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EAST ALTON – The National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC sm ) team is launching a multi-year microplastics initiative to understand how plastics are affecting our freshwater ecosystems. “Scientists have only recently discovered that microplastics are found in almost all areas of the environment and are being ingested by most organisms, including humans” Large River Ecologist Jason Knouft said. “Unfortunately, we don't really know if and how these particles are affecting our health. This is likely an issue that impacts us all and requires significant attention.” Microplastics are defined as plastic pieces less than five millimeters or 0.2 inches in diameter. They have been detected in marine organisms as small as plankton, commercial seafood, and our drinking water. As of March 2022, leading health researchers have also detected microplastics in human blood. Microplastics are becoming increasingly prevalent in the environment and

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SPRINGFIELD – Alton and Edwardsville's unemployment rates have dipped considerably in a year-to-year March comparison from 2021 to 2022. Alton was at 5.3 percent compared to 8.5 percent a year ago, a 3.2 percent drop, while Edwardsville was at 2.98 percent compared to 3.8 percent a year ago, a 0.9 percent drop. Granite City was at 3.8 percent compared to 7.2 percent a year ago in March and East St. Louis was down in March 2022 to 7.0 percent unemployment rate from 12.4 percent in March 2021. Madison County had a 3.9 percent unemployment rate in March 2022 compared to 5.6 percent in March 2021, while Calhoun was at 4.1 percent this year from 5.5 percent, Jersey was at 3.6 percent from 4.9 percent, Macoupin County was at 3.8 percent from 5.3 percent and Greene County was 4.0 percent from 5.2 percent in March 2021. The unemployment rate decreased over-the-year in thirteen Illinois metropolitan areas and increased in one in March according to preliminary data released today

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ST. LOUIS COUNTY - On Saturday April 23, 2022, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office issued warrants on suspect Leon Russell, 29 years of age, of the 1100 block of Laredo Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri 63138, for three counts of Assault Second Degree, Resisting Arrest by Fleeing, Tampering with a Motor Vehicle First Degree, and Driving while Suspended. A mugshot of Russell is attached. Russell is being held without bond. Please note, charges are merely an accusation and Defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law. The probable cause statement for Russell reads: On or about April 22, 2022, St. Louis County Police Officers attempted to stop a vehicle being driven by Defendant because it was reported stolen. The vehicle Defendant was driving was stolen the night before in an armed robbery in the City of St. Louis. Defendant immediately accelerated his vehicle in an attempt to flee from the officers. Defendant evaded spike strips

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WOOD RIVER - A female was struck after a vehicle hit a parked vehicle, then the previously parked vehicle went airborne and hit her on Monday night on Rock Hill Road and Bonita Street in Wood River. Wood River Police Chief Brad Wells said a motorist was westbound on Rock Hill Road when they first struck a push mower, then the vehicle hit the parked car that struck a female. The injured female was airlifted to a St. Louis hospital with serious injuries. The street was blocked off with caution tape and barriers. The Illinois State Police reconstruction team was called to investigate the scene. Wood River Police Department investigated the situation early on and monitored traffic in the area, while the Wood River Fire Department assisted the injured person in the situation before she was airlifted.

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MEADOWBROOK - A young boy and girl were reported missing for a period of time Monday evening off Truman Street in Meadowbrook, however, the children were located by the Madison County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from neighboring firefighters. Bethalto, Meadowbrook, Cottage Hills, and Rosewood Heights fire agencies assisted in the location of the two children. The children were both discovered by about 9:30 p.m. Monday. The children's family was emotional and very happy with their return.

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ALTON - Illinois American Water’s work to separate the Alton combined sewer system and install new sanitary sewers continues. Below is information about this week’s road closures –April 25, 2022 Piasa Valley Area: The intersection of 12th/Alby Streets continues to be closed. 12th Street is closed east to Alton Street, with the closure extending to George Street as work progresses east. 10th Street is closed between Alby Street and Alton Streets, with the closure extending east to George Street eventually. All highlighted yellow roads are awaiting final pavement restoration. Thru traffic is not advised in these areas. Please drive carefully if you have to drive those areas to access your property. Turner Tract Area: Danforth Street pavement restoration has started and will be completed later this week, weather dependent. All other remaining areas have pavement restoration that has been completed. Please drive carefully as there is still some construction traffic

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ALTON - The Alton City-Wide Litter Clean-Up proved to be a major success last Saturday as volunteers from local businesses and all over the community took to the streets to clean up litter from their neighborhoods. Pride, Inc., a nonprofit organization focused on neighborhood beautification projects, took on a major role in organizing this City-Wide Clean-Up in collaboration with Alton Main Street and several other local organizations. “It was wonderful - thank God we had beautiful weather,” Pride, Inc. Executive Director Pat Stewart said. “It was just really neat ... some of the feedback we’ve gotten from others as far as people driving by and honking and thanking us for what we did.” Supplies such as gloves and bags were provided at registration stations for those who needed them, along with free donuts. While the event was widely successful, Stewart said the amount of trash collected underscores the need for a future anti-littering campaign. &ldquo

