Riverbender 🕸

ALTON - February is American Heart Month – a time when the nation spotlights heart disease, the No. 1 killer of Americans. February is chosen because it is a time when many people reflect on matters of the heart, including love and relationships. It’s a fitting opportunity to also emphasize the importance of heart health. Heart Month has a long history dating back to the 1960s when it was initiated by the American Heart Association (AHA) in the United States. Since then, it has grown into an international observance, with various countries and organizations participating in heart health awareness activities. February 2024 marks the 60 th anniversary of American Heart Month. President Lyndon B. Johnson, among the millions of people in the country who'd had heart attacks, issued the first proclamation in 1964. Since then, U.S. presidents have annually declared February American Heart Month. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. One in five death

Continue Reading

ROXANA - In 2023, Phillips 66 Wood River Refinery supported over 100 local organizations through monetary donations, company-sponsored service projects, and employee volunteer efforts. Combined with employee giving and Phillips 66 corporate grants, the company invested over $1.6 million in total support. Through the local charitable giving budget, the Refinery donated over $350,000 to support educational, environmental, safety and well-being, and social advancement organizations and projects. Major gift recipients include Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville Children’s Museum, Lewis & Clark Community College Foundation, Friends of Pere Marquette State Park, Audubon Center at Riverlands, Safe Surroundings and Refuge, Madison County Child Advocacy Center, and South Roxana Fire Protection District. The total donation amount included over $80,000 to communities bordering the Refinery property – Wood River, Hartford, Roxana, and South Roxana. These donations

Continue Reading

ALTON - Alton Fire Department personnel responded quickly to a serious fire in a vacant home in the 1900 block of Central Avenue at 10:58 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. Alton firefighters were able to get "a great hit" on the fire, Alton Fire Chief Jesse Jemison said, and had the fire under control in a quick fashion. However, the house did suffer serious damage. Chief Jemison said the Illinois State Fire Marshal's office has been called to investigate the blaze and he said he could not yet release a cause of the fire. "I was a little worried initially with the amount of dark, gray smoke coming out of it," the chief added. "The firefighters were able to push all the way upstairs to the attic space in trying to stop it. The house had been waiting for quite a while. We are waiting for Ameren because we don't know if there is power to it. The house has been vacant for a while." There were no occupants of the house from what firefighters could determine Wednesday morning, Chief

Continue Reading

EDWARDSVILLE - Two individuals, including one from Memphis, Tenn., are facing separate drug possession charges in addition to another individual facing a DUI charge in Madison County, according to county court documents. Janay D. Cole, 36, of Memphis, Tenn., was charged with possession of a controlled substance on Dec. 1, 2023 in a case presented by the Collinsville Police Department. Court documents allege Cole had in her possession an undisclosed amount of a substance containing cocaine. She faces a Class 4 felony and was released upon her signature of a Conditions of Pretrial Release Order. Ryan J. Grimaud, 30, of Saint Ann, Mo., was charged with aggravated driving while under the influence on Dec. 17, 2023. According to recently filed Madison County court documents, Grimaud allegedly drove a vehicle on Su Twan Drive in Worden, Ill. with a blood-alcohol concentration of .08 or above, and the vehicle he drove was reportedly not covered by any liability insurance policy. Grima

Continue Reading

EDWARDSVILLE - When Sherry Rosenberger was diagnosed with MALT lymphoma right as the COVID-19 pandemic began, she vowed to make something good out of the bad. A few years later, her 16-year-old daughter has decided to follow her mother’s example. Sherry is in remission and has raised $50,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) since 2020. Her daughter Whitney hopes to do the same thing in just seven short weeks through the LLS Student Visionaries of the Year program. “I feel like I’m going to cry again. I’ve literally been crying every day because I am just amazed at not only our community, but that Whitney actually came to me at the end of last fall saying that she wanted to do this,” Sherry said. “It was very difficult for us to go through my cancer journey, especially during a pandemic. And at the end of my battle, the one thing I wanted to do was turn the bad into good…To see my daughter turn it around herself, too, and be able

Continue Reading

GRAFTON - The Grafton Veteran’s Memorial Bronze Statutes have been officially ordered and it is described by those associated with the project as “a one-of-a-kind in the world.” The National Memorial of Military Ascent (NMMA) signed a contract with Carolina Bronze Sculpture of North Carolina for the creation and production of 12 life-size bronze statues in full World War II military gear. The statues will showcase soldiers with rifles, ladders, grappling hooks, radio backpacks, and stainless-steel ropes. The cost to secure the foundry’s production was $87,360.15. The foundry is scheduled to send its staff to Grafton for two weeks centered around the 80th Anniversary of D-Day on June 6, 2024, to develop the scans of the soldiers to make the bronze figures. The 2nd Ranger Battalion of St. Louis Reenactors will provide authentic World War II uniforms, equipment, and models for the scanning process to make the bronze figures. NMMA Project Engineer of Carlton

