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BELLEVILLE — President Joseph Biden recently signed a Federal Disaster Declaration that will provide individual assistance to residents impacted by the July 16, 2024 flooding, according to the St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency. The declaration, issued this week, opens the door for federal aid to help residents recover from the devastating floods that swept through the region. "We anticipate additional guidance from the State of Illinois in the coming days," said the St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency in a statement. "We will be providing information on how to apply for the federal assistance in the early parts of next week as final arrangements are made." Residents can begin the process of requesting FEMA assistance immediately by calling 1-800-621-3362 or visiting disasterassistance.gov . Additionally, the county plans to set up in-person disaster recovery centers in the near future to further assist those affected. The Federal Disaster Declaration includes

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ALTON - A man was transported to an area hospital with a leg injury following a two-vehicle accident at the intersection of Ninth and Piasa in Alton around 2 p.m. on Thursday, according to Alton Battalion Chief Tom House. Authorities said the accident occurred when one vehicle rear-ended another that was stopped at the intersection. House confirmed that the man’s injuries were not life-threatening. Further details about the incident were not immediately available. The accident remains under investigation by the Alton Police Department.

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Collinsville Area Vocational Center (CAVC) provides career and technical education programs serving 10 area school districts: Civic Memorial High School, Collinsville High School, Dupo High School, East Alton-Wood River High School, Edwardsville High School, Highland High School, Lebanon High School, Mascoutah High School, Roxana High School, Triad High School. COLLINSVILLE – Southern Illinois Builders Association through the Southern Illinois Construction Advancement Program, has donated $100,000 to Collinsville Area Vocational Center for program and equipment upgrades. The Southern Illinois Builders Association (SIBA) and the Southern Illinois Construction Advancement Program (SICAP) are proud to announce a generous donation of $100,000 to the Collinsville Area Vocational Center (CAVC). This donation will support essential program and equipment upgrades, furthering CAVC’s mission to provide high-quality technical education and hands-on training to local students.

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MARYVILLE - The Homebuilder and Remodelers Charitable and Educational Foundation Request for Proposal Objective: The Homebuilder and Remodelers Charitable and Educational Foundation (the HBRC) is seeking a builder to construct and or provide our “Wish Home” in partnership with Make-A-Wish. The “Wish Home” may be a home already constructed in the builder’s inventory or a new construction home. The HBRC shall either pay the builder for the home out of ticket proceeds at the cost agreed to in the RFP, or if a minimum number of tickets are not sold the HBRC has the option not to purchase the home and the builder shall retain the home. The HBRC shall provide a significant marketing campaign around this home, which will feature the builder in all advertising along with the HBRC and the Make-A-Wish foundation. Key Dates and Submission Guidelines: Proposals are due to the Foundation’s office at 6100 W Main Street, Maryville, IL 62062, no later than 3:00

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Pumpkin spice lattes, apple crisp macchiatos and chai lattes are staples of fall and winter. The drinks can boost your mood and energy and liven up social gatherings. But drinker beware, says Caroline Brundage, a dietetic intern with OSF HealthCare. She says the concoctions contain more added sugar (sugar not naturally occurring in an ingredient) than you’d think. Some drinks have 50 grams or more of added sugar, she says. And Brundage has noticed more coffee shop drinks with higher levels of saturated fat. “The biggest risk would be weight gain,” Brundage says. “That can lead to heart disease, diabetes and obesity.” Her advice to enjoy fall drinks but stay healthy: modify the drinks, and consume them in moderation. Ingredient swaps Brundage suggests you do your research before getting hooked on a sugary drink. Look at the nutritional facts for high levels of added sugar, carbohydrates or saturated fat. If you’re purchasing on a coffee shop

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TROY - Doug Orcutt stays busy with his business, The Red Door Cottage, and he invites everyone to come by to check out the shop. Based at 116 S. Main Street in Troy, the store features crafts and wares from 38 different vendors. Orcutt said they have everything from tumblers to home decor to jewelry to soap. At the recent Troy/Maryville/St. Jacob/Marine Chamber of Commerce 40th anniversary festival, Orcutt noted that The Red Door Cottage has a great selection and a strong love for the community. “When I go to local festivals, I don’t see hardly anything there that we don’t have in our store,” he said. “You could have a festival five days a week at our place. You don’t have to worry about going to all the different places like that.” Orcutt has owned the building at 116 S. Main Street for 15 years, but he opened The Red Door Cottage two years ago so he could collaborate with other crafters and artisans in the area. He immediately joine

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ST. LOUIS — In 2022, St. Louis won a competitive search to retain and expand Procter & Gamble’s existing home products facility at 169 E. Grand Ave. Earlier this month, representatives from St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) and the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership (STL Partnership) joined Mayor Tishaura O. Jones and P&G’s leadership to celebrate the company’s $180 million expansion, which will result in the creation of new jobs at the 17-acre North St. Louis campus where the company produces Cascade, Mr. Clean, Swiffer and Febreze products. In collaboration with Missouri Department of Economic Development and STL Partnership, through the Port Authority, SLDC supported P&G with access to economic development incentives. The Port Authority issued $180 million in industrial revenue bonds to help fund the expansion as part of an incentive package that provides a sales tax exemption for construction materials and a personal property tax abatement

