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EDWARDSVILLE - A new commander for the Cross River Crime Task Force was named Wednesday in the lobby of the Madison County Administration Building in Edwardsville. Major Jeff Connor has led the Cross-River Crime Task Force comprised of law enforcement officials from federal, state, county, and local agencies for the past year. As he steps into the role of Madison County Sheriff, a new commander was unanimously chosen to lead the task force with the goal of combining resources and manpower to protect Madison County from criminals who cross state lines to commit violent crimes. Granite City Police Department's Assistant Chief Nick Novacich was announced on Wednesday as the new Commander of the Cross River Task Force. Novacich's deputy commanders will be Madison County Sheriff's Office Capt. Brian Koberna and Alton Police Department Capt. John Franke. On a steering committee for the Cross River Crime Task Force will be Pontoon Beach Police Chief Chris Modrusic, Alton Deputy Police

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), introduced the Reproductive Healthcare Accessibility Act to help ensure women with disabilities—who face discrimination and extra barriers when seeking care—can access reproductive services and get the informed care they need to have control over their own reproductive lives. “For too long, Americans with disabilities have faced persistent barriers to healthcare services, equipment and providers—and with right-wing efforts underway to go even further to undermine these rights in the wake of the overturning of Roe—many are rightfully worried about having an even harder time accessing the reproductive care they need,” said Duckworth. “Today, I’m proud to join Senator Murray and colleagues in introducing the Reproductive Healthcare Accessibility Act to

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CHICAGO –Today Governor Pritzker announced an increase in Medicaid reimbursement rates for abortion services and a new expansion of Title X funding through the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) for family planning and reproductive health service providers across the state. The 20% Medicaid reimbursement rate increase will give additional resources to providers facing new burdens in the wake of increased restrictions on reproductive care in surrounding states. The Governor also eliminated a requirement for providers to receive a Medicare denial before requesting Medicaid payment, expanding provider options for patients receiving both Medicare and Medicaid. “Illinois abortion providers have been working overtime since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “They need support as they take on this new burden on the frontlines of this fight. Supporting them with reimbursement increases allows them to focus on their important

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GRANITE CITY - Granite City Community Unit School District No. 9 is partnering with the Madison County Health Department to host a Back to School Physical and Vaccination Clinic on Thursday, August 11 from Noon-4 p.m. at the Granite City High School Gym Annex. This event will be held to help protect students and others by meeting vaccination and school physical requirements. All incoming kindergarteners, 6th graders, and high school freshmen are required to have a school physical and updated shot records. Schedule your appointment: https://form.jotform.com/221856470445156 INFORMATION: • Who is eligible: Preschool-12th graders • Appointments preferred, walk-ins welcome • Patient’s Insurance including public insurance (Medicaid) will be billed for service • No out-of-pocket fees for those who are eligible • If you do not have insurance, or have questions about vaccines please call Madison County Health Department at 618-692-8954, Ext. 2 WHAT

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ELSAH - The first Village of Elsah Festival in three years will be held Saturday, August 27 from 1-5 p.m. Live music, local vendors, food and drink, self-guided wetland trail tours and historic tours of the village will be available for anyone looking for the best chance to explore Elsah, which was voted the #1 Top Scenic Spot in Illinois by the Illinois Top 200 project. Connie Davis, Elsah tourism committee chair and co-owner of the Green Tree Inn with her husband Gary, said they started the festival as a way to put Elsah on more people's radar and the event has grown immensely since it began. “My husband and I started this several years ago, just ourselves. We were just trying to get the word out, because there are so many people who live in this area that have no idea that Elsah is even here - they drive up and down the River Road and they don’t know that we’re here,” Davis said. “So we started the festival just to kind of get the word out, have

