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GODFREY – The Brown Bag Bistro has been chosen as the February 2022 RiverBend Growth Association Small Business of the Month award recipient. Located at 318 East Broadway in Alton, mother-daughter duo owners Christine and Erin Velloff have kept the restaurant establishment going after starting with other family members in the mix. “We were lucky enough to not have to let any staff go during the pandemic,” Christine noted. In business since 2018, the duo currently employs 18, with most of their kitchen staff working close to 40 hours a week. “We have only been open for three and a half years and our business has grown exponentially,” said Christine. “In the near future, we are hoping to add in our own delivery service so that we can give our customers the best service they can get and move away from third-party delivery service. We also hope to expand the upstairs and add another kitchen on-site.” The Brown Bag Bistro today reflects an extensive

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JERSEY COUNTY - Jersey County is embracing an official affiliation with BackStoppers. First responders are also set to support the organization with future fundraisers. Jerseyville Police Chief Brad Blackorby said he and the other first responders in Jersey County are excited to move ahead with the BackStoppers agreement. He said it will not only benefit Jerseyville Police but Jerseyville Fire, Grafton Police, Jersey County Sheriff’s Office, and all the first responders in Jersey County. This also includes all volunteer firefighters in Jersey County and EMS personnel. BackStoppers was started in this region by Richard H. Amberg, one-time publisher of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. The publisher took the idea of Nicholas Blassie, president of Meatcutters Union Local #8 in Detroit, who created an organization that provided relief for families of fallen public servants. Amberg invited key civic leaders from business, labor, and other professions and created the charger for BackStoppers

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From ancient Greece, live performance theater has had a rich and sometimes challenging history and nothing short of controversial. Thespis, the Greek poet, is considered the father of tragedy and introduced dialogue to the live performance’s choral performance structure, though some scholars tend to disagree. But it is no longer the time of Ancient Greece. The United States has its vibrant history of live performance theater from the Broadway Theater in Manhattan, N.Y., to Illinois’ longest-running community theater, Alton Little Theater, located in Alton. Alton Little Theater’s website states it was founded in 1933 by an English teacher, Dorothy Colonius, who had a clear vision of creating a community theater for Alton residents. Eighty-eight seasons later, the torch was passed to Executive Director and goddaughter of Colonius, Lee Cox, and her passionate and theater-loving team members. It is no easy feat to put together a live performance, and what the audience

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ST. LOUIS - The U.S. Postal Service has acknowledged delivery has been backed up in recent days because of the serious winter storm that hit many parts of the United States and also hit this region with considerable snow and ice this past week. One local postal service branch supervisor said some carriers on Wednesday morning received 6,000 letters to deliver, so it appears the backlog in postal services receiving mail has broken. She encouraged residents to be patient because the service is working hard to rectify the delay in delivery. “Every office in the 620 and 622 zip codes have had delays,” the area postal supervisor said. “Our carriers normally get up to 300 letters a day and they averaged 20 to 80 letters a day until today, and they now have over 6,000 letters. We have been backed up since last week because of the weather.” A U.S. Post Office spokesperson says the agency is aware of delivery problems and is taking steps to address the issues. The recent

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Our Love Story: The Couple: Kelly And Kevin Willumat from Granite City Date Met/Started Dating: June 7, 1984 Briefly Describe First Date: I was 9 so we sat on the swings and talked. Date Married: August 26, 1994 Name Something You Enjoy Doing Together: Disc Golf Share Advice For A Happy Relationship: Compromise. Have a day a week with your own friends.

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Our Love Story: The Couple: Kim & Kraig Daniels from East Alton Date Met/Started Dating: August 30, 2014 Briefly Describe First Date: Football game followed by Applebees for dinner. Date Married: October 14, 2017 Name Something You Enjoy Doing Together: We’re both competitive at heart so whether it’s Dave and Busters or playing the Wii we love to play games together. Share Advice For A Happy Relationship: Don’t ever lose your playfulness, just because your growing older together and have more responsibility doesn’t mean you can’t have fun together.

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Our Love Story: The Couple: Megan and Scott Rardin from Alton Date Met/Started Dating: June 8, 2006 Briefly Describe First Date: We enjoyed a few drinks at a local establishment. Date Married: July 8, 2013 Name Something You Enjoy Doing Together: We enjoy going to sporting events, live concerts, and the occasional parents' night away! Share Advice For A Happy Relationship: You can’t always get what you want but as long as you got each other you got all you need.

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Our Love Story: The Couple: Butch and Juanita Davis from Cottage Hills Date Met/Started Dating: December 16, 1997 Briefly Describe First Date: Movies and Taco Bell Date Married: October 16, 1999 Name Something You Enjoy Doing Together: Camping, church, window shopping and just spending time together. Share Advice For A Happy Relationship: Talk things out, don't go to bed upset, and tell each other that you love each other.

