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All-Wheels Drive-In Car Show and Pinup Contest Comes to Alton for 28th Year

10 months 1 week ago
ALTON - Alton Main Street will host their 28th annual All-Wheels Drive-In Car Show. On Sunday, June 8, 2025, people from across the region will flock to 3rd and Belle Streets in downtown Alton for the car show and pinup contest. Registration for cars runs from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Outlaw Opry will play music from 1–3 p.m. followed by the pinup contest from 3–4 p.m. and the awards ceremony at 4 p.m. “We’ve built quite a following over the years,” said Sara McGibany, executive director of Alton Main Street. “We usually get somewhere around 250 hot rods, classics, motorcycles, so much so that we’ve been bursting at the seams the last couple of years.” This year, Sugar Alley, the alley that runs parallel to 3rd Street, will hold another 30 cars. McGibany is excited about this expansion. If you plan to enter your car for judging, it costs $20, or $10 to simply display your car. You must register in person between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m.

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Accounting Major Ralph Wideman Delivers Address At Illinois High School Diploma Graduation

10 months 1 week ago
GODFREY – Illinois High School Diploma Graduation speaker Ralph Wideman is currently pursuing an associate degree in Accounting at Lewis and Clark Community College, but just a few years ago, he sat in the very same seats as the graduates he addressed, Thursday, June 5, 2025. After years away from the classroom, he returned with a purpose – to pursue new dreams and a new career. He started in the college’s Adult Education program and earned his Illinois High School Diploma in 2023. Today, he’s on track to earn his AAS in December 2025. Wideman said his path was not traditional, but it has been one marked by determination, family support, and a commitment to growth later in life. “I was given the proper tools and assistance from the Adult Education department and encouragement from my instructors and family,” Wideman said. “Lewis and Clark allows you to learn in a supportive and comfortable environment.” Wideman said he values

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Trump Administration Knew Vast Majority Of Venezuelans Sent To Salvadoran Prison Had Not Been Convicted Of U.S. Crimes

10 months 1 week ago
This story was originally published by ProPublica, along with The Texas Tribune, Alianza Rebelde Investiga, and Cazadores de Fake News. Republished under ProPublica’s CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license. The Trump administration knew that the vast majority of the 238 Venezuelan immigrants it sent to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador in mid-March had not been convicted of crimes in the United […]
Mike Masnick

Alton's First Night Market of the Summer Draws Big Crowd

10 months 1 week ago
ALTON - The season’s first Night Market brought hundreds of people to downtown Alton. On Thursday, June 5, 2025, community members and vendors gathered at Sugar Alley for an evening of music and shopping. From 7–10 p.m. every Thursday in June and July, excluding July 3, people can come out to enjoy the downtown businesses, restaurants and vendors along 3rd Street and in Sugar Alley in downtown Alton. “We were hopping. It was so exciting,” said Sara McGibany, executive director of Alton Main Street. “Our goal was to really turn a weeknight, which can be kind of a slower night for bars and restaurants, into one of the happening nights of the week. We’re just telling everybody to start your weekend early. Get going on Thursday night.” On June 5, the band HOOKie kicked off the Night Market season by playing in the greenspace next to Catdaddy’s. Vendors from across the Riverbend region set up booths along Sugar Alley to sell their

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U.S. Senate GOP will try to drag Trump’s mega-bill across the finish line

10 months 1 week ago
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republican Leader John Thune will spend a crucial next few weeks working behind the scenes with other top GOP senators to reshape the party’s “big beautiful bill” — a balancing test accompanied in recent days by incendiary exchanges between President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk over whether the current proposals […]
Jennifer Shutt, Ariana Figueroa, Shauneen Miranda