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WOOD RIVER - Riverbend Family Ministries, a collective of local nonprofit organizations that helps area families in crisis, is asking the public for assistance after heavy rainfall caused severe flood damage to 14 rooms in the lower level of its newest building, displacing eight nonprofits and disrupting their Phase 2 building renovation plans. Executive Director Tammy Iskarous said she and other organization members walked in last Tuesday morning after heavy rainfall overnight Monday evening and found the entire first level completely flooded. Since Phase 2 of the construction plan was to renovate the upstairs level and move some organizations up there, all eight organizations were operating on the lower level when the flood occurred. While insurance covered a small number of sewage costs, the amount isn’t nearly enough for all the repairs needed, Iskarous said. “With all insurances, there’s a cap, and the cap was minimal. The damage that was done is going

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FENTON, MO. - The flash flooding issues continue across the river in Missouri. The weather station at Fenton Fire Station One received 3.26 inches of rain in a report late Wednesday, the Fenton Fire Protection District said. "Your Fenton firefighters and paramedics, as well as countless other first responders around the region, have been responding for persons trapped in their cars and flooded roadways," the Fire Protection District said Wednesday night. "Please be extra careful to not drive in the flooded areas." Saline Valley Fire Protection District said this morning: "Our crews will be out shortly visiting impacted flooded areas in our district to distribute clean-up kits. If we have missed you and are in need of a clean-up kit please message us." Saline Valley Fire Protection District off 141 in Fenton was the command center Thursday morning for flash flood responses. Flood waters engulfed the Covered Bridge RV Park near Highway 141 by Saline Creek Wednesday night. Flood waters

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GLEN CARBON - The Illinois Department of Transportation announces the planned closure of westbound Interstate 270. At 9 a.m. Friday, August 5, 2022, beginning at 9:00 a.m., ALL LANES OF WESTBOUND I-270 will be closed from I-55/70 to Illinois 157. The closure will also include the exit ramp from westbound Interstate 70 to northbound Interstate 55. This closure is required to allow for the replacement of a damaged bridge beam on the Meridian Road bridge structure over I-270 at Mile Marker 10.3. All lanes are expected to reopen by 5 a.m. Saturday morning. Motorists will need to utilize the marked detour route along westbound I-55/70 and northbound I-255 to circumvent the closure. The Department’s Day Labor Unit and the District’s Troy Yard will be performing this work. Traffic control devices and changeable message signing will be utilized during this closure to assist motorists in making their way through the detour. Travelers are advised to consider alternate routes and

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CHICAGO — Governor Pritzker joined lawmakers and stakeholders to encourage Illinois families to take advantage of the State’s Back to School tax holiday, Aug. 5 through Aug. 14. The 10-day sales tax holiday – the first for Illinois in over a decade - was created to save families $50 million on school supplies and is part of the $1.8 billion Illinois Family Relief Plan , with relief on gas, property taxes, and groceries. “Our parents shouldn’t have to choose between buying essential school supplies for their children and putting food on the kitchen table. Our teachers shouldn’t have to break the bank to do right by the students that they nurture day in and day out,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Back to school should be as stress-free as possible for working families and their children, and this tax holiday will help remove some of that burden.” Beginning August 5 th , the state sales tax on school supplies will drop from 6.25% t

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ST. LOUIS – Join Katie’s Pizza and Pasta Osteria for its August Giveback Tuesday Event. On August 23, 100% of Katie’s Town & Country sales will be donated to Marygrove , a nonprofit that provides a safe home, compassionate care, and high-quality mental health services to children who have experienced significant trauma. Every month, Katie’s Pizza and Pasta Osteria features a local nonprofit organization and donates 100% of profits from the entire day to the charity. So far, Katie’s Pizza and Pasta Osteria has donated $331,665 to local nonprofit organizations. Funds from Katie’s Pizza and Pasta Osteria’s Giveback Tuesday will support Marygrove in serving approximately 200 children and youth, ages birth to 21, per day through their continuum of residential and community-based programs. By providing treatment and support to children and youth struggling with debilitating emotional and behavioral issues resulting from abuse, neglect, trauma,

