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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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Proposed abortion ban one vote away from Missouri ballot

6 months 1 week ago
A proposed constitutional amendment that would again ban abortion in Missouri passed out of a state Senate committee on Wednesday, meaning it is one step away from heading to a statewide ballot. The legislation approved on a 4-2 party line vote would repeal the reproductive rights amendment known as Amendment 3 but allow exceptions for […]
Anna Spoerre

Belt's Measure Raises Wages For Working People

6 months 1 week ago
SPRINGFIELD — State Senator Christopher Belt advanced a measure that would strengthen prevailing wage rules to help workers receive higher pay. “This important safeguard will help workers get a fair deal for their labor,” said Belt (D-Swansea). “We’re closing a loophole that left many workers getting the short end of the stick because that’s not what we’re about here in Illinois.” Currently, Illinois’ prevailing wage law does not apply to federal construction projects that require a prevailing wage determination by the United States Secretary of Labor. House Bill 1189 would clarify that workers must receive the highest prevailing wage – whether federal or state – in local public works projects that include federal funding. The measure intends to eliminate potential confusion when rates differ and specifically impacts projects under state or local control. The measure would codify the existing federal practice of

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Ranken students present plans for North City renewal

6 months 1 week ago
Ranken Technical College hosted its annual Architecture Student Showcase, featuring 38 students' class projects aimed at re-envisioning north St. Louis, with a theme of "Building Community in St. Louis Place" and designs for key infrastructure elements such as a justice center, grocery store, and senior living center.
Ciara Folkerts

Durbin, Grassley Introduce Bipartisan Measure To Amend National Child Protection Act To Expand Nationwide Background Check Access

6 months 1 week ago
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today introduced a bipartisan bill, the Comprehensive Health and Integrity in Licensing and Documentation (CHILD) Act , to amend the National Child Protection Act of 1993 (NCPA) to ensure that individuals with unsupervised access to children, such as those under contract with a school, are, once again, authorized to have a national background check. U.S. Representative Russell Fry (R-SC-07) and U.S. Representative Jared Moskowitz (D-FL-23) are introducing companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives today. Since 1993, the National Child Protection Act/Volunteers for Children Act (NCPA/VCA) has made nationwide background checks available for individuals who have access to children through qualified entities. However, the Child Protection Improvements Act of 2018 (CPIA)

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Duckworth, Durbin Join More Than 100 Congressional Democrats in Demanding Social Security Head Keep Field Offices Open Across the Nation

6 months 1 week ago
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in a coalition of over 100 Congressional Democrats in writing to Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) Leland Dudek to demand that he keep Social Security field offices open. This letter comes after multiple reports revealed that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) directed SSA to close field offices across the country—only to reverse course after public backlash and deny the plans altogether. Given the lack of transparency surrounding the status of field offices nationwide, the lawmakers pressed Dudek to ensure that DOGE does not close the offices that so many Social Security beneficiaries rely on for services and assistance. “eneficiaries need the opportunity to seek assistance from SSA in person…Closing

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Two Charged With Mob Action In Public Alton Attack

6 months 1 week ago
ALTON – Two men from Alton are accused of attacking someone in public at a local grocery store. Reginald D. Hodges Jr., 28, and Devan C. Luster, 23, both of Alton, were charged on April 25, 2025 with one count each of mob action, both Class 4 felonies. Hodges and Luster allegedly acted together in striking the same victim about the head and body on March 14, 2025. By knowingly engaging in the use of force, the two are accused of disturbing the public peace, as the incident unfolded in a public place – the Save-A-Lot grocery store at 2980 Homer Adams Parkway in Alton. The Alton Police Department presented the cases against Hodges and Luster, who were both granted pretrial release from custody. All individuals charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of la w.

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