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As a veteran political reporter, Taylor Pensoneau placed a premium on accuracy and realism. Now, as an accomplished fiction writer, he is doing the same. Pensoneau has just released Devil on the Prairie (Downstate Publications: $18.95), an intricately written mystery novel that captures readers with its suspense and numerous sidebars. The fast-moving work weaves real-life locales throughout the Midwest to provide a sense of place, and create a realistic tone. “Many of the scenes from the book are set in real places in southwestern Illinois, St. Louis, and elsewhere,” remarked Pensoneau. “I visited a lot of those places in my youth, and in my work in journalism.” Pensoneau, who lives in New Berlin, IL, was a top political writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in the 1960s and 1970s. He was based at the Illinois statehouse for much of his time with Post-Dispatch, but covered some of the seminal moments in national political history, including the Watergate

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ALTON - As an effort to raise awareness of National Children’s Dental Health Month for February, SIHF Healthcare is reminding parents of the importance of promoting good dental care habits for their children. “Developing good habits at an early age helps children to get a good start on a lifetime of healthy teeth and gums,” says Megan Preville, DMD at SIHF Healthcare in Centreville. As soon as teeth appear in the mouth, decay can occur. One of the risk factors for early childhood caries (sometimes called baby bottle tooth decay or nursing mouth syndrome) is frequent and prolonged exposure of a baby’s teeth to liquids, such as fruit juice, milk, or formula, which all contain sugar. Once a child turns one year old or if they have a tooth prior to that age, parents need to schedule regular bi-annual checkups. Just as with an adult visit, a child’s dentist will give their teeth thorough cleanings to remove plaque build-up and food debris they cannot remove

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EDWARDSVILLE – Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is introducing three new concurrent degree programs to provide students with greater opportunities for learning and career advancement in the health sciences while saving time and money. The new concurrent degree programs, which will begin in fall 2022, include: Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) and Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences (MSPS) PharmD and Master of Public Health (MPH) MPH and Master of Business Administration (MBA) “Today's health-science professionals frequently work in interdisciplinary teams,” said Paul Rose, PhD, associate dean and professor of psychology in the School of Education, Health and Human Behavior (SEHHB). “They need to cooperate and communicate effectively across disciplinary boundaries. One advantage of these program collaborations is that students will learn alongside others who bring different perspectives.” PharmD and MSPS The School of Pharmac

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GODFREY - St. Ambrose Catholic School has announced its 2nd quarter honor roll lists. Honor Roll: Bennett Anderson (4th) Stuart Clark (4th) Emma Crews (4th) Erin Crawford (4th) Noah Delehanty (4th) Adelyn Labrenz (4th) Leon Kerkemeyer (4th) Averie Kochan (4th) Lydia Kribs (4th) Genevieve Merkle (4th) Audrey Nailor (4th) Isabelle Bassett (5th) Mallory Cronin (5th) Adelyn Estes (5th) Max King (5th) Ryan Kline (5th) Parker Robinson (5th) Keagan Anderson (6th) Alisa Buchanan (6th) Daxter Dornes (6th) Lena Droste (6th) Henry Franklin (6th) Maggie Morrissey (6th) Sophia Statos (6th) Bishop Stotler (6th) Myra Sutton (6th) Hubert Allen (7th) Daniel Bennett (7th) Mia Buchanan (7th) Sophie Copple (7th) Ben Droste (7th) Ginger Finger (7th) Ella Osborn (7th) Mya Pickens (7th) Brianne Bagwill (8th) Ashlynn Bennett (8th) Luke Brown (8th) Keller Jacobs (8th) Isabella Macias (8th) Finnley Stevenson (8th) High Honor Roll: Piper Adams (4th) Kayli Jacobs (4th) Elizabeth King (4th) Charlotte Kohl

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BRIGHTON - Southwestern School District Superintendent Kyle M. Hacke announced this week the district has immediately altered the mandated COVID-19 mitigation efforts that specifically require face coverings for students and staff, along with some other items. These are full details of what the superintendent said: "Dear Friends of the Southwestern School District, The Southwestern School District, as well as numerous other districts in the state of Illinois, was named as a defendant in a lawsuit challenging the Governor’s, Illinois Department of Public Health’s (IDPH) and Illinois School Board of Education’s (ISBE) ability to mandate COVID-19 mitigation efforts in schools, specifically requiring face coverings for students and staff, the exclusion of close contacts and the requirement of weekly testing for unvaccinated employees. "Due to the court’s decision entered upon Friday, January 4, 2022, the Southwestern School District will immediately alter the

