Belleville News-Democrat

A sign outside of Freeburg Community High School reads “home of the mighty Midgets.” The school’s mascot has been a source of controversy and media attention for years.

How to tell lawmakers what you think of proposed bill to ban Freeburg Midgets mascot

Lexi Cortes

The bill that would force Freeburg to ditch its mascot is scheduled to be called in two House Education Policy Committee hearings this week.

From left to right, Dupo High School junior Shaylee Messersmith, junior Dylan Cannon and sophomore Jasper Anderson pose in front of the school sign with the bags the students carry in lieu of a backpack. Messersmith explained the policy restricts the size of the bags students can carry from class to class.

Education

Metro East high school’s backpack policy causes stir. Are students safer or inconvenienced?

Madison Lammert

Students at Dupo High School must keep backpacks in lockers and are not allowed between classes to carry drawstring bags, purses, or any small bags or clutches with straps that are larger than 5 by 9 inches besides Chromebook bags.

Ben Stumpf, owner of Rumblin’ Ernie Farm in Columbia, hand-plows a field during the phase of spring sewing.

Economy & Business

Illinois family farmers hoped new federal grant would grow their business. Now it’s cut

Lexi Cortes

The federal funding for farmers has been terminated under President Donald Trump’s administration. Family farmers in the Metro East now face abrupt uncertainty about how to fund plans they made for their growing businesses.

Education

Bill would ban cellphones in Illinois classrooms. What’s school policy in the Metro East?

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has backed proposed legislation that would ban cellphones in classrooms, with some exceptions. What’s the policy in your local school district?

U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, second from left, listens to Illinois Sen. Christopher Belt, second from right, during a discussion on Saturday that also included East St. Louis Township Supervisor Ricky Easton, left, and East St. Louis City Manager Robert Betts at Clyde C. Jordan Senior Citizens Center.

Government, Politics & Issues

Congressman tells Metro East leaders cuts to Medicaid, Social Security will hurt residents

Teri Maddox

U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who represents Illinois' 8th Congressional District in suburban Chicago, came to East St. Louis over the weekend when U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin is contemplating whether to run for another term in 2026.

The Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse in St. Louis, home of the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Missouri.

Law & Order

Metro East couple with ‘lavish lifestyle’ charged in $7M school meal fraud case, feds say

Staff Reports

The Edwardsville couple used the money to buy a $1.4 million home in town and six vehicles, according to the federal indictment.

Vicki Lehares of Found a Hound Rescue holds up a photo depicting the scene she came upon at an animal hoarding situation along Waterloo Road in Millstadt Township at a St. Clair County Animal Services committee meeting on Feb. 24. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Lehares said.

Government, Politics & Issues

Rescue groups save dogs from hoarder near Millstadt, say authorities ignored calls

Joshua Carter

Members of Metro East rescue groups have worked for hours to secure and treat 26 dogs they found on a property along Waterloo Road near Millstadt.

The U.S. Court for the Southern District of Illinois in East St. Louis.

Law & Order

Former bookkeeper sentenced in theft of $135K from Metro East school district

Staff Reports

A former bookkeeper for Dupo School District 196 has been sentenced to 15 months incarceration for embezzling from the district.

This drone image shows Sis-Bro Inc., a pig farm in rural New Athens that a federal agency accused of transgender discrimination in a lawsuit filed last year. The agency now is asking for dismissal.

Law & Order

Federal commission seeks to drop trans discrimination lawsuit against Metro East farmer

Teri Maddox

Under Trump, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s moved to dismiss the lawsuit against Sis-Bro Inc., a pig farm in rural New Athens.

A clock dedicated to Curt Weisenstein frames the St. Clair County Administration Building on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, in Belleville. Weisenstein was a man who disabled by a brain injury at birth and died at age 69 due to cancer. In life, he was familiar to the business owners in downtown Belleville, according to reports. He was known to help people set their watches and clocks, while keeping an eye on clocks in the businesses he visited daily.

Law & Order

St. Clair County fired HR director for investigating official’s relative, he alleges

Lexi Cortes

Frank Bergman, the county’s HR director until his termination in 2023, states in the lawsuit and other court filings that an investigation he was conducting into several employees’ allegations in the fall of 2022 revealed “inappropriate actions."