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SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate fell -0.1 percentage point to 4.4 percent, while nonfarm payrolls increased by +7,900 in March, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and released by IDES. The February monthly change in payrolls was revised from the preliminary report, from +10,700 to +8,100 jobs. The February revised unemployment rate was 4.5 percent, unchanged from the preliminary February unemployment rate. The March payroll jobs estimate and unemployment rate reflect activity for the week including the 12th. In March, the industry sectors with the largest over-the-month gains in employment included: Professional and Business Services (+3,000), Leisure and Hospitality (+3,000), and Government (+1,600). The industry sectors with the largest monthly payroll declines included: Manufacturing (-1,400), Trade, Transportation and Utilities (-500), and Information

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CHICAGO - Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 18 states, today called for a federal recall of Hyundai and Kia vehicles following the companies’ continued failure to take adequate steps to address the alarming rate of vehicle thefts. The letter , sent to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), encourages the NHTSA to recall unsafe Hyundai and Kia vehicles manufactured between 2011 and 2022 that have easily-bypassed ignition switches and lack engine immobilizers that make the vehicles vulnerable to theft. In a letter issued in March 2023 , Raoul and a coalition of attorneys general urged the companies to take stronger steps to address the safety concerns caused by vehicles’ vulnerability to theft. Because the companies have failed to address safety issues, Raoul and the coalition are now calling on the NHTSA to step in. The attorneys general argue that the vehicles’ systems remain out of compliance with federal standards an

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SPRINGFIELD - Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) today launched $10 million in funding for the Climate Works Pre-Apprenticeship Program and $6 million for the Energy Transition Barrier Reduction Program as part of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA). The programs will increase training opportunities in the trades, expand the clean energy talent pipeline, and boost diversity in the clean energy trade industries by providing resources to limit barriers to participation. The programs will be run through training partners which will be selected through a competitive Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) process. “The Climate Works and Barrier Reduction programs are essential to opening the door to countless opportunities in the clean energy trades industry for communities who have historically been left out and left behind,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Economic progress in Illinois depends on our diverse workforce

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COLLINSVILLE – The Illinois Department of Transportation announced today that bridge painting will require a lane closure on the ramp from southbound Interstate 55/70 to southbound Interstate 255 near Collinsville, beginning, weather permitting, at 7 a.m. Friday, April 21. One lane of the two-lane ramp will remain open at all times. The work is expected to be completed by the end of May. Drivers are urged to reduce speed, be alert for changing conditions, obey all construction signage, and refrain from using mobile devices while approaching and traveling through the work zone. For IDOT District 8 updates, follow us on Twitter at @IDOTDistrict8 or view area construction details on IDOT’s traveler information map on GettingAroundIllinois.com.

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ALTON - Alton High School will have another memorable spring production when it presents Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at 7 p.m. on April 27, 28, and 29 at AHS Auditorium. Anne Davis, the Alton High director, said the production is based on the following: "Way, way back many centuries ago, not long after the Bible began lived a man named Jacob and his 12 sons. The production is based on their lives." Davis said the story in this Alton High production is told to the audience by three narrators (Olivia Buck, Madison Ingram, and Makenzie Jones). Joseph, (Aaron Swanson) was Jacob’s (T.J. Lockhart) favorite son and he bestowed upon Joseph an Amazing Technicolor Coat. This made his 11 brothers (Aden Mayhew, Brandon Hayes, Eli Ware, Isaiah Moore, Jayden Snow, Kyle Neace, Landon Owen, Marvin Short, Mackenzie Ingram, Matt Taylor, and Max Barham) very jealous. So jealous, that they sell him into slavery, and off to Egypt he goes. Joseph first serves in the household of Potiphar