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EDWARDSVILLE - During the BISSELL Pet Foundation’s “Empty the Shelters” event in July, the Metro East Humane Society (MEHS) placed 150 pets into their forever homes in only 3 weeks. The nation’s largest funded pet adoption event was hosted in more than 250 shelters in 42 states as an effort to fight shelter overcrowding. This year, the event ended with a record-breaking 28,121 pets being positively impacted. "The excitement that reduced-fee adoption drives like #EmptyTheShelters brings to Metro East Humane Society and shelters like ours all across the country is truly something remarkable," said Mady O'Reilly, Development Manager of Metro East Humane Society. "We're thrilled to report a total of 93 cats and 57 dogs have been placed in their forever homes throughout the course of this year's campaign. Those 150 "Gotcha!" Day celebrations were made possible thanks to Cathy Bissell, The Bissell Pet Foundation, and of course, our incredible network of support. Than

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ALTON - Local nonprofit, Trinity’s Way, is hosting a pet food drive on Aug. 7 from 10 a.m. to noon at Piasa Park in Alton. The drive will benefit the pet food pantry operated by Metro East Humane Society. This pantry program provides free pet food to eligible applicants who need assistance. Trinity’s Way formed in 2018 after 17-year-old Trinity Buel was killed in a car accident. The nonprofit was started by her mother, April Gray, and her godfather, Chris Unthank, to carry on Buel’s kindness and compassion for animals and the environment. The pet food drive is a fitting way to honor Buel’s memory for her birthday on Aug. 6. “When Trinity was a little girl, instead of presents for herself, she’d ask for pet food and supplies for her birthday so that she could donate those to local animal shelters,” Gray said. “She was always thinking of animals in need before herself.” Trinity’s Way hopes to collect 500 lbs. of food for

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GLEN CARBON - Brightly Senior Living in Glen Carbon recently opened back on December 15th of last year. They recently held a food drive with the donations being sent to the Glen/Ed Food Pantry. Monday, August 1st was their first big food drive and it was a great success according to Gina Ratermann, Director of Community Engagement and Events at Brightly. The St. Louis Cardinals' very own Fredbird was there to help out as well as meet the younger kids and their families. Redbird was there from 3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Ratermann said that residents at Brightly were strongly encouraged to invite friends and family and that there ended up being a lot of people for their first event. Brightly has another location in Mascoutah where food and school supply drives have been held in the past with Redbird, but this was their first time doing something like this at the Glen Carbon location. According to Ratterman, they will continue to hold this event annually around the first week of August.

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GODFREY - Mayor Mike McCormick advises local residents and motorists to prepare and pre-plan for a temporary railroad crossing closure announced by Union Pacific Railroad. Work shall begin at 7 p.m. Monday, August 8, and will continue for about 24 hours until 7 p.m. Tuesday, August 9, the crossing shall be re-opened to full traffic. Mayor McCormick said Union Pacific Railroad will be temporarily closing the Tolle Lane railroad crossing to conduct routine maintenance and repair work next Monday night into Tuesday night. Union Pacific will be coordinating the closure and the assigned detour route shall be on Pearl Street. Godfrey Public Safety Administrator Chris Sichra said that local first responders and mutual aid agencies (Fire, Police, EMS), as well as local utility companies, have already been notified of the upcoming temporary closure so that they can adjust their response routes accordingly. Residents and motorists should also pre-plan to consider alternate

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EAST ALTON - Tyler Lafferty, an East Alton Wood River High School graduate, has been working with the Parks and Recreation Department in O'Fallon, Illinois, ever since graduating college. He graduated from Western Illinois University with a Master's Degree in Public Administration at the end of 2019. So, having quite the trek to get to work over in O'Fallon, he's happy to have the opportunity to work much closer to home. Starting on August 15, he will be the Superintendent of the East Alton Parks and Recreation Department. The news was announced at the village board meeting on Tuesday, August 2. “I’m going from a 45-minute drive to not even a two-minute drive from my house," Lafferty said. Tyler mainly will be working at the community center and helping out with other youth sports in the area. He mentioned he's a fan of soccer and still plays in a men's league out at O'Fallon Sports Park, where he spent much of his time at his previous job. Growing up in East Alton though

