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Overnight I-255 Northbound Closures June 30 Near Belleville  

2 weeks ago
BELLEVILLE – The Illinois Department of Transportation today announced intermittent overnight closures of northbound Interstate 255 between Illinois 15 and State Street in St. Clair County beginning, weather permitting, Monday, June 30. Closures will start at 9 p.m. to allow crews to repair overhead sign trusses. The work will occur for one night only. In addition to the lane closures, motorists should expect up to two full closures of the northbound lanes lasting no more than 15 minutes each. All lanes are scheduled to reopen by 5 a.m. Tuesday, July 1. Motorists should expect delays during the short-term full closures and are encouraged to use alternate routes. Drivers are urged to reduce speed, be alert for changing conditions, obey all construction signage, and refrain from using mobile devices while approaching and traveling through the work zone. For IDOT District 8 updates, follow us on the social media platform X at @IDOTDistrict8 or view area construction

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Denny Weber and Debbie Angleton Honored Ror Community Service By Rotary

2 weeks ago
ALTON - Allen Hale, honored for 50 years of service to the Riverbend East Rotary Club, presented Paul Harris Fellowship awards to two East Alton community leaders, Denny Weber and Debbie Angleton. The presentation took place recently during a club meeting. The Paul Harris Fellowship, named after Rotary’s founder, recognizes individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to community service, peace, goodwill and international understanding. Hale’s recognition and the awards highlight the ongoing dedication of local leaders to the East Alton community.

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Lymphedema Education Meeting Scheduled For Thursday, July 3

2 weeks ago
ALTON – OSF HealthCare Rehabilitation Services in Alton will be holding its monthly lymphedema education meeting on Thursday, July 3. Riverbend region residents are invited to join the OSF Lymphedema Therapy Team for this free educational session about lymphedema and meet other people with lymphedema. The July lymphedema education meeting will be held: Thursday, July 3, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. OSF HealthCare Rehabilitation Services 228 Alton Square Mall, Alton, IL Enter the Rehab office from the upper mall parking lot, facing Alby Street, under the "OSF HEALTHCARE" sign Interested individuals should direct questions or requests for additional information to OSF Rehabilitation Services at (618) 463-5171. Lymphedema refers to tissue swelling caused by an accumulation of fluid that is usually drained by the body's lymphatic system. Some lymphedema facts include: It most commonly affects the arms or legs, but it can also occur in the face, neck, or trunk.

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Transportation experts and local teachers set sail during FreightWeekSTL

2 weeks ago

The original article comes from St. Louis NPR Dozens of transportation experts and local teachers filled a riverboat on Wednesday for a winding tour along one of the country’s busiest freight corridors. The trip, part of FreightWeekSTL 2025, took them through the so-called “Ag Coast of America” — a heavily industrial section of the Mississippi River near downtown St. Louis. […]

The post Transportation experts and local teachers set sail during FreightWeekSTL appeared first on St. Louis Regional Freightway.

Kelle Sutton

St. Louis Argus- St. Louis Region’s Strategic Advantages Support Global Logistics Growth

2 weeks ago

This article originally comes from the Argus The strategic advantages of the St. Louis region for global logistics and freight operations were in the spotlight on June 6 at FreightWeekSTL 2025. Hosted by the St. Louis Regional Freightway, a virtual panel session featured Zach Wilfley, who discussed the benefits the St. Louis region offers for shippers and global logistics firm […]

The post St. Louis Argus- St. Louis Region’s Strategic Advantages Support Global Logistics Growth appeared first on St. Louis Regional Freightway.

Kelle Sutton

St. Louis Argus- St. Louis Region’s Strategic Advantages Support Global Logistics Growth

2 weeks ago

This article originally comes from the Illinois Business Journal With a $209 billion gross domestic product (GDP)—placing it in the top third of U.S. metro areas—the St. Louis region continues to outperform peer cities in productivity and economic growth. Its unmatched combination of workforce readiness, industrial space availability and excellent multimodal infrastructure continues to fuel the region’s position as a […]

The post St. Louis Argus- St. Louis Region’s Strategic Advantages Support Global Logistics Growth appeared first on St. Louis Regional Freightway.

