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Today on TAP: Trump’s version is a joke. But even our version would have limited benefits.

The 2025 edition of Bowl for Ronnie, the annual charity celebrity bowling tournament held in honor of the late Ronnie James Dio, has been announced.The event will take place Nov.…

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DECATUR – Today, Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) announced a $2 billion investment from Cronus Chemicals LLC (Cronus) to construct a new fertilizer production facility in Tuscola, Illinois. Supported by DCEO with an Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) agreement, the new investment will create 130 new jobs in Central Illinois, bolster the state’s manufacturing and agricultural industries, and reduce the state’s reliance on imported nitrogen products. “Illinois is building the infrastructure to power an entirely new bioeconomy by attracting major industry players to innovate right here in our state,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Cronus Chemicals is a shining example of that vision. Their new $2 billion, state-of-the-art facility in Tuscola will create more than 130 full-time jobs, serve as an anchor for the agricultural industry of tomorrow, and spur investment that will

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SHAWNEETOWN, Ill. - Illinois State Fire Marshal Michele Pankow visited the Shawneetown Fire Department on Friday, August 22, to present checks totaling $350,000 each to Shawneetown and Carrier Mills Fire Departments and $300,000 to the Equality Fire Department through OSFM’s Fire Station Construction and Rehabilitation Grant Program. Shawneetown Fire Chief Terry Golden Video: https://youtu.be/OkgN4MlvKcg Carrier Mills Mayor Tracy Felty Video: https://youtu.be/u1qxKSyRHb I Equality Fire Chief Cole Baker Video: https://youtu.be/NXTshFnZLzw The OSFM awarded $5 million dollars to 17 grantees across the state. This funding will allow fire departments or fire protection districts to repair, upgrade, or construct new fire houses. A full list of recipients and be viewed here: https://sfm.illinois.gov/currentfocus/2025-fire-station-construction-and-rehabilitation-grant-award-an.html The Village of Carrier Mills showcased its new fire engine, purchased with funding from

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PONTOON BEACH – The Illinois Department of Transportation today announced that in addition to the ongoing closure of Illinois 111 at Interstate 270 in Madison County, a full closure of the ramp from westbound I-270 to northbound Illinois 111 will begin, weather permitting, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. This closure is expected to last approximately 14 days as part of the I-270/Illinois 111 interchange reconstruction project. The posted detour for the ramp closure is as follows: Eastbound I-270 to southbound I-255, then westbound Illinois 162 to Illinois 111. Westbound I-270: Take northbound Illinois 157 to westbound Chain of Rocks Road to northbound Illinois 111 Northbound I-255: Take eastbound I-270 to northbound Illinois 157 to westbound Chain of Rocks Road to northbound Illinois 111 In addition, one other outer ramp will be closed for 14 days at a different time. The specific closure date for this ramp will be announced as the work progresses. Work on the entire interchange

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WOOD RIVER — Wood River Fire Department, Wood River Police Department and Alton Memorial Ambulance responded to a bicyclist being struck. A 68-year-old bicyclist was struck Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 26, 2025, on Wesley Drive in front of the Wood River Walmart when a motorist turning left into the store’s entrance collided with the rider, Wood River Police Chief Brad Wells said. The incident occurred as the bicyclist was traveling downhill on Wesley Drive. Emergency responders called Air Evac, which landed its medical helicopter in the grassy area in front of the Walmart to transport the victim to a hospital in St. Louis. The victim had a head injury but was alert and conscious according to Chief Wells. Authorities continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the collision.

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Samuel Bailey, 74, admitted to breaking into his ex-girlfriend's house and shooting her while she stood on her front porch with police officers.

It's customary to get frustrated when your lunch plans are derailed. That was not the case for one Missouri Lottery player, whose cravings led to a multi-million dollar jackpot.

