……. Scares and Shares……… by Sandra Olmsted, Film Critic at The Cinematic Skinny on LightHeart Entertainment and Media As the nights lengthen, and our collective thoughts turn with the seasons to death and what haunts the nights, ghost stories and horror grow in popularity. Bingeing old favorites and others I didn’t think so […]
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs is committing $50 million to fund zero-interest and low-interest loans to unpaid federal workers during the government shutdown. The loans will be issued through participating banks and credit unions across Illinois with money made available through the Treasurer’s linked-deposit program. An estimated 153,000 federal employees live and work in Illinois. It is uncertain how many are not receiving their salaries since Oct. 1, when the shutdown began. "It is truly disheartening that a D.C. dispute over the right to affordable health care has reached a point where the federal government has locked out some workers and forced others to continue working without pay," Frerichs said. "Our no-interest loan program aims to provide much-needed relief to workers, ensuring they can feed their families, pay their mortgage, and stay current with electric and water bills.” Great Lakes Credit Union, with 20 branches across Chicagoland
For drivers heading south out of St. Louis County, a sign near Hillsboro has a rather startling message attached to it. It says, “Caution — you are traveling Blood Alley, one of Missouri's deadliest highways."
In U.S. cities big and small, mayors are finding their tenures shaped by housing shortages, and efforts to build more homes, so that people of any income can afford a place to live. In a series of conversations, mayors of big cities such as Atlanta and Seattle, as well as of midsize Midwest cities like […]
SPRINGFIELD – Today, Governor Pritzker signed Executive Order 2025-08 to direct $20 million towards food banks and to mitigate the harmful policies and actions taken by the Trump Administration. Governor Pritzker’s order launches a statewide strategy to respond to the Trump Administration halting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding benefits for nearly 2 million Illinoisans beginning November 1, as well as the devastating impacts of the Trump spending bill that reduces food assistance. “The Trump Administration wants to let tens of millions of Americans go hungry, a failure in leadership and abdication of our responsibility as Americans to take care of each other,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Illinois families, kids, seniors, and people with disabilities will now go without food benefits because President Trump wants to use food assistance as a political bargaining chip. I am directing the state government to work together with food
The final Megadeth album will include a rerecorded version of the Metallica song "Ride the Lightning," frontman Dave Mustaine confirms in an interview with Rolling Stone."It wasn't really that I wanted to…
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—a member of the U.S. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC)—lambasted Republicans for platforming a false, dangerous narrative designed to help Donald Trump rip as many promised benefits as possible from disabled American Veterans who earned them through their sacrifices in uniform. During the SVAC hearing, Duckworth derided the cherry-picked, anecdotal evidence Republicans used to try and inaccurately characterize the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Disability System as being plagued by waste, fraud and abuse when the facts show the overwhelming majority of benefits claims are well-earned and made by honest American heroes. Video of Duckworth’s remarks can be found on the Senator’s YouTube . “Nobody is denying the unfortunate reality that there exists a small number of Veterans who will dishonor their service by defrauding the VA—they should be prosecuted
ST. LOUIS — Daylight saving time ends on Sunday, November 2 and the American Red Cross encourages everyone to test their smoke alarms as they turn their clocks back to make sure the devices are working. “Working smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in a home fire in half as you only have about two minutes to safely get out,” said LaKricia Cox, Executive Director, Red Cross of Greater St. Louis. “Every second counts when there’s a home fire and the sooner an alarm alerts you to a fire, the sooner you can get to a safer place. When daylight saving time ends this weekend, test your smoke alarms to help prevent a tragedy in your home.” Over the past 9 months, local Red Cross volunteers responded to help 1,552 people in Greater St. Louis and select counties in Illinois that our chapter serves affected by 406 home fires, which account for most of the about 65,000 disasters that the Red Cross responds to annually across the country. SMOKE ALARMS When turning
EDWARDSVILLE — The sentencing hearing for Stanford Stokes, convicted in the shooting death of Jarred O. Hayes, was postponed Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025, after defense attorneys requested a continuance. Stokes was found guilty on all charges related to the incident, which occurred at 9:16 p.m. on Nov. 7, 2023, in the 900 block of East 7th Street in Alton. He was convicted of first-degree murder, home invasion, and unlawful possession of a firearm. First-degree murder carries a sentence of 20 to 60 years in prison. The jury also determined that Stokes personally discharged a firearm during the commission of the murder, making him eligible for an enhanced sentence of an additional 25 years to life. The judge has scheduled no new sentencing date.
St. Louis -- Let’s go for a walk! The Autism Speaks Empower Walk & 5K Run kicks off this weekend on Sunday, November 2, 2025. This event is one of the world’s largest fundraising efforts dedicated to supporting research, resources, and advocacy to individuals and families affected by autism. Event Details: To learn more about [...]
CLINTON COUNTY — On Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025, law enforcement agencies from Clinton County, Marion County, and the Illinois Conservation Police executed search warrants at locations in both counties in connection with an incident involving multiple deer killed on a roadway in Clinton County. The operation followed reports of several deer being shot from a vehicle on Oct. 24, 2025, in the Boulder area of Clinton County. Authorities recovered and seized evidence at the addresses searched. Ashen McArthur, a resident of rural Carlyle, was taken into custody by Clinton County Sheriff’s deputies and Illinois Conservation Police officers. McArthur is suspected of killing at least 13 deer at various locations by stopping a vehicle in the roadway and using a .22 caliber rifle and a spotlight. McArthur faces multiple conservation violations as well as other criminal charges. The Clinton County Sheriff’s Office expressed gratitude to the public for their assistance during
ALTON – The Hayner Public Library District, which serves the approximately 46,000 residents of Alton, Godfrey, and Foster Township, recently completed a building program developed to assist the Board of Trustees as they determine the best course of action for the District’s facilities. In April 2024, the District hired Fred Schlipf to assist in writing the building program, a comprehensive plan outlining the District’s goals, requirements, and functional needs of a potential new facility. Schlipf has been a library school faculty member for over fifty years, currently serving as an Adjunct Professor at the Graduate School of Information Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is the author of the book The Practical Handbook of Library Architecture: Creating Building Spaces That Work, the definitive resource for library architecture. For nearly eighteen months, Mr. Schlipf, the Board of Trustees, and the Library’s Executive Director Mary Cordes
Like far too many people in the Trump administration — including the 79-year-old child currently sitting in the Oval Office — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth thinks he’s owed respect simply because of the position he holds. While a certain amount of deference is expected when you’re the boss, it’s much more difficult to earn […]
Turkey hunters in Illinois harvested 255 wild turkeys during the 2025 fall firearm season Oct. 18-26, compared to 294 harvested last year, a news release says. The record harvest was set in 2005 when 1,218 birds were harvested. This year 1,763 regular fall firearm season permits were sold compared to 1,756 last year. The largest [...]
ALTON – An Alton woman faces felony charges after she allegedly stole over $10,000 in a two-year health care fraud scheme while employed by the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS). Terra A. Williams, 37, of Alton, was charged on Oct. 23, 2025 with one count of managed health care fraud (a Class 1 felony), two Class 1 felony counts of theft, and a Class 3 felony count of forgery. From July 21, 2022 to May 21, 2024, Williams allegedly knowingly executed or conspired to execute a scheme to defraud Meridian Health Plan of Illinois. She reportedly caused the health plan to authorize payments to herself under the Illinois Aid Code which she was not legally entitled to, with the unlawful payments totaling over $10,000. Williams is additionally accused of submitting fraudulent Home Health Services time sheets containing false date and time entries for services that were reportedly never rendered by Williams as an IDHS employee. The case against Williams was presented
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