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ILLINOIS – Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) President Dan Montgomery released the following statement on the St. Louis school shooting. “We send our deepest condolences to the students, teachers, staff, parents, and entire St. Louis community who are suffering in the aftermath of today’s tragic school shooting. “Just last weekend, our members gathered in St. Louis for the IFT convention only a few miles away from the Central Visual and Performing Arts High School. Our deep sadness over this news strengthens our resolve to fight to end senseless gun violence in this country. Quite simply, it is a public health crisis of the highest degree. “On Saturday, about 500 IFT delegates heard from March for Our Lives founder and Parkland School shooting survivor David Hogg and fellow activist Trevon Bosley about the lasting trauma that students are facing due to gun violence, including school shootings like the one in St. Louis today. These shootings have

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BUFFALO GROVE - The Father McGivney Catholic High girls' tennis doubles team of Kennedi Taylor and Natalie Beck made school history by winning the first match in the IHSA Class 1A girls tennis state tournament in the program’s inaugural year at Buffalo Grove High in northwest suburban Chicago. Taylor and Beck won their first-round match – the school’s first-ever state tournament match of any kind – in a 6-3, 7-5 decision over Karli Mann and Jersey Summers of Herrin. Taylor-Beck are Byron Carlson Petri & Kalb Female Athletes of the Month for Father McGivney Catholic. The duo then lost their second-round match to Sanskriti Sanav and Paula Almeda of Chicago University 6-1, 6-1, then were defeated in a hard-fought match in the second round of the consolation bracket to Ava Cammon and Kathryn Jennings of Flora 7-5,6-7 (4-7 in the tiebreak), 10-2 and were eliminated from the tournament. In the Triad Sectional semifinals, Evans and Beck captured the third-place

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JERSEYVILLE - Jersey Community High School (JCHS) recently announced the details of their 2022 Veterans Day Assembly. The event will be open to the public and held at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 10 in the JCHS Main Gym. Lieutenant Colonel Anthony K. Krueger, Jr. will be the guest speaker at this year’s assembly. JCHS Principal Jason Brunaugh said the public is encouraged to invite any veterans they know to attend. “We’re inviting anyone from the community that would like to be present for the assembly, but we’d especially like to have any veterans in attendance to make sure that we give them the chance to be a part of the assembly and honor them,” he said. After the assembly, Brunaugh said there will also be a small reception held in the school’s cafeteria around 10 a.m. He added that the event is student-led and usually about an hour long. To find out more about the JCHS 2022 Veterans Day Assembly, call the school at (618) 498-5521.

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ALTON - Halloween and every holiday for the Crites family in Alton is a big deal. Karen and Mark Crites have gone all-out again this year for Halloween, and are very proud of their 2022 display. The couple invites people to travel by their home at 2621 Granview in Alton to see the display. "We do it every year," she said. "We love the holidays and usually decorate for all the holidays. We also do a lot for Thanksgiving and Christmas with mostly outside stuff." Karen is a middle school teacher at St. Mary's and she said she loves it when her children come by to visit the display. "My students all enjoy seeing what we have every year," she said. Karen is joined by her husband, children, and grandchildren every year in the setup and takedown of the displays. She said they usually start the Halloween display in the first part of October or the end of September and it takes about 10 days to set up. "We love doing this every year," she said. If you have a holiday display you would

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EDWARDSVILLE - During an International Credit Union Day celebration co-hosted with the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon Chamber of Commerce, 1st MidAmerica Credit Union surprised the Glen-Ed Pantry in Edwardsville with various supplies collected by the generous team at the credit union. The supplies included household items, plus personal, and pantry items. "We celebrated credit unions and raised awareness about the credit union mission to empower the financial future of members," Amber Scott of 1st MidAmerica Credit Union said about the special day. For more about the credit union, visit: https://www.1stmidamerica.org/ The Glen-Ed Pantry is located at 125 5th Street in Edwardsville. For more about the pantry, visit: https://www.glenedpantry.org/

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SOUTH ROXANA - Due to the weather forecast, the South Roxana Halloween parade has been canceled for Tuesday, October 25, 2022. However, the village will offer a Trunk or Treat at Village Hall between 5 to 7 p.m. on Sunday, October 30. Anyone who has purchased candy to throw out at the parade or anyone else who wishes to participate in the trunk or treat is encouraged to contact Mayor Overton by phone at 618-254-1166 ext 1 or email: mayor@southroxana.org

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ALTON - Illinois American Water reports as of today there is a large amount of work that needs to be completed between 8th and 9th Streets on modifying the Piasa Sewer Tunnel prior to installing the new sanitary sewer in that area. "This work has been progressing over the past couple of months and more recently," Karen Cotton, the lead spokesperson for Illinois American Water, said. "It is anticipated for all the work in this area to take several months to complete.” Below is information about road closures: October 24, 2022, Piasa Valley Area: 9th Street is still closed from Alton Street east to George Street. This stretch of roadway will continue to be closed to all-thru traffic for a month or two. A water main replacement is anticipated and is awaiting a permit from the IEPA. Belle Street from 3rd Street north to 6th Street is now back open to traffic, along with the east-west blocks adjacent to Belle Street. Belle Street sewer work has moved north to near the intersection

