WOOD RIVER, Ill. – People are sharing fake news about the City of Wood River on social media. Mayor Cheryl Maguire said it's coming from woodrivercitycouncil.com.
"It's somebody's idea of a joke but it's not funny," Maguire said.
The first headline on the website is "Wood River Leaf Burning Policy." Click the link, and you'll read that the city now allows year-round trash and leaf burning.
"Which is actually a safety issue because the first part of January, the National Weather Service was telling people to hold off on their burning because of the dry conditions and the high winds," Maguire said.
Wood River hasn't changed its burn policy. Maguire said this website full of other fake news. There's an article about a teenager's arrest. It's gone now, but Maguire said another story said the City won't allow anyone to show their tattoos.
She said many Wood River residents believe the stories. Friday, they called city hall to complain.
"We're not in Washington D.C.," Maguire said. "We really don't know what was said at a press conference or what was said in a cabinet meeting. But locally, they know we have a burn policy. So, they think, all of a sudden, we've changed it."
The real City of Wood River website is woodriver.org.
"It has the full city logo, which is copyrighted," Maguire said. "There's forms, there's community events. There's building permits, there's links."
She wants everyone to stop sharing the fake site.
"If they receive this on their Facebook, or someone forwards it on their email, look at it and realize what it is," she said.
The mayor believes the website was created Friday. She plans to get Wood River police involved and have the department's tech person figure out who is behind it.
