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ST. LOUIS - Spectrum today announced a donation of $2,500 to Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis through the company’s national community philanthropic program, Spectrum Employee Community Grants. This is the third grant totaling $8,500 presented to Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis for their work to support, serve and strengthen our community. Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis provides a variety of community support programs including Operation Backpack, where backpacks full of food are provided to students to ensure they have nutritious meals for the weekend. Spectrum officials joined leaders from Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis to celebrate the grant with a check presentation. Through an employee-led collection drive, the church collected hundreds of school supply items to donate as students head back to class. “Through Spectrum Employee Community Grants, we’re proud to provide support to vital

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ALTON - Starting today and continuing through Monday, August 15, all 112 Schnucks stores across the Midwest will host a “Shop Out Hunger” food drive to support food pantries, homeless shelters, and transition houses in every community Schnucks serves. Those wishing to donate should look for collection volunteers or a donation bin at the front of each store. The most requested non-perishable items include: Canned Goods Cereals Pasta Peanut Butter Schnucks is committed to helping communities thrive, and as a champion for reducing hunger, the company annually donates more than $13 million in food to pantries that help those in need.

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GRANITE CITY - Granite City Community Unit School District #9 announced a Special Meeting of the Board of Education on Tuesday, August 9, at 5:15 p.m. This is an open meeting and will be streamed live on Zoom. The purpose of the meeting includes: Hire of new GCHS Assistant Principal Hire of new GCHS Special Education Teacher School handbook approval Staff Resignations Extracurricular resignations and extracurricular assignments LINK: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82513579194?pwd=aDVJMENNK25RS0VaR050S3hzTGNqZz09 Meeting ID: 825 1357 9194 Passcode: 185934 For more information about Granite City School District #9, visit www.gcsd9.net .

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CHICAGO - Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 19 attorneys general, today announced his support of a joint effort by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to revise and strengthen regulations under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The CRA is a critical civil rights law enacted by Congress to prevent racially-discriminatory redlining in housing, and encourage banks to help meet the credit needs of their entire communities, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods and individuals. In a comment letter , Raoul and the coalition express support for the federal agencies’ proposed rule, and urge them to go even further in implementing reforms to help tackle persistent racial and economic disparities exacerbated by COVID-19. “Everyone deserves access to housing. As people continue to feel the financial impact of the pandemic, it is more important than eve

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WEST FRANKFORT, IL. – Centerstone, a nonprofit health system specializing in mental health and substance use disorder treatments, will host hiring events on August 9 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. at four Centerstone locations. Participants are asked to register before 8:30 a.m. on August 9 at indeedhi.re/3BFhRG4. For the event, job seekers should dress casually and bring their most current resume and, if they intend to apply for a clinical role, their transcripts. The hiring events will take place at the following Centerstone facilities: 2615 Edwards, Alton - group room 800 N Main, Anna - conference room 2311 S Illinois, Carbondale - conference room 902 W Main, West Frankfort - conference room Centerstone is among the nation’s leading nonprofit behavioral health systems with thousands of employees dedicated to delivering care that changes people’s lives. A dynamic, well-established organization, Centerstone offers rewarding opportunities to serve all ages in

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NEW ORLEANS, LA. — Formerly of Illinois and a 2020 candidate for the state’s 8th congressional district, W. Thomas La Fontaine Olson has qualified for placement on the ballot by the Office of the Secretary of State of Louisiana. The candidate was detained for an extraordinarily lengthy amount of time at the Archives building in Baton Rouge, during which bureaucrats scrambled to apologize for stately incompetence. Yet the form of payment impressed upon the candidate to the point of distraction. “Cash is king in this lousy state,” La Fontaine insists. “I would have preferred to pay in twenty dollar bills, so that I might have further mocked the cultural fawning upon Andrew Jackson, but my speed these days requires a certain plasticity, and wads of cash tend to adhere a filthiness better suited to craven politicians, such as several of my opponents.” When asked to be specific, La Fontaine only signals b

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ALTON - Tab’s Cafe seems to be a new business destined for success in the Downtown Alton area. Tab’s will open soon at 400 State St. in Alton, in a building that was previously a barber shop and shoe store. Tabitha Craig plans to bring life to the establishment that has sat vacant for a period of time. Tabitha recently spoke about her new venture at a What's Up Downtown segment at the Riverbender Building in Downtown Alton. Tabitha said it has been her dream to have her own restaurant since she was a young girl. “My husband was in the military police in Hagerstown, Maryland, that is how we met,” she said. “When we came back to where he was in the St. Louis area, we started going to church in Alton and just fell in love with it. I really wanted to open a restaurant. I just give glory and praise to God that I love feeding people.” Tabitha grew up in a small town in West Virginia and said Alton reminds her of her original home. Tabitha then laughe