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ALTON - New rubber mulch has been installed at Olin Park, a 4.7-acre park located in the City of Alton at State Street and Grand Avenue. The City of Alton Parks and Recreation Department maintains the park. The new mulch installation occurred after a $15,000 environmental grant was awarded by Madison County. "Olin is the only public park with a playground within a mile radius and serves a highly populated and diverse portion of the city, including an array of socio-economic classes," Alton Parks and Rec Director Michael Haynes said. "The playground is approximately 6,500 square feet and has had a wood mulch fall surface since its inception over a decade ago. "Without constant maintenance, wood mulch surfacing can become compacted, causing water flow issues and unwanted vegetation growth. In addition, wood mulch can float and wash away, absorb water, erode, or blow away. "Replacing the current wood mulch with 100% recycled rubber mulch nuggets will rectify the aforementioned issues

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ALTON - YWCA Southwestern Illinois 32 nd Women of Distinction Celebration will be held on Thursday evening, May 4, at Julia’s Banquet Center, 101 Eastgate Plaza, East Alton, IL 62024. The event will feature Rachelle Aud Crowe, US Attorney as the Emcee and Keynote speaker. The deadline for reservations is Friday, April 27, 2023. Doors will open at 5:00 p.m., with the event starting promptly at 6 p.m. Women of Distinction Academy photos will be taken at 530 pm. Dorothy Hummel, Executive Director “strongly encourages the community to attend our 2023 Gala Event. We have an outstanding group of Women of Distinction Honorees whose diverse and compelling stories will be told throughout the evening. It has been a real pleasure to get to know these honorees during the past few months during our various events. ” Tickets are $65 per person, or $520 per table of eight. Reservations can be made online at www.altonywca.com , or at YWCA, 304 E 3 rd Street, Alton or by

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EDWARDSVILLE - The Edwardsville Community Foundation has appointed Kristopher Lakin as its newest board director. Lakin is currently the Chief Strategy Officer at Sangita Capital Partners, a Clayton, Missouri-based private equity firm with holdings that span four continents in a myriad of sectors, including technology, healthcare, cannabis, real estate, infrastructure, and media. “Change emanates from the grassroots, which was the founding impetus of ECF more than 25 years ago and remains its bailiwick today,” Lakin said. “As Dr. King famously said, ‘Everybody can be great because everybody can serve,’ a principle that shines brightly throughout ECF’s entire organization.” “We are pleased to have Kris join the board and lend his expertise in strategy and relationship building to add value to our organization,” said Caryn Mefford, ECF Board Chair. Prior to Sangita, Kris worked for nearly a decade with Edwardsville-based Eudora Global

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SPRINGFIELD - Illinois State Representative Amy Elik (R-Alton) honored Lewis & Clark Community College Board of Trustees Chairperson Julie Johnson and Desirée Bennyhoff, President & Chief Executive Officer of the Edwardsville-Glen Carbon Chamber of Commerce at the Emerging Women Leaders brunch held at the State Capitol in Springfield on Tuesday. The event honored the contributions of emerging female leaders from throughout the state. “Julie Johnson and Desirée Bennyhoff are two local leaders making a positive impact in our communities,” said Rep. Amy Elik. “Julie is strengthening our community college system to better prepare students for today’s workforce, and Desirée is committed to helping our region’s economy grow and prosper. It brings me joy to witness their success as two emerging leaders in the Metro East.” Julie Johnson serves as Chairperson of the Lewis & Clark Community College Board of Trustees and is a retired CPA.

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ALTON - Steve Honaker, owner and founder of Steve’s Service, is getting ready to retire and close his auto repair shop on April 28 after 27 years in business. He says multiple generations of loyal customers have kept him in business for so long in the Alton community. “ to take care of the customers as best as I could, treat everybody fair and honest, and that’s how I stayed in business,” Honaker said. Honaker bought the business from Jack Keller in 1996 after working for Keller since 1983. He said it was officially time for him to retire now that he has multiple fourth-generation customers. “I told my wife that when I got fourth-generation customers, I was going to retire - and right now, I’ve got two fourth-generation customers,” he said. “The younger ones are 16-17 years old and I actually worked on their great-grandparents’ cars when I was at Jack Keller’s.” He said the response from the community has been

