EDWARDSVILLE — The City of Edwardsville officially broke ground Monday, April 20, 2026, on Goshen Commons, a new $3.95 million pedestrian-friendly public park planned for the heart of downtown. The project will transform one block of St. Louis Street between North Main Street and Second Street, along with the adjacent courtyard, into a vibrant public gathering space designed for both everyday use and special events. Goshen Commons will feature green space with trees and various plantings,
GRANITE CITY — Jersey junior Bradley Tueth set a new school record in the 400 meters at the Granite City Invite, winning the race in 48.86 seconds and earning track athlete of the meet honors. Tueth’s time broke the previous Jersey mark of 49.30 set in 2024 by Casey Borkowski. Lucas Ross holds the third-best 400-meter time in school history at 51.63, set in 2017. Tueth also placed fourth in the 100 meters at the Granite City Boys Invite, running 11.70. Tueth is a Sparklight Male
CARLINVILLE - Carlinville will host a Community Blood Drive with ImpactLife, the provider of blood components for local hospitals. The blood drive will be from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm on Wednesday, May 6 at 201 West Main Street, inside Elks Lodge. What: Carlinville Community Blood Drive-Sponsored by Carlinville Area Hospital Auxiliary When: Wednesday, May 6, 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm Where: Elks Lodge, 201 West Main Street, Carlinville, IL Appointments: To donate, please contact ImpactLife
CHICAGO — The State of Illinois African Descent-Citizens Reparations Commission (ADCRC) will convene a public hearing in Chicago to advance statewide efforts toward reparative justice for Black Illinoisans descended from American Slavery. The hearing will be held at the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center on April 25, 2026, at 10 a.m. A livestream will be available on the ADCRC YouTube page: www.YouTube.com/@IllinoisADCRC . The hearing will center around the Taking
ROXANA - The Riverbend East Rotary Club recently recognized the March Service Above Self award winners from Roxana High School: Daisy Daugherty and Troy Rahn. Above photo - club President Mark Smith presents Service Above Self certificates to Daisy Daugherty and Troy Rahn. Daisy Daugherty Daisy is a senior at Roxana High School who has made a lasting impression through a unique blend of competitive drive and compassionate leadership. As a multi-sport athlete in basketball, track, and volleyball,
GODFREY – State Representative Amy Elik (Alton) and State Senator Erica Harriss (Glen Carbon) are hosting a free Senior Fraud Protection & Advocacy Seminar with an expert from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. They will give a presentation and take questions from seniors on how to better protect themselves from fraud. This event is free and open to seniors. The event details are: Monday, April 27th 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM Asbury Village 5201 Asbury Lane, Godfrey
HARDIN - David A. Depper, 40, who is listed as homeless, was arrested March 23 in Jersey County on a felony warrant alleging he falsified or altered a court-ordered drug test required as a condition of his pretrial release in an unrelated case, according to the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office. The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office said Depper was ordered on Feb. 10, 2026, to submit to a court-authorized drug analysis as a condition of his pretrial release on “another unrelated
ROCKFORD, Ill. – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today convened health care leaders to discuss how Trump and Republicans’ Big Beautiful Bill is harming Northern Illinois by ripping health care away from thousands and driving up costs. Duckworth met with leaders from UW Health Swedish American Hospital, UW Health Belvidere Hospital, OSF HealthCare and the Winnebago County Health Department to discuss the impacts in the region since the law was signed last year. “Access
CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today issued the following statement following the passing of former Illinois House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie. “Illinois had lost an iconic public servant, and I have lost a mentor and a friend. “For 14 years I shared a legislative district with Barbara Flynn Currie, and I am a better public servant as a result. We were fellow Hyde Parkers and Lab School Alumni. In our district, Barbara and I knocked on doors together
CHICAGO– Attorney General Kwame Raoul today led a coalition of 23 attorneys general in urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to scale back its plans that would severely reduce staffing, undermine the agency’s statutory obligation to supervise financial institutions, weaken enforcement, and result in less relief and protection for consumers. Raoul and the coalition’s letter opposing the CFPB’s proposed strategic plan to CFPB Acting Director Russell
