ALTON - Dr. Tracy Webster-Cooley is dedicated to helping people manage their mental health. Webster-Cooley, one of the YWCA’s eleven 2026 Women of Distinction, will be honored at the Y’s annual gala for her commitment to the community. She works as an assistant professor at SIUE’s School of Nursing in their psychiatric nurse practitioner program, as well as for a St. Louis-based nonprofit that assists people with employment and workforce development. “I'm an educator,
COLLINSVILLE - A local woman is making waves through an online initiative that aims to spread epilepsy awareness. Allany Muniz remembers her mother trying to find answers online after Muniz was diagnosed with epilepsy. Now, the Collinsville woman is providing her own explanations through “Diary of an Epileptic,” her profile on YouTube, TikTok, Lemon8 and Instagram. Not only does “Diary of an Epileptic” aim to spread awareness, but it hopes to remind people with epilepsy
BELLEVILLE - The Belleville Police Department recognized three employees as recipients of its 2025 awards during a City Council meeting held this week, honoring an officer, a detective and a civilian staff member for their service to the Belleville community. The department said Officer Frantz was named Officer of the Year, Detective Hackleman was named Detective of the Year, and Telecommunicator Potrawski was named Civilian Staff Member of the Year. “Each recipient has distinguishe
A greeting card is one of the few things people still mail even when they never mail anything else. Bills go paperless. Photos live on phones. Yet a folded piece of paper with a few careful words still shows up in mailboxes—and it can feel more personal than a text ever could. That staying power comes from a long, surprising history. Greeting cards were not invented as a cute modern habit. They grew out of older traditions of public announcements, private letters, printed art, and social
On February 20, 1962, American astronaut John Glenn became the first U.S. citizen to orbit Earth, circling the planet three times aboard Friendship 7. At the time, the flight mattered because it proved the United States could carry out a full orbital mission in the intense early years of the Space Race, when space achievements were closely tied to national confidence, scientific prestige, and military technology. It still matters today because Glenn’s mission helped turn human spaceflight
Friday morning starts off breezy with partly cloudy skies and temperatures around 25 degrees. As the day progresses, expect partly sunny skies with a high reaching 43 degrees. Winds from the west will gust up to 33 mph making it feel colder than the actual temperature, with a feels like high near 34. Evening brings intermittent clouds and winds calming down to around 7 mph, with clouds increasing overnight. Lows fall to about 25 degrees with a very chilly overnight feel near 19 degrees. Saturday
EDWARDSVILLE/COLLINSVILLE - Madison County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a St. Louis man on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, after a pursuit that followed an investigation into a report of shots fired at a home in unincorporated Collinsville this past Saturday, Feb. 14, authorities said. The Madison County Sheriff’s Office said it responded around 11 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14, to the 3200 block of VFW Lane in unincorporated Collinsville for a report of shots fired at a residence.
COLLINSVILLE – Today, Governor JB Pritzker, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), and Teklab celebrated the company’s new environmental testing laboratory in Collinsville. Teklab constructed a 36,500-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility to meet the growing demand for its environmental analytical services, creating 40 new full-time jobs for the region while retaining nearly 100 positions. The company’s commitment to invest $10 million further solidifie
ALTON - Community members can enjoy a day of fun while supporting a local man undergoing cancer treatments. Scott and Melanie Richardson have organized Scott’s Freedom from Cancer Benefit on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, at the Alton VFW Post #1308. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., you can stop by the VFW to enjoy a vendor fair. Then, at 5 p.m., it costs $30 to enjoy a 50/50 drawing, a silent auction, a taco bar from Taqueria Maya, and live music from Borderline Band. All proceeds go toward the Richardson
ST. LOUIS COUNTY - St. Louis County police are investigating a fatal motorcycle crash that killed a 67-year-old man Tuesday night, Feb. 17, 2026, on Lemay Ferry Road in south St. Louis County. Officers from the St. Louis County Police Department’s South County Precinct responded at 7:19 p.m. Feb. 18, 2026, to a call for service for a single-vehicle crash involving a motorcycle in the 5200 block of Lemay Ferry Road. Police found an adult male with life-threatening injuries, and he was taken
