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CHICAGO — Today, Attorney General Kwame Raoul was joined by Mayor Brandon Johnson and the City of Chicago in filing a lawsuit against A-F Acquisition LLC, which operates under the name Pullman Innovations, alleging that the company allowed excessive odors, caused illegal air pollution, constructed a boiler without a permit that could cause or contribute to air pollution, and violated certain conditions of the operating permit at its Chicago facility. Pullman Innovations’ Chicago

2026 Sustaining Housing Dreams Funsdraiser Award Winners

At Tower Grove CDC, our mission is simple: we promote and improve quality of life by attracting public and private investment and providing real estate and other community services. Every year, that mission comes to life through the people and organizations who partner with us, advocate alongside us, and do the hands-on work of building stronger neighborhoods.

This year, we're honored to recognize three individuals whose leadership reflects that mission in three very different, equally vital ways. Join us in celebrating them on October 8, 2026 at our annual Sustaining Housing Dreams Fundraiser.

Community Service Award: Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier

Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier has represented the 7th Ward on the St. Louis Board of Aldermen since 2023, building a legislative record centered on housing stability and tenant protection. But it's her vision in authoring Board Bill 41 that we're honoring today — the legislation that established the City of St. Louis's first formal framework for defining, certifying, and prioritizing Community Development Corporations for city partnership and investment.

Without Alderwoman Sonnier's leadership on BB41, the certification process CDCs will rely on soon — and our ability to attract right-sized investment into our neighborhoods — simply wouldn't exist. Her work reflects months of collaboration and advocacy across the community development sector, and it has fundamentally strengthened the partnership between city government and neighborhood-based organizations like ours.

Thank you, Alderwoman Sonnier, for building the infrastructure that makes our work — and the work of CDCs across the city — possible with a bright future!

Community Partner Award: Adam Marles- EverTrue

We're proud to honor Adam Marles and EverTrue with this year's Community Partner Award. Adam and his team were essential partners in bringing EverTrue Crossroads at Bevo Mill to fruition — lending their staff's expertise, stepping up with a generous donation to help close the project's funding gap, and trusting Tower Grove CDC as a partner every step of the way.

Adam's leadership is a prime example of what St. Louis needs: unabashed, aggressive investment in our community. Since joining EverTrue in 2021, he has grown the organization to nearly 4,000 employees serving more than 16,500 older adults annually, making it the 10th-largest nonprofit senior living provider in the nation. In the St. Louis region specifically, he has championed investments in affordable housing and community-based support that help older adults age with independence and dignity.

Thank you, Adam, for believing in what we're building — and for backing that belief with real resources.

Community Impact Award: Julie Sommer

Julie Sommer has spent nearly two decades investing in St. Louis, starting with rehabilitating distressed properties in the Tower Grove Heights and Cherokee-Lemp historic districts. We are recognizing her this year for her leadership in professional leasing and housing stabilization—as well as her dedicated use of our ARCH by HomeScreen program.

Julie has been a long-time user of HomeScreen, supporting the program back when all of the applications were collected and processed manually. She was one of the first users of the HomeScreen web-based software that launched in February 2019 and has since approved over 100 applications through the HomeScreen software.

Julie was also an early adopter of ARCH by HomeScreen, opting-in to the program just after it launched in January 2021. ARCH by HomeScreen helps people without stellar rental or credit histories find and keep housing, giving them a real chance at stability. Julie has embraced that mission fully: after the May 2025 tornado, she joined local leaders in Operation Any Means Necessary and Action St Louis on the ground providing yard debris removal and supplying food, water, and wellness checks to displaced and homebound neighbors. She shared her available properties on ARCH by HomeScreen during this time, and approved an application from a single mother with two children displaced by the tornado expediting their move in to one of her rental properties.

Julie credits much of her passion for this work to the people who first opened her eyes to housing insecurity in St. Louis — the volunteers of St. Louis Winter Outreach, Kathleen Dunne of RedBike Outreach Kitchen & Closet, and Cathy “Mama Cat” Daniels of PotBangerz STL, whose tireless yet joyful service inspired her to get involved.

Julie's company remains the only business member of the regional Continuum of Care, frequently offering to buy bus or train tickets for people needing transportation back to their families or other support systems, helping people come up with Security Deposits, and strategizing ways to advocate for those trying to survive living on the streets of St Louis.

Thank you, Julie, for proving that good business and good neighboring aren't mutually exclusive — they're the same thing.

Join Us to Celebrate

We'd love for you to help us honor Adam, Julie, and Alderwoman Sonnier in person at Sustaining Housing Dreams, Tower Grove CDC's annual fundraiser.

