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CHICAGO — Governor JB Pritzker today joined legislators, students, and teachers at the Morton Arboretum to designate Dolostone as the official rock of the State of Illinois. House Bill 4261 began as an initiative led by a group of elementary school students from Pleasantdale Middle School in Burr Ridge and Maplebrook Elementary School in Naperville. After the students discovered that Illinois did not have a state rock, they created a ballot and had students across the state vote for a winner. The chosen rock was Dolostone. Dolostone, a form of limestone, forms the majority of Illinois’s bedrock, establishing a foundation for the state’s other natural terrain. Its name comes from its original discovery in the Dolomite Alps Illinois recognizes several other official symbols of the state, including; state bird- the Northern Red Cardinal, state flower- the violet, state tree- the white oak, and state fish- the bluegill. More officially designated state flora and fauna

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GLEN CARBON - With all the ups and downs of today’s world, one local metro-east author wants to make sure that we are all focusing on what truly matters. Kristen L. Schindler, who resides in Glen Carbon, has recently had her first children’s book, Finding Happy published by PenIt Publications. The book is about a little girl named Lilly Anna Grace. She is a lively little girl who loves adventure and as her seventh birthday gets closer, she dreams about the perfect gift which just so happens to be a puppy. She has it all figured out however, her parents have a couple of other ideas. Before becoming a published author, Kristen L. Schindler, worked as an educator for 22 years in District #7 and at Metro East Montessori School. Five years ago she decided to depart that career and homeschool her three children. “I really wanted to take the time after pouring so many years into the lives of other people’s children; I wanted to be there for my own children. I wanted

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ST. LOUIS – June 6, 2022 – Blues for Kids, the charitable trust of the St. Louis Blues, is now accepting grant applications for the upcoming season. Following the trusts’ mission to positively impact programs and services that improve health and wellness of youth in the St. Louis area, Blues for Kids grants are given to organizations and projects dedicated to one of the following four categories: Cancer Care & Awareness; Education; Health & Wellness; and Youth & Amateur Hockey Development. Multiple grant awardees will be chosen, with the average grant ranging from $1,000 - $5,000. In addition to traditional grants, for the first time ever, Blues for Kids will offer four Captain’s Grants and one Legacy Grant to programs that create a larger and sustainable impact on youth in St. Louis. Captain’s Grants, one for each of the four categories of giving, will be awarded $25,000 - $50,000. One Legacy Grant of $50,000 - $250,000 will be awarded to build or create

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Starting with worst news, we were second-last out of 182 cities in health and safety; and we tied for dead-last in subcategory of highest violent crime rate.

"The data is clearly telling us we have to take action to reduce the cases."

EDWARDSVILLE - The two-day Bonifest had a little something for everyone in the family and turned out to be a gigantic success on Saturday, said Ryan Hentz, who is a coordinator. Bonifest was held from 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday in the St. Boniface Church and School parking lot. The event always has strong entertainment and this year, Mike Sonderegger put on an excellent show in the dinner hour, Hentz said. Sonderegger is outstanding at audience engagement and people loved his performance. Tom Bertolino and the Dirty Muggs also put on outstanding shows. The Dirty Muggs are a long-time favorite at Bonifest. The morning featured the annual Run For Bonifest and Tom Bertolino Music started the run. Some people may not remember the Dirty Muggs band name, but they always ask Ryan, he says, "Are you going to have that band." He said once again the Dirty Muggs did not disappoint and provided another memorable performance. Bonifest and the raffle are large fundraisers for the Boniface

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The last day in business for the seafood wholesaler and retailer, 8660 Olive Blvd., was Saturday.

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - A second-alarm fire in Edwardsville Sunday left a home uninhabitable. The Edwardsville Fire Department was dispatched to the fire at about 5 p.m. The home is located near 5th Avenue and Bryant Avenue. Not only was the home destroyed, but three vehicles in and around the garage were destroyed. When firefighters arrived [...]

