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EDWARDSVILLE - The tunes were raw and gritty, smooth and haunting, and sometimes charged and electrifying. The lyrics that leapt out were of hate and love, humanity and inhumanity, and struggle and freedom. Jazz music co-starred with civil rights historical facts during the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Black Heritage Month’s (BHM) opening ceremony at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 1, held virtually and hosted by The Inclusive Excellence, Education and Development Hub (The Hub). Renowned jazz flutist Galen Abdur-Razzaq was the keynote speaker. The theme for BHM is “Black Excellence in Action.” “In celebration of our Black Heritage Month, we honor the many contributions that Black students, faculty, and staff have made to SIUE and our surrounding communities,” said SIUE Chancellor Randy Pembrook. “SIUE works every day to make our community more inclusive, diverse, and accessible. Every year, the month of February comes with the opportunity

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BETHALTO - The Civic Memorial High School girl’s basketball team has been on a tear this season, currently sitting at 26-4, and a major contributor to their success has been senior center Claire Christeson. While yes, she has been out the majority of this season, it’s what she does off the court and on the bench that is really inspiring to her team. During the game against East St. Louis, where her side won 57-55, she was one of the loudest ones in the gym as she cheered on her Eagles from the sideline. She was grabbing her teammates' water when they needed it and was always one of the first ones in the huddle during timeouts, showing that you don’t have to lead the team in points to be a team leader. Claire Christeson is the Tom Lane State Farm Insurance Female Athlete of the Month for CM. “I think it is very important. I’ve had multiple teammates come up to me and say how much it has helped knowing that I’m on the bench supporting them,”

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ALTON - A low bid for the Rock Springs Drive drainage project was approved at Monday night’s Alton Committee of the Whole meeting at City Hall. The approval should result in a solution for an erosion problem in that area, Alton Mayor David Goins said. “It is an erosion problem from rain and they are going to redo the whole area,” Mayor Goins said. “There will be a new guard rail a brand new sidewalk and erosion mitigation done. "It is going to be great for our children to keep them safe in their walks to and from school and for other adults who walk in the area. This will enable our children to walk on the sidewalk instead of the side of the street when there is mud on the sidewalk. This will keep them safe from traffic on the road.” Mayor Goins said the Rock Springs Drive improvement project is “long overdue” and also said the park is one of the crown jewels of the city. “Rock Springs Park has always been a beautiful park,”

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WOOD RIVER - Two Wood River Police officers were honored at Monday night's Wood River City Council Meeting. Sergeant Jeremiah Buerke and Telecommunicator Derek Mormino were both honored. Telecommunicator Mormino was honored and recognized as the Telecommunicator of the Year - 2021. Sgt. Buerke was honored and recognized as the Officer of the Year - 2021.

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EDWARDSVILLE — Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine issued the following statement after today’s ruling by the Fourth District Appellate Court of Illinois. “Today the temporary restraining order (TRO) which suspended the application of the new subcircuit law in Madison County was reversed by the Fourth District Appellate Court. We are disappointed with this result, but appreciate the court’s prompt decision. We remain undeterred in our fight against this unconstitutional law. “We find significant encouragement in the Appellate Court’s analysis. In today’s summary order, the Appellate Court pointedly asked for a deep consideration of one of our central concerns: ‘the issue of whether the General Assembly can eliminate all at-large judgeships within a particular judicial circuit.’ The Appellate Court then ‘encourage the parties and Circuit Court to proceed expeditiously in this matter given the implications on the

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Our Love Story: The Couple: Brooke "Babe and Kenneth "Love" from Cottage Hills Date Met/Started Dating: November 11, 2017 Briefly Describe First Date: We drove down the river road. Date Married: October 21, 2023 Name Something You Enjoy Doing Together: Riding motorcycles, hanging out with our nieces and nephews, going to the movies, and camping. Share Advice For A Happy Relationship: Communication, praying for each other, always stay dating each other.

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ALTON - The Madison County Sheriff’s Office and the Alton Police Department teamed together on Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, to get a juvenile in custody after a report of a reckless driver. The call about the driver came in at 8:37 a.m. Monday, and Madison County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Will Dimitroff said it was determined it was a stolen vehicle and the young driver was “driving erratically.” “We pursued it into the City of Alton and the car was eventually stopped by the City of Alton Police and the Madison County Sheriff’s Office,” Capt. Dimitroff added. The Madison County Sheriff’s Office captain said the case is under review about potential charges of aggravated fleeing and eluding a police officer and stolen vehicle. Dimitroff said he was thankful the juvenile was taken into custody and off the road. Capt. Dimitroff thanked the Alton Police for their cooperation in stopping the reckless driver.

