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GRANITE CITY - On Tuesday evening, Granite City’s Nick Raftopoulos officially announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for State Representative in Illinois’ 111th House District. “I am running because I think the 111th needs a representative that will fight for hard-working families, stand up for unions, and bring new solutions to the State House,” Raftopoulos says. Born and raised in Granite City, Raftopoulos has lived his entire life in the 111th State House District. He was educated in the public school system, earned an associates at Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) and a bachelor’s at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), and has reinvested in the district through the purchasing of a home for his family. Raftopoulos knows what struggles residents of the district face on a daily basis, and how hard-pressed everyone is to find relief during these uncertain and difficult economic times. From an early age, Raftopoulos has ha

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SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Police (ISP) is launching a Civilian Crash Reporting System (CCRS) that allows the public to create a crash report online without having to wait roadside for a Trooper to respond. The CCRS will increase public safety as individuals can report their crash from a safe location. The CCRS also allows Troopers to serve the public more efficiently by freeing them to respond to higher priority calls for service. “For simple crashes where only one car is involved and no one is injured, the ability to file a report online instead of along the road will make it safer for drivers and our Troopers, and eliminate the need to wait for a Trooper to make the report,” said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly. Individuals can complete their own crash report online when the crash meets specific criteria. The crash must be a single vehicle, property-damage-only crash where there were no injuries to anyone involved, and it occurred on either an Interstate or

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SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Police (ISP) is launching a Civilian Crash Reporting System (CCRS) that allows the public to create a crash report online without having to wait roadside for a Trooper to respond. The CCRS will increase public safety as individuals can report their crash from a safe location. The CCRS also allows Troopers to serve the public more efficiently by freeing them to respond to higher priority calls for service. “For simple crashes where only one car is involved and no one is injured, the ability to file a report online instead of along the road will make it safer for drivers and our Troopers, and eliminate the need to wait for a Trooper to make the report,” said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly. Individuals can complete their own crash report online when the crash meets specific criteria. The crash must be a single vehicle, property-damage-only crash where there were no injuries to anyone involved, and it occurred on either an Interstate

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CHICAGO - Attorney General Kwame Raoul, with 20 attorneys general, today opposed a decision from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana prohibiting dozens of federal officials and agencies from communicating with social media companies about harmful online content, including financial scams, misinformation meant to undermine elections and harassment. Raoul and the coalition filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit urging the court to reverse the lower court decision. The coalition noted that the district court’s order sets a dangerous precedent that undermines the ability of federal, state and local governments to keep Americans safe and secure online. “Federal officials and agencies should be allowed to communicate with social media companies, especially during emergencies, to protect our public health and safety,” Raoul said. “I remain committed to protecting all users of social media by teaching healthy

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SPRINGFIELD – Harm reduction drug education will now be available to public K-12 students in Illinois thanks to a new law supported by State Senator Christopher Belt. “It is important to acknowledge that current substance abuse education isn’t reflective of Black and Brown communities,” said Belt (D-Swansea). “This law will place emphasis on cultural competency and harm reduction, making substance abuse prevention achievable for all populations — regardless of students’ races or backgrounds.” The new law will introduce research-informed, culturally and age appropriate, prevention-centric guidelines for drug education programs in Illinois public K-12 education. Current drug education recommendations and programs, like "D.A.R.E", focus on refusal skills rather than harm reduction. Refusal skills are still necessary; however, students, parents and staff are not equipped with the full continuum of primary prevention and intervention strategies.

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EDWARDSVILLE - The Edwardsville Municipal Band is excited to announce its upcoming concert, "From the Big Screen," taking place on Thursday, August 3, at 8 P.M. on the Cleaon Etzkorn Bandstand at City Park, which was postponed last week due to the heat. Under the baton of co-conductor Dr. John Korak, the Edwardsville Municipal Band will transport the audience into the captivating worlds of cinema as the band showcases themes from timeless classics such as Harry Potter, Jurassic World, Superman, and many more. "We are thrilled to present a celebration of the indelible musical contributions that have graced our favorite films. The program is sure to resonate with audiences of all generations," said Mark Haun, trombone player and board member. Concessions available during the event will directly benefit Hope Rescues, a 501c3 nonprofit charity founded in 2005 to help save dogs from animal control facilities and rehome them into our community. For more information about the Edwardsville

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CHICAGO — Governor Pritzker today signed five bills expanding protections for veterans, active-duty soldiers, and military dependents. “The men and women of this state and this country who heed the call to serve deserve every possible support and protection during and after their time in the military,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “These bills weave together a more comprehensive safety net to protect and uplift veterans and service members dealing with the complexities of life in the military, including the many ways in which service can impact someone’s family and loved ones. To the service members recognized by our newly designed Honor and Remember flag, we thank you for your ultimate sacrifice and mourn with your families and the rest of the state.” HB0925: House Bill 0925 creates the “Veteran Service Organization State Charter Act.” This act lays out specific requirements organizations must meet in order to be considered state-chartered

