Riverbender 🕸

JERSEY - The Jersey County CEO program will hold its annual student trade show Sunday, April 26, 2026, at Farm & Home, where high school juniors and seniors will showcase businesses they developed in four months, according to program facilitator Liz Duggan. The event is scheduled from noon to 3 p.m. and will feature student-run ventures including hand-painted press-on nails, a tech golf accessory, hand-crafted fishing lures and glide baits, baked goods, pocket-sized books, hot pepper jelly, custom-painte

ALTON - An upcoming lunch and learn event aims to make estate and tax planning accessible, complete with free lunch, door prizes and plenty of information. At 12 p.m. on Friday, May 8, 2026, community members can stop by The Wedge in Alton for the lunch and learn with Stephens Planning and Goldenberg Heller & Antognoli, P.C. Fiduciary advisor Curtis Stephens and attorney Liz Heller will team up to share basic information about how to take care of your estate. They promise “a

ALTON – The City of Alton is pleased to announce that Rock Spring Golf Course will officially reopen for the season on April 25, 2026 , welcoming golfers back to one of the community’s most cherished recreational amenities. The City is also excited to introduce Redbird Golf Course Management as the new operator of Rock Spring Golf Course for the 2026 season. With a strong background in golf course operations and a commitment to quality service, Redbird brings fresh energy and

EDWARDSVILLE — A 41-year-old Canton man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to burglary stemming from a break-in at an office building in Dorsey, Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine announced on Friday, April 24, 2026. Casey W. Sobberi broke into an office building owned by Waldbart and Sons Nursery on Jan. 5, 2026, with the intent to commit a theft, according to the announcement. He pleaded guilty to one count of burglary, a Class 2 felony, and

GODFREY - Vitality Women’s Clinic wants the community to know they’re here for individuals experiencing unplanned pregnancy. Executive Director Jackie Duty and Nurse Manager Amy Runyan recently stopped by “Our Daily Show!” with CJ Nasello to talk about their work at Vitality. As a faith-based, pro-life clinic, Vitality provides free STI and pregnancy testing as well as ultrasounds. They talk to people about their options but do not refer for or perform abortions.

BETHALTO - During their regular meeting on Thursday, April 23, 2026, the Bethalto Community Unit School District #8 Board of Education approved the resignation of Bethalto East Primary School Principal Crissy Pavlinek. The Board unanimously approved this resignation as one of several personnel actions. Board member Samantha Pritchett was absent. In an email shared after the meeting, Pavlinek expressed her appreciation for the team at Bethalto East and the school district. “I am

ALTON - Middle school students are invited to attend a FREE, three-day Health Care Discovery Camp this summer at OSF Saint Anthony’s Health Center. This hands-on experience allows students to explore the world of health care alongside OSF Mission Partners. “Getting out of the classroom and into real-life health care environments gives students a meaningful opportunity to explore the field and start envisioning their future careers,” said Melissa Hartnett, manager of Nursing/Patient

ALTON – Alton Police have charged two men with their latest domestic battery offenses after prior convictions. Quintin L. Saulsberry, 25, of O’Fallon, Ill., was charged on April 16, 2026 with a Class 3 felony count of his fourth or subsequent offense of domestic battery. Saulsberry allegedly knowingly caused bodily harm to a household or family member without legal justification on March 29, 2026. Charging documents note Saulsberry had previously been convicted of domestic battery

ST. LOUIS - Journalist and former congressional candidate Ray Hartmann, a longtime fixture on the Nine PBS political commentary show “Donnybrook” and founder of the Riverfront Times, was killed Thursday, April 23, 2026, in a car crash on Interstate 64 in St. Louis County, Mo. He was 73 years old. Officials said Hartmann was killed when a wheel came off a semi and struck his car on I-64 just west of Interstate 270. The crash happened in the eastbound lanes at the I-270 exit and involved