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SPRINGFIELD – The following is attributable to Illinois Education Association Vice President Al Llorens regarding the ruling by Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow on the temporary restraining order (TRO) that would prohibit enforcement of face masks, vaccination, and COVID testing mandates: “Our students thrive on consistency and the last two years have been anything, but consistent. We do not want another disruption to our students’ learning while we are still working to bridge the learning gap created by the pandemic. That’s why we believe our school districts should not make any rash decisions changing COVID safety requirements until after this process plays out in our court system. Our educators should be focused on their students - not worrying about health and safety. We’ve been able to keep our schools open with these safety measures in place. We know that in person learning is the best way for our students to learn and we should be doing everything

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SPRINGFIELD – To address cases of sexual abuse against mothers while giving birth, State Senator Rachelle Aud Crowe (D-Glen Carbon) advanced legislation to allow parents to remove the physician’s name from a copy of the child’s birth certificate. “When giving birth, women trust their physician to offer support, guidance, and encouragement on one of the happiest, most memorable days of her life,” Crowe said. “Unfortunately, there are multiple cases where mothers endure sexual assault and abuse in the process, and this measure aims to remove the disgraced physician’s name from the child’s birth certificate.” In Illinois, the short-form birth certificate does not include the physician’s name. Under Crowe’s proposal, a parent or 18-year old child can request a long-form birth certificate with the physician’s name removed. The redacted certified copy of the birth certificate does not replace the original certificate.

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PONTOON BEACH - Officer Tyler Timmins’ death has been very difficult for Pontoon Beach Police, village officials, and the community. Timmins was shot and killed while investigating a stolen vehicle in the parking lot of a Speedway gas station at the intersection of Illinois Route 111 and Chains of Rocks Road on October 26, 2021. A person opened fire on him when he approached the stolen pickup truck. Al Mahan, junior vice commander of the 22nd American Legion District in Illinois and a member of the Venice-Madison Post 307, was very sad about Timmins’ death. Mahan came up with a plan to make special bracelets for the Pontoon Beach Police Department chief, officers, and Officer Timmins’ wife. He is a former police officer/firefighter and was in the military. In the Vietnam War, Al lost what he described as a fellow brother in combat, so things of this nature really touch his heart. “Police officers and military people take oaths, the only real difference is

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Our Love Story: The Couple: Taylor and Zachary from St. Charles Date Met/Started Dating: August 28, 2017 Briefly Describe First Date: Zac picked me up from my house, took me out on the river and then went back to his house and barbecued. Date Married: June 2, 2018 Name Something You Enjoy Doing Together: Going out on the river, mushroom hunting and trying new restaurants. Share Advice For A Happy Relationship: Never stop trying. Also, buy her a pug.

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During the week of January 17th through January 21st, stocks posted their worst week in two years. US markets are currently steeped in fear as investors and large money managers are repositioning their portfolios away from volatile investments in favor of far more conservative positions that are likely to do well given current market conditions. There are several major factors leading to the current state of fear in equity markets. Inflation concerns, the threat of rising interest rates by the Federal Reserve board, and even more importantly, the Ukrainian crisis are all weighing on equity markets. The bond market is almost equally as volatile as bonds do not respond well to a rising interest rate environment. The three major US stock market indexes have fallen for three weeks in a row, continuing the slide that began in early 2022. The NASDAQ has fallen for four weeks in a row and the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished its worst weekly performance in two years. The possibility o

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ALTON - Mark Kelle thought he had an abscessed tooth. He was prescribed medication, but soon started having nose bleeds and was sent home from work. Last September, Kelle ended up in the Emergency Room at Alton Memorial Hospital and had a CAT scan. That’s when he found out he didn’t have an infection - it was a cancerous tumor in his sinuses. “When they first told me, I didn’t say anything for about three minutes,” said the Wood River resident. “I stared and it took me a minute or two to process, then I asked, ‘How much time do I have?’” Kelle was connected with an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist with Washington University Physicians. He soon had a 10-hour surgery and was hospitalized for a week. “They had to take skin grafts from my leg to rebuild the upper part of my mouth and cheek,” said Kelle. “They told me if I waited any longer to go to the ER, it would have affected my eye.” During his recovery,

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Our Love Story: The Couple: Cory and Beth from Medora Date Met/Started Dating: June 3, 2021 Briefly Describe First Date: We went riding on his side by side. Shortly into our day, he got us so stuck in the mud. Took us hours to get it out. He never got upset or mad. Even when I just sat and watched, drink in hand. Name Something You Enjoy Doing Together: Riding sxs is out favorite thing to do together. Share Advice For A Happy Relationship: Always be open about yoru feelings and what’s going on.

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