• Date: Thursday, October 8, 2026

• Time: 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM CDT (awards ceremony begins at 6:30 PM)

• Location: Das Bevo at Bevo Mill, 4749 Gravois Ave, St. Louis, MO 63116

• Registration deadline: Wednesday, September 30, 2026, 11:59 PM CDT

We're grateful to US Bank for serving as our Presenting Sponsor this year, helping make an evening like this possible.

Register for the event and buy sponsorships — we hope to see you there!

WOOD RIVER - The community can celebrate a new Wood River dispensary at their grand opening party. The Cannaisseur will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony and party at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. Located at 40 E. Ferguson Avenue in Wood River, the dispensary’s leadership and “budtenders” are excited to serve the community and mark their opening with Friday’s festivities. “The Cannaisseur is a wonderful, friendly neighborhood dispensary,” said Jerry

ST. LOUIS COUNTY - An unidentified person damaged a wooden cross on the front lawn of Gethsemane Lutheran Church in the 700 block of Lemay Ferry Road in St. Louis during the early morning hours of Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, and St. Louis County police are asking for the public’s help identifying the individual as detectives investigate. Police said the person first attempted to cut down the cross with a saw, then returned a few hours later with an axe and split the cross. The axe was left

Attendees of Guns N' Roses' concert in Toronto on Wednesday might've felt like they were "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" when Chris Stapleton made a surprise appearance.The country star joined Axl…

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SPRINGFIELD – Last week, the Governor signed into law three measures sponsored in the House by State Representative Amy Elik (R-Alton) and in the Senate by State Senator Erica Harriss (R-Glen Carbon) after the ideas were brought to them by Metro East residents. House Bill 4867 allows additional work vehicles to use green flashing or rotating lights, along with amber and white lights. The new law will help protect workers and motorists by making active work zones easier to identify and navigate

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) is recognizing August as Child Support Awareness Month, marking continued improvement on key performance metrics that correlate to the state’s ongoing efforts to support Illinois families more holistically. The mission of the program is to improve the lives of the many children it serves annually, and create a more stable and successful future for families in the state of Illinois. HFS’ Division of

The Trump administration appears poised to gut the central policies that shape Head Start, a popular and long-established early childhood education program that serves the country’s neediest children. The Department of Health and Human Services announced the changes Thursday. The federal Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs posted a notice that it intends to “significantly reduce regulatory […]

EFFINGHAM – A new law sponsored by State Senator Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) will strengthen government transparency by making local audit and financial reports easier for Illinois residents to access. “The people of Illinois deserve transparency when it comes to how units of government manage their tax dollars,” said Plummer. “Public financial records should not be difficult to find or buried in websites. This law is a simple, commonsense step to make important

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Bipartisan legislation led by U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), John Curtis (R-UT), Bernie Moreno (R-OH) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) to help prevent youth suicide successfully passed through the Senate. The Senators’ bipartisan Youth Poisoning Prevention Act would ban high-concentration sodium nitrite from being available to the public. There is no recognized household or consumer use for high-concentration sodium nitrite, yet retailers are still allowed to sell

EAST ST. LOUIS – State Representatives Kevin Schmidt (R-Millstadt) is hosting his annual Job Fair in East St. Louis on Aug. 13, 2026. He is encouraging his constituents who are seeking job opportunities to attend and learn more about interview guidance and creating a resume. Rep. Schmidt says this is the perfect opportunity for job seekers to talk in person to employers and gain insight into hiring practices. “Last year we had over 30 businesses setup and 150 job seekers attend,”

Joan Jett doesn't give a damn if canceling shows gives her a bad reputation.The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has called off the shows she was due to perform…

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Relaxation is not the same as doing nothing. A person can lie on the couch for an hour and still feel tense, restless, and mentally crowded. Real relaxation is a shift in the mind and body. It is less about stopping activity and more about changing state. That idea matters because many people think relaxation should happen automatically. If work is over, the brain should settle. If a vacation starts, stress should fade. But the mind does not work like a switch. It carries habits, alerts, and

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources says its taking action after discovering raw sewage flowing into the Big River near Leadwood, Missouri.

On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, in the first wartime use of a nuclear weapon. The explosion destroyed much of the city, killed tens of thousands of people almost immediately, and caused many more deaths from burns and radiation in the weeks, months, and years that followed. At the time, the bombing was presented as a way to force Japan’s surrender and bring World War II to an end. It still matters today because it changed warfare, introduced

A new documentary about late Rush drummer Neil Peart is set to air on Canada's CBC.The film, titled Neil Peart: No One's Disciple, will premiere Sept. 23. According to a press release,…

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Final, unofficial totals show Wesley Bell beating Cori Bush by 22%. In their first showdown in 2024, Bell unseated incumbent Bush by a 5.5% margin.