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation (CST) Subcommittee on Aviation and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ranking Member of CST and Edward J. Markey (D-MA) today requested that the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation (DOT) investigate whether Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator and former Republic Airways CEO Bryan Bedford deliberately violated his ethics agreement to boost his stoc

CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 23 states, filed a motion for summary judgment in their ongoing challenge to President Trump’s executive order that unlawfully restricts voter eligibility and who can receive mail ballots while trampling on states’ constitutional authority to administer elections. “President Trump does not have the constitutional authority to make or alter laws governing federal elections,” Raoul said. “The

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) issued the following statement after Senate Republicans last night voted to advance legislation that would give U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) up to $140 billion in additional unrestricted funding over the next several years: “It’s shameful that my Republican colleagues would greenlight another unrestricted, taxpayer-funded blank check for Trump’s out-of-control

GODFREY – Drivers on Levis Lane in Godfrey recently reached speeds as high as 73 mph, according to the initial results of a speed study which is set to continue. At their April 21, 2026 meeting , Village Board members were presented with the results from a recent three-day speed study using a Speed Tracker Plus device to track speeds and traffic counts on Levis Lane over the course of three days. When Mayor Mike McCormick asked for the highest speed recorded over the three-day period,

BETHALTO - The Bethalto Community Unit School District #8 honored employees during their eighth annual Golden Eagle Award Ceremony. On Thursday, April 23, 2026, employees and their families gathered at the Central Office for the award ceremony, where many teachers and staff members were recognized for their outstanding contributions to the district. Jen Weber, the district’s Special Education Coordinator, conceptualized the Golden Eagle Awards and expressed her excitement to honor thi

EAST ALTON - East Alton Police and firefighters responded early Friday, April 24, 2026, to a rollover crash on Illinois Route 3 south of the red light intersection in front of Weiland, sending two drivers to Alton hospitals as investigators worked to determine what caused the wreck. The crash happened about 3 a.m. on Friday, according to the provided information. Officials said one driver was reported to be in serious condition after the accident. East Alton Police Chief Scott Golike said

ALTON - A local architect visited Alton schools to talk to kids during Architecture Week. Joel Hall is a professor at Lewis and Clark Community College and serves as a project manager for the Alton Community Unit School District #11 with FGM Architects. Last week, he stopped by Alton High School and West Elementary School to talk about the work architects do and the different educational pathways students can take to study architecture. “It’s one of my favorite things to do, t

A person can be exhausted, broke, and still be described as “full of life.” That sounds backwards—shouldn’t a “full” life require comfort, energy, and everything going right? Yet the phrase keeps showing up in obituaries, birthday toasts, and everyday compliments, often aimed at people who faced real limits and still seemed to glow. “Full of life” is one of those expressions that feels simple until you try to explain it. Is it about being loud?

The most far-reaching event linked to April 24 is the start of the Armenian Genocide in 1915, when Ottoman authorities arrested hundreds of Armenian community leaders and intellectuals in Constantinople (today’s Istanbul). Those arrests were an opening move in a wider campaign of deportations, mass killings, and forced marches that led to the deaths of an estimated 1 to 1.5 million Armenians. At the time, it shattered a centuries-old community across Anatolia and the wider region, and i

WOOD RIVER – Midwest Members Credit Union is proud to sponsor the “Eagles of the Month” program at Civic Memorial High School. Senior students are selected each month by members of the Civic Memorial faculty to represent each department. All students are awarded a certificate and a Subway gift card. Two Seniors (1 female student and 1 male student) that were selected each month will have the opportunity to compete for a $500.00 “Eagles of the Year” scholarship eac

GRANITE CITY – A Granite City man facing multiple felonies in his latest domestic battery case reportedly fled the scene in a stolen vehicle before threatening a responding officer. Joshua R. Householder, 37, of Granite City, was charged on April 16, 2026 with one count each of unlawful possession of a stolen motor vehicle (a Class 2 felony), threatening a public official (a Class 3 felony), aggravated assault of a peace officer (a Class 4 felony), and his second or subsequent offense