SPRINGFIELD – As part of Illinois’ celebration of Innovation and Technology Month, the Illinois Department of Innovation & Technology (DoIT), in collaboration with Junior Achievement of Central Illinois and the Learning Technology Center, successfully hosted its third annual CareerSpark STEAM Expo on April 14–15 in Springfield. The two-day event welcomed more than 1,800 eighth grade students from 26 schools across Illinois, along with nearly 60 exhibitors representing state
MOZIER - A traffic stop on a rural stretch of Illinois Highway 96 in Calhoun County led to the arrest of a Missouri man on DUI and drug-related allegations, authorities said. On Feb. 20, 2026, at about 9:16 p.m., Corporal Nicholas McCall conducted a traffic stop on Illinois Highway 96 north of Mozier in Calhoun County, according to Calhoun County Sheriff Zachary T. Hardin. Following the stop and a subsequent investigation, Jeffrey R. Lindsay, 52, of Louisiana, Missouri, was arrested. Lindsay
EDWARDSVILLE - The flute students of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) have been invited to perform this summer at the National Flute Association Annual Convention in Portland, Oregon, an opportunity that organizers say comes with high travel-related costs and has prompted a call for donations to help students attend. The SIUE flute choir plans to present “a unique and exciting program featuring music written exclusively for low flutes,” according to information provided
HIGHLAND - Several students from St. Paul Catholic School in Highland were recognized by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency for their writing. Suzanne Horan, a middle school English teacher at the school, worked with her fifth and sixth grade students to submit work to the Annual Poster, Poetry, and Prose Contest through the Illinois EPA. Students were encouraged to write about the theme “Together for Healthier Air!” and share poems and prose about how they can reduce
A ten-minute walk past trees and birds can lower stress more reliably than many people expect. It does not fix every problem, but it changes how the body feels—breathing slows, shoulders drop, thoughts get less noisy. That reaction is a clue: humans don’t just like nature. We often need it. Nature matters because it shapes our health, our culture, and our sense of meaning. Even in a world of screens and cities, people keep reaching for parks, gardens, beaches, hiking trails,
A single oil-soaked river helped spark a global holiday. In 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire—again. The image of flames on water was so shocking that it became a symbol of how badly pollution had been ignored. People were already worried about smog, pesticides, and toxic waste, but this made the problem feel impossible to shrug off. Within a year, that growing frustration would be channeled into something new: Earth Day. Why Earth Day wasn’t “just a holiday”
ST. LOUIS COUNTY - St. Louis County Police detectives are investigating a triple shooting that left an adult man dead and two adult women injured Sunday evening in a parking lot in the 10900 block of New Halls Ferry Road in Ferguson, Mo., authorities said. Officers from the Ferguson Police Department responded at about 6:26 p.m. April 19, 2026, to a call for service reporting a shooting in the parking lot, police said. When officers arrived, they found three victims with apparent gunshot injuries
A red octagon can stop a two-ton car with no physical force at all. The paint doesn’t block the road. The metal doesn’t slow the wheels. Yet most drivers hit the brakes without thinking. That’s the strange power of symbols: they do real work in the world, even though they’re made of nothing more than shared meaning. Symbols are everywhere—logos, flags, emojis, wedding rings, religious objects, even the way you knock on a door. They help us communicate fast, show
The most significant global event linked to April 20 is the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Colorado, United States. Two students carried out a planned attack at their school, killing 13 people and then themselves, and injuring many others. At the time, it shocked communities far beyond the U.S. because it showed how quickly violence could spread in a familiar, everyday place. It still matters today because it changed how schools think about safety, how many countries talk about youth
ROXANA/WOOD RIVER - About 440 customers in Wood River and Roxana lost power Friday evening, April 17, 2026, after a vehicle struck a power pole near Illinois Routes 111 and 143, prompting crews to de-energize the lines to make the area safe before repairs began. The outage occurred around 5:05 p.m. Friday, according to Brian Bretsch, a public relations manager. “To make the area safe to begin restoring power, crews had to de-energize the power lines,” Bretsch said in an email. H
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