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ALTON - Earth Day is always filled with positive volunteer efforts across the country to eliminate waste and preserve our world for the future. Area bus drivers, led by Victoria Cobb-Bock, tackled a large cleanup area of Alton with the assistance of Boys Scouts Troop 1 in Alton. This group's effort was part of the overall Earth Day effort in the Riverbend. "We had a good time and the boys surprised me with all the effort they put in," Victoria Cobb-Bock said. "We had 25 people show up." Victoria is always on the lookout to assist with any litter cleanup and said she participates in the Earth Day event every year. "This was my sixth year of doing it personally," she said. "This cleanup makes a huge difference. This cleans up a lot of trash that could eventually end up in our river." Victoria's group handled an area near Big Arch, Alton Square Mall, behind Alton Middle School, Humbert Road, James Killion Park at Salu area, Main, and also Hillcrest and Sering areas of Alton. Victoria

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GRAFTON - The City of Grafton celebrated Earth Day last week with its first annual organized trash pickup along the riverfront. Nick Hutchens, Grafton’s Director of Public Works, organized the cleanup day and coordinated with several volunteer groups to make the cleanup efforts a success. Children and teachers from several grades and schools attended the First Annual Earth Day Cleanup. The kids knew a lot about Earth Day, and they did a great job cleaning up the riverfront and in Girl Scout Park. The groups participating in the cleanup day were Grafton Third Grade Elementary, Re-New Edwardsville, and Jersey Community Middle School Student Council. The Jersey County Queens assisted with cleaning and painting of the back wall of Girl Scout Park. Nick has volunteered his personal time to organize and work on this project. "The Park project began with Nick’s vision of transforming this vacant city lot on Main Street into a public “take and leave” library with

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ST. LOUIS - St. Louis County Police Crimes Against Persons detectives are currently investigating a homicide in the 4800 block of Cloverfield Trails Court which resulted in the death of an adult male. On March 30, 2022, at approximately 11:30 PM, St. Louis County police officers from the North County Precinct responded to a call for service for a shooting in the 3800 block of Cloverfield Trails Court. Officers located an adult male suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. The victim was transported to an area hospital for treatment. On April 21, 2022, the victim, now identified as Darius Monda, 31 years of age, of the 4800 block of Cloverfield Trails Court in St. Louis, Missouri 63033, succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased at an area hospital. The investigation is very active at this time. Additional information will be disseminated as it becomes available. Please contact the St. Louis County Police Department at 636-529-8210 to speak with investigators

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ALTON - A pair of vehicles collided at the intersection of 20th and Alby Street in Alton over the lunch hour on Monday, April 25, 2022. The accident was the second serious one of the morning for Alton Police and Alton Fire Department. Airbags were deployed in the crash. The status of injuries in the accident was not yet known. Traffic was being rerouted from the accident scene by Alton Police. More to come.

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GRANITE CITY - The Madison County Coroner Stephen P. Nonn has identified a Granite City resident who tragically lost his life following a fire occurring at his residence in the 1200 Block of Franko Lane, in Granite City, on Friday, April 22, 2022. The fire was reported to 9-1-1 at approximately 1:13 a.m. The man was positively identified as one: Tony M. Peterson 56 yoa White/Male Chouteau Township, Illinois The coroner's office said Peterson was pronounced deceased at the scene by Madison County Coroner’s Office Investigator Kyle Burgess at 05:19 a.m., Friday, April 22, 2022. When Mitchell Fire Department Units arrived at the scene, they found heavy smoke and flames. Peterson’s body was located within the residence and found after the fire was extinguished. Nonn said an autopsy has been completed with the preliminary findings to show the decedent suffered from smoke inhalation. A final cause and manner of death will be issued at a later time, pending results

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ALTON - Local Alton band Hideous Gentlemen is releasing their new album “Imitation of Myself” at a celebration concert at The Conservatory in Alton on Friday, April 29 at 7 p.m. Physical copies of the album will be available at the release concert at The Conservatory, where Hideous Gentlemen will perform alongside bands Piasa Creek and 40 Thieves. The physical album will also be available at Riverbend Records and the Alton Music Exchange. The album will release digitally on streaming platforms on May 13; Hideous Gentlemen is on Spotify , Apple Music , Bandcamp , SoundCloud , YouTube , and Facebook . Hideous Gentlemen is made up of lead singer/songwriter Jared Unfried, guitarist and backup vocalist Rob McDonald, bassist David Kirbach and drummer Doug Klein. Every member of the band except Unfried was born and raised in Alton, and Unfried himself moved to the area a few years ago. Unfried described the band’s sound as “Nirvana meets Tom Petty.”

