GODFREY - Vitality Women’s Clinic will host their annual fundraising dinner next month, and a long-time volunteer shared more about the mission that keeps her coming back. Carol Gooding, RN, began volunteering at the clinic in 2014. She explained that the 2014 fundraising dinner was “a turning point” that inspired her to get involved. She added that her adopted son “came out of a very close call with abortion,” which further encouraged her to get involved in Vitality’
BELLEVILLE - Belleville Police say they will increase enforcement in and around city parks on Saturday, March 21, 2026, after a large gathering last weekend at Citizens' Park involved “reckless driving near bystanders, fights, reports of possible firearms, and an officer being battered.” The Belleville Police Department said it is aware of a “social media-promoted event planned for Saturday, March 21, 2026, at Citizens’ and Bellevue Parks” and said
ALTON - During their regular meeting on March 18, 2026, the Alton Community Unit School District #11 Board of Education recognized the March Optimist Students of the Month. Amelia Patino was recognized as the Optimist Student for Alton Middle School, while Reagan Owen was named the Optimist Student for Lewis and Clark Elementary School. Alton Middle School Principal Dr. Brian Saenz introduced Patino as “an exceptional and hard-working student who consistently comes to class prepared,
ALTON - Alton’s North Elementary School has raised over $5,000 for the Light the Night campaign. This three-week campaign encourages students and families to donate to Blood Cancer United, previously known as the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. As they finish up their third week of fundraising, they are sitting at over $5,100 raised, beating last year's record of $4,850. Teacher Kim Scheurer and Principal Lisa Harris expressed their excitement to teach the kids about giving back. “
JERSEYVILLE – One vehicle overturned during a two-car collision in Jerseyville with multiple injuries reported on Thursday, March 19, 2026. Major John Wimmersberg of the Jerseyville Police Department said the crash was called in at 1:01 p.m. and involved a white Nissan Altima and blue Dodge Grand Caravan at the intersection of IL-16 and June Street. Wimmersberg said the driver of the Nissan was traveling northbound on June Street and failed to yield at the intersection, striking the
EDWARDSVILLE - Madison County prosecutors have filed a Class X felony charge against a Wood River man accused of sending an email to an Illinois legislator threatening to kill the lawmaker, police officers, and members of the government, State’s Attorney Tom Haine announced Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Edwardsville. Spencer G. Frymire, D.O.B. 11/6/2002, is charged with: • Count 1: Making A Terrorist Threat (class X felony). • Count 2: Electronic Harassment (class 4 felony).
EDWARDSVILLE - Administrators and volunteers at Columbus Elementary School in Edwardsville have come together to offer an art club for third grade students. When Principal Cole Kringlen assumed his role last year, he felt there was a need for more extracurricular activities for the kids at Columbus. He partnered with Abby Carlson, a third grade teacher, to begin offering Art Club for third graders once a month after school. The experience has been a major success while giving kids access
GRAFTON - The City of Grafton has been notified by the Illinois State Comptroller’s office that funds in the amount of $878,577.00 are shortly forthcoming for the purchase of the Grafton ferry boat, Eagle II, from Calhoun Ferry Company. At the City Council meeting on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, Mayor Morrow presented a framed copy of the Comptroller’s official notice to Denise Knight and Wayne Baalman of the Calhoun Ferry Company. George Andres, Ferry Task Force Leader, submitted the
GRANITE CITY - The Madison County Board has voted to block a Commercial Solar Energy Facility from building near Granite City. During their regular meeting on March 18, 2026, the Madison County Board was asked to approve a Special Use Permit for Arena Libra Solar, LLC, to develop a Commercial Solar Energy Facility in an Agricultural District in Nameoki Township near Granite City. Last month, the Board voted 21–1 to postpone this vote until they could learn more. The Madison
ST. LOUIS COUNTY - The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has issued charges against Sam Thang, 38, of the 4600 block of Hamburg Avenue in St. Louis, accusing him of statutory sodomy or attempted statutory sodomy and two counts of child molestation involving a victim who was under 14, authorities said. The charges were issued on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in St. Louis County, Missouri. Thang is charged with: Statutory Sodomy or Attempted Statutory Sodomy – Deviate
EDWARDSVILLE - A jury on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, found Victor S. Dantzson, a 52-year-old Granite City man, guilty of breaking into a woman’s home on Benton Street in Granite City and attacking a police officer who responded, after jurors deliberated for less than an hour. Madison County State's Attorney Tom Haine said the verdict was returned Wednesday afternoon in Edwardsville, where Associate Judge Emily Nielsen presided over a trial that began Tuesday. Dantzson was convicted of residentia
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services (SASC) and Foreign Relations Committees (SFRC)—once again slammed Donald Trump for launching an illegal attack against Iran without Constitutionally-required authorization from Congress, without any known imminent threat to our national security and without a plan to mitigate the instability that will come next as the Administration continues to spend more than
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today met with members of the Illinois Farm Bureau to discuss the current state of the farm economy as the military attacks on Iran, directed by President Trump, and the standstill of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have increased expenses for diesel and fertilizer. Durbin and the members of the Farm Bureau also discussed the importance of transportation
NEW ATHENS, Ill. – State Representative Kevin Schmidt (R-Millstadt) has been donating his legislative pay raise to different local organizations throughout his district for three years. He voted against politician pay raises and chose to give it back to the community to help families in need. This month he donated various items to the CESNA Food Pantry in New Athens to support “Blessings in a Backpack”- a mission to feed school children across the state. “Working together
CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today joined a coalition of 13 attorneys general in calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to rescind a new policy that would significantly weaken federal environmental enforcement and delay action against polluters. In a letter to EPA Commissioner Lee Zeldin, the coalition warns that the EPA’s December 2025 Compliance First memorandum would slow enforcement of environmental laws, create bureaucratic barriers to holding
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and author of the Dream Act , and U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) led 39 of their Senate Democratic Caucus colleagues in a letter to outgoing U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow demanding DHS reduce the delays in processing renewal applications under the Deferred
CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell to co-lead a coalition of attorneys general filing amicus briefs in support of the Endocrine Society (ES) and World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), which are being targeted by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over recommendations that run counter to the Trump administration’s preferred policies. Raoul and the coalition filed amicus briefs
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today questioned witnesses at his spotlight forum entitled “The Kids Are Not Alright: How Mass Deportation is Traumatizing Children.” Today’s forum, which featured testimony from Chicago residents, examined how the Trump Administration’s anti-immigrant campaign has terrorized both immigrant and U.S. citizen children and is leaving lasting emotional
ST. LOUIS - The city of St. Louis will impose a short-term, targeted overnight curfew for young people in parts of downtown from Friday through Sunday, March 20-22, 2026, while increasing public safety measures ahead of the opening rounds of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament at Enterprise Center, city officials said. The curfew applies to individuals 17 and under in the Downtown and Downtown West areas from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. and will be in effect the nights of Friday, March
A groundhog isn’t a meteorologist, yet millions of people still watch one animal’s shadow like it’s a forecast. That odd habit points to something bigger: long before weather apps and satellite maps, people built “prediction tools” from what they could observe—clouds, wind, animal behavior, and the calendar of farm work. Some of those sayings were clever pattern-spotting. Others were more like memory aids or community rituals. Either way, weather folklore
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