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Police identified the man as Jo-Mark Jamar Willis, 27.

ALTON/MADISON COUNTY - The Madison County Sheriff's Office and Alton Police Department recently received a donation from MustacheMarch4PD, a volunteer-based organization that supports law enforcement and collaborates with several area police departments to foster positive community interactions. The contribution will be used to fund the addition of a third K9 unit for the sheriff’s office, officials said. "This volunteer-based organization supports law enforcement and frequently collaborates with several area Police Departments to help create positive community interactions," the sheriff's office said. "We are extremely thankful for their contribution." “We also know this wouldn’t be possible without the generous donations from the individuals, families, and businesses in our communities,” the Alton Police Department said in a statement. “We are grateful for their dedication, hard work, and commitment to making a positive impact. Partnerships lik

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A massive hole along the sidewalk of Washington Avenue in St. Louis' Downtown West neighborhood remains unfixed more than eight years after it opened.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Spencer Steer homered and drove in five runs, helping Brady Singer and the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2 on Wednesday. The Reds (76-76) used 11 hits to take the rubber game of the three-game series. They are hoping to rally into the third NL wild card in the [...]

ST. LOUIS - St. Louis Metropolitan Police lost two police officers on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, one to illness and another in a fatal car accident in East St. Louis, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department has announced. District 4 Officer Malik Baker was killed in a car accident on Interstate 55 in Illinois while driving to work. The crash occurred shortly before 4:30 p.m. Tuesday on southbound I-55 in East St. Louis, according to the Illinois State Police. ISP said Baker was driving a Toyota SUV and was traveling behind a Ford van carrying a trailer when he collided with the back of the van. Baker was pronounced dead at the scene, while the driver of the van was taken to a nearby hospital with injuries. Officer Baker had served the City of St. Louis for nearly four years. The police department described both officers as having served the community with honor and commitment. District 2 Sergeant James Sanders, a 31-year veteran, died after a prolonged battle with cancer. Despite

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OTTERVILLE – The 42nd annual Hamilton Primary School Festival is returning soon to the historical grounds of America’s first-ever integrated school. This year’s festival will be held on Saturday, Sept. 27 from 11 a.m to 6 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025 from 12 to 5 p.m. The event will welcome visitors to the historic schoolhouse grounds at 107 E. Main St. in Otterville for a weekend of fun with games, food, live music, and more – with no cost for admission. 2025 also marks the 26th year of the festival’s famous Bake-Off and Auction on Saturday, Sept. 27. Participants are encouraged to bake their best cookies, pastries, pie, cake, or bread for a chance to win one of three cash prizes: $30 for first place, $20 for second place, and $15 for third place. Bake-Off contestants should only prepare one item per entry, unless they’re submitting cookies or pastries, in which case they should prepare a dozen of either item. All entries must be brought

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Bob Dylan has been added to Saturday’s Farm Aid lineup, organizers announced Wednesday.This year's event, which marks the 40th anniversary of Farm Aid, will take place at Huntington Bank Stadium…

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WASHINGTON — Democratic U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Delia Ramirez of Illinois joined advocates Wednesday outside the U.S. Capitol to blast proposed cuts to education spending. The lawmakers and demonstrators rebuked a congressional spending panel’s bill that calls for $12 billion in spending cuts at the Education Department for the coming fiscal year and […]

BETHALTO - A teacher at Civic Memorial High School is one of 50 Voya Unsung Hero awardees in the country. Angie Parish, who teaches Medical Careers 1 and 2 at Civic Memorial, is the only teacher in Illinois who has been recognized by Voya. Parish’s classes provide hands-on training and shadowing opportunities for students who are interested in pursuing careers in medicine. “It’s really cool to have that opportunity and for it to be able to turn into something that's going to keep impacting students long past my career,” Parish said. “It’s very cool that the kids get to do this.” As part of the award, Parish received a $2,000 grant, which will go toward the purchase of CPR manikins and AEDs. These wishlist items will allow for CPR training that is “a lot easier and a lot more realistic” for the students. Parish conceptualized and began teaching Medical Careers 2 last year. After learning the basics in Medical Careers 1,

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The BBC's Ozzy Osbourne documentary has a new release date.The film, titled Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home, will debut on Oct. 2 after being delayed from its originally announced Aug. 18…

