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Missouri S&T Steel Bridge Design Team Places Fifth In National Competition

4 months ago
ROLLA, MO. - The Steel Bridge Design Team at Missouri University of Science and Technology placed fifth in the nation at the Student Steel Bridge Competition, held Saturday, May 31 at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. The fifth-place finish is a record for the S&T team, with a previous best result of twelfth place in 2004. The Steel Bridge competition requires students to design a scale model of a bridge, spanning 20 feet and capable of holding 2,500 pounds. The assembly of the bridge is timed, and the completed bridges are load-tested, weighed and judged on aesthetics and cost estimates. The bridges are designed to solve a real-world problem; this year's challenge was to design a bridge over the South Skunk River in Iowa to connect walking trails in a park. The S&T team earned their place at the national competition with their seventh consecutive win at the American Society of Civil Engineers Mid-America Student Symposium, in which they came in first in six out of seven categories

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Unqualified Right Wing Zealot Gavin Wax Poised To Be Nominated To Trump’s FCC

4 months ago
Last week, Republican FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington abruptly announced that he would be stepping down from the FCC. Simington gave all of two-days notice of his departure, which was odd not only because of the short notice, but because it delays Trump Republicans from getting a voting majority allowing them to actually do anything real. […]
Karl Bode

Community Gathers for Troy's First Friday Event

4 months ago
TROY - The City of Troy and the Troy/Maryville/St. Jacob/Marine Chamber of Commerce hosted their second First Friday event. On Friday, June 6, 2025, community members came out to downtown Troy to visit with vendors, check out the local businesses, enjoy live music and more. These events, hosted on the First Friday of every month from May to September excluding July, invite the community to have a fun night while supporting local business owners. “It’s so amazing to see everyone downtown celebrating tonight,” said Carol Sparks, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce board. “It’s great, absolutely. When you think about the local community and the local economy and all the things that can happen here, it’s great to see new business coming, new people coming to town, and just supporting what’s here and growing what we have.” Sparks and Dawn Mushill, president of the Chamber of Commerce, noted that the idea behind First Friday came

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Granite City Residents Charged In Recent Battery Cases

4 months ago
GRANITE CITY – A man and woman from Granite City face felony charges of battery and domestic battery in separate criminal cases. Skyla M. Soomro, 18, of Granite City, was charged on June 4, 2025 with two Class 3 felony counts of aggravated battery. Soomro allegedly struck the victim in the head with a glass bottle, causing a laceration to the victim’s head which required multiple stitches to close. The Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to deny Soomro’s pretrial release from custody. According to the petition, the victim told authorities Soomro entered a room and struck her with the glass bottle “unprovoked.” A witness supported the victim’s statement, and Soomro reportedly “admitted to the offense, saying the victim owed her money.” According to a report of Soomro’s criminal history, she was under an active Order of Protection at the time of this incident. The protective order was issued in

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State Police To Conduct Distracted Driving Enforcement In Madison, St. Clair Counties

4 months ago
COLLINSVILLE – Illinois State Police (ISP) Troop 8 Commander, Captain Casey Faro, announces the ISP will conduct Distracted Driving Enforcement Program patrols in Madison and St. Clair counties during June. This program allows ISP to focus on distracted driving laws to prevent traffic deaths and serious injury crashes. Distracted Driving is doing another activity that takes the driver’s attention away from driving. Distractions can increase a driver’s risk of being in an accident. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: - Over 3,000 people annually are killed in crashes involving distracted driving. - Reading a text message cantake a driver’s eyes off the road for an average of five seconds. - Nearly 1 in every 10 injury crashes involved a distracted driver. Officers will be on the lookout for drivers who disobey Illinois’ distracted driving laws. - All drivers are prohibited from reading, sending, or receiving text messages or

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Duckworth, Warren and Colleagues Demand Investigation After Uncovering DOGE Employee Gained Access to Sensitive Education Department Data

4 months ago
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and fellow Senate Democratic colleagues in calling on the Acting Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to open an investigation into new information obtained by her office revealing that DOGE may have gained access to “two of FSA’s internal systems: Financial Management System (FMS) and Partner Connect,” in addition to sensitive borrower data. Following DOGE’s “takeover” of ED, the Senators opened an investigation into the matter. In response, ED disclosed that DOGE supported a review of FSA’s contracts, and to conduct this review, ED granted “one employee read-only access” to two of FSA’s internal systems, which both hold sensitive personal information for people on Title IV loan and grant programs. “Because of the Department’s refusal to provide full and complete information, the full

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SIUE PD Prepares Officers with Training that Applies to Reportedly One-Fourth of the Population

4 months ago
EDWARDSVILLE – As long as there are instances of people dealing with post-traumatic stress, depression and more becoming increasingly intertwined with responses from law enforcement, then it will remain critical for police officers to be properly trained in sensory inclusivity, according to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Dominic Dorsey. Dorsey, Director of SIUE Office for Accessible Campus Community and Equitable Student Support (ACCESS) and President of SIUE’s Black Faculty and Staff Association, presented the topic of sensory inclusivity to the SIUE Police Department. “During a conversation with Director Dorsey, regarding how the SIUE PD could better serve our diverse community, he mentioned sensory inclusivity and the great training provided by KultureCity ,” said Patrol Officer Maria Ferrari. The department is in the process of obtaining sensory inclusion first responder certification from KultureCity. “Sensory inclusivity

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Steve Bannon Is Right About Elon Musk

4 months ago
Today on TAP: Trump has threatened to revoke Musk’s SpaceX government contracts. It would be better if he followed Bannon’s advice and nationalized SpaceX.
Robert Kuttner