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EAST ALTON - Mike Marko has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. He has taken on the challenge of cleaning up land tracts where the old power plant used to be located and across Illinois Highway 143 on the bank of the Mississippi River. Mike Marko is the long-time owner of Mike's Shipyard Facility in East Alton and Mike's Inc. in South Roxana. Marko has a plan to develop an industrial park in the old power plant location. He said he purchased 180 acres on the dry side and about 7-8 acres on the other side. He plans to establish a riverfront dock on the Mississippi once he gets the Corps of Engineers' approval. “It is the biggest thing I have ever gotten into,” he said. “Right now, I am trying to get it all cleaned up.” Marko said he sat and watched as the original old energy plant was built at Illinois 143 in East Alton. “I lived in a home in Rosewood Heights and could see it being built,” he said with some nostalgia in his voice. Marko said

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ELDRED - It has been quite some time since excitement has taken over Eldred as it has Tuesday for another huge Queen of Hearts Drawing at the Eldred American Legion. This time, the pot is up to $500,000 for the much sought-after ticket for the Queen of Hearts card in the drawing. Eldred's population of 300 will swell to thousands for the big drawing. The last big Queen of Hearts Drawing at the Eldred American Legion was on Aug. 14, 2018, because of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Jeff Quigley of Murrayville, IL., won the last big prize of $409,908, at the raffle on Aug. 15, 2018. On Tuesday night, nine cards will be drawn, what is left from the deck since the last drawing and the Queen of Hearts will be pulled from the barrel. Someone will win either the $500,000 prize if they are present or $250,000 if not present. Dave Lehr, an adjutant for the post, was interviewed on Monday and he said he and the others with the Legion are excited to have the big drawing again. Jon Baker is commander

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ALTON - Tim Ditman is the new media relations coordinator for OSF St. Anthony’s Health Center for Alton, Danville, and Urbana Hospitals. Tim has several local ties and is the son of former Carrollton resident/standout athlete Greg Ditman and his wife, Jean, a former Greenfield athlete/cheerleader. “I am thrilled to join such a well-regarded organization and look forward to spreading the ministry’s message,” Tim Ditman said. Tim, 32, has an extensive media background and has spent 10 years in the Champaign media (WDWS Radio and WCIA TV) before joining OSF. “I do continue to be heard on the radio as the play-by-play voice of the University of Illinois women’s volleyball,” he said. “I have held that position since 2019.” Tim’s primary duties in the new position are to work with the media in a variety of ways, but a focus is to cultivate content for the OSF online newsroom at: newsroom.oshealthcare.org Jerry Ditman, Tim's

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BETHALTO – It’s not only one of the hardest things to pull off in baseball, but one of the hardest things to do in all of sports; throw a no-hitter that is. Well, Civic Memorial High School senior pitcher Nick Williams accomplished the feat Monday night (March 28) when the Eagles toppled the Alton High Redbirds by a score of 9-1. Nick Williams is the Tom Lane State Farm Insurance Male Athlete of the Month for CM. Nick mentioned feeling very confident in the first inning when he struck out his old friend James Vambaketes for his first K of the game. He threw all seven innings facing 23 batters. Of those 23, he struck out 10 of them and only allowed two walks. “Pretty dominant performance for him,” CM head coach Nick Smith said postgame regarding Williams’ outing on the mound. Nick admitted that he knew about and was openly discussing the no-hitter in the dugout saying that he doesn’t believe in superstitions. He let his pitching do all the

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ELDRED - As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, the Eldred American Legion was packed full with anticipation of the $500,000 drawing set for 7 in the evening. The good news is someone will walk away with $500,000 if they are there on Tuesday night and their ticket is drawn for the Queen of Hearts card. If they have purchased a ticket and aren't there, they will receive half that amount. The other good news - tickets can still be purchased until 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Eldred American Legion on Locust in Eldred. Only nine cards of a deck will be drawn tonight and one of the cards is the Queen of Hearts so a $500,000 winner is guaranteed Tuesday. A Legion spokeswoman said vehicles were already being parked in the town of 300 as of Monday night and already the community's population is swelling and will each hour that goes by until the drawing. By tonight, there will be thousands of people in the small farming community in Greene County. Because this drawing is a Draw For A Winner, there will be no