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Our Love Story: The Couple: Shaun & Nikki from Alton Date Met/Started Dating: August 19, 2021 Briefly Describe First Date: He hopped in my DM on social media asking if I wanted to go on a date, that he would take me. I declined, letting him know I don’t need a pity date - I want something real. Date Married: Name Something You Enjoy Doing Together: We enjoy date nights out in town patronizing our local businesses. Our favorite is Macs TimeOut and Santinos. We really enjoy a Netflix and chill kind of night the most. Foot rubs and a good movie. Share Advice For A Happy Relationship: Never expect your partner to make you happy. Do the work to keep yourself happy.

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Our Love Story: The Couple: Allen & Kayla from East Alton Date Met/Started Dating: December 2, 2010 Briefly Describe First Date: Buffalo Wild Wings, He gave me his hoodie because it was cold outside. Date Married: July 25, 2015 Name Something You Enjoy Doing Together: Working on cars, fishing, camping, taking our RZR out. Share Advice For A Happy Relationship: Never go to bed angry, and always love each other when times get tough.

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Our Love Story: The Couple: Curt & Vikki from Moro Date Met/Started Dating: March 28, 2007 Briefly Describe First Date: Mall & Applebee’s for dinner Date Married: July 18, 2009 Name Something You Enjoy Doing Together: Traveling, riding our motorcycle, getting together with friends & family, and trying new restaurants. Share Advice For A Happy Relationship: Be the real you. Have fun & create a lifetime of memories! Talk things out and laugh about it later!

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EDWARDSVILLE — An Illinois judges’ ruling preventing the state from ordering school districts requiring students to wear masks will be a topic of discussion Tuesday night during Madison County’s Health Advisory Committee. “Some school districts over the weekend made the decision to make masks optional and others have kept them in place,” Chairman Kurt Prenzler said. “The County made its decision July 21, 2021, when the Board passed a resolution recommending to the school districts to give parents a choice on whether their children should wear masks or not.” Last Friday, a judge in Sangamon County ruled against the governor’s mask mandate inside school buildings, in response to lawsuits involving parents and teachers from more than 150 districts. The temporary restraining order prevents school districts from mandating to students and school employees involved in the lawsuit to wear masks, show proof of vaccinations, or be tested weekly

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SPRINGFIELD - Statewide, COVID-19 cases are dropping. The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) on Friday reported 60,389 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois and that number is less than half as many reported during the previous week (123,812). Another interesting stat is that on Jan. 22, 2022, the statewide daily cases peaked at 41,064, and on Feb. 4 was at 10,070 cases, a substantial decrease. Statewide, there were 608 deaths reported from Jan. 28, 2022, to Feb. 4, 2022. Madison County announced there were 493 new cases of COVID-19 from Wednesday to Friday of last week and the seven-day positivity rate is 12.3 percent. The transmission rate remains high in the county, the county report says. The seven-day rolling average of cases is 200. A total of 63 were reported in Madison County hospitals for COVID-19-related symptoms and 14 on ventilators on Friday. There were three COVID-19-related deaths reported on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022,

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GLEN CARBON – Dr. Julie Steinhauer, OD, FCOVD, owner of Vision For Life and Success in Glen Carbon, and one of a select group of functional vision doctors in the nation, says syntonics (the use of light therapy) should be utilized in any customized vision therapy program to help patients recover from the loss of eyesight due to a brain-related injury or other conditions impacting binocular vision. Syntonics utilizes eyewear, similar to 3D-looking glasses, with various colored lenses. The lenses can include one of 25 syntonic filters each playing a specific role for various functions such as first calming the brain after trauma, and/or retraining the eye and brain connection to regain as much visual field as possible Dr. Steinhauer says syntonics has proven to be highly effective for patients seeking to regain vision after a stroke and for those with binocular vision disorders such as convergence insufficiency, strabismus and amblyopia (lazy eye). “Syntonics can help balanc

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Our Love Story: The Couple: Kevin and Erin from Cottage Hills Date Met/Started Dating: January 4, 2004 Briefly Describe First Date: We were so nervous that we brought our best friend with us. Date Married: October 4, 2019 Name Something You Enjoy Doing Together: We are big fans of stand-up comedy. Share Advice For A Happy Relationship: Communication is literally everything. You have to choose the person every day.

