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EAST ALTON - Lucky Jacks, a brand new "one-stop-shop" according to the owner Gary Patel, will open this Saturday, Jan. 14 at 10 a.m. Lucky Jacks will be a laundry mat that includes multiple brand-new gaming machines as well as a convenience/liquor store. It will be located at 100 Kingshighway in East Alton and will be open daily. On weekdays it will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. On Fridays 9:30 a.m. to midnight, on Saturdays 10 a.m. to midnight, and on Sundays noon to 11 p.m.

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EDWARDSVILLE – Candace N. Hall, EdD, assistant professor of educational leadership at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, has won a prestigious Award of Recognition from the IndieFEST Film Awards. The award was given to Hall, film executive producer, and Cami Thomas, film director and CEO of My Friends and I (MFAI), for the documentary short “clusterluck”. “To have this documentary recognized with this award feels amazing,” said Hall. “I set out to create something that felt good for me, to document the moment, and to show the possibility of community. I had not anticipated how far this project would reach.” The documentary is a digital visualization of Hall’s research on Black faculty experiences in academe, featuring Black faculty in SIUE's Department of Educational Leadership in the Higher Education and Student Affairs Program, and encourages higher education leaders to reimagine recruitment and hiring practice

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SPRINGFIELD – After months of negotiations and hours of conversations in working groups, State Senator Christopher Belt supported two measures that would protect Illinois communities and ensure everyone has access to reproductive health care. Belt favored House Bill 5471, which would ban assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and rapid-fire devices. “We can’t sit back and hope mass shootings will stop,” said Belt (D-Swansea). “I would not have supported other proposals that take away rights from law abiding gun owners. We have worked for months to find the best solution and that’s why I supported this measure. This legislation is a middle ground that retains access for law enforcement to continue protecting our neighborhoods and gets weapons of war off our streets and out of the hands of bad actors.” The measure accelerates implementation of background checks for person-to-person sales and extends the duration of the Firearm Restraining

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ALTON -The Alton Memorial Hospital White Cross Auxiliary presents "The Best of Eastern Canada" in a vacation tour planned for Sept. 8-16, 2023. The trip, open to the general public, includes 11 meals and will feature Niagara Falls, Ottawa, Quebec City, and Montreal. There will be a meeting, also open to the public, in AMH Cafe Meeting Rooms A/B (behind the café seating area on the ground floor of the hospital’s Beeby Wing) at 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, to hear all about the trip and to ask any questions, or GO HERE for more information. If you book your spot by March 1, you will save $50 per person. Please contact Mary Norman at 618-433-6684 or mary.norman@bjc.org with any questions or to RSVP for the Jan. 19 presentation.

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WASHINGTON D.C. - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), member of the U.S. Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, issued the following statement after today’s FAA system outage that canceled and delayed thousands of flights: “I'm troubled by the situation, and while I appreciate that the FAA worked quickly to try to minimize the disruption to commercial air travel and get planes back in the air, we need to understand what happened today so we can prevent it from ever happening again. The flying public deserves better.”

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ALTON - The AMH White Cross Auxiliary is continuing in its mission to replace all of the hospital's old wheelchairs with newer Staxi wheelchairs in its “Wheels of Love” campaign. The Auxiliary has added four new chairs recently in addition to the 10 that were purchased early last fall. The new chairs were sponsored by or in honor of three former employees and a White Cross Auxiliary member/hospital volunteer. Art and Jo Greenwood purchased two chairs. Jo is a retired chaplain of Alton Memorial and worked at AMH for 13 years. One of the chairs was purchased in honor of their daughter, Holly Rain, who worked more than 20 years at AMH as a nurse in OB and has also volunteered. A third chair was purchased by Ken and Tina Aldridge. Tina formerly worked in Human Resources and served 19 years at AMH. Fred and Rose Lammers purchased the fourth chair, Rose is a volunteer at the information desk, in the gift shop, and is also a member of the White Cross Auxiliary. Sixteen

