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Alton Main Street Kicks Off Holiday Season With Tree Lighting On Nov. 17

1 year 6 months ago
ALTON - On Friday, November 17, 2023, Alton Main Street will host an event that’s sure to get you into the holiday spirit. The 29th Annual community Tree Lighting at Lincoln-Douglas Square will begin with the arrival of Santa Claus on the trolley at 6 p.m. The free festivities including caroling, cookies and hot cocoa will continue until 6:45 p.m. when Mayor David Goins flips the lights on the beautiful tree, which is provided by the Alton-Godfrey Rotary Club. This event will be broadcast live in a cooperative effort between Riverbender.com and WBGZ Radio. Mike Roberts and C.J. Nasello of Our Daily Show! will host the broadcast. Families are encouraged to bring their cameras to take pictures with Santa and costumed holiday characters. Songs will fill the air throughout the evening provided by area Girl Scout Troops, the Salvation Army’s “Let the Music Begin” singing group and the Great Rivers Choral Society. Pastor Patrick Thatcher of Country Bible Church

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Alton Mayor Goins Vetoes Full-Time Code Enforcement, Planning Directors Requirement

1 year 6 months ago
ALTON - In a rare move earlier this week, Alton Mayor David Goins vetoed an ordinance passed by the City Council that would’ve required the city to employ a full-time Director of Code Enforcement and a full-time Director of Planning and Development. Currently, both positions are filled by Greg Caffey in a part-time capacity. While some council members have called for dedicated full-time employees for each, Mayor Goins has given multiple reasons for his stance against the proposed requirement in the past and while presenting his veto on Nov. 8, 2023. At the Oct. 9, 2023 Committee of the Whole meeting , Alderwoman Betsy Allen said she believes both departments need a full-time director - not because Caffey had expressed difficulty handling both roles, but because her constituents have said they “would like more assistance.” “I believe that both departments, it’s a large responsibility, and I think that it requires two people, or a full-time for

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Disinformation campaign puts journalists’ lives at risk in Gaza

1 year 6 months ago

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, a man with so much irrational hatred for the free press that he must have something awful to hide from it, baselessly called for an investigation of major news outlets for supporting terrorism. "Tom Cotton" by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Israeli government’s invasion of Gaza is already the deadliest event for journalists in decades, and now a malicious disinformation campaign has put the lives of even more journalists at severe risk, with zero evidence of wrongdoing by any news outlet.

A group calling itself HonestReporting, which claims to “combat ideological prejudice in journalism and the media, as it impacts Israel,” published a report insinuating that freelance photojournalists who took pictures during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel were complicit with Hamas. HonestReporting has since backpedaled, admitting it had no proof.

Photojournalists risk their lives to document history. It’s absurd to suggest that photographing atrocities makes them complicit, or that they’re morally obligated to put their cameras down to fight terrorists armed with machine guns.

And it’s equally preposterous to suggest, as both Israeli and American officials have, that news outlets are responsible for all hypothetical misconduct by any freelancer from whom they buy a photograph.

The Jerusalem Post — where HonestReporting’s Executive Director Gil Hofman used to work — ran a headline that the journalists had “reportedly joined Hamas massacre.” And Israel’s embattled Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, seized on the spurious report to call the photojournalists “accomplices in crimes against humanity” and condemn the media outlets that published their work.

Others went even further. Former Israeli Minister of Defense Benny Gantz said journalists who photographed the attack “are no different than terrorists and should be treated as such.” Danny Danon, a member of Israel’s parliament and its former representative to the United Nations, said on X, formerly Twitter, that Israel's internal security agency would add the photojournalists named in HonestReporting’s report to its kill list. Presumably, there will be others.

But no one, apparently, stopped for a minute to check if the allegations were even remotely true.

In the U.S., Sen. Tom Cotton, a man with so much irrational hatred for the free press that he must have something awful to hide from it, sent a letter to the DOJ calling for an investigation of whether the Associated Press, CNN, The New York Times and Reuters “committed federal crimes by supporting Hamas terrorists.”

News outlets from the Times to the AP were forced to issue statements proclaiming that they didn’t have advance knowledge of the Hamas attacks.

And then HonestReporting essentially said never mind. Oops. After some backlash on social media, the group later told the AP it was simply “raising questions.” Hofman admitted there was no evidence to back up the insinuation that photojournalists had advance notice of the attacks or somehow collaborated with Hamas. Oh, and he also conceded: “We don’t claim to be a news organization.”

But the potentially lethal damage has already been done. It’s a virtual certainty that, despite HonestReporting’s about-face, its nonsense report will be cited to justify past and future attacks against journalists in what’s already by far the deadliest war for the press in modern memory.

If it hasn’t already been crystal clear, the Israeli government absolutely must now do everything in its power to undo the harm HonestReporting has caused and protect journalists covering the war, whether they are embedded with the IDF or not.

And the Biden administration has an obligation to pressure its close partner to protect press freedom in every way it possibly can. The amount of journalists killed in this conflict shocks the conscience, and turning a blind eye to this fact goes against every value and right the U.S. claims to hold dear.

Seth Stern

'A Gentleman's Guide To Love And Murder Begins At Alton Little Theater With Much Anticipation

1 year 6 months ago
ALTON - A total of 13 incredible talents are eager to share their story with audiences, beginning Nov. 10, 2023, at the Alton Little Theater Showplace as ALT presents "A Gentleman's Guide To Love And Murder." "A Gentleman's Guide To Love And Murder" by Robert L. Freedman with music by Steve Lutvak is directed here by Brant McCance and Lee Cox. It is produced with permission from Music, Theatre International. The show will run evenings on Nov. 10, 11, 15, 16, 17 and 18, 2023, and matinees on Nov. 12 and 19, 2023. Alton Little Theater describes the production as follows: "There’s a love triangle, murder is afoot, But the incomparable cast delights in exploring how a poor but crafty young man becomes the Earl of Highhurst with two ladies and a host of very funny characters who will win your hearts and minds. Lorian Warford and Jess McCawley extol the virtues of “ Bella-donna” while the ensemble extols the “funny” side, yes funny side of becoming professional

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SIUE We Care Student Nurses Discuss Asthma and Health Equity During EPA's Environmental Justice Week

1 year 6 months ago
EDWARDSVILLE - Black children are more likely to live in communities with higher-than-normal limits of ambient air pollution and attend schools located near significant environmental pollutants. These bleak statistics were just a few of many shared by Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Jerrica Ampadu, PhD, RN, CCP, associate professor in the SIUE School of Nursing (SON) and director of the SIUE WE CARE Clinic in East St. Louis. Ampadu and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students Julia Buckles and Jewel Radford gave a presentation on Health Equity and Environmental Justice during the Environmental Protection Agency’s virtual Explore Environmental Justice Week Series from Oct. 30-Nov. 3. The subject of the presentation was asthma, its environmental causes, and the systemic factors that impede the health and wellness of Black and Brown communities, according to Ampadu. Documentation from the presentation was taken from Buckles and Radford’s DNP project tha

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