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SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, TEXAS — Elon Musk's SpaceX's giant new rocket blasted into the sky for a test flight Thursday, but then exploded and crashed into the Gulf Of Mexico. Thankfully, there were not any personnel aboard the rocket at the time of the crash. Musk's goal was to send the nearly 400-foot Starship rocket on a round-the-world trip from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border. After separating, the spacecraft was supposed to continue east and attempt to circle the world, before crashing into the Pacific near Hawaii. The plan called for the booster to peel away from the spacecraft minutes after liftoff, but that failed to happen. The rocket tumbled and then exploded and crashed into the gulf. Many spectators watched from South Padre Island, miles away from the Boca Chica Beach launch site. The rocket has 17 million pounds of thrust and is designed to be fully reusable with a fast turnaround. SpaceX estimates that Falcon Heavy missions can cost under $100 million.

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EDWARDSVILLE — Madison County is awarding $1.3 million in funding for various park and recreational projects in communities throughout the county. The County Board voted Wednesday night to authorize the $1,308,765 in Park Enhancement Program (PEP) grant funding. “Since its establishment the funds have been used to improve parks and recreational facilities across the county,” Chairman Kurt Prenzler said. The PEP grants range between $15,000 and $138,000 and include funds for projects such as, , ADA equipment, playground equipment, pickleball courts, fencing, bike/pedestrian trail, landscaping, sporting equipment, lighting, senior center renovations, picnic tables, outdoor fitness equipment, barbecue grills, portable scoreboards, mowers and more. The funding is combined with city, village, township and park district funds to finance projects. Prenzler said the PEP grants are successful thanks to the taxpayers. He said voters approved a 1/10th of one percent sales

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HARDIN - The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is hosting a public informational meeting tonight about the potential rehabilitation or replacement of the Joe Page Bridge, which connects Calhoun and Greene counties via Illinois 16/100 over the Illinois River. IDOT is inviting the public to make comments, either at the meeting tonight or by email , online form , or calling (618) 346-3161 until May 4. The meeting will be held tonight from 5-8 p.m. at Calhoun High School, located at 102 Calhoun Ave. in Hardin. The meeting will be held in an “open house format,” and “no formal presentation will be made,” according to an IDOT press release. IDOT representatives and project consultant Hanson Professional Services Inc. will be at tonight’s meeting to discuss the project and answer questions. Handouts and display boards will also be available for the public to review, as will more information about engineering, land acquisition, and environmental

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Walmart and Sam’s Club are hosting in-person medication disposal events at select store and club locations across the country on Saturday, April 22 . The event is part of the DEA’s biannual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Law enforcement will set up in the parking lot from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 22 to help people safely dispose of unwanted, unused or expired prescription medications at the following Walmart or Sam’s Club locations: Walmart - 400 Junction Drive, Glen Carbon, Ill. Walmart - 610 Wesley Drive, Wood River, Ill. A complete list of DEA Take Back Day location events can be found at: https://takebackday.dea.gov . “We will always aim to do our part in reducing and potentially eliminating the dangerous misuse and abuse of prescription medications in the communities we serve,” said Lisa Young, Senior Director with Walmart Specialty Compliance and Ethics. “Safe medication disposal creates safer neighborhoods. We are proud

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EDWARDSVILLE - The nonprofit Nature Preserve Foundation and the City of Edwardsville are carrying out the Earth Day 2023 mission to “act, innovate and implement” by partnering in more ways and places than ever before. The City owns the Watershed Nature Center, a 43-acre haven of biodiversity, which had long been led and managed by the Nature Preserve Foundation. Since September, the City has taken over the caretaking of the Watershed Nature Center, freeing up the Nature Preserve Foundation to fully dedicate itself to fundraising, leading volunteer activities and organizing discovery days, educational programming and events not just for the Watershed, but other green space sites, too. The Foundation’s first big event of 2023 is, appropriately, Earth Day. The Foundation is partnering with numerous businesses and organizations for this year’s celebration, which will take place on Saturday, April 22, at the Watershed Nature Center. BJC, Cork Tree Creative, Whol