Continue Reading

EDWARDSVILLE - Three individuals have been charged with various forms of battery, including one individual additionally charged with robbery, in cities across Madison County according to recently filed court documents. Martina L. Thomas, 42, of Madison, was charged with two counts of aggravated battery by the Pontoon Beach Police Department. On Dec. 27, 2023, Thomas allegedly used a “deadly weapon, a knife, in that said defendant stabbed the victim about the chest and abdomen.” According to court documents, the attack caused great bodily harm to the victim, including “vital organ impairment requiring critical care.” A petition to deny Thomas’s pretrial release describes her as the individual who was “identified as the person who repeatedly stabbed the victim, causing internal injuries.” Thomas faces two Class 2 felonies, and court documents indicate she was remanded to jail until her initial court appearance. Joshua A. Warren, 28,

Continue Reading

EDWARDSVILLE - One man has been charged with burglary in an attempted storage unit theft which joins a list of various other thefts from businesses and individuals across Madison County in recent months, according to Madison County court documents. Mysti A. Maronie, 40, of Brighton, was charged with one count of retail theft over $300 on Jan. 3, 2024. Maronie allegedly stole over $300 worth of various merchandise from the Walmart on Godfrey Road in Godfrey, according to court documents. Maronie faces a Class 3 felony and was released upon her signature of a Conditions of Pretrial Release Order. Jason J. Thebeau, 49, of Granite City, was charged with burglary on Jan. 3, 2024 in a case presented by the Madison County Sheriff’s Office. Court documents indicate Thebeau knowingly and without authority entered a storage unit located in the 3100 block of W. Chain of Rocks Road in Granite City with the intent to commit a theft. He faces a Class 2 felony and was released upon his

Continue Reading

EDWARDSVILLE - On Jan. 30, 2024, Leclaire Elementary kindergarten students celebrated the 100th day of school with crafts, games and a special visitor. Kylee Kuba’s kindergarten class dressed up in special “100” hats and posed for a picture with Kuba’s grandmother, who celebrated her 100th birthday on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024. Kuba’s grandma smiled with her granddaughter’s class and wished them a happy 100th day of school.

Continue Reading

ALTON - The Hayner Public Library District wants you to know they offer a lot more than books. The library has several services available for community members, most of which are free with a library card. Mary Cordes, the library’s executive director, explained that many people don’t realize the amount of resources available at the library. From notary services to free TV streaming, all of this can be found at Hayner. “We have all these services,” Cordes said. “They seem small, but once you start talking about them, it’s, ‘Oh my gosh, I didn’t know the library offered all of this.’” The library provides several resources via their online databases . Cordes enjoys Creativebug , a database that provides high-quality instructional videos for everything from knitting to cooking. Biblio+ offers unlimited ad-free streaming of movies and TV shows. The Legal Information Reference Center has legal texts and

Continue Reading

SPRINGFIELD - As Illinoisans turn up their thermostats to stay warm the rest of this winter the risk of a home heating fire or Carbon Monoxide incident increases. This is why the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal (OSFM) encourages residents to have their furnaces checked, change furnace filters, and make sure carbon monoxide (CO) and smoke alarms are functioning properly. Unlike smoke, carbon monoxide is a colorless and odorless gas only detectable by special devices and CO alarms. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fire deaths. Fire departments responded to an estimated average of 44,210 fires involving heating equipment per year from 2016-2020, accounting for 13% of all reported home fires during this time, and these fires resulted in annual losses of 480 civilian deaths. Space heaters were the type of heating equipment responsible for the largest shares of losses in home heating equipment fires

Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Senate confirmed Joshua Kolar to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement regarding Judge Kolar’s confirmation: “Judge Kolar is a dedicated public servant and an accomplished litigator who will be an asset to the Seventh Circuit. Among other things, his resume and service as a U.S. Magistrate Judge earned him bipartisan support, including from Indiana Senators Young and Braun. As a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, Judge Kolar knows what it means to serve his country honorably – and he will continue to live up to that mission on the federal bench. “I congratulate Judge Kolar on becoming the fortieth Circuit Court judge confirmed under President Biden, and the latest example of the Senate Judiciary Committee advancing highly qualified nominees following good-faith collaboration between

Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced $2,869,784 to help businesses in rural Illinois transition to solar power. This funding, through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), will help selectees purchase and install solar arrays to help power their businesses while saving recipients money on power costs, conserving energy and creating good-paying jobs. “Transitioning to solar power will help lead Illinois into a future of clean, renewable energy use while creating economic growth and job creation in our state,” said Duckworth. “With this federal support that was made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act , we’re investing in our farmers and rural businesses to help them save more of their hard-earned dollars by reducing their electric bills while also conserving energy.” “These REAP projects are funded by the Biden Administration using par

Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today met with Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz to discuss his office’s investigation into the non-medical deaths of those in Bureau of Prison (BOP) care. At the request of Durbin, IG Horowitz previously agreed to review the reports of abuse and the death of seven incarcerated men at Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Thomson in 2022 as part of a larger report on deaths in BOP facilities. “I am still deeply disturbed by the reports of death and abuse of incarcerated adults that have come out of FCI Thomson, and we must understand what lies at the root of these deaths. BOP must be held to a higher standard, which I emphasized in my meeting with Inspector General Horowitz today,” said Durbin. “As the review concludes, I hope that Inspector General Horowitz’s report will shine a light on how BOP can prevent deat

Continue Reading

EDWARDSVILLE – Metro-East Lutheran High School will host an Open House at its campus on Center Grove Road on Sunday, Feb. 4, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The event, which is open to the public, will allow attendees to take a tour of the school’s campus, meet with faculty and administration and find out more about the school’s academic, athletic and extracurricular offerings as well as get answers to questions about tuition, financial assistance and school programming. Metro-East Lutheran High School (MELHS) has been providing academic excellence in a Christ-centered environment for more than 40 years. For more information about Metro-East Lutheran High School, email admissions@melhs.org or go to www.melhs.org .

Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement after the United Kingdom (U.K.), Australia, France, and other countries have advanced plans to ban kid-friendly e-cigarettes, including flavored and disposable vapes; and called on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to immediately act to protect public health in the United States: “Faced with an alarming rise in youth vaping, leaders in the UK, France, and Australia are finally acting to protect children. Meanwhile in America, FDA’s failed leadership refuses to regulate and use its public health tools. The consequence is Big Tobacco peddling unauthorized and flavored e-cigarettes to children, addicting millions of new customers, and exposing school kids to a cloud of harmful vapor. It’s embarrassing that the U.S. lags far behind other countries while FDA delays and delays enforcement to protect American kids. “We know flavors are Big Tobacco’s ploy

Continue Reading

GODFREY – Lewis and Clark Community College’s Community Education division is offering a weekly Private Pilot Ground Class from 6-9 p.m. every Monday from March 4 through June 3 (no class on May 27, Memorial Day). The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) required class is now being formed for the spring semester. Students must have previous Ground Training to qualify for Flight Training. Don Hill and John Harding, Aviation FAA Certified Flight Instructors, are teaching the course. “If you are interested in flying, this class will help determine if aviation is the right path for you,” Hill said. Registration costs $350; students must provide photo identification, such as a driver's license, a birth certificate, or passport, and $75 for books and materials on the first night of class after registration. Registration is required before class begins and is currently a non-credit offering. The Private Pilot FAA Exam Preparation Course is designed to

Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees—met Admiral Samuel Paparo, the nominee to serve as the Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), to discuss his nomination and their shared priorities to strengthen military readiness, defense strategy and interoperability with our partners in the Indo-Pacific region. Photos of the meeting can be found on the Senator’s website. “I was pleased to meet with Admiral Samuel Paparo ahead of this week’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on his nomination to serve as the Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command and hear his vision for the role if confirmed,” said Duckworth. “I’m glad he shares my priorities of furthering interoperability between TRANSCOM and INDOPACOM to improve military operations in a contested environment, expand medical care capabilities in

Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – Ahead of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the failures of Big Tech to protect kids from sexual exploitation online, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke on the Senate floor outlining what he hopes to hear from the CEOs of Discord, Meta, Snap, TikTok, and X (formerly known as Twitter). Durbin also called on his colleagues to support his Strengthening Transparency and Obligations to Protect Children Suffering from Abuse and Mistreatment Act of 2023 (STOP CSAM Act), legislation that supports victims and increases accountability and transparency for online platforms. During his speech, Durbin also detailed the need for Congress to update its outdated laws in the face of an unprecedented wave of technological innovation. “For the first time, the CEOs of five Big Tech companies will testify about the crisis of online child sexual exploitation. This continues our Committee’s bipartisan

Continue Reading

EAST ST. LOUIS – State Senator Christopher Belt is encouraging local grocers to apply for funding through the Illinois Grocery Initiative for the purchase of updated energy-efficient equipment. “There are many factors that play a part in operating a successful grocery store,” said Belt (D-Swansea). “Through the Equipment Upgrades Grant Program, our local grocery stores have the opportunity to receive funding to aid in purchasing necessary, updated equipment.” Rising energy costs lead to outdated equipment, which presents a major expense for small community grocers. Under the Equipment Upgrades Program, eligible grocers can apply for grants to upgrade heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment; refrigeration units and freezers; lighting systems; and other systems providing significant energy savings. Eligible grocers should apply online by March 25. In order to support the businesses most in-need, grocers must be independently-owned with fewer

Continue Reading