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ALTON - Alton High School’s girls cross country team placed fifth at the Belleville West Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, with senior Sophia Helfrich leading the way in the varsity girls race. Helfrich finished 14th out of 65 runners, posting a season-best time of 20 minutes, 15.5 seconds. The meet took place at Belleville West High School, where Alton competed against eight other teams. Highland High School won the event with 41 points, while Alton scored 119 points to secure fifth place. In addition to Helfrich’s performance, senior Monica Klockenkemper finished 17th with a time of 20:31.8, and senior Aliyah Rehling placed 23rd, completing the race in 21:09.8. Junior Allison Pruitt was 30th with a time of 22:11.6, senior Morgan Jinks came in 42nd at 24:22.8, and sophomore Anna Caughran finished 46th with a time of 25:36.2. The girls’ cross country squad members are Auto Butler Female Athletes of the Month for Alton.

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BELLEVILLE - The Alton High boys cross country team had a bundle of outstanding performances in the Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, Belleville West Invite. Senior Hank McClaine led the Alton boys' cross country team with a personal record at the Belleville West Cross Country Invite, helping the team secure sixth place out of 11 teams. McClaine won the boys varsity race with a time of 15 minutes, 16.5 seconds. The meet took place at Belleville West High School, where 76 runners competed in the varsity race. Redbirds' freshman Isaiah Cooper finished 33rd with a personal record of 17:52.6. Sophomore Austin Jones placed 47th, setting a personal best of 19:10.9. Junior Elias Clark and freshman Ezra Pfleger also achieved personal records, finishing with times of 19:22.7 and 19:30.7, respectively. Sophomore Gustavo Alcazar completed the race in 20:54.2, and junior Chase Baxter finished with a time of 21:46.9. Alton's boys team scored 178 points overall, placing sixth behind Highland, which won

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It’s probably too much to ask, but I hope California law enforcement agencies will remember who to direct their hate at if this bill becomes law. It’s not the “liberals” running the state. It’s the Trump administration and its mass deportation efforts. ICE and its actions have always been controversial, but it took a group […]

Just before 10:00 am on Saturday, September 13, 2025, District 3 officers were in the 3600 block of S. Grand Blvd investigating a suspicious person.

The post UPDATE: Man Pulls Weapon on Officers During Suspicious Person Investigation appeared first on St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

by Lauren McGaughy, The Texas Newsroom

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

This article is co-published with The Texas Newsroom and The Texas Tribune.

A group of state and national media organizations, including The Texas Newsroom, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, are arguing in court that records in Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s divorce case should be made available to the public.

The organizations filed their plea to intervene with the Collin County district court handling the Paxtons’ case on Tuesday. The filing requests that the court reverse a July decision to seal the case records, arguing that both the attorney general and his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, are elected officials subject to public scrutiny. The documents should be available for “review and inspection” with limited exceptions, the media organizations said.

“The grounds alleged for divorce and the disposition of property are of substantial public interest because they bear on integrity in public office, potential use of public resources, and transparency in judicial proceedings,” the media organizations argued.

The organizations noted that family law cases across the country, including divorce proceedings, are presumed public and that the couple’s political positions in Texas and Paxton’s decision in April to run for U.S. Senate add to the public interest.

Paxton served more than a decade in the Texas House of Representatives and Texas Senate before his election as state attorney general in 2014. Angela Paxton was first elected to the state Senate in 2018.

“Where, as here, the parties are not private citizens but elected constitutional officers, the need for transparency is heightened, not diminished,” the filing read. “Allegations that might suggest abuse of marital assets, concealment of financial information, or personal conduct inconsistent with public responsibility are not merely private — they are of public consequence.”

The eight organizations that signed on to the filing are Dow Jones & Co. (publisher of The Wall Street Journal), The Washington Post, Hearst Newspapers (which owns the Austin American-Statesman, Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News), ProPublica, The Texas Lawbook, the Texas Observer, The Texas Tribune and The Texas Newsroom.

Angela Paxton filed for divorce in July, accusing her husband of adultery. Soon after, she requested all records in the case be placed under seal, arguing that doing so would “not have an adverse affect on the public health or safety.”

Judge Ray Wheless granted her request in mid-July. He then recused himself. It’s not clear why, but Wheless and his wife, also a district court judge in Collin County, have donated to the Paxtons’ campaigns in the past.

