a Better Bubble™

Aggregator

Planning Commission Appointments Postponed, Debated At Wood River Meeting

2 years 3 months ago
WOOD RIVER - Wood River City Council members voted to delay the reappointments of Sara Hall, Sheila Angel, and Shelly Fitzgerald, as well as the new appointment of Kristen Burns, to the city’s Planning Commission. Jesse Daniels was to be appointed as Chairman and Councilman Bill Dettmers was to be appointed as Ex-Officio before the council voted 3-2 to table the item until the next meeting. After the motion to approve Mayor Tom Stalcup’s recommended appointments to the commission was made, Councilman David Ayres moved to table the item until the next meeting, stating he suggested the council meet about this topic twice since their first meeting, but no such meeting had taken place. Councilman Bill Dettmers said the goal of reviewing and limiting these committee appointments is based on “several cities” which have tried to limit the size of their committees, adding that the Wood River Planning Commission is the largest committee in the city. He said the

Continue Reading

Long-Time Community Servant: Jack Keller Considered Marshal Role Huge Honor

2 years 3 months ago
ALTON - Jack Keller has always been one to serve his community and country. This past Memorial Day, he was honored with one of his biggest accomplishments - he was the grand marshal for the historic Alton parade. Jack rated the day as "quite an honor." "It was very kind of them to do that," he said. "I always loved doing community service type of work and my work with East End Improvement Association," one of the parade sponsors. East End also is a coordinator of the Alton Halloween Parade and Jack has been involved in both for years upon years. Jack and his wife, Joan, both rode together in the parade. He describes Joan as "the love of my life." Jack is now 92 years old. Jack was a 3rd Class Petty Officer during the Korean War and was based in Key West, Fla. Keller spent much of his time aboard a submarine and part of a crew. He said he retained friends from those days for the rest of his life. Jack returned home to raise his children and now loves not only his children but also

Continue Reading

Techdirt Podcast Episode 353: Moderator Mayhem!

2 years 3 months ago
Last month, in partnership with Engine, we launched our new browser game that puts you in the shoes of a frontline content moderation worker at a growing online platform: Moderator Mayhem. If you haven’t tried it yet, you can play it in your browser on mobile or desktop. The response to the game has been […]
Leigh Beadon

World War II POW Survivor Robert Ryan Reflects On 75th Anniversary Of D-Day

2 years 3 months ago
ALTON - Legendary Alton attorney Robert Ryan today reflected on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day. Ryan, now 99 years old, had an interesting perspective on that historic day, as he was a prisoner in a Nazi prison camp. Ryan is a Marquette graduate and entered the U.S. Army Air Corps at age 19. When he came back home, he returned to school and graduated with a law degree from St. Louis University. Later in the day of the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944, Ryan said he joined several other Allied prisoners for a gathering inside the prison camp. “Some of the German officers called us together and stepped out and said the invasion had begun and that the slaughter of Allied troops was terrible,” Ryan said. “I thought to myself that day, ‘We will be here for another 10 years.’ I was devastated that day, it was a very depressing day." Ryan also said he and the other prisoners were greatly impacted by the thought of the loss of American lives in the invasion.

Continue Reading

Wood River Boasts Lowest Tax Rate In Decades, Higher Property Values

2 years 3 months ago
WOOD RIVER - Wood River is reporting higher property values and lower property taxes this year, including the largest one-year tax rate decrease since 1970 and the city’s lowest tax rate since 1996. City Manager Steve Palen said Madison County was being “conservative” with last year’s equalized assessment valuation (EAV), and that the new EAV is a nearly $12 million or 8.13% increase over last year, making it the highest EAV in the city’s history. “With the EAV increase, we have an expected tax rate of 1.5509 … versus 1.6674, which was projected,” Palen said. “Therefore, the tax rate decrease from the ‘21 levy is 0.1266 - this is the largest one-year decrease since at least 1970 and the lowest tax rate since 1996. “Since the EAV increased nearly $12 million, the city now has the highest EAV in its history, exceeding last year’s previous high mark of $147 million. The approximate effect on a $100,000 home

Continue Reading

PGA Tour, LIV Golf agree to merge

2 years 3 months ago
A year after PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan called LIV Golf an “irrational threat” to the sport, the PGA Tour and LIV will be merging into a new for-profit entity. The merger comes after more than a year of tension between the Tour and the upstart backed by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund. The PGA Tour, based in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, will appoint a majority of the board in the combined entity and hold a majority voting interest. The agreement brings together the commercial…
Timothy Gibbons

Canadian smoke triggers air quality alert for St. Louis

2 years 3 months ago
ST. LOUIS -- It's another hazy day in St. Louis with temperatures returning to the 80s to near 90 today. Wildfire smoke from eastern Canada is being drawn southwest into our region. Some people have also reported smelling the smoke in the air. There is an orange air quality alert for the St. Louis area. [...]
Joe Millitzer