The percentage of kindergarten students in Missouri vaccinated against diseases like measles and whooping cough is dropping each year as more parents turn in non-medical exemptions prior to their child’s first day of school. Only 90% of Missouri kindergarten students were immunized against measles, mumps and rubella last year, according to the Missouri Department of […]

One of the few Republican U.S. House members making in-person appearances embarked on a town hall tour of his district to meet with constituents, and a civil conversation broke out.

A St. Louis man was sentenced Tuesday for the 2021 murder of his ex-girlfriend.

ST. LOUIS - The American Red Cross transitioned the location of its shelter for those impacted by the explosion Monday in North St. Louis County to: Faith Church, 5320 N. Highway 67, Florissant, MO 63034 A water main break affected the original shelter that Red Cross opened Monday afternoon at Saint Angela Merici, 3860 N. Highway 67, Florissant, MO 63034. Approximately 20 people came to the shelter for dinner, but no one stayed overnight. This location is now closed. Individuals affected by the explosion are encouraged to come to the new shelter location for water, meals, snacks, resources and a safe place to stay overnight. Individuals do not have to stay overnight at shelters. Individuals affected can also call 1-800-RED-CROSS for assistance or download the Red Cross Emergency app for shelter updates and resources. Identification and/or proof of residency is NOT required to be admitted to a Red Cross shelter. American Red Cross services are free and available to all regardles

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Two members of Fleetwood Mac appear on a new song Miley Cyrus wrote as a birthday gift for her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, who turned 64 on Monday.Billy Ray wrote on Instagram, "For my birthday, Miley…

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by Doug Bock Clark

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.

Heather Honey, a high-profile denier of Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, has been appointed to a senior position in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in which she’ll help oversee the nation’s election infrastructure.

Honey is a protege of Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who tried to help Trump overturn the 2020 election results. In 2024, ProPublica reported that Honey had played a key role in Mitchell’s behind-the-scenes effort to change Georgia’s election rules to allow Republican officials to contest a potential Trump loss in that year’s presidential race. Honey also promoted election conspiracy theories, including one Trump cited in a speech to his followers before they stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Though states do the on-the-ground work of running elections, DHS supports them with tasks beyond their capacities, such as protecting IT infrastructure and voter databases from foreign intrusions. The agency, with bipartisan support, took on this role in the aftermath of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

Experts on voting and state election officials warned that Honey’s appointment as DHS’ deputy assistant secretary of election integrity could erode trust between state and federal officials, prompting states not to share information with the agency.

“We are witnessing a dangerous trend: the elevation of known bad-faith actors like Heather Honey,” said Adrian Fontes, Arizona’s Democratic secretary of state, in a statement, citing Honey’s “well-documented history of spreading election lies that have been debunked in court.”

Fontes called her involvement with DHS “deeply troubling” and said “when the agency gives a platform to individuals who have actively worked to erode public trust, it becomes harder to view DHS as a reliable partner in election security.”

A DHS spokesperson did not answer questions from ProPublica on Honey’s appointment or the exact nature of her responsibilities. Honey didn’t respond to calls or emails. The White House also didn’t respond to a request for comment. Her name is listed on the organization’s leadership structure online, and her appointment was first reported by the website Democracy Docket.

In the first Trump administration, the federal government set up programs designed to shield U.S. elections from foreign interference, including the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, an arm of DHS. But Trump soured on this and other initiatives after the director of CISA publicly rebutted his claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

Since the start of the second Trump presidency, the administration has gutted those programs, cutting hundreds of employees at CISA. Its director, Chris Krebs, is now under federal investigation, DHS has said; Krebs told CNN that the investigation appeared to be an act of political retribution. The Justice Department has also rolled back a program aimed at combatting foreign influence campaigns. Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote in a memorandum that the Justice Department’s program was disbanded to “free resources to address more pressing priorities, and end risks of further weaponization and abuses of prosecutorial discretion.”

David Becker, the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, a nonprofit focused on building trust in American elections, said the cuts had dismantled “nearly all” of DHS’ capacity to protect election infrastructure. He said state elections officials feared that Honey’s appointment, combined with the program cuts, signaled the Trump administration’s intent to eliminate bulwarks of fair U.S. elections.