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SPRINGFIELD – State Treasurer Michael Frerichs encourages new parents to open a Bright Start or Bright Directions college savings account and claim their $50 seed deposit from the new Illinois First Steps program. “Illinois First Steps helps place families on a path to start planning early for their child’s education,” Frerichs said. “Saving now means money for the child’s future university, community college, trade school, or apprenticeship will be available when that child is ready to pursue additional education or training.” To qualify for the $50 seed deposit, parents or legal guardians must be Illinois residents at the time of birth or adoption, the beneficiary child must be born or adopted after Jan. 1, 2023, open a 529 college savings account with Bright Start or Bright Directions, and a claim the seed deposit before the child's 10th birthday. Parents can easily open a Bright Start account at brightstart.com and submit a claim for

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SPRINGFIELD – With students soon to be trading swim bags for backpacks, the Illinois Department of Transportation announced today that applications for the Safe Routes to School program are now being accepted. The program helps to support projects that make walking, biking and rolling to school a safe option for students as part of a commitment by IDOT and Gov. JB Pritzker to expand active transportation throughout the state. “Establishing early habits of walking, biking or rolling to school helps students maintain a healthier lifestyle as they get older,” said Illinois Transportation Secretary Omer Osman. “We take great pride in this program, which helps ensure that every student in Illinois has a safe, convenient and healthy way to get to school.” Administered by IDOT using federal funds, Safe Routes to School advances projects that improve safety and reduce traffic in areas around schools, grades kindergarten through high school. The new grant cycle

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MARYVILLE - On Tuesday, August 1, Anderson Healthcare President and CEO, Keith A. Page, announced his future retirement and succession plan to the staff of Anderson Healthcare. Page is planning a February 2024 retirement which will then mark 28 years of leadership at Anderson Healthcare. “It has been an incredible privilege to serve as the President and CEO of Anderson Healthcare,” said Page. “Together, we have achieved remarkable milestones, overcome challenges, and made a lasting impact on the lives of countless patients and their families. I am immensely proud of the progress we have made in advancing healthcare, fostering innovation, and providing exceptional care to our community.” Page began his career at Anderson Hospital in Maryville as chief operating officer in 1996 and became president and chief executive officer in 2003. He has spearheaded many key projects over the years including the Warren Billhartz Cancer Center; an award-winning chest pain

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EAST ALTON - The Illinois State Police Reconstruction Unit was called by East Alton Police Department early this morning to investigate a fatal pedestrian incident in East Alton. East Alton Police Chief Scott Golike said the incident that involved one vehicle and a pedestrian on Stanley Road is under investigation by the Illinois State and they will release any additional information after this brief release. He said the vehicle appeared to be going eastbound of Stanley Road and the victim appeared to be northbound on foot. “I don’t see any fault on the driver’s part at this point in the investigation,” the chief said. “Both people involved are males. The victim is 36 years old and from East Alton. Right now we have to release only limited information until Illinois State Police concludes their investigation.”

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CARLINVILLE - The West Central Illinois Hamfest invites amateur radio operators and others who are interested in how amateur radio can be used as both a hobby and emergency management tool. Hamfest will run from 7 a.m. to noon on Aug. 5 at the Macoupin County Fairgrounds in Carlinville. This year’s Hamfest will feature several local amateur radio clubs, a presentation on how radio was used during the Civil War, a forum about amateur radio on Route 66 and several more presentations and activities. “If folks want to learn more about amateur radio, this is the place to come do it. We’ll have some of the best amateur radio people in the country,” said Jim Pitchford, who is on the Hamfest Committee and a member of the Macoupin County Amateur Radio Club. Pitchford has been an amateur radio operator since 1989. He explained that Hamfests are held around the world to connect amateur radio operators (also called “hams”). This year’s West Central

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ST. LOUIS COUNTY - St. Louis County Police Department Crimes Against Persons detectives and the Accident Reconstruction Unit are investigating a fatal motor vehicle crash involving a motorcycle in the area of North Warson Road and Warshire Drive that resulted in the death of an adult male. At 9:00 PM on July 30, 2023, St. Louis County police officers from the Central County Precinct responded to a call for service for a motor vehicle crash involving a motorcycle at N. Warson Road and Warshire Drive. Arriving officers located a motorcycle involved in a crash with a GMC Acadia. Preliminary investigation has revealed that the motorcycle was traveling southbound on N. Warson Road. At the same time, a GMC Acadia was turning northbound onto N. Warson Road from Warshire Road, when the motorcycle struck the front driver’s side of the GMC Acadia. The driver of the motorcycle was transported to an area hospital for life saving treatment but succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced

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EAST ST. LOUIS – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with U.S. Representatives Cori Bush (D-MO-01) and Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13), today joined U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to announce $28 million in U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) federal funding for MetroLink, the transit system servicing St. Louis and the Metro-East. The federal funding, supplied through Federal Transit Administration (FTA) emergency relief funding, will go toward repairing the MetroLink public transit system following the severe flooding in July 2022 that caused two fatalities and damaged the transit system by destroying rail vehicles, two station elevators, and a signal house. The extreme flooding also damaged five miles of light rail track bed and communications, signal, and fiber optics systems housed in two communications rooms and four signal houses. “Last summer, the Metro-East tragically experienced severe

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EDWARDSVILLE - Edwardsville’s Park and Recreation Department will continue their Arts in the Park series this week with a free performance of Shakespeare’s comedy “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” produced by the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival. The show will run from 6:30–8 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 2 at City Park, located at 101 South Buchanan Street. Families are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, blankets and snacks. “ definitely does a really good job of breaking it down for the audience and giving a good synopsis and kind of explaining as the plot goes along, which is really entertaining and super helpful for young kids in the audience, and even adults, like myself, in the audience that don’t always fully comprehend that language,” said Grace Pellock, the special events and marketing coordinator with the Edwardsville Parks and Recreation Department. The St. Louis Shakespeare Festival produces a Shakespeare show in the city every summer.

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BUNKER HILL - Lisa Webb, owner and designated managing broker of Third Street Realty, appeared on the last Third On Third segment on Our Daily Show! on Riverbender.com to discuss the ins and outs of the closing process, ways to avoid mistakes, and much more. As a real estate agent of eight years, Webb said when she first started out, everyone was still using “wet” (written) signatures and large stacks of paper, but recent technological advancements have helped speed up the closing process. “Over even just the past eight years, a lot more lenders have done closing docs online before they get to the closing, which really, really helps now,” she said, adding it also helps eliminate potential confusion about the closing documents. “It’s good to be able to sign things ahead of time and discuss it with the lender so you’re more comfortable coming in.” While Webb doesn’t advise buyers and sellers to be in the same room to sign

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EDWARDSVILLE - The Edwardsville Police Department joined law enforcement officers from eleven states (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska) on July 26 in this year’s NHTSA Region 5 high visibility Speed Awareness Day enforcement campaign. Edwardsville Police Officers issued a total of 53 citations during the campaign, with 41 of those citations being for speed-related violations. The speed awareness day campaign had a twofold approach: to combine increased, zero-tolerance enforcement with effective communication to road users on the importance of obeying the speed limit. This one-day speed enforcement event was a partnership coordinated by the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, participating state highway safety offices and their respective law enforcement liaisons. The initiative was held in July because data and studies show that the most fatal crashes where speed is a contributing factor occur between

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EDWARDSVILLE - Legislation sponsored by State Senator Erica Harriss (R-Glen Carbon) taking aim at reducing the current police shortage at Illinois universities was signed into law late last week. Previously, out-of-state residents could not apply for university police officer positions unless all Illinois applicants have been deemed unqualified. Harriss’ House Bill 1767 removes that requirement. The new policy was an initiative of the University Chiefs of Police of Illinois in an attempt to remove the exhaustive process to accept and receive applications from non-Illinois residents. Additionally, this new law will level the playing field for university departments as municipal police departments do not have a residency requirement. “It’s no secret that across Illinois there is a shortage in our law enforcement profession. That burden is exacerbated within our universities, which weren’t afforded the same hiring privileges as other police departments,”

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WOOD RIVER - Following news about a Five Below store coming to Wood River , the city is sharing information about other big projects in the works. City Manager Steve Palen explained that business and housing development will hopefully go hand-in-hand as these projects are completed, giving Wood River a boost in economic and population growth. “People are seeing that we’re kind of ripe for the picking,” Palen said. “We’re moving at a breakneck pace right now, but that’s a good thing.” Several locally-owned businesses have opened downtown in the past few months, including 1929 Pizza and Wine , C&B Boiled Bagels and The Sweet Tooth . Wood River also recently lifted a ban on loft living, and Palen hopes this will encourage people to move to the downtown area. Other developments include a new accessible playground that opened last week and an accompanying recreation center that aims to open by the end of the year; you ca

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WOOD RIVER - Bryce Hyde of East Alton-Wood River High, appears to have a great future ahead at Daytona Elite Academy. In the spring 2023, the Oilers' offensive and defensive lineman, signed with the academy to play football after EAWR graduation. Oilers' head football coach Gary Herron congratulated the 6-foot-2, 285-pound lineman Bruce on an outstanding career as an Oiler on both sides of the ball. "Bryce was a two-time all-conference lineman and played a big part in us reaching the playoffs in 2022," Coach Herron said. "We look forward to following his success at Daytona Elite Academy." Bryce said he was thankful to the coaches throughout his life for their help. He also thanked his teammates and his family for always believing in him. Bryce also thanked East Alton-Wood River Athletic Director Mark Beatty for the wonderful day he created for his college signing. "A lot of linemen don't get noticed like that," he said. I thought it was great." "I can't wait to go to work on th

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