The current judge listed online as presiding over the case is Lindsey Wynne.

After news of the divorce went public, Ken Paxton posted on the social media site X that he and his wife “decided to start a new chapter in our lives.” He attributed the divorce to the work of political enemies. In court, his attorney filed a brief general denial of Angela Paxton’s divorce petition.

In their filing calling for the records to be unsealed, the media organizations note that Paxton has been accused of impropriety at least six times while in elected office, including fraud, abuse of office and self-dealing.

In one of the most serious cases, he was charged with multiple felonies in 2015 for allegedly encouraging investors to buy into a McKinney, Texas, tech firm without telling them that he had a financial interest in the company and also failing to register with the state before soliciting clients for a friend’s investment firm. After years in court, Paxton cut a deal to do community service in lieu of facing trial. He did not admit guilt in this case and has not been convicted of a crime.

Then in 2023, the Texas House impeached him for alleged official misconduct, some of it related to accusations that he swapped political favors with a campaign donor in exchange for a job for the woman with whom he was allegedly having an affair. Paxton called it a political witch hunt and denied that he broke the law.

After a trial, the Texas Senate acquitted him and he was reinstated to office.

“These sustained, serious, and high-profile matters raise questions about AG Paxton’s conduct in public office and his fidelity to the law,” the organizations argued.

The couple’s assets, which were scrutinized during the impeachment process, will be a subject of the divorce case.

The Paxtons have purchased multiple homes and parcels of land in several states but failed for years to disclose them on state ethics filings.

This summer, after The Texas Newsroom revealed the lack of disclosure, the couple listed more information about the property acquisitions on their annual financial statements. In a note on the documents, Paxton said he believes the disclosure rules are murky and contradictory and that he was only disclosing properties “that continue to have bank notes serviced by the filer and/or the filer’s spouse.”

Angela Paxton has asked for a “disproportionate share” of the couple’s assets in her initial divorce filing, which The Texas Newsroom obtained prior to the records being sealed. She wanted sole use of their McKinney home while the case is pending as well exclusive access to her business account.

She also wants Ken Paxton to admit fault in the breakup of the marriage.

A lawyer for Ken Paxton did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the media organizations’ request. A spokesperson for Angela Paxton declined to comment.

Update, Sept. 17, 2025: This story has been updated to add a response from Angela Paxton’s spokesperson.

Lauren McGaughy is a journalist with The Texas Newsroom, a collaboration among NPR and the public radio stations in Texas. She is based at KUT in Austin. Reach her at lmcgaughy@kut.org.

A former St. James police officer is accused of negligent behavior in the drowning death of his two-year-old son.

Alejandro Sanz, MD , wants women dealing with breast cancer to know: a diagnosis might not mean you have to lose your breasts and the identity and confidence that come with them. The OSF HealthCare surgeon who specializes in breast surgery says if the disease is caught early, doctors and patients can review options to maintain the breasts. “Breast conservation surgery has developed significantly in the last few years. It’s an option that’s getting more and more common,” Dr. Sanz says. “With advances in screening mammograms and imaging quality, we are able to detect suspicious lesions early in their development. That’s good for breast conservation surgery because you’re dealing with less disease. That will also improve the prognosis overall.” Dr. Sanz performs breast conservation surgery that’s minimally invasive with a goal of addressing the cancer and keeping the breasts cosmetically pleasing (hiding scars, for example). “We

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CHICAGO - After successfully fighting to restore funding that had been frozen by the Trump Administration, Governor JB Pritzker, Attorney General Kwame Raoul, and the Illinois Department of Transportation today announced that $18.4 million in grants is being awarded to build 25 charging stations for electric vehicles along interstate corridors. The funding is made possible through the second round of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, which is helping to invest in communities and generate economic development while advancing our goal to have a million EVs registered in Illinois by 2030. “Illinois has been at the forefront of building a clean energy economy that creates jobs and helps lower costs for consumers, and building electric vehicle chargers across the states has been core to that mission,” said Governor JB Pritzker . “I’m thankful for the quick action of our Attorney General in the fight to restore these funds that Presiden

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A spokeswoman for the Republican governor said the same people will be serving now as before; their appointments were withdrawn before the special session.