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EAST ALTON - The East Alton and Wood River Fire Departments trained on a house in the 100 block of Cooper this past week. The house training was done with Wood River because the two agencies are always the first call to scenes for each other. "Wood River are our partners and it is good to work together in training like this," East Alton Fire Chief Tim Quigley said. "Training in fire service is very important. It is very hard to find a house to train on but this is on the demolition and it is clean enough to crawl around and do search and rescue and rapid invention training." Wood River Deputy Fire Chief Nate Kamp led the training and is an "excellent instructor," Quigley said. "We are happy to have someone of Deputy Fire Chief Kamp's experience leading the training," the fire chief explained. Quigley said it is rare to get a house like the one on Cooper in East Alton to train on. He also said he hopes to see some roof training in the near future.

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ALTON - YouthBuild students from Lewis and Clark Community College’s Scott Bibb Center built and installed a Free Little Library at Alton YWCA in recognition of Adult Education and Family Literacy Week. Free Little Libraries will be placed at Montessori Children’s House on L&C’s Godfrey Campus, Scott Bibb Center, Boys and Girls Club of Alton, and Hellrung Skate Park. To learn more about YouthBuild and L&C Adult Education, call (618) 468-4141 or visit www.lc.edu/adulted/ .

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EDWARDSVILLE - The already extensive Madison County Transit (MCT) Trails system added another trail to its scenic network of Class One bikeways last week, with the opening of the new MCT Monarch Valley Trail in Edwardsville. Last Thursday morning, MCT Board members, staff, and local officials attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of the new trail, which also serves as a “pollinator pathway,” a corridor of native plants that provide nutrition and habitat for pollinating insects and birds. The new Monarch Valley Trail is a 0.7-mile trail that stretches from Emerson Avenue to Irma Street on the former rail alignment of the Illinois Traction System’s Edwardsville Belt Railway. In addition to eight native pollinator beds, the trail also features two MCT interpretive panels: one includes information about the pollinator pathway, and the other a brief history of the Edwardsville Belt Railway. Winding through the historic Leclaire neighborhood of Edwardsville

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ST. LOUIS - As Schnuck Markets, Inc. continues to expand its digital convenience offerings for customers, the company, in partnership with Instacart, is introducing “Schnucks Now” - delivery in as fast as 30 minutes. Schnucks Now is a new online grocery shopping method, ideal for smaller orders, focused on fulfilling convenience orders fast. The new service allows customers to shop from our assortment of fresh groceries, pantry, household essentials, alcohol, meals, snacks and more for delivery in as fast as 30 minutes with no priority fees and lower delivery fees. The service is available to customers via the Schnucks Rewards App and the Instacart Convenience Hub, an Instacart marketplace product feature designed to streamline convenience shopping. “Schnucks is always looking for new ways to streamline our digital experience and provide value and convenience to our customers,” said Schnucks Senior Director Digital Experience Chace MacMullan. “We

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MACOUPIN COUNTY - Macoupin County State's Attorney Jordan Garrison, Macoupin County Sheriff Shawn Kahl, Carlinville Police Chief David Haley, and Litchfield Police Chief Kenneth Ryker have announced that 33-year-old Ashley N. Bottoms of Carlinville has been charged with Involuntary Manslaughter and Endangering the Life of a Child causing Death, a class 2 and a class 3 felony respectively. The Honorable Joshua A. Meyer set bond in the matter at $250,000. On Thursday, a report was made at the Litchfield fire station that a minor child was in distress. It was determined moments later the 3-year-old was deceased, the Macoupin County Sheriff's Office said. The initial investigation was handled by the Litchfield Police Department but investigators determined the unrevealed acts that appeared to lead to the child’s death occurred in Macoupin County and a coordinated investigation between the Macoupin County Sheriff’s Department, Carlinville Police Department, and Litchfield Police

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WOOD RIVER - The Wood River Police is asking for help on high school property on the west side of the city. "We are looking for the person who did this," the department said in a release. "We are going to do everything we can to identify you. Vandalism is a crime. We are searching for the person who vandalized property at the high school and on the west side of town." "Surely this is not the first time this person decided to draw these pictures. This type of activity is not good for a community and will not be tolerated in our city." If you have any idea who might have done this vandalism, please contact the Wood River Police Department at (618) 251-3114. All information can be treated as anonymous. "Thank you in advance," Wood River Police said.