Kelle Sutton

Trump-Paramount mediation is toxic for all involved

2 weeks ago

Dear Friend of Press Freedom,

It’s the 94th day that Rümeysa Öztürk is facing deportation by the United States government for writing an op-ed it didn’t like. More press freedom news below.

Paramount should abandon mediation with Trump. So should the mediator

Earlier this week, CBS News filed a strong brief outlining why President Donald Trump’s lawsuit over the editing of its 2024 interview with Kamala Harris is completely frivolous and an affront to the First Amendment.

But just days later, The Wall Street Journal reported that a mediator had proposed CBS owner Paramount Global settle the suit for $20 million. It’s been reported that Paramount — believing the Trump administration will block its merger with Skydance Media if it doesn’t settle – had previously offered $15 million, which Trump declined, demanding at least $25 million.

We wrote about why the unnamed mediator needs to consider their ethical obligations to not facilitate what may amount to an illegal bribe. Read more here.

Stop prosecuting journalist who exposed antisemitism

The Trump administration loves to position itself as an enemy of antisemitism. But it has continued its predecessor’s legally dubious prosecution of journalist Tim Burke, who found outtakes of a 2022 antisemitic rant by Ye, formerly Kanye West, that Fox News cut from a Tucker Carlson interview.

We’ve written before about why the government’s legal theories are nonsense, but there’s also the issue of why two presidential administrations thought it was a wise use of prosecutorial discretion to go after someone who clearly did a public good.

Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Advocacy Director Seth Stern, along with Bobby Block of the Florida First Amendment Foundation, urged the administration to drop the case in USA Today. Read more here.

Putting public records to use

Federal agencies are closing their Freedom of Information Act offices, disappearing information from their websites, no longer creating records, and possibly even inappropriately destroying them. At the local level, we’re seeing legislation introduced across various states that would make it easier for local governments to ignore requests they don’t like.

To discuss how the public can use public records requests to fight back against mounting secrecy, we hosted a webinar June 24 with Washington Post FOIA Director Nate Jones, MuckRock CEO Michael Morisy, investigative journalist and author Miranda Spivack, and FPF’s Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy Lauren Harper. Watch it here.

What’s going on in Greene County?

Earlier this month, FPF and the Society of Professional Journalists led a letter to Steve Catalano, chair of the Greene County Board of Supervisors, objecting to a policy that reportedly prohibited county employees from speaking to the press and required them to label anything they provide to the press as “opinion.”

In response, the county claimed that the policy does not exist, despite several county employees reportedly telling local newspaper The Daily Progress that they could not speak to the media about public records requests they’d denied due to the policy.

To resolve any confusion among reporters and county employees under the impression that there’s a gag order, we posted the exchange on our website. Read more here.

What we’re reading

‘They’re not breathing’: Inside the chaos of ICE detention center 911 calls (Wired). This important story is available to read for free, thanks to Wired’s partnership with FPF to unpaywall FOIA-based reporting. Other outlets should follow suit.

DeKalb solicitor-general dismisses charges against journalist Mario Guevara (Atlanta Civic Circle). Dropping charges is nice, but too little, too late after they handed the journalist (who has a legal work authorization) over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

‘Giving information to the enemy’: Israel’s ban on Al Jazeera extends to foreign broadcasters (The Dissenter). It was obvious from the outset that Israel’s Al Jazeera ban was a pretext for further censorship. The same goes for U.S. efforts to crack down on foreign media.

The Paramount risk in settling Trump’s lawsuit: ‘Bribery’? (The Wall Street Journal). The Journal’s editorial board writes that, instead of caving to Trump, Paramount should “win the legal case [and] vindicate its CBS journalists and the First Amendment.”

White House to limit intelligence sharing, skip Gabbard at Senate Iran briefing (The Washington Post). The public should know if the Trump administration is lying about its Iran strike. Leaks undermining the administration’s claims aren’t an excuse for secrecy — they are a reason to declassify the underlying records.

Freedom of the Press Foundation