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ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The American Red Cross provided shelter Saturday night for 17 people who were impacted by recent flooding in the St. Louis area. Since first opening shelters in the metro starting on Tuesday, July 26, the Red Cross has provided for a total of 249 overnight stays. One shelter remains open at St. Vincent Community Center, 7335 St. Charles Rock Rd., St. Louis, MO., 63133. The Red Cross in partnership with local and state disaster assistance organizations and the State of Missouri Emergency Management will provide services at three additional Multi-Agency Resource Center dates starting Tuesday, August 9 for those impacted by recent flooding. These centers (MARCs) are “one-stop shops” for people needing assistance to recover from flooding. Three Additional MARC Dates: Days: Tues., Aug. 9, Wed., Aug. 10, and Thurs., Aug. 11 Time: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily Location: Friendly Temple, 5515 Dr. Martin Luther King Dr., St. Louis, MO 63130 Who: Services

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MADISON COUNTY - Johna Murphy and Skylar Touchette seem to be perfect choices for this year’s Miss Madison County Fair Pageant queen and runner-up. Skylar also was Miss Heart of Heirtlieb and the People’s Choice. Murphy, of Troy, was so "thrilled" to win the Miss Madison County Fair Pageant. “I was surprised; I am over the moon to win,” she said. This is my second pageant. I would like people to know they are more than welcome to invite me to any event, and I will try to be there.” Skylar was equally excited to walk out with three awards. She said she is a small-town girl from Edwardsville, and she was also thrilled with the honors. “All the fellow contestants were so nice and loving to me,” she said. Both girls said the Miss Madison County Pageant was a wonderful experience, and they encouraged others in the county to enter next year.

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HARDIN - At 7:20 p.m. on July 29, 2022, the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office conducted a traffic stop on Park Street near North County Road, Hardin, Calhoun County, Illinois. Subsequent to an investigation, the driver, Gabriel S. Powell, age 47, of Alton, was arrested on the following charges: Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine (Over 5 Grams). Unlawful Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Operating an Uninsured Motor Vehicle. Powell was arrested without incident and lodged in the Jersey County Jail. All suspect(s) are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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CHICAGO – The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and the Invasive Carp Regional Coordinating Committee (ICRCC) today announced the removal of one silver carp from Lake Calumet in the Chicago Area Waterway System. Lake Calumet is approximately seven miles from Lake Michigan. The fish was captured Thursday by gill netting and electro-fishing crews from IDNR and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers following a reported sighting of an invasive carp by a member of the public earlier this week. The silver carp was 38.3 inches in length and weighed approximately 22 pounds. The silver carp capture has triggered a response effort in the area of the captured fish to determine whether additional invasive carp could be present. It is important to note that the capture of this silver carp does not indicate that a reproducing population of bighead and silver carp exists above the electric dispersal barriers or within the Great Lakes. This is the third time a bighead or silver carp has

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CARLINVILLE - The Carlinville Public Library has received a major grant to cover the cost of some overdue physical upgrades. The library has been awarded funding through the Illinois State Library’s Live and Learn Construction Grant Program. The program, which is funded by an annual appropriation by the state legislature, helps public libraries with construction costs in their physical facilities. The Live and Learn program was established in 1993, and has been one of the most popular grant offerings by the Illinois State Library ever since. The Carlinville library received money through the mini-grant section of Live and Learn, which was available to libraries with limited funds. Local matching funds are not required. Live and Learn funds may be spent for various interior and exterior physical improvements in existing library buildings. The grants are overseen by Secretary of State Jesse White who, by law, also serves as State Librarian. During his six terms in office,

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DES PERES, MO. - A new era in leadership has begun for St. Paul's Lutheran School in Des Peres, Missouri. On July 31, 2022, Dawn Walker was installed as the school’s new principal, becoming the 15th principal to serve since the school’s founding in 1849. Walker succeeds Janet Profilet, who retired this summer after serving as principal for nearly twenty years. Walker knew she wanted to be a teacher when she was in Mrs. Kibler’s second-grade class at Holy Cross Lutheran School in Collinsville, IL. She attended high school at Metro East Lutheran High School in Edwardsville, where she was inducted into the Hall of Honor. At Concordia University Wisconsin (CUW) she graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education–science and a minor in psychology. She earned her Master of Science degree in 1995. While at CUW Walker played on the women’s volleyball and basketball teams, was named Volleyball Academic American, and was inducted

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ST. LOUIS – Earlier today, Governor Mike Parson requested a major disaster declaration to seek federal assistance for the City of St. Louis and surrounding jurisdictions. The declaration is in response to the historic flash flooding on July 25 and the additional flooding on July 27. If the request is approved, a major disaster declaration will allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency to activate Federal funding programs to assist in the response. “St. Louis’ first responders, volunteers, and community leaders have worked countless hours to provide necessary services and information to our residents impacted by last week’s devastating floods,” said Mayor Tishaura O. Jones. “We will continue to work closely with our state and federal partners as we put our city on the path to recovery.” After deploying mobile command centers for the past week in the city’s hard-hit neighborhoods, beginning tomorrow (August 5), the City of St.