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KIRKWOOD, MO. – Leslie and Alan Nehring invite the Kirkwood community to honor their son Caleb’s memory. For the 18th consecutive year, they have partnered with the American Red Cross to host a blood drive in memory of their son. This event will take place on Tuesday, October 1, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Kirkwood Family YMCA, 325 N. Taylor Ave., in Kirkwood.On October 1, 2006, after over a year of treatment for stage IV rhabdomyosarcoma, Caleb lost his battle with cancer at 8 years old. He was an active, smart, funny and beautiful 7-year-old when he was diagnosed. A day that was supposed to be a quick CT scan followed by lunch and school shoe shopping became a long, painful and devastating nightmare with his diagnosis and hospital admission. During Caleb’s months of treatment, he often needed a boost from blood transfusions. “It was through these challenging days that we truly learned the power of the gift of blood donation.”, his parents said. “Each

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ALTON – Alton Mayor David Goins addressed a group of 50 fifth-grade male students at West Elementary recently, emphasizing the importance of respect, honesty, and responsibility during a session at the school's Gentlemen's Club. The event, organized by Steven Doering, took place in the school's library. Goins spoke passionately about the values that he believes are essential for young boys to develop into respectful and responsible individuals. "Respect is the cornerstone of good character," he said, highlighting the significance of being polite, listening when others speak, and treating everyone with kindness. The mayor's address covered several key points, starting with self-respect. He urged the students to take pride in their appearance and actions, and to make decisions that reflect good character. "Good manners," he noted, "such as saying please and thank you, holding the door open for someone, and using polite language, show appreciation for others." On the topic of

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OTTERVILLE - Local history buffs can get an inside look at an Otterville building with a fascinating backstory while supporting its restoration at the 41st annual Hamilton Primary School Festival. The festival spans two days, including Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024 from 12 to 5 p.m. As always, it will be held on the Hamilton Primary School grounds at 107 E. Main St. in Otterville. The weekend’s festivities include live musical acts, free tours inside the Hamilton Primary School, local vendors, prize raffles, a 50/50 drawing, and kids’ activities, including crafts and a coloring contest. Plenty of great food will also be on-hand, such as fried fish, pulled pork, hot dogs, bratwursts, and more. The festival also features an annual bake-off and auction, both of which are set for Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. The top three bakers in each of four dessert categories will walk away with cash prizes, with winners announced that afternoon

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ALTON - Eight empty box cars and an empty coal car escaped from a switch on upper Piasa Street just before 10 p.m. on September 17, 1924. The driverless cars came careening down Piasa Street on the Chicago & Alton Railroad tracks to Union Depot in downtown Alton. Fred Elsner, traffic cop at 3rd and Piasa, was on duty at the time. He saw the cars racing down the steep incline and frantically waved his signals for all automobiles and pedestrians to clear out of the way. It was due mainly to his efforts that no one was seriously hurt when the train cars sped past the busy corner at Broadway and Piasa. The northbound 10 o’clock Chicago & Alton passenger train was on its way up the same tracks, but a railroad worker who happened to be nearby saw the danger and, fearing that the empty train cars would collide with the passenger train, leaped on one of the front cars and set the brakes. Gradually, the train cars slowed down and stopped near the Union Depot in time to avert a collision.

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COLLINSVILLE – The Illinois Department of Transportation is looking to hire more than 270 seasonal positions to help with snow and ice removal in Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Greene, Jersey, Madison, Marion, Monroe, Randolph, St. Clair and Washington counties. Applications for snow removal operators and winter salaried highway maintainers, also known as snowbirds, must be completed online at https://illinois.jobs2web.com by Monday, Sept. 30. Both full-time winter highway maintainers and hourly winter highway maintainers are being hired to help maintain more than 45,000 lane miles statewide during the winter months. The positions are required to promptly respond to emerging weather situations for snow and ice removal and be ready to work in emergency conditions at any time, including nights, weekends and holidays. The starting salary for full-time is $5,814 per month, and hourlies are paid $25 an hour. Applicants must have a valid commercial driver’s license and email

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ST. LOUIS – For the third time in just over a year, the American Red Cross is rapidly mobilizing volunteers and relief supplies to respond as Helene bears down on communities in the Florida Panhandle. The Red Cross has assigned some 360 trained disaster workers, stocked truckloads of supplies and is ready to open dozens of shelters to help people in need. The American Red Cross of Missouri and Arkansas Region is ready to help those impacted. Currently, 18 disaster responders from Missouri and Arkansas are deployed to support those in the path of Hurricane Helene. Five of the disaster responders are from Arkansas and thirteen are from Missouri . This includes two Emergency Response Vehicles (one from Arkansas and one from Missouri). The teams left earlier this week and another team with an ERV leaves from Little Rock today (Thursday). “Time and time again, we have seen our volunteers step up to provide help and hope to those in need during their darkest hour,”