CARBONDALE – Illinois State Police (ISP) Division of Criminal Investigation Zone 7 Special Agents arrested 19-year-old Shariah Davis of Carbondale, IL and a 15-year-old male after executing search warrants served in Jackson County. On February 18, 2026, as part of an ongoing investigation, ISP Special Agents executed two search warrants in Carbondale, one in the 700 block of West College Street and the other in the 800 block of East College Street. During the searches, Officers recovere
GODFREY – A Godfrey man accused of causing a traffic crash between two other drivers while recklessly attempting to flee a police pursuit faces felony charges. Brian E. Kenshalo, 31, of Godfrey, was charged with one count each of aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer and driving while license is revoked/suspended, both Class 4 felonies, on Feb. 9, 2026. He also faces a Class A misdemeanor count of reckless driving. Kenshalo allegedly knowingly attempted to flee from
ST. LOUIS COUNTY - St. Louis County police are investigating a crash near Kingston Drive and Geneva Drive in south St. Louis County that killed an adult man and sent two others to the hospital Thursday morning, Feb. 19, 2026. Officers from the St. Louis County Police South County Precinct responded at 7:44 a.m. Feb. 19, 2026, and found two vehicles involved, according to the St. Louis County Police Department Bureau of Crimes Against Persons and Accident Reconstruction detectives. The deceased
CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 12 attorneys general, is urging the U.S. Senate to reject the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act, warning that the legislation would improperly nationalize election administration, impose sweeping new barriers to voter registration, and disenfranchise millions of eligible Americans. If enacted, the SAVE America Act would require Americans to present documentary proof of citizenship in person to register
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Thursday sentenced a man who stole about 100 firearms to 100 months in prison. Jeremy Lorenz, 31, of St. Charles, pleaded guilty in October to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted stealing the guns from a federal firearms licensee’s storage site in St. Louis County on Nov. 15, 2024. Lorenz was arrested four days later and officers found him with a pistol and a shotgun that had been reported stolen.
O'FALLON - The O’Fallon Police Department takes great pride in its work with the Special Olympics program. Several O’Fallon officers and athletes, along with Alderman Jimmy Ford, traveled to Bloomington to take part in the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics Illinois Kickoff Conference, where the department reported its 2025 fundraising totals. The department said it raised $136,928 in 2025, ranking first in Illinois in the 26–75 officers category and
O'FALLON, IL. - St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye Sr. confirmed on Thursday morning, Feb. 19, 2026, that Cesilie N. Huebner, 35, of Ellington Drive in Troy, IL., was pronounced dead at 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in the emergency room at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in O’Fallon, after a tragic crash. Dye Sr. said Huebner was rushed to St. Elizabeth's Hospital emergency room after a two-vehicle accident that occurred on Scott-Troy Road on Wednesday afternoon. The Scott-Troy
ALTON - Dr. Tandra Taylor is intentional about her work to help students. Taylor, one of the YWCA’s eleven 2026 Women of Distinction, will be honored at the Y’s annual gala for her commitment to the community. She works as an assistant professor of history and serves as the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Community Engagement and Educational Pathways at SIUE. She said that behind those “hefty titles” is simply a love for education. “At my core, I’m an educator.
WOOD RIVER – Wood River City Councilman Jeremy Plank’s vote to appoint himself to the city’s Library Board will be allowed to stand. City Attorney Kathryn Warren said at this week’s City Council meeting that after reviewing the City Code and relevant case law and state statutes, she found no rule preventing a sitting councilman from voting to approve his own appointment to the Library Board. The City Code also allows one member of the council to sit on the Library Boar
ALTON - Riverbend residents came together for a conversation about homelessness and the needs of unhoused community members. On Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026, community leaders, representatives from nonprofits, and people experiencing homelessness met at First Presbyterian Church in Alton for two listening sessions with Chief Christine Haley. As Chief Homelessness Officer with the Illinois Office to Prevent and End Homelessness, Haley is holding listening sessions across the state to inform Home
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