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JERSEY - Jersey Community Unit School District 100 announced over the weekend a change to their masking guidance following a ruling from a judge in Sangamon County. However, the ruling’s temporary nature means those rules will either be extended or reversed in about 10 days. The ruling, which affects 145 schools in Illinois, places a “temporary restraining order” on Governor J.B. Pritzker’s executive orders on mandatory masking, vaccination and testing guidance. This means the decision on whether or not to make masks mandatory now falls to each individual school district. Jersey CUSD 100 announced their masking rules will change from required to optional. “In compliance with the court’s order, beginning tomorrow, the use of universal masking is highly recommended for all staff and students but is not required within the building,” the school district wrote in a statement. This ruling is the result of a lawsuit filed by many school

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Our Love Story: The Couple: John and Valerie Perotka from Godfrey Date Met/Started Dating: September 17, 2007 Briefly Describe First Date: John took me to the Pasta House. Date Married: August 9, 2016 Name Something You Enjoy Doing Together: Cooking, cleaning, and taking care of our yard. Share Advice For A Happy Relationship: You have to trust, love, and have communication.

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EDWARDSVILLE - Sina Rowe has spent 21 years teaching special education – 16 of those in District #7 at the K-2 level – including the last nine years with the CASTLE (Collaboration for Autism Spectrum Teaching, Learning and Excelling) program. She said that although she did not really choose the CASTLE program and that instead it chose her, it felt like coming home. “With this population of kids, it’s very communication driven. If you think about how hard it would be if you could not say what you needed to say or ask for what you wanted, those kids are dealing with that times a hundred. So those kiddos have my heart and I have really found my home here in the CASTLE program.” Rowe began her stint in D7 by teaching cross-categorical at Leclaire before moving to Goshen when the autism program. She then returned to Leclaire with CASTLE seven years ago. “I do like challenging behaviors, and I do like problem-solving behaviors,” she said. “Everything

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CHICAGO – Following Gov. Pritzker’s significant expansion of anti-violence measures focused on Chicago area expressways, the Illinois State Police (ISP) today announced arrests and charges in multiple shooting incidents. The charges, filed against 20 individuals, include three first degree murders, one involuntary manslaughter, three attempted murders, and additional charges for crimes including aggravated discharge of a firearm, reckless discharge of a firearm, aggravated vehicular hijacking as well as aggravated fleeing and eluding. Under Gov. Pritzker’s leadership, ISP has significantly ramped up enforcement action on expressways, including more proactive patrols with additional Troopers, deployment of Air Operations assets to monitor expressways and provide real-time information to troopers on the ground, and the installation of automated license plate readers on expressways to provide ISP Special Agents with essential leads and evidence. ISP Crime Scene and

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Our Love Story: The Couple: Tabatha Powell and Steven Easley from Jerseyville Date Met/Started Dating: April 20, 2016 Briefly Describe First Date: We met at work, but our first official date was at Buffalo Wild Wings. Name Something You Enjoy Doing Together: Any quality time together is a bonus, *going out to eat or even snuggled up with a movie* but, spending time with our beautiful family we have created has to be our favorite! Including them in family activities, while spending time together. Share Advice For A Happy Relationship: Never stop learning something new about your partner! Grow together, and learn together. Show your kids a love story so they expect nothing less as they get older!

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COLLINSVILLE - Madeline Woelfel, a senior for the girls bowling team at Civic Memorial, had a very successful IHSA regional tournament Feb. v5 at Camelot Bowl in Collinsville, finishing in a tie for second place overall with Collinsville's Courtney Baer with an identical six-game score of 1,267 as the Eagles went through as a team to the sectional at Mt. Vernon, finishing fourth to claim the final spot. Woelfel was fired up over the fact at her finish and the Eagles going on to the sectional, and in a post-tournament interview, talked about how exciting it was for CM to advance. "I'm very excited," Woelfel said, of advancing to sectional, "and I was really proud of our team that we could come out and get fourth as a team." Woelfel felt overall, she bowled well, but had trouble finding a strike zone in the final game, but made the needed adjustments to finish strong. "I'd say I bowled pretty well," Woelfel said. "I mean I was really trying to stay positive the whole time. Then, in

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