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ALTON - It’s not what many kids want to hear right now, but the new school year is just around the corner. Even while the long days remain filled with summer activities, families are starting to make plans for the first day of school and the coming year. While it’s hard to know what might happen with the ongoing pandemic, hopefully this school year will feel more “normal” than the last two. With this return to school comes the chance to help our school-aged children to get back to more normal health routines. Some recent research highlights two areas families could focus on, including physical activity and youth vaccinations. One paper, appearing this July in JAMA Pediatrics, put specific numbers to something many of us have suspected: that children and teens the world over were less physically active during the pandemic compared to before. Overall, the study’s authors found that the daily level of activity in youth ages 3-18 dropped by 20 percent. That

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SEE PHOTO GALLERY: EAST ALTON - The Back To School Giveaway event in East Alton has become a tradition that students will never forget thanks to the hard work of co-chairs Robin Carlton, Suzette Cranmer, and the many donors and volunteers who participate at the Keasler Complex. About 200 children took part Saturday at the Back To School Giveaway. The event was again something to remember Saturday. The Back To School Giveaway takes the chairs and volunteers about a year to coordinate and students receive everything from gently used clothes to backpacks, school supplies, hair cuts, girls get their nails done, undergarments, hygiene products, and many other miscellaneous items. Riverbend Bounce House also provided a Bounce House for children. In the end, there were so many smiles and blessed children with the right types of things to have a good school year. The Co-Chairs Carlton and Cranmer were so pleased with how it all played out Saturday. "It does take about a year to

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BENTON - An Oblong man and Robinson woman pleaded guilty on Thursday, August 4, 2022, to breaking into cars, stealing checks and IDs from vehicles, and committing identity theft in order to obtain thousands of dollars from local banks by fraud. According to court documents, Zachary Patrick, 30, of Oblong, Illinois, and Briana Blair, 31, of Robinson, Illinois, stole checks and personal identifying information from a series of victims, often by breaking into the victims’ vehicles. Patrick and Blair then used the victims’ information however they could, writing and depositing fraudulent checks, forging victims’ signatures, and withdrawing and spending thousands of dollars as they traveled around eastern Illinois and western Indiana. The pair even opened a bank account using one victim’s stolen information. The pair was eventually caught in a hotel parking lot in Brazil, Indiana, breaking into yet another vehicle. Patrick and Blair initially identified themselves

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EAST ALTON – For over a decade, volunteers with the Illinois RiverWatch program, part of the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC sm ), has been monitoring mussel populations in the Upper Sangamon River. Last year, in collaboration with the Upper Sangamon River Conservancy, the Missouri Botanical Gardens and the St. Louis Zoo, the Illinois RiverWatch program started a new 10-year project with funding from the Living Earth Collaborative. “This summer, volunteers are needed to help collect and identify mussel species,” said Danelle Haake, Illinois RiverWatch Director and Stream Ecologist. “For this project to be successful, 20 to 50 volunteers are needed to help collect mussels during each of the sampling dates.” Each mussel collected will be identified, weighed, measured, photographed and released. Genetic sampling will also be done on two focal species in the river basin, the pistolgrip and round pig-toe mussel. The

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CHICAGO — The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals today ordered the lower court to vacate the 1972 Shakman Consent Decree, citing Governor Pritzker’s significant progress “instituting and supporting several remedial measures in recent years to minimize the risk of political patronage in employment practices.” The ruling acknowledges that the administration has instituted long-term policies and procedures that will ensure “compliance sticks.” This ruling means the state will no longer be under federal court supervision related to hiring practices, saving taxpayer dollars and ensuring state government can better serve the people. “I’m gratified that the Court recognized my commitment to hiring practices that fully live up to the principles of the U.S. and Illinois Constitutions,” said Gov. JB Pritzker. “From the time that I took office, my administration has worked to strengthen the state’s hiring practices and ensure

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GODFREY - Did you hear? The Monarch butterfly has been put on the endangered species list. They have been listed as endangered due to the lack of high-quality habitat available as they migrate in the spring and fall. By adding a few native plants to your yard, you can help to make it a refuge for visiting wildlife. This year at The Nature Institute’s Wildflower Market, many species of flowering plants will be available for purchase. All of these plants will help make your yard a habitat hotspot for pollinators like the Monarch. The Nature Institute (TNI), located in Godfrey, IL, has provided the community with native plants at its annual plant sale since the year 2000. On Saturday, August 27, 2022, from 9 am to 12 pm, TNI and Lewis and Clark’s Restoration Ecology Program will provide many species of native plants to the community at its annual Wildflower Market. The Wildflower Market will be located at TNI’s greenhouse at the corner of Levis Lane and South Levis

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