SOUTH ROXANA/ROXANA - Lauren Clendenen, a Roxana High School graduate, is serving the South Roxana community in two public safety roles as a full-time South Roxana police officer and a volunteer lieutenant with the South Roxana Fire Department after completing 16 weeks in the police academy at Southwestern Illinois College. Clendenen said she has been a volunteer firefighter with the South Roxana Fire Department for about three years and is now a lieutenant on the fire team. She also works
ALTON - Alton High School’s girls volleyball team will host a trivia night fundraiser so they can support opportunities for their athletes. On Friday, June 12, 2026, community members can gather at the Owl’s Club in Alton for the trivia night. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the event starts at 7 p.m. Coach Eric Wolf is excited for the chance to support the athletes and bring the community together for a fun night. “We thought a trivia night would be fun,” he said.
ALTON - Just like technology has evolved, so have things in the vaping space. The risk for cancer, stunted brain development, and other serious ailments remains the same. But the look of the vapes, the sensation you get when using them and the age at which kids start vaping all are changing. That’s according to Karen Boyd, Heather Thompson and Jessica Williams, Mission Partners (employees) at OSF HealthCare Moeller Cancer Center in Alton, Illinois, who have been talking to parents and kid
ST. LOUIS COUNTY - A 22-year-old St. Louis man has been identified as the person killed in a double shooting early June 6, 2026, in Moline Acres, while a second man was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, according to St. Louis County Police. The victim was identified as Demonte Dowd, 22, of the 1200 block of McLaren Avenue in St. Louis, Mo. Police said the investigation remains active. According to previously released information, officers from the Moline Acres Police Department
ALTON - The Alton Police Department said a long-overdue renovation is underway at its Command Center, where the department’s communications and operations hub has functioned around the clock for more than 25 years. The Alton Police Department said early in the project that the room had been taken down to its foundation as part of an effort to modernize aging furniture and equipment, improve functionality, and better position the agency to meet community needs for years to come. For more
O'FALLON, Ill. - Residents in the Timber Creek subdivision in O'Fallon saw a large police presence near Edgewood Drive late Saturday, June 6, 2026, and into Sunday morning, June 7, 2026, after a person fled a traffic stop conducted by another agency, according to the O'Fallon Police Department. The department said the police activity on the night of June 7, 2026, was tied to "a subject fleeing a traffic stop from another agency." "On the morning of Monday, June 8, 2026, an O'Fallon
WOOD RIVER - Wood River Main Street will celebrate its National Main Street accreditation and kick off the season with a summer social event. At 3 p.m. on Friday, June 26, 2026, community members are invited to the Wood River Business Alliance’s office at 61 East Ferguson Avenue in downtown Wood River for a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The organization will celebrate their renovated office and the accreditation with representatives from Main Street America. Following the ceremony, residents
GRAFTON - Families gathered Saturday, June 6, 2026, at Pere Marquette State Park near Grafton for the 37th annual Two Rivers Family Fishing Fair, a free event designed to connect children and families with fishing and other outdoor activities. Hosted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge, and Pere Marquette State Park, the fair took place June 6, 2026, along Illinois Route 100. Attendees were able to fish for free, try a range of outdoor activity stations,
WOOD RIVER - Wood River’s annual summer farmer's market opens this week. From 4–7 p.m. on Thursdays starting June 11, 2026, through Sept. 24, 2026, Wood River Main Street will host their farmer's market in the downtown lots at Madison Avenue and First Street. Community members and guests are invited to come by and shop local farmers, makers and bakers while enjoying live music. “We have a food truck coming every week. We have a band coming every week. A lot of bakers
GRANITE CITY – The Illinois Department of Transportation today announced lane closures on eastbound and westbound Interstate 270 from Illinois 3 to the Mississippi River in Madison County for road construction. Beginning at 9 p.m. Friday, June 5, 2026, traffic will be reduced to the right lane in both directions, weather permitting. Two lanes will reopen by 6 a.m. Sunday, June 7, weather permitting. Motorists should expect delays and are encouraged to use alternate routes during this
CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 14 attorneys general, affirmed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) efforts to add microplastics to a list of contaminants in drinking water prioritized for research and called for the EPA to further monitor microplastics. Microplastics pose special concerns due to their suspected overall prevalence and their ability to accumulate and persist in the environment. They are generally described as often-invisible
BELLEVILLE - A GoFundMe campaign organized by Brandy Stanback is seeking donations to cover funeral expenses and support the two children of Ni’Kajha A.K. Johnson, a 24-year-old Belleville woman who was fatally shot on June 3, 2026, while sitting in a vehicle at 25th Street and Ridge Avenue in East St. Louis. Stanback, Johnson’s mother, said in the fundraiser that Johnson’s death has left her children and loved ones grieving and that the money raised will help “lay my
PONTOON BEACH – State Senator Erica Harriss (56th-Glen Carbon) is pleased to announce that the Long Lake Volunteer Fire Department has been awarded funding through the federal Volunteer Fire Capacity (VFC) Grant Program, which is administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The $7,320 grant will provide reimbursement for eligible equipment purchases and firefighter training expenses. “Strong volunteer fire departments are vital to public safety in communities across
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—a member of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee (CST)—joined U.S. Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and 14 of their Senate Democratic colleagues to call on the Republican and Democratic leaders of the U.S. Senate Committees on Environment and Public Works; Commerce, Science and Transportation; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; and Appropriations to continue the progress made in the Bipartisan
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representatives Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) and Darin LaHood (IL-16) introduced the Boxing Therapy for Parkinson’s Access Act to expand access to evidence-based boxing programs for veterans and individuals living with Parkinson’s. Specifically, the bill will reduce financial barriers and ensure greater access to these programs for our nation's veterans living with Parkinson's and movement disorders. "Our veterans sacrificed so much for our country and
ALTON - The Hayner Public Library District and Jacoby Arts Center announced that the Little Free Art Library at Olin Park is no longer available due to vandalism. The Little Free Art Libraries were created through a collaboration between Hayner Library, Jacoby Arts Center, and Lewis and Clark Community College. These boxes were installed throughout town and allow people to leave and take art supplies. The goal is to make art more accessible and encourage reusing materials. On Wednesday,
A view of water can lower stress in just a few minutes. That helps explain why people will drive across town to sit by a lake, pay extra for an ocean-facing room, or stand under a hot shower longer than they planned. Water does more than keep us alive. It calms us, draws our attention, and makes ordinary moments feel better. Why water feels good almost instantly People are built to notice water. At the most basic level, we need it to survive. Our bodies are made mostly of water, and we cannot
Play looks frivolous right up until you see what happens without it. Remove free play from a child’s day, or playful freedom from an adult’s life, and stress rises, creativity shrinks, and relationships often become more brittle. Why play matters more than it seems Play is easy to dismiss because it does not always produce something visible. It may not earn money, check off a task, or solve a problem on command. But psychologically, play does important work. It helps people explore,
On June 7, one of the most consequential events in world history took place in 1494, when Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Tordesillas. The agreement drew an imaginary line through the Atlantic Ocean and divided newly claimed lands outside Europe between the two kingdoms. At the time, it was meant to reduce conflict between two rising maritime powers competing for trade routes, territory, and influence. Its effects reached far beyond diplomacy. The treaty helped shape the future of Latin
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