Cahokia Heights

The Illinois Department of Transportation expects the 3.5-mile section between Illinois 15 and Illinois 157 in Cahokia Heights and Sauget to be closed until July 31.

In addition to millions in repairs, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Justice and the state will require the city to pay a $30,000 penalty.

In a court filing, Cahokia Heights residents want a federal judge to allow their claims for damages and claims related to flooding issues to proceed. The city's work with federal agencies is limited to the sewer system and will not address flooding concerns.

Some residents in East St. Louis on Wednesday called on the city to do more as floodwaters lingered in their neighborhood following heavy rains in the Metro East on Tuesday.

Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation soon plans to turn Cahokia Heights properties where derelict homes were once boarded up into a new low-income housing development called Vivian’s Village.

COFCO, a Chinese company, bought its U.S. partner's stake in a grain terminal in Cahokia Heights along the Mississippi River. U.S. Reps. Mike Bost and Nikki Budzinski think the sale could threaten national security.

To date, only 4% of the money sought for projects to help the city of Cahokia Heights address its flooding and sewage crisis has been spent, according to an EPA analysis.

With the help of an alternative financing mechanism that doesn’t require a bond referendum, Cahokia Community Unit School District 187 is forging ahead with a new high school.

Officials and lawyers representing the city said Cahokia Heights had still not received most of the funding.

The coordinator, Beth Murphy, said a key accomplishment — what she calls the “matrix” — details ongoing construction projects, plus future construction and funding, to fix the chronic water issues plaguing the Metro East community.