“The hiring of an election conspiracy theorist with no election knowledge or expertise is the culmination of this reversal,” Becker said. “DHS now appears poised to become a primary amplifier of false election conspiracies pushed by our enemies.”

Two sources familiar with Honey’s hiring at DHS said she began working for the agency last week. An organizational chart dated Aug. 18 on the department’s website identifies her as a leader in the agency’s Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans. Her position wasn’t on a version of the website archived in July, and officials in former administrations said that there’s been no such job previously.

It’s not clear yet what Honey will oversee, but former DHS officials said that deputy assistant secretaries are typically the agency’s top experts in their subject areas. They’re often involved in drafting executive orders and crafting policies. They also serve as liaisons to the White House and the National Security Council.

Since Honey started, Trump has announced “a movement to get rid of” mail-in ballots and voting machines via executive order, though a top aide subsequently said the administration would pursue those goals through legislative action. DHS has also threatened to cut off about $28 million in grants to help states prepare for terrorism and disasters if they don’t change voting rules to conform to the administration’s priorities, NPR has reported.

Honey’s duties likely would include helping to organize the government’s policy responses if foreign actors make intrusions into the nation’s election systems, former officials said. To do this, and to assess the security of election infrastructure, someone in her position would typically have access to classified information, including the government’s election-related intelligence.

Experts expressed concern about Honey’s portfolio, given her history of spreading misinformation.

“Heather Honey’s past misleading claims about vote counts in Pennsylvania, among other things, have helped fuel false conspiracy theories about stolen elections,” said Larry Norden, an election expert at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, a nonpartisan law and policy group.

Before becoming swept up in the “Stop the Steal” movement, Honey had no experience in the federal government or as an election administrator, working as a Pennsylvania-based private investigator.

After the 2020 election, she became a contractor for a Republican-backed audit seeking proof of fraud in ballots cast in Maricopa County, Arizona. According to emails between employees working on the review, which ended up reaffirming Biden’s win, Honey helped draft the final report.

Since then, Honey has led at least three organizations devoted to transforming election systems in ways championed by conservatives, such as tightening eligibility requirements for people to be on voter rolls. Members of Honey’s Pennsylvania Fair Elections, a state chapter of Mitchell’s nationwide Election Integrity Network, have challenged the eligibility of thousands of residents to be on voter rolls.

Honey has also been involved in numerous other efforts to transform elections around the country, including a successful push to get many states with Republican leadership to pull out of a bipartisan interstate partnership to share data to make voting more secure.

Do you have information you can share about Heather Honey or elections work being done in the federal government, especially at the Department of Homeland Security? Contact reporter Doug Bock Clark at doug.clark@propublica.org or on Signal at 678-243-0784. If you’re concerned about confidentiality, check out our advice on the most secure ways to share tips.

Christopher Bing and William Turton contributed reporting.

Last week, FBI agents raided the home of John Bolton—former National Security Advisor, lifelong Republican, and one of the most establishment figures in American foreign policy. His crime? Writing a book critical of Donald Trump and opposing the president’s surrender summit with Vladimir Putin. The justification? A “national security investigation in search of classified records”—the […]

EAST ALTON - Rosewood Café is celebrating its first anniversary, and owner Tija Hunter is excited to share their homemade menu, new fall lattes, soup flights and more fun with the community. Located at 961 East Airline Drive in East Alton, the café is “doing fabulous.” Hunter loves the “charm” of the place, and she works hard to serve up that welcoming atmosphere and delicious food. “Sometimes I think I’m Italian because I feel like I have to feed everybody,” Hunter joked. “I’m very happy. Every small business owner could be busier. No two ways about that. But we’re really excited. People come in every day that have never been there, and they’re excited. It’s fun to see them, to watch them experience it.” The café’s menu includes coffee, soups, sandwiches, toast and similar items from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays, and 8 a.m.

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