East St. Louis

An East St. Louis pantry said it used to get 12 to 13 pallets of produce per week. Now, it’s four or five after the USDA eliminated a program that reimburses states for purchasing produce from local farmers.

This aid is separate from the $89.5 million St. Clair County received in January for disaster recovery from flooding in July 2024.

The old Broadview Hotel has been converted into a 110-unit apartment building for residents over 55 years old. East St. Louis leaders believe this project will anchor future economic development.

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.

In 2024, the Metro East city recorded 20 homicides. At the most recent peak in 2017, that same figure stood at 37.

How rare collard greens stewarded by generations of southerners ended up in an East St. Louis greenhouse. Plus, how they might help feed more people amid climate change.

An incentive agreement between the state and the company lists an East St. Louis address for the facility that will create 150 jobs when operational.

The complaint alleges that untreated sewage spills from East St. Louis outfalls into the Mississippi River and Whispering Willow Lake during “high-flow conditions,” such as heavy rain.

Dana Howard, a state champion at East St. Louis High School and an All-American linebacker at the University of Illinois before being drafted by the Dallas Cowboys and playing for the St. Louis Rams, was named in the indictment along with two others.

Two years ago, Ameren finished the first solar farm in East St. Louis. Company leaders hope the second facility’s completion will spark similar investments.