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ALTON - In honor of Earth Month, the Three Rivers Project and Piasa Palisades Group of Sierra Club Illinois are celebrating significant conservation and clean energy progress in the Metro East. As the leading grassroots voice to explore, enjoy, and protect the planet, Sierra Club Illinois has worked on conservation and energy issues in the region for over 50 years and has made significant headway thanks to ongoing community participation and advocacy. After three years of advocacy from volunteers in the Metro East and across the state, Governor Pritzker signed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) into law in 2021. In the eighteen months since, community-based organizations, advocacy groups, and governmental agencies have worked together to inform the public about the benefits of the bill and work strategically to implement CEJA’s programs equitably. State agencies like the Illinois Commerce Commission and the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity continue to build

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WOOD RIVER - The Wood River City Council has approved five-year contracts regarding employee pay raises within Parks and Recreation, the Fire Department, and Public Services, and will be negotiating with the Police Department in the future, City Manager Steve Palen said today. The ordinances for the contracts were passed at Monday night’s Wood River City Council Meeting. Palen said he wanted to see the longer-term agreements and he said the parties came together fairly quickly on dollars and language. “It took a couple of months but I am glad to have the contracts approved,” he said. “I thought the process went well overall. The police contract will be negotiated when their union situation is approved.” Palen said he believes it is important to have the contracts in place so that the city knows the various expenses for payroll and employees know what their pay will be for the next few years. The contracts sow increases of 3 percent in the first four year

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ALTON - Alton Police Chief Jarrett Ford reported that at 10:43 p.m. on April 18, 2023, the Alton Police Department was notified of a traffic crash involving two vehicles on Illinois Route 143 at the intersection with Corporal Chris Belchik Memorial Expressway. "Officers of the Alton Police Department and members of the Alton Fire Department immediately responded and determined the driver of one of the vehicles was trapped within the vehicle," Chief Ford said. "The driver was ultimately freed from the vehicle and subsequently flown via helicopter to a St. Louis area hospital for treatment of serious injuries." Chief Ford said the driver was treated and remains in stable condition. "The cause of the accident remains under investigation at this time," he said.

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ALTON - Tycon Builders has been a fixture in the Riverbend region since 1985 and owner Paul Yost plans on keeping it that way. Yost stressed the fire that occurred Tuesday night was very difficult, but the business will continue on in a normal fashion. “We just want people to know Tycon is still in business as normal and will proceed ahead,” he said. “All the jobs booked will be fulfilled as scheduled.” “We are going to operate out of an office close by on a temporary basis,” Yost said. He said his insurance company has been contacted and once a cause is determined, work will begin to rebuild the old structure in the 3400 block of College of Avenue. “This is the busiest time of the year for us, he said. “We want to assure customers we will fulfill our obligations as planned. We are thankful the trucks were not damaged except for the smoke. We had four vehicles parked in the warehouse.” Tycon Builders is a major provider of residentia

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ALTON - Lauren Seymour, owner of Lindy’s, received a phone call last night that had devastating results when the business area she leases was ripped apart by a serious fire. On Wednesday morning, Seymour was at the scene of the Tuesday night fire in the 3400 block of College Avenue in Alton . She was shaken by the terrible fire, but her plan was to continue on and serve her customers. She called the fire “devastating” to her and her other part-time hairstylist, Veronica Tepen. “I love my clients, they are like family,” she said. “I just wanted them to know we are going to overcome this fire." Lindy’s is highly regarded in the community and Lauren now is searching for a place to temporarily house her business. She said hopes to be back in business within a week or two. Lauren, like Tycon Builders , is waiting on the insurance company to determine the claim and then she will rebuild the business. If anyone has a place that Lauren can rent

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