortness of Breath, Assessment of Dyspnea, Neuromuscular Disease, Pre-Op Screening
Drs. Suhail Istanbouly and Walid Halees from Southern Illinois Respiratory Disease Consultants will be two of the pulmonologists interpreting the pulmonary function tests for Franklin Hospital. Call PFT Specialist Frank Cline, CRT, at 618-439-3161, Ext. 574 to learn more about the new PFT technology at Franklin Hospital or to have your medical provider schedule a diagnostic exam.
