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"Trash Knows No Age": 8-Year-Old Honored for Litter Pickup Efforts

6 months 1 week ago
ALTON/GODFREY - A special volunteer was recently recognized for his dedication to keeping the community clean. Robert Lack, age 8, was awarded the Outstanding Citizen Award at the Pride, Inc. Annual Celebration last weekend. Lack has spent the last five years picking up trash every time he takes a walk with his family. “I don’t want the earth to be polluted,” Lack explained. “One day when I was walking with my dad when I was 3 years old, we saw trash and we decided to pick it up. And every time we went for a walk, we would grab our grabbers and a trash bag and start picking up the street.” Pride, Inc. has many beautification initiatives throughout Godfrey and Alton. Pat Stewart, president of Pride, Inc., explained that the organization held their Annual Celebration as a way to recognize community members who go out of their way to improve the Riverbend region. Lack has been on their radar for five years, and Stewart was ecstatic to honor him wit

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Durbin Delivers Opening Statement During Spotlight Hearing On The Trump Administration's Attempts To Whitewash January 6

6 months 1 week ago
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement during a Senate Democratic spotlight hearing entitled “Clear and Present Danger: The Trump Administration’s Whitewashing of the January 6th Insurrection.” The witnesses include Harry Dunn, former U.S. Capitol Police Officer, and Daniel Hodges, an 11-year veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), who were both brutally attacked by the insurrectionist mob on January 6, as well as Mike Romano and Sara Levine, two former prosecutors in the now-disbanded Capitol Siege section within the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. The hearing will focus on honoring the law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol; acknowledging the work of the prosecutors who brought the January 6 insurrectionists to justice in the years following the attack; and condemning President Trump’s dangerous

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Durbin In Appropriations Committee: Want To 'Make America Great Again?' Stick With The NIH

6 months 1 week ago
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today participated in a Committee hearing entitled “Biomedical Research: Keeping America’s Edge in Innovation.” During the hearing, Durbin emphasized the disastrous consequences of the Trump Administration’s desire to slash federal funding to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), effectively grinding medical research in the U.S. to a halt. Drawing from his family’s own experience , Durbin began his remarks, “If you’ve ever been a parent sitting in a doctor’s office with a baby on your lap and heard those words that were changing about a diagnosis, you knew your life would never be the same.” “The questions that you would ask, I’ve been there, were pretty obvious. Is there a medicine? Is there a surgery? Is there a procedure? If not, is there a clinical trial? We all ask the same questions

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L&C and CJD to Hold E-Waste Drive May 2 and 3

6 months 1 week ago
GODFREY – Lewis and Clark Community College and CJD E-Cycling will host a community E-Waste event from 9 a.m. to noon, Friday, May 2 and Saturday, May 3, 2025, in the Tolle Lane parking lot across from the college’s Godfrey Campus. Most items will be accepted for free, providing community members with a secure, Earth-friendly option for discarding used electronics. The following is a sampling of the items that will be accepted: Servers Switches, PC towers Printers Landline phones Cable boxes Cell phones Wireless modems Servers Audio and video equipment Holiday lights Home electronics Lead acid batteries CRT, Console, Projection, Plasma, and Flat Screen TVs and computer monitors. (Please note that CRT, Projection, Plasma, Console, and Flat Screen TVs will be accepted with a minimal charge between $5 and $35 based on size; computer monitors with no tower will be accepted with a minimal charge of $5-$10.) Dehumidifiers and Refrigerators ($5-$10 each) The

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St. Louis Man Subject Of Latest Schwegel's Market Forgery Case

6 months 1 week ago
ALTON – A man from St. Louis faces a felony charge in the newest case of forgery at Schwegel’s Market in Alton. Antwayne O. Bradley, 29, of St. Louis, was charged on April 25, 2025, with one count of forgery, a Class 3 felony. Charging documents state that Bradley knowingly presented a fraudulent check to Schwegel’s Market on Feb. 21, 2025. The check, purported to have been made out by Chipotle Services LLC, was written out in the amount of $527.71 and dated Feb. 19, 2025. The Alton Police Department presented the case against Bradley, who was granted pretrial release from custody. This marks the fourth such case of forgery at Schwegel’s Market reported so far in 2025, after three other local individuals were charged with similar offenses in March. It also marks the latest in a string of similar forgery cases at the same location filed in recent years, including two individuals charged in December of 2024 , an Edwardsville