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GRAFTON - Grafton Mayor Mike Morrow recently saluted a community member Bob Beloit for his volunteer efforts during a recent bad snowstorm. Grafton Mayor Mike Morrow recently presented a Certificate of Appreciation on behalf of the City Council to Bob Beloit, Organizing Coordinator for Machinist District 9 and citizen of Grafton’s 3rd Ward for his volunteer work during the storm. “Bob called me the day before the big snowstorm and said if we needed any maintenance work on the snowplows to call him,” said Mayor Morrow. The mayor said when the big snowstorm hit, the power went out in the entire city. "We awoke on a Friday to a blacked-out city and a report from our Public Works Director that one of our plow trucks was down with a broken hydraulic line," he said. "I called Bob around 5:30 a.m. and told him about the broken plow. He said he was making a thermos of coffee on his camp stove and would be right down. "Bob went to the city maintenance bay, assessed the situation

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ALTON - Alton Memorial Hospital, a member of the Siteman Cancer Network, will have its next free monthly skin cancer screening in partnership with Siteman Cancer Center from 4-6 p.m. Tuesday, April 26. The screenings are by appointment only in Suite 101 of Medical Office Building A on the AMH campus. Call 618-463-7220 or visit www.altonmemorialhospital.org, then go to Classes & Events to register. Because of physical distancing, a limited amount of people will be allowed inside the office at one time. Please arrive 10 minutes prior to your appointment and do not bring another person with you unless it’s necessary. Being proactive is the one step to early detection. Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer. People with fair skin, light-colored hair, green or blue eyes, and people who freckle easily are at the greatest risk. Excessive sun exposure, blistering burns before the age of 18, and a family history of melanoma are also risk factors. Most skin cancers appear after

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ST. LOUIS – Faces Not Forgotten, a local nonprofit and recipient of the FOCUS St. Louis What's Right With the Region Award in 2021, has teamed up with Central Reform Congregation for an important cause. Faces Not Forgotten, born of its founder’s personal losses, is a group of artists who paints portraits of young gun violence victims. These original portraits are donated to the children’s families to provide comfort. Fine art images of the portraits are then made into quilts and exhibited nationally to raise awareness of the horrific epidemic of gun violence. In the St. Louis area, Faces has completed nine quilts containing 72 portraits. All nine quilts will be on exhibit at Central Reform Congregation (CRC) from April 8-May 1, with a public opening on Friday, April 8th, from 5-7 pm. Ceremony begins at 6 pm and all are welcome. Founder and executive director Christine Ilewski, “These children are not just numbers or statistics. Each one of them was a life ended

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EDWARDSVILLE - Edwardsville senior pitcher Gannon Burns is off to a very good start for the 2022 season, and against Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin Catholic on Monday afternoon at Tom Pile Field, Burns allowed only one run and three hits while striking out six in the Tigers' 9-1 win over the Cyclones. Burns pitched very well on the day and had wanted to go out for the sixth inning. One problem though. "I feel pretty good," Burns said during a postgame interview. "I wanted that last sixth inning, but (pitching coach Mike Sabatino) told me no," he said with a laugh. Everything aside, Burns was able to throw strikes consistently, having the SH-G batters guessing all day and was able to get the outs with his curve ball, which was his most effective pitch. "I think my breaking balls, I was throwing them for strikes early in the count," Burns said, "and they weren't really swinging at them, so I could get ahead easy and then, just finish them off." The Tigers got all the runs they needed

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EDWARDSVILLE – The public is invited to join the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Prevent Child Abuse Illinois, Hospital Sisters Health System, the Poshard Foundation for Abused Children, elected officials, child welfare stakeholders, and more for a month-long observance to share child abuse and neglect prevention awareness messages and promote prevention efforts across the country during Child Abuse Prevention Month in April. This year’s theme, Growing Better Together, is a call to action to support each other and focus on the positive environment we all need to survive and thrive. The Edwardsville kickoff event will be at 10 am on Friday, April 1, 2022, at the Madison County Government Building. Participants can also watch the live stream here: http://www.riverbender.com/video/live/details.cfm?id=1284 “The past two years have been extremely difficult for all of us. While our schools, businesses, shops, and restaurants were closing, reducing