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CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today filed an amicus brief supporting the federal government in two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court concerning the Biden administration’s targeted cancelation of student loan debt to address the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, Raoul joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general in arguing that the debt relief program is lawful and appropriate. Last year, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona announced plans to grant $10,000 in debt relief for borrowers under certain income thresholds, and $20,000 in debt relief to borrowers who met those income thresholds and also received a Pell Grant in college. This debt relief seeks to ensure that borrowers affected by the pandemic do not face catastrophic defaults at the conclusion of a nearly three-year pause in loan repayment obligations. “Higher education should be within reach for all Illinoisans without the fear that they will be saddled with lifelong

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EDWARDSVILLE - Sophomore guard Zay Hoover is emerging as a key component to the girls' basketball team at Edwardsville High, and played a key role in the Tigers' 39-25 win over Belleville West on Jan. 10, scoring 12 points in the win that took Edwardsville to 8-9 on the season. Hoover is currently averaging 4.6 points and 1.6 rebounds-per-game, going along with nine assists, seven steals and three blocked shots, also helping to play good defense in the win over the Maroons. In a postgame interview that followed the win over West, Hoover was very happy to get the victory. "I'm glad we were able to pull out the win," she said. The Tigers didn't enjoy a very good shooting night, missing several shots, but the defense helped gain the win, which was very satisfying indeed. "I was really proud of myself," Hoover said, "because usually, I'm not very aggressive on defense. So today, my goal was to attack the offensive players so I could get some steals and contribute to my team defensively."

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MARYLAND HEIGHTS - DNA breakthroughs are solving many cold cases throughout the nation in this day and age. On Wednesday, a DNA discovery led to charges of a then Maryland Heights man - Mike A. Clardy - with the 2004 cold case murder of an Alton woman, Deanna Denise Howland. Clardy, 63, faces second-degree murder and abandonment of a corpse charges in the case, which started in June 2004. On Tuesday, Clardy admitted to the murder at his 2004 residence in St. Ann, Mo. The deceased Howland’s identity was not known for many years. Howland, then of Alton, was 35 years old at the time of death and was a mother with four children. Howland’s body was attacked in a gruesome fashion and her dismembered remains were discovered two days after her death at an Interstate 70 rest stop. Investigators linked Clardy as a suspect by a match of DNA fragments left on Howland and a knife that was discovered at the scene. The Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis was an investigator in this

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MACOUPIN COUNTY - Shawn Kahl, the Macoupin County Sheriff, has reacted to the recent passage of HB 5471, also known as the Protect Illinois Communities Act. Kahl said today the following: "As your elected sheriff my job and my office are sworn, in fact to protect the citizens of Macoupin County. This is a job and responsibility I take with the utmost seriousness. Part of my duties that I accepted upon being sworn into office was to protect the rights provided to all of us, in the Constitution. "One of those enumerated rights is the right of the people to keep and bear arms provided under the Second Amendment. The right to keep and bear arms for the defense of life, liberty and property is regarded as an inalienable right by the people. I, among many others, believe that HB 5471 is in clear violation of the Second Amendment to the Constitution." Kahl continued and said: "Therefore, as the custodian of the jail and chief law enforcement officer for Macoupin County, neither myself nor

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EDWARDSVILLE - The City of Edwardsville and the Illinois Department of Transportation on Wednesday announced a driver alert that there are two one-block road closures in or near downtown Edwardsville. "The Illinois Department of Transportation closed a block of East Vandalia Street (between Kansas Street and Main Street) Wednesday morning for sewer repairs," Cathy A. Hensley, a public relations spokesperson for the city said. "Our understanding is that the closure should last through the end of the week. The second closure is on North Buchanan Street between East Vandalia Street and Hillsboro Avenue. (That's one we announced earlier this week, and is part of the North Buchanan water main replacement project)." Hensley has included a map at the bottom highlighting the affected areas. "Detour signs are posted, but Kansas, South Buchanan, Hillsboro, Schwarz, and other surrounding streets can be used to navigate around the closures. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate you

