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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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MASCOUTAH, IL. - A construction project began on August 1 by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) will provide improved access to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport (BLV) and the new Boeing Production Facility currently being built next to the airport. The project will include a new signalized entrance to the Boeing Production Facility, widening of IL Route 4 for turn lanes at this new entrance, signalization of the existing entrance to MidAmerica Airport at Airport Blvd, and improvements to the roadside drainage ditches along IL Route 4 in areas previously prone to flooding. In September 2021, Boeing began constructing a new aircraft production facility along IL Route 4 on MidAmerica St. Louis Airport property. Before this construction, in 2020, MidAmerica St. Louis Airport commissioned a Traffic Impact Study to determine the impacts on IL Route 4 of the proposed new Boeing Production Facility. The study indicated a need for traffic signals at the facility entrance and the

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GLEN CARBON - What? Shake the dust off your clothes and get back to the office? About a month ago I was talking with my executive assistant, and we both noted how long it has been since we went out to an event. It had been a while for both of us - about two years. It had been so long that we actually had to shake the dust off our suits. I started thinking about the need to go into the workplace. When you think about staff working from home, what are you thinking? Hmm…maybe they are in their pajamas watching TV or playing video games on their laptops? Well, my view is quite the opposite. Since the pandemic and even before, I allowed my staff to work from home and here are my findings. Staff increased productivity more than when they were working in the office. It’s like getting an extra day’s work from each employee. They said they took shorter breaks and HR discovered staff was taking fewer sick days and took less time off. They also reported higher job satisfaction

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The U.S. announcement comes almost a month after the WHO announced monkeypox is a public health emergency of international concern.

LGBTQIA+ communities have been contributing to St. Louis’s history for centuries. Now the Gateway to Pride virtual exhibit will begin to uncover the rarely-shared or

The post Gateway to Pride Exhibit appeared first on Explore St. Louis.

The sky is literally falling on Mona Drive in University City. A giant tree limb fell on the brand-new car of a woman who came to help.

The man's name hasn't been released.

A St. Louis County man was sentenced Friday to five years and four months in prison for traveling to Springfield, Illinois to have sex with a teen.

Some residents have been impacted by flooding three times in the last two weeks.

An East St. Louis homeowner worried about a tree in front of their house that is in danger of falling onto their residence or in the street.

We had a depressing number of Techdirt stories on this site that involve Shaquille O’Neal. I say that as a basketball fan who absolutely adores Shaq’s contributions to the TNT studio broadcasts for the NBA. On the other hand, the times Shaq has made it onto our pages hasn’t been for the best of reasons. […]

ALTON - The James Killion Beautification & Enhancement Committee is "super excited" to once again bring back Movie Nights at James Killion Park on Saturdays in August. The first movie on Saturday, Aug. 6 is “Raya and the Last Dragon.” The opening week is followed by: 8-13-22 - “The Good Dinosaur.” 8-20-22 - “The Bad Guys.” 08-27-22 - “Spider-Man - No Way Home.” The James Killion Committee above consists of om the front row left to right: Sheila Goins, Rosetta Brown, and Christal Love. In the back row, are, from left, Abe Lee Barham, Cassie Gray, Karyn Clanton, and Cas Sheppard. “With successful Movie Nights last year in 2021, we thought it best to bring it back this year,” Goins said. “We had some amazing sponsors step up to make it happen for the youth of our community.” Coleman Campers is the first Movie Night sponsor, then Aug. 13, the sponsor is Gay and Barry Julian, the third movie on Aug. 20 is sponsored

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Local farms have been battling with weather conditions this summer from extreme heat to historic flooding.

I had a thought today. I don't know that it matters much, but here it is. You may recall that I wrote a post a few days ago explaining which metrics are used by NBER to date the starting points of recessions. GDP is not one of those metrics for the monthly dating, but it ...continue reading "Has the US economy really been shrinking?"

Some thoughts on STL social media.

There's a short supply of JYNNEOS vaccines nationwide and locally.