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The Center Square – A state senator says the same “all hands on deck” approach that Illinois’ governor took to expunge cannabis convictions should be used to clear the backlog of Concealed Carry License applications. A patchwork of U.S. states have varying degrees of laws dealing with who can or cannot carry a firearm. Most states don’t require a permit for a resident to buy guns or ammo. Other states allow anyone to carry a gun in the open or even concealed without a permit. Indiana’s governor earlier this month signed a bill eliminating the permit to carry a gun in public. That’s after Iowa’s governor last year eliminated that state’s permit requirement to purchase or carry a gun. Illinois law requires a resident to have a state-issued Firearm Owner’s Identification Card (FOID) to purchase or own guns or ammo. There is no open-carry allowed. Concealed carry must be permitted through a Concealed Carry License (CCL) issued

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EDWARDSVILLE - Edwardsville Township is pleased to have been awarded a Madison County Building & Zoning Environmental Grant to install a dual-port level 2 electric vehicle charging station at the Township Office. This charging station will be integrated in the remodel of Township Office. The need for EV charging stations continues to grow as hybrid vehicles become increasingly popular. In 2021, the number of electric vehicles purchased doubled nationwide from the year before. “We look forward to providing another electric vehicle charging option in the Township, and one in the Downtown Edwardsville area where we identified a need for more EV stations,” said Edwardsville Township Supervisor Kevin Hall. “Electric vehicles provide a greener option for the future and we appreciate Madison County Building & Zoning awarding us this Environmental grant.” This will be the second charging station maintained by Edwardsville Township, in addition to the solar-powered

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EDWARDSVILLE – As part of the academic plan to introduce students to the operation of real-time radar systems, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s School of Engineering (SOE) hosted an information session and demonstration of a mobile radar unit on Thursday, March 17. The presentation was part of a three-year program with the University of Oklahoma’s Advanced Radar Research Center, during which faculty and scientists from both institutions will collaborate on research projects, grant proposals, and student exchanges. “The Rapid X-band Polarimetric Radar (RaXPol) is the first rapid-scan, dual-polarization radar system sponsored by the National Science Foundation,” explained Yadong Wang, PhD, assistant professor in the SOE Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, who oversees SIUE’s Advanced Radar Research Lab. “Through operating the RaXPol and attending the presentations and short courses from radar experts from the University

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ALTON - Wind gusts of up to 50 mph are predicted for Wednesday with a strong area of low pressure descending around the St. Louis region, especially south and east, Hyperlocal Extreme Weather forecasters said today. "As has been in our forecast for a while now, we have a strong storm system on the way," Hyperlocal Extreme Weather added. "The forecast remains unchanged with a strong area of low pressure set to bring us to wind gusts up to 50 mph tomorrow, so batten down the hatches. "As for severe thunderstorm potential, this aspect remains on the lower end of the spectrum with wind and small hail being the primary threat-focused near St. Louis and especially South and East. Thankfully - the tornado threat will be very low for the St. Louis area." Hyperlocal Extreme Weather said torrential rain will also occur and will likely come down so hard at times it could be blinding when trying to drive in it. Most folks within our viewing region will see near 1/2” with a 1 to 2”

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EDWARDSVILLE – Gain an inside look at the shocking true story of the Russ Faria murder trial during an upcoming Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Lifelong Learning presentation taking place at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 6 at the NCERC at SIUE and via Zoom. St. Louis attorney Joel Schwartz, who served as Russ Faria’s attorney during the trial, and SIUE alumnus Charles Bosworth are co-authors of “Bone Deep: Untangling the Twisted True Story of the Tragic Betsy Faria Murder Case.” The two will provide firsthand experience of the case, which serves as the basis for the current NBC series “ The Thing About Pam ” starring Renee Zellweger, and Josh Duhamel as Schwartz. “This presentation will be exciting and enlightening for anyone with a curious mind for criminal investigations, and those currently watching the NBC series who are looking for a unique access opportunity to gain a compelling original thought of the Russ Faria murder trial,”

