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A St. Louis officer fatally shot an armed suspect Saturday morning while responding to several drug complaints.

O’FALLON – The Illinois Department of Transportation today announced ramp closures on westbound I nterstate 64 at Highway 50 in St. Clair County. Starting at 9 a.m. Monday, Sept. 15, the following ramps will close for road construction: Westbound I-64 entrance ramp from Highway 50 Westbound I-64 exit ramp to Highway 50 (Exit 14) The ramps are expected to reopen by 6 a.m. Monday, Sept. 22. Motorists should expect delays and are encouraged to use alternate routes during this closure. 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 details on IDOT’s traveler information map on GettingAroundIllinois.com .

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CHICAGO - Today, Governor JB Pritzker participated in a roundtable with leadership from the Illinois Office of Firearm Violence Prevention (OFVP) recipient organizations in the Austin neighborhood to discuss the progress of their programs in reducing crime and violence across Chicago’s West Side. Hosted by the Institute for Non-Violence and together with Westside Health Authority, Together Chicago, and BUILD , the roundtable discussion comes as local organizations are having to divert their resources and energy from crime reduction efforts to preparing for the increase of federal officers to our communities. The Trump Administration continues to threaten the use of the National Guard and increased immigration enforcement as a justification to fight crime, despite freezing $158 million for violence prevention programs and rescinding more than $800 million in anti-violence and crime reduction grants nationwide that were working in Chicago. “If the Trump Administration

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) met with leaders from the Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB), Illinois Pork Producers and Illinois Farmers Union this week to discuss the support needed for our state’s agriculture industry and our farmers. Duckworth and the members discussed the importance of supporting our family farmers by expanding the biofuels market, increasing agricultural exports and protecting and improving farm safety net programs as our American farmers are being decimated by Donald Trump’s erratic trade wars and continued gutting of critical federal agricultural programs. Photos from the Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) and Illinois Pork Producers meetings can be found on the Senator’s website. “America has always depended on our nation’s farmers to grow the food and fuel we need, and I’m proud to advocate for them on both the national and international stage,” Duckworth said. “The work of Illinois’s

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CHICAGO - Today, Governor JB Pritzker visited Illinois-based manufacturing companies on the show floor at the FABTECH exposition — which is the largest metal forming, fabricating, welding, and finishing exposition in North America. FABTECH 2025 attracted 50,000 attendees and over 1,700 exhibitors at Chicago’s McCormick Place — the largest convention center in North America. “As a manufacturing powerhouse, Illinois is a natural choice to host 50,000 visitors for FABTECH 2025 — the nation’s premier metal fabrication conference,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Despite escalating federal deployment by the Trump administration, Chicago’s role as a premier global destination is on full display, not just for manufacturing and business, but also for large-scale conventions and tourism.” Illinois remains greatly concerned about the effects of escalating federal deployments on our people and businesses — especially combined with

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BELLEVILLE – Caritas Family Solutions and Human Support Services (HSS) are pleased to announce that the two organizations will be merging, uniting their missions and programs under the Caritas Family Solutions umbrella to better serve communities across Southern Illinois and the Metro East. Caritas Family Solutions currently supports more than 6,300 individuals annually through programs including foster care, adoption, senior living services, homes for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and family support initiatives. HSS provides services to more than 1,200 annually, with a strong legacy in mental health and substance use treatment, residential supports, and services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Boards of Directors for both Caritas and HSS have carefully and thoughtfully decided to join forces to expand their collective impact and ensure sustainable, high-quality services for the future. To help offset the operational

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ALTON - A local author has taken her work to new heights with the release of a coloring book. Amoriah Gray, 10, is no stranger to writing and publishing her story. Her first book, “Amoriah’s Magic Afro Puffs,” debuted when she was just 7 years old. Now, she’s helping other kids to work out their feelings and tell their stories with “Amoriah’s Social Emotional Learning Coloring Book.” “I hope they get positive thoughts and creative minds,” Amoriah said when asked what kids should take away from the book. The coloring book features affirmations, mindfulness techniques, and other social emotional coping skills. The aim is to empower kids and teach them basic emotional regulation skills through interactive crosswords, games and coloring pages. Angela, Amoriah’s mother, serves as a school social worker. The mother-daughter duo collaborated to come up with the book’s contents. “We were looking for how

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EAST ALTON – Another individual has been charged with calling in terrorist threats to local businesses for nearly a month. Jarrett M. Maki, 25, of Detroit, was charged on Sept. 8, 2025 with 11 Class X felony counts of making a terrorist threat. The case against Maki was filed just four days after a similar case against Austin H. Blair , 25, of East Alton, who was charged on Sept. 4, 2025 with 11 counts of making a terrorist threat, each Class X felonies. The charges against Maki mirror those filed against Blair. Both individuals are charged with threatening to commit a terrorist act or creating the impression that a terrorist act was about to be committed on 11 different occasions from July 28 to Aug. 27, 2025. Both individuals are accused of making phone calls to several local businesses, including various fast food restaurants, a convenience store, and a local bar. According to charging documents, Maki made the same threats against the same businesses on the same dates

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CHICAGO – Landmarks Illinois has awarded $43,000 in grant funding to 10 preservation projects across the state through three grant programs: the Preservation Heritage Fund, Barbara C. and Thomas E. Donnelley II Preservation Fund for Illinois and the Timuel D. Black, Jr. Grant Fund for Chicago’s South Side. These grants provide critical seed funding to nonprofits, congregations and community groups working to restore culturally and historically significant sites in the Illinois communities of Chicago, Galesburg, Greenup, Kampsville, Naperville and Peoria. Read below for more information on our grant programs and our latest grant recipients. Grant applications for the next round of funding through all three of Landmarks Illinois' grant programs are due October 1. Eligible organizations and entities are encouraged to apply. PRESERVATION HERITAGE FUND GRANT RECIPIENTS Landmarks Illinois’ Preservation Heritage Fund grants provide monetary assistance to significan

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