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ALTON — Belle Street in Alton is fully open again to traffic after a comprehensive water/sewer infrastructure upgrade, a project that saw significant collaboration between the City of Alton and Illinois American Water. The barricades officially came down at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. "Obviously, a lot of work went into it, and it's nice to get that section back opened," said Justin Kleinschmidt, P.E., from Sheppard, Morgan & Schwaab, Inc., who has been an engineer on this Illinois American Water project. "Hopefully, it will serve as another route with all the other road construction projects going on in the area." The project involved significant upgrades to water lines, sewer lines, and storm sewers. Some sections, particularly between 13th and 15th Streets, still require additional pavement work and water line replacement. "We hope to have that section back open in 2-3 weeks, weather dependent," Kleinschmidt added. The initiative was a joint effort between Illinois

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ALTON - Running 4 Heroes will sponsor a one-mile run in Alton to honor fallen K9 Odin. At 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, runners and police officers are encouraged to come out for the event. The run will start and end at the Alton Police Department. Running 4 Heroes sponsors a one-mile run for all first responders and K9s who are killed in the line of duty. Since they started in 2019, they have run 1,850 miles. Odin will be their 103rd K9. “What we will be doing on Saturday is honoring K9 Odin from the Alton Police Department with a one-mile run,” explained Bernadene Loemker. “We have a young man named Zachary who is one of our eight national youth runners. Zachary lives in the Illinois area, and he is going to be the runner coming to carry the flag for Odin. After the run is over, that flag will be folded and provided to the handler who worked and lived with Odin." Zachary, a 14-year-old who volunteers with Running 4 Heroes, will lead the mile carrying

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ST. LOUIS COUNTY - On Wednesday, September 25, 2024, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office issued charges on suspect Likellon Smith, 21 years of age, of the 9500 block of Madelaine Manor Walk in St. Louis, Missouri 63134, for Tampering with Motor Vehicle First Degree. A booking photo Smith is attached. Smith is being held on $50,000 bond. The probable cause statement reads: On March 14, 2024, Police were called to the intersection of Jennings Station Road and Jennings Crossing for the report of a suspicious vehicle. Upon arrival, they discovered the defendant asleep at the wheel while sitting in traffic. The vehicle had been reported stolen from south St. Louis County earlier that same day. St. Louis County Police Department City of Jennings Precinct officers are leading this investigation. Please note, charges are merely an accusation, and Defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.

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CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul charged a Roodhouse man with the dissemination and possession of child sexual abuse material. The case is part of Raoul’s ongoing work, in collaboration with federal law enforcement agencies and local law enforcement officials throughout Illinois, to apprehend offenders who download and trade child sexual abuse material online. The Attorney General’s office charged Ethan T. Seaton, 20, in Greene County Circuit Court with two counts of dissemination of child pornography, Class X felonies punishable by up to 30 years, and two counts of possession of child pornography, Class 2 felonies punishable by up to seven years in prison. Sentences are ultimately determined by the court. Seaton is being held at the Greene County Jail until his detention hearing Sept. 30. “Child exploitation is a horrific crime that victimizes the most innocent, resulting in trauma that can last a lifetime,” Raoul said. “My office

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JERSEYVILLE - Residents of Jerseyville can now safely drink their tap water again, according to an announcement from Illinois American Water on Thursday morning, Sept. 26, 2024. "The boil water order has been lifted in Jerseyville," Terry Mackin, a communications representative for Illinois American Water, said. "It was issued Tuesday night." The boil order, which was put in place as a precautionary measure, required residents to boil their water before use to ensure it was safe for consumption. Illinois American Water has since conducted additional tests and confirmed that the water supply meets all safety standards. The lifting of the boil order indicates that the water is now free from harmful bacteria and safe for all uses.

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COLLINSVILLE - The Granite City Warriors and Collinsville Kahok soccer programs are set to meet once again on Oct. 17, 2024, at Kahok Stadium for the Second Annual Paz Cup, an event that combines fierce competition with heartfelt community support. This year's match aims to assist Alex Paz, a 1979 graduate of Granite City South High School, who recently underwent a liver transplant and continues to face financial challenges due to his medical procedures. The event kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 17, and promises not only thrilling soccer action but also a series of activities designed to bring the community together. Highlights include a game ball presentation featuring Alex and his family, a 50/50 drawing, and sales of t-shirts and hoodies. These items will be available for purchase to show solidarity with the Paz family. "Alex has been a vital part of both communities, capturing memories through his photography," said a spokesperson for the Kahok and Warrior Soccer Programs. "This

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HIGHLAND - With statewide legislative changes in net metering , GRID Solar, LLC, is changing how they design their solar systems. Jason Mitchell, co-owner of GRID Solar, explained that it’s now advantageous for homeowners to install solar systems that include a battery backup. Mitchell breaks down how the battery works and how it will help customers save money on their electricity bills. “The so-called net metering, you don’t have anymore. Your battery is helping you with the arbitrage of that,” he said. “Basically, it’s going to go in and out all day as the clouds move overhead and your system production drops down. But you’re still cranking power into the house; your battery’s going to help supplement that. And then when you have more solar than what you need for the house, it’s going to recharge that battery. That’s the ideal scenario.” Mitchell explained that the battery is a bank of power. As the solar

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