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CHICAGO - Spring is prime moving season in Illinois and an opportunity for dishonest or rogue movers to take advantage of consumers. The Illinois Commerce Commission is urging residents planning a move to a new home to prepare well by researching the moving company before packing any boxes. Consumers can check to see if a household goods mover is properly licensed to operate in Illinois and check the number of complaints filed against each company through the ICC website by clicking here . This information can also be obtained by calling the ICC at 217-782-6448. Intra-state moving companies in Illinois must be licensed by the ICC. If you are putting your property into storage, be sure the warehouse is licensed by the ICC and if you are moving to another state, the mover must be licensed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration which can be checked here . Here are a few ICC Smart Tips to follow before hiring a mover: • Get recommendations from friends, relatives, and

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ALTON - Attorney Ebony R. Huddleston filed her nominating petitions for Madison County Circuit Judge on March 22, 2022, in Springfield, Ill. “I want to thank the citizens who have supported me during the petition campaign and for their encouragement to run for the position of Madison County Circuit Judge. This is a dream that I have prepared for my entire professional career. My journey consists of helping others to succeed in achieving their best outcomes. If elected to serve as Madison County Circuit Judge, I pledge to conduct my courtroom with compassion, understanding, integrity, and to treat every individual who appears before me with dignity and respect, regardless of their circumstances,” said Ebony Huddleston. Ebony is a graduate of Alton Senior High School and was selected as valedictorian of her class. She received her Bachelor of Arts degrees in English, Accounting, and Spanish from Xavier University of Louisiana where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. She earned

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ALTON – OSF HealthCare Saint Anthony’s Health Center will host a free Healthy Workplace Event on Monday, April 11 from Noon – 1 p.m. in the Perpetual Help Center located at #1 Saint Anthony’s Way, Alton Illinois. Local employers, community agencies, school districts, insurance agents, or brokers are invited to attend. An educational seminar, “Drug Use in our Communities” will be presented by Richard A. Tucker, former Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Richard will discuss DEA regulations regarding controlled substances, National drug trafficking trends, Novel Psychoactive Substances, and prescribing during COVID-19. “The quality, quantity, and types of illicit drugs are changing for the worse. We are seeing numerous varieties of Fentanyl. There are also new varieties of Novel Psychoactive Substances in several classes of drugs. These drugs make molecular changes to drugs that are currently

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Integrity Healthcare Communities launched the process of protecting the residents in their 11 skilled nursing facilities from COVID-19, long before testing mandates were put in place. Staff was also encouraged to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and to encourage participation, Integrity Healthcare Communities created a special promotion. Weekly monetary prizes were great incentives, and the number of vaccinated employees jumped from 165 to 374 fully vaccinated employees, but the grand prizes for the promotion were the best incentives. At the end of the promotion, two grand prizes were drawn. The first-place award for an all-expense-paid vacation for two was awarded to Olivia Williams. The grand prize, a brand new 2021 Nissan Kicks automobile was awarded to Vickey Smith. Ms. Smith has worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant for the past three years at IHCC-Cobden. Cobden’s Administrator Sherry Belcher said, “Vickey always goes above and beyond for our residents. We are proud

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EDWARDSVILLE – Through funding provided by BioMADE, the University of Hawai’i at Hilo (UH Hilo) and the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center (NCERC) at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) have partnered to form “ALAKA’I”, Applied Life-Science Academy: Knowledge Advancing Industry, a project that establishes a bioeconomy academy to accelerate climate change solutions by developing industry-relevant training for delivery in Hawaii and across the United States. Launched in 2021, BioMADE is the most recently established Manufacturing Innovation Institute. BioMADE works with its members to secure America’s future through biomanufacturing innovation, education, and collaboration. It is a member of Manufacturing USA®, a national network created to secure U.S. global leadership in advanced manufacturing through large-scale public-private collaboration on technology, supply chain, and education and workforce development. The primary

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