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SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Christopher Belt was sworn into office Wednesday for another term in the Illinois Senate. “With the start of the 103 rd General Assembly, I will continue fighting for the residents of the 57 th District,” said Belt (D-Swansea). “I will continue to address the challenges facing the people of the Metro East to better their daily lives and I am proud to be their voice in Springfield for another term.” Belt has represented the 57 th District since 2019. The district includes parts of St. Clair and Madison Counties and includes communities such as East St. Louis, Belleville, and Scott Air Force Base. Belt has championed a number of legislative solutions, such as expanding the organ donor registry, banning the burning of toxic chemicals, providing feminine hygiene products at homeless shelters, and ensuring students are fed at school. As a former school board member and chair of the Senate Education Committee, Belt remains a strong

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SPRINGFIELD – Women Employed, which has been creating fundamental, systemic change for working women for nearly 50 years, today applauded the passage of SB208, the Paid Leave for All Workers Act, which provides up to 40 hours, or five days, of paid time off for all Illinois workers for any reason, including for an employee’s illness, to care for a sick family member, or for medical appointments. Women Employed led a broad-based coalition of advocates fighting for a statewide law providing paid time off for all workers. Until now, about 1.5 million workers in Illinois did not have access to a single paid sick day. The new law, sponsored by Rep. Gordon-Booth and Sen. Lightford and championed by workers’ rights advocates and labor leaders, makes Illinois the 17 th state to secure paid sick time for its workers. “No one should fear losing income or their job because they or their loved ones are sick,” Women Employed’s Associate Director of Polic

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GRANITE CITY - Auditions for Granite City-based Alfresco Productions’ “9 to 5: The Musical” are being held on Thursday, Jan. 12 from 6 to 9 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 14 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Auditions will take place at the Alfresco Performing Arts Center, located at 2041 Delmar Avenue in Granite City. “9 to 5: The Musical” is based on the movie from 1980 and features music and lyrics by Dolly Parton. Visit this link to see which audition slots are still available and sign up for an audition. Alfresco Productions requests those auditioning to “prepare 32 measures of a song of your choosing in the style of the character you are auditioning for.” More information to help prepare, including Audition Materials and Character Breakdowns, are available on the Alfresco Productions website . Callbacks will be held on Sunday, Jan. 15 at 1 p.m. if needed, and the cast will be announced that evening. It’s important to note that not

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EAST ST. LOUIS – After the Illinois legislature approved and Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a bill outlawing assault-style weapons, they are officially banned Wednesday morning in Illinois. Governor Pritzker signed the bill Tuesday night in Springfield after the Illinois House passed it earlier in the day 68 to 41. The bill initially cleared the House last week, but then the house had to pass it again after the senate approved the legislation with some changes. The ban took effect immediately. It is now illegal to sell assault weapons in Illinois. Illinois now is the ninth state in the U.S. to pass an assault weapons ban. The legislation caps the purchase of ammunition magazines at 10 rounds for long guns and 15 rounds for handguns. The legislation says rapid-fire devices, known as “switches,” are also banned because they turn firearms into fully automatic weapons. Pending assault rifle sales are supposedly still being processed, but only if the required background

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EDWARDSVILLE - A Illinois Small Business Development Center (SBDC) for the Metro East at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville client and local entrepreneur, with a passion for serving her community and helping others, has been featured as the cover photo in the St. Louis Small Business Monthly (SBM) newsletter for the December 2022 edition. The SBM features a website and monthly print and digital newsletter that provides local businesses around the St. Louis Metro area with resources and advice to help them succeed. Ericka Logan, co-founder of Logan & Logan Management & Accounting Services, is photographed on the cover with the tagline that reads, “Southwest Illinois People to Know.” “The Logan’s have worked hard to grow their business and provide high quality service to their clients,” said Jo Ann Di Maggio May, Illinois SBDC for the Metro East director. “They invest a great deal of time into their Belleville community, and I couldn’t