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Maryville MusicFest Promises Ten Bands for a Good Cause

6 months 1 week ago
MARYVILLE - The Village of Maryville will host their second annual Maryville MusicFest this weekend. From 1–10 p.m. on Saturday, May 3, 2025, community members are invited to Firemen’s Park in Maryville for a day of live music, food trucks and fun. There will be ten bands playing on two stages throughout the day. “It’s a music festival,” explained Dawn Mushill, president of the Troy/Maryville/St. Jacob/Marine Chamber of Commerce, who helped promote the event. “These guys have worked so hard, and this bandstand that they’re looking at is going to just add so much to Maryville.” Tickets to the event cost $20. Kids ages 12 and under are free. Proceeds will go to Build Maryville to build a permanent entertainment pavilion and stage at the park. “It’s an all-day event for $20,” Mushill said. “All day. You can come see all the bands.” The event itself is cash only. There will be food trucks onsite,

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Wood River Man Faces Second Domestic Battery Charge

6 months 1 week ago
WOOD RIVER – A Wood River resident faces his second charge of domestic battery against the same victim while still on probation from the previous incident. Christopher J. Huch, 29, of Wood River, was charged on April 21, 2025 with his second or subsequent offense of domestic battery, a Class 2 felony. Huch is accused of striking a household or family member in the face with his fist and knee on April 19, 2025. According to a petition to deny Huch’s pretrial release, Madison County Sheriff’s Deputies observed injuries on the victim including “dried blood near victim's nose and mouth as well as defensive wound marks on her hands.” The petition adds that at the time of this incident, Huch was already on probation for domestic battery against the same victim from a 2024 case in which Huch pled guilty and was sentenced to 24 months of probation. Huch’s latest domestic battery case was presented by the Madison County Sheriff’s Department, and

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City of Troy to Kick Off First Friday Event with Vendors, Food, Live Music and More

6 months 1 week ago
TROY - The City of Troy and the Troy/Maryville/St. Jacob/Marine Chamber of Commerce will host their inaugural First Friday event this weekend. From 5–8 p.m. on the first Friday of the month from May until September, community members are invited to the corner of East Market and South Main Streets for an evening of vendors, live music, food, drinks and more. Dawn Mushill, president of the Chamber of Commerce, looks forward to welcoming people from across the region to Troy on Friday, May 2, 2025. “We decided that we want people in our beautiful downtown Troy,” Mushill said. “How do we get them there? We get them there with food, entertainment and beer.” Mushill encourages people to come downtown to check out the restaurants and shops that are in Troy, many of which will have discounts and deals on the First Fridays. There will also be street vendors and food trucks. On May 2, Mike Sonderegger will provide live music. There will be a few vendors

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Granite City High's Brayden Cook Captures Firefighter Heroism in Award-Winning Photo

6 months 1 week ago
GRANITE CITY - Granite City High School junior Brayden Cook has been honored by St. Louis Public Radio with the Best in Show and Best Sports Feature awards as part of the 2025 Teen Photojournalist Prize, the radio station announced Wednesday, April 30, 2025. Cook received the Best in Show award for his photo titled "Ashes and Rainbows," which captures Granite City firefighter Coady Sutton controlling a hose above an abandoned auto body shop ablaze on East 23rd Street on May 27, 2024. His Best Sports Feature-winning image, "Red in the Rain," shows GCHS boys soccer center back Joey Morales picking up cones after a game against Fort Zumwalt West was canceled due to a lightning threat on Sept. 23, 2024, in Granite City. The recognition includes an $800 Visa gift card for Best in Show and a $200 Visa gift card for the first-place category. In addition, Cook will participate in a master class with STLPR visuals editor Brian Munoz, have his work published on stlpr.org and STLPR social media

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