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ST. LOUIS - St. Louis County Police Officers from the Wildwood precinct responded to a call for service in the area of Melrose Road and Highway T regarding a sick call that resulted in the death of an adult male. On October 22, 2022 at 10:08 AM, St. Louis County Police Officers from the Wildwood precinct responded to a call for service in the area of Melrose Road and Highway T regarding a sick call. Responding officers located an unconscious adult male bike rider being assisted by paramedics on Melrose Road, for an apparent head injury from an accidental bicycle fall. The victim was transported to an area hospital for life-saving treatment but was later pronounced deceased. There was no vehicle involved in this incident. At this time there is no criminal investigation. The deceased has been identified as David Glaser, 65 years of age, of the 100 block of Hawthorne Estates, in Saint Louis, MO 63131. Additional information will be disseminated as it becomes available.

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ST. LOUIS - There was an active shooting situation at the Central Visual and Performing Arts High School Monday morning. Several are reported injured in a shooting. A massive amount of police is present at the Central Visual and Performing Arts High School. Officers assisted students out of the building, some scaled fences, and were taken from other positions in the building. Law enforcement stopped the shooter inside the high school, St. Louis Metropolitan Police said. "This was a statement from St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department: "Approximately six people (including the suspect) were transported to the hospital with injuries ranging from gunshot wounds to shrapnel injuries, and cardiac arrest.” Police said details on the genders, ages, and if the victims are students or staff are unknown at this time. St. Louis Community College’s Forest Park campus is on lockdown due to an emergency. Police are expected to give a briefing soon. Students were gathered at the

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GODFREY - The Nature Institute will be hosting a “Movie on the Lawn” on Friday, November 4. Charade , starring Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant, is a romantic comedy/suspense thriller and will begin at 7 pm. The movie is free, so grab the lawn chairs or a blanket and take the family to TNI for an evening under the stars. The film is a classic released in 1963 and will be shown on a 20’ viewing screen with a 1080P projector and 900-watt sound system with a sub-woofer. Bring your own snacks and drinks, alcohol is not permitted. In case of rain, this event will be canceled and we will try again in the spring. In what's been called 'the best Alfred Hitchcock film which he didn't direct,' a man is thrown off a train, and when the police locate his wife, it turns out she knew nothing about him - not even his real name. There are four men after her, who insist she's in possession of a huge amount of money which they believe to be theirs. If she doesn't give it to them, she'll

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O'FALLON, IL - Halloween is an exciting time of year for children, as they dress up in creative costumes, carve up pumpkins and gather lots of sweets. But while it can be an enjoyable experience, it isn’t without its preventable, safety risks. HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital and HSHS Medical Group encourage parents to become familiar with basic safety tips to make sure their kids stay safe on Halloween. “A lot of general Halloween safety tips focus on candy safety, but traffic is a greater risk in terms of injury to children now than the possibility of consuming unsafe candy,” noted Dr. Saba Bajwa, HSHS Medical Group family medicine pediatrician. “I encourage parents to check all candy for food allergies or choking hazards before giving it to younger children and recommend that they ration the candy so their kids can enjoy it over several days and weeks rather than consuming too much in one night.” According to Safe Kids Worldwide, on average, childre

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EDWARDSVILLE – Lewis and Clark Community College’s N.O. Nelson Campus will open its doors to the public during an Open House on Thursday, Nov. 17. N.O. Nelson Interim Manager Dobbie Herrion wants people to see what assets are available to them. “We want to give people the chance to visit the facility and learn about the educational opportunities right in their own neighborhood,” Herrion said. “Visitors can apply for financial aid and scholarships, as well as find out what career paths are accessible through the N.O. Nelson Campus.” From general education classes to career programs in Process Operations Technology and Industrial Electricity, visitors will be able to tour the historic campus and see the high-level technology used to prepare students for employment. Academic and financial aid advisors will be on hand to answer questions and help students complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Financial Aid team members can als

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CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced distribution details for the $8.25 million in federal funding that he secured in the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) Omnibus appropriations bill for electric buses. The funding, which was earmarked by Durbin for his Statewide Electric Bus and Charging Infrastructure Program, will go toward building up the state’s fleet of electric buses and constructing electric vehicle charging stations throughout Illinois. “If we plan to live and work in a true 21st-century economy, we must make way for electric vehicles in public transportation. Illinois has the workforce, institutions, and leadership to play an important role in the EV revolution,” Durbin said. “This funding will change the way that Illinoisans get around. I’m eager to see the Statewide Electric Bus and Charging Infrastructure Program take off with this substantial investment.”

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CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representatives Mike Quigley (D-IL-5), Sean Casten (D-IL-6), and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-9) sent a letter to the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors to express their concern over the inadequate response to the rise in violent crime against mail carriers. The letter comes after the lawmakers received an apathetic response to a Durbin-led letter in July that called on Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to protect postal workers. Since 2018, mail carrier robberies have more than tripled from 80 robberies to more than 260 robberies in 2021. “We write to express concern with the inaction in response to the uptick in violence and crime committed against letter carriers in Chicago and around the country… Criminals frequently target carriers for their master keys, often reselling these keys to other criminals for thousands of dollars. We call upon the Board of Governors

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