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EDWARDSVILLE - Tuesday afternoon, Edwardsville High School received an anonymous email tip regarding a possible threat of a school shooting at the school. "We promptly began working with our School Resource Officer, Sgt. Matt Evers, and the Edwardsville Police Department, who investigated the threat," Edwardsville School District 7 Superintendent Dr. Patrick Shelton said. "The subject of the potential threat was quickly identified and located. It was determined that there was no imminent threat to any of our students. "Due to student privacy, we are unable to provide additional details." Dr. Shelton commended the quick police response to the incident. "We appreciate the immediate response of Sgt. Evers and the Edwardsville Police Department, as well as the individual who came forward to alert us of the threat," he said. "The safety and security of our students, staff, and schools remain the highest priorities for EHS and District 7. We encourage everyone to ‘say something if

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SPRINGFIELD - Today State Representative Amy Elik (R-Alton) was officially sworn in for a second term as the State Representative for District 111 in the 103rd General Assembly. Elik was reelected in the 2022 General Election. “I want to express my deep gratitude to the people of the 111th district for trusting me to serve them for a second term,” said Rep. Elik. “I am also truly thankful to those who sent me their prayers and well wishes during my first term. That support did not go unnoticed.” “In my next term as a State Representative, I plan to continue my work finding ways to make Illinois a better place to live. Families across the state have felt the effects of poor Democrat legislation, and I will work tirelessly to ensure that everyone can be proud to call this great state their home. It is an honor to have the privilege of representing the 111th district again, and I look forward to getting to work!” The 111th District now contains par

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GLEN CARBON - Father McGivney Catholic High School announced their first-semester honor roll. High Honor Roll is a weighted GPA of 3.60 and above. Honor Roll is a weighted GPA of 3.0-3.59 Grade 12 High Honor Roll Elisabeth Antonini, Mary Elizabeth Benware, Wyatt Biermann, Alexis Bond, Emma Bukovac, Madeline Burkart, Madeline Burnett, Samuel Chouinard, Keira Cope, Mallori Dempsey, Andrew Douglas, Caroline Foppe, Tanner Garner, Daniel Gierer, Olivia Gray, Aislin Hall, Katherine Hand, Jacob Huber, Autumn Hutson, Amelia Hylla, Sophia Ivnik, Ava Jackson, Megan Jamruk, Lauren Jones, Reece Kleinschmidt, Margaret Klusas, David Lowe, Abigail Madura, Emma Martinez, Kaleigh Pekarik, Jackson Rodgers, Ellie Ronzo, Abigail Root, Evan Rybak, Gretchen Rybolt, Evan Schrage, Abigail Shearer, Ainsley Siekmann, Melinda Smith, Alexander Sobczak, Adelyn Speight, Claire Stanhaus, Riley Strack, Alyssa Terhaar, Owen Terrell, Sophia Tutt, Paige Yasitis Grade 11 High Honor Roll Joseph Chouinard, Grace

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Rebekah Blackmon of Alton High School and Timothy Vaughn of Mississippi Valley Christian School were honored as Students of the Month of January at a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Alton-Godfrey held at Gentelin’s on Broadway Restaurant. Rebekah Blackmon is a senior at Alton High School. Rebekah was born in Doha, Qatar, and moved to America eight years ago. She thanks her mother for instilling in her the importance of education. She prioritizes academics and strives to take challenging courses. She is ranked 10th in her class, has a 4.667 GPA, and received the Illinois State Scholar award. Taking biomedical and physics classes resulted in her gaining confidence in already existing academic interests and developing new interests. Outside of classes, she has been a part of Alton High’s Physics club, Math team, Upward Bound, Minority Excellence, Student Council, National Honors Society, and Mu Alpha Theta. As a member of the National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta,

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