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ALTON - A Celebration Of Life for Alton's Famous "Can Man" Charley Moyer AKA Joey Moyer will be at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 1, 2022, at Elias Kallal and Schaaf Funeral Home in Alton at 2521 Edwards Street. Charley's close friend Dale Neudecker will be the lead coordinator of the celebration and he invited all friends of Charley's who want to come out for the celebration to please attend. Riverbender.com will be at the event to capture it with a full videotape of the speakers and service. An array of speakers are scheduled to step forward for Charley, including Neudecker, Charley's brothers, and more. Charley lived in Alton for much of his life and relied on a collection of cans to sustain himself, thus he obtained the nickname "Charley The Can Man." Dale and his wife, Carol, cared for Charley, AKA Joey for more than 30 years. Charley lived with Roger and Pat Lowery at the end of his life in Wilmington, N.C., and they were also dear friends to him. Charley is permanently buried in Oakwood

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ALTON - Two vehicles crashed at Ninth and Piasa in Alton on Monday morning. Alton Fire Department Batallion Chief Jeff Knipp said the call for the crash came in at 7:25 a.m. Monday. He said there were no reported injuries in the accident. One of the vehicles, a white pickup truck was turned upside after being hit. The person in the truck was able to get out of the vehicle on their own, police and fire officials both said. Alton Police Chief Marcos Pulido said traffic was backed up at the location for a period of time until the scene was cleared.

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ALTON/EDWARDSVILLE - Those who have planted tomatoes, flowers, and other garden items, should protect and cover them on Monday night. The National Weather Service says temperatures are expected to fall well below normal tonight to between 30-35 degrees…generally along and north of I-70. "The coldest lows are expected across northeast Missouri into West Central Illinois where below-freezing temperatures are likely. Therefore a Freeze Warning and Frost Advisory are in effect from 1 a.m. until 8 a.m. Tuesday." The NWS in St. Louis advises individuals to bring plants inside if possible, and cover outdoor plants to protect them from frost/freeze damage.

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SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 19,551 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 58 deaths since April 15, 2022. Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 3,114,036 cases, including 33,568 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois since the beginning of the pandemic. As of last night, 613 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 82 patients were in the ICU and 26 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators. The preliminary seven-day statewide case rate is 153 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 Illinoisans. IDPH officials noted that the case rate has been slowly rising in the state and that although hospitalizations and deaths are relatively stable, four Illinois counties are now rated by the CDC as having a Medium Community Level . These counties are DuPage, Champaign, McLean and Piatt . At the Medium Community Level, persons who are elderly or immunocompromised

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ALTON - The City of Alton , Three Rivers Project of Sierra Club Illinois , and National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC) are calling for volunteers to help plant trees at Piasa Park, less than one mile upstream from Downtown Alton on Thursday, April 28. This spring, Alton is planting trees across the city thanks to a Recover, Replant, Restore! (RRR) grant secured by Sierra Club Illinois and NGRREC from Trees Forever and the Swarovski Waterschool. The City of Alton secured additional support for this project from Ameren Illinois’ “Right Tree Right Place” program. To volunteer at the first tree planting session, RSVP at sc.org/treeplanting1 . “The Recover, Replant, Restore! grant is funded through a partnership between Trees Forever, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Forest Service, and helps communities throughout Illinois recover from natural disasters, replant with a diverse, disease and storm-resistant selection

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GLEN CARBON – Mark your calendars! Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois will host the 4th annual United We Lead Gala on Saturday, September 10, 2022, at The Regency Conference Center in O’Fallon, IL. The United We Lead Gala, themed “The Girl Scout Difference” in 2022, brings together a wide range of people who share the same desire – to be a difference in girls’ lives. “We are extremely excited to celebrate our United We Lead Gala in person this year,” said Heidi Koehl Weaver, Director of Fund Development. “At this year’s Gala, we will celebrate The Girl Scout Difference – how Girl Scouts make a difference in our communities as well as the impact Girl Scouts has on the lives of the girls.” The United We Lead Gala will feature a dinner, silent and live auctions, and girl testimonials. Additionally, Dr. Sandra Magnus, former NASA astronaut, and Girl Scout alum originally from Belleville, IL, will be the keynote speaker

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GODFREY - Upcoming events for Lewis and Clark during the week of April 23-30. For current information regarding Lewis and Clark Community College’s operations during the pandemic, please visit lc.edu/coronavirus . Recurring event: 17 th Annual Student Art Exhibit: through April 25, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday, Gallery, Hatheway Cultural Center, Lewis and Clark Community College, 5800 Godfrey Rd., Godfrey. (618) 468-4665. 4/23 – eWaste Drive: 9 a.m.-noon, Tolle Lane parking lot, across from Lewis and Clark Community College, 5800 Godfrey Rd., Godfrey. (618) 468-2782. 4/23 – Trailblazers Baseball vs. Parkland: 1 and 3:30 p.m., Godfrey Ballpark, 1401B Stamper Ln., Godfrey. (618) 468-5352. 4/23 – Alton Symphony Orchestra, From Pen to Performance: 7 p.m., Ann Whitney Olin Theatre, Hatheway Cultural Center, Lewis and Clark Community College, 5800 Godfrey Rd., Godfrey. (618) 467-2326. 4/23-24 – NGRREC Exhibit at Earth

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