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BETHALTO – 1 st MidAmerica Credit Union has been recognized for the third consecutive year on the Forbes list of America’s Best-In-State Credit Unions 2022. This prestigious award is presented by Forbes and Statista Inc., the world-leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider. “It is a great honor to be recognized as one of the top three credit unions serving Illinois for the third consecutive year,” said Alan Meyer, President, and CEO of 1 st MidAmerica Credit Union. Forbes and Statista identified America’s Best-In-State Credit Unions 2022 based on an independent survey of approximately 26,000 US consumers who were asked to rate credit unions at which they have or previously have had checking accounts. Participants made recommendations regarding overall satisfaction; they also assessed banks in the following areas: Trust, Terms & Conditions, Branch Services, Digital Services, Customer Service, and Financial Advice. “This award

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ST. LOUIS - Schnuck Markets, Inc. has issued an allergy alert on a single lot of 12-ounce packages of Schnucks Fruit and Nut Trail Mix because the product may contain undeclared milk - a known allergen. People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to milk could run the risk of a serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume this product. Schnucks customers are urged to check for: Schnucks Fruit and Nut Trail Mix 12 oz. UPC: 4131822276 Best by date: 06/07/2023 Lot Code: 15822A The affected product may be returned to the nearest Schnucks store for a full refund or exchange. Customers with questions may contact the Schnucks Customer Care team at 314-994-4400 or 1-800-264-4400.

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ALTON - “So Long, Farewell,” is the theme as the Alton Municipal Band closes out its 132nd season of Concerts-in-the-Parks with one last pair of performances. Marc Schapman, an SIUE music professor and well-known vocal soloist, will showcase his incredible voice, as the band performs an engaging program of old standards and new works. The concert will be performed twice: Thursday, August 4th, at Riverview Park (7:30 PM), and Sunday, August 7th at Haskell Park (7:00 PM). As the summer comes to a close, the band looks forward to its 133rd season in 2023! Musicians interested in playing for the next season will have the opportunity to audition during open rehearsals in May of next year.

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a lead author of the landmark First Step Act , today met virtually with Colette Peters, the new Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). During their meeting, Durbin asked Peters to commit to root out misconduct and implement badly needed reforms—including the continued implementation of the First Step Act —at BOP and emphasized his expectation that BOP will cooperate with the Judiciary Committee’s oversight requests in a timely manner. Peters was sworn in as BOP’s new Director yesterday, following Durbin’s repeated calls for Attorney General Garland and Deputy Attorney General Monaco to replace former BOP Director Michael Carvajal with a reform-minded leader. “After today’s meeting, I’m more hopeful than ever that with Director Peters, Attorney General Garland and Deputy Attorney General Monaco have chosen the right

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SOUTHERN ILLINOIS — Governor JB Pritzker announced today that a long-awaited renovation of the popular Rend Lake Resort in Southern Illinois will get underway in 2023 with an investment of more than $17.5 million. The funding will be used to renovate the conference center, restaurant, cabins, pool, and boatel, which collectively will enable the resort to host lodging guests, conferences, and other visitors and events. “Rend Lake has been around for 50 years—and for that half-a-century, it has been a shining example of the rich history, the human ingenuity, and the values of sustainability that make Illinois special,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Today, I am proud to announce that we will be investing more than $17 million to renovate Rend Lake Resort—restoring the site to its former glory. With this funding, we are strengthening our tourism industry, our economy, our recreational offerings, and our holistic and social wellbeing all in one.”

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