This story was originally published by Investigate Midwest. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is requiring JBS, one of the largest meatpacking companies in the country, to take steps to prevent future disease outbreaks at seven of its plants. The settlement announced Friday signals the resolution of two OSHA citations issued to JBS for failing to protect […]

The post OSHA requires JBS to implement disease preparedness measures at seven plants appeared first on Missouri Independent.

EDWARDSVILLE - The Edwardsville High School baseball team will be playing in the Super-Sectionals today (Monday, June 6). Senior Spencer Stearns has been a huge key to their success offensively and defensively. On Saturday, the Tigers won 10-0 in their last game against Minooka in the Sectional Championship. Stearns went 3-3 with five RBIs. He had singles in the first and second inning. In the fourth, he flew out to center but it was still good for a run. He stepped back into the batter's box in the fifth inning with runners on second and third. He launched a curveball over the fence in left-center field for a three-run homer to make it 10-0 Tigers. It was his eighth home run of the season. Stearns has been a standout all season for the Tigers and is an iCAN Clinic Male Athlete of the Month for Edwardsville. "We came in here expecting a tough game, so we played every inning, every pitch and came out with the win," Stearns said after the sectional win. Stearns gets it done with hi

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There are so, so, so many different discussions going on concerning internet platform regulations, and so many of the different ideas conflict with one another. But there is a general agreement that the US really, really needs a federal privacy law. Without it, we just bounce back and forth between (1) EU and other nations’ […]

A Hogan Street Regional Youth Center worker said the teens lured him into a restroom, where they held him down, assaulted him and took his set of facility keys.

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. - A St. Louis County man admitted on Thursday that he sold the fentanyl that killed a pregnant woman in 2018. Raymond Blankenship, 27, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to distributing fentanyl. In a plea agreement, he admitted that he sold fentanyl capsules to a St. Louis County woman on [...]

Owner Joshua Sturma serves breakfast and lunch in the former Quincy Street Bistro space.

EDWARDSVILLE - Pat Brandmeyer of Albers was the big winner in the Big-Bona Raffle at Bonifest this past weekend. Shown above is the draw for the winning ticket. Brandmeyer captured $50,000 for the top prize in the raffle. The second-place winner was Evan Kiel, of Wildwood, MO., of $1,250, and third-place winner was John Becker, of Alton, IL., $600. A total of 887 tickets were sold. SEE VIDEO OF WINNING TICKET DRAW:

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JERSEYVILLE - A local author, Donna Kennedy of Jerseyville, will release her new book soon. The book titled The Truth will be book one of her upcoming "So Help Me God" series. The Truth goes live on Amazon on July 1, 2022. Kennedy will be doing a book signing at 2 p.m. on August 6, 2022, held at the Jerseyville Public Library. Kennedy briefly discussed the plot and the planned series going forward. The Truth is Book One in The So Help Me God Series. It is a semi-autobiographical story with a dark center covered in a fictional candy-coated romance and mystery. Actual events loosely inspire this book, and the story would not be nearly so honest without disturbing content. The Truth follows USAF Veteran Dahlia Frost after she is medically retired from the military once it’s discovered she has repressed memories that prevent her from being considered world-wide-capable. After years of searching for answers, she writes and publishes, under a pen name, her Best Selling novel,

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EDWARDSVILLE – Southern Illinois University Edwardsville now offers a fully online general education path of coursework that is taught by the same quality faculty who teach on-campus courses. These core required college courses provide students with a broad base of knowledge while enhancing communication and critical thinking skills. Any current or visiting student could benefit, personally or professionally, from taking online courses at SIUE. This new online path to complete an undergraduate degree may be a good fit for students who are planning to enroll in an: Online degree completion program at SIUE and have not completed general education requirements On-campus program who prefer to complete general education courses online “We have been intentional in our efforts to meet the needs of the diverse population of students coming into the University with a variety of college experience and transferable credit hours,” said Stephanie Simpson, assistant director

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Missouri officials have vowed again to lower the number of days it takes to process Medicaid applications – which was an average of 101 days in April — and come into federal …