January 2026

Lady Jackets finish 2025 strong and start 2026 even stronger!

CHS gets quality, 52-51, win over Carterville to end 2025 and beats Massac County, 50-35, to kick off 2026 By Jim Beers CHETER – The Chester High School Lady Jackets have reached the halfway mark of the 2025-26 basketball season. In the process they have earned an 8-8 overall record (.500), and a Cahokia Conference […]

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19th Annual Lady Jacket Mid-Winter Classic Tournament is off and running!

Night 1 featured Marissa vs Dupo and Cobden vs Steeleville By Jim Beers CHESTER – The 19th Annual Chester High School Lady Jacket Mid-Winter Classic Basketball Tournament tipped-off Monday and will run until Saturday January 10th.  This year’s event features Marissa, Dupo, Cobden, Steeleville, Trico, Sparta, Chester, and New Athens. This popular event is often

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Average gasoline prices fall nearly a penny a gallon in Missouri

BOSTON, Mass. == Average gasoline prices in Missouri have fallen 0.7 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $2.46/g Monday, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 3,940 stations in Missouri. Prices in Missouri are 16.7 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and stand 26.7 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.  

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Governor Pritzker announces $24 million manufacturing training academy expansion

CHICAGO – Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) have announced $24 million is now available in grant funding to establish six new Manufacturing Training Academies (MTAs) at community colleges in the state’s downstate regions to expand training for high-demand manufacturing jobs in Illinois. Grantees will be selected through a

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Governor’s action on truly agreed to and finally passed bills

JEFFERSON CITY – Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe has taken action on the following measures which reached his desk.   (Click on the bill number for details of each mdeasure) SB 1 – Crawford – Modifies provisions relating to county officials5/13/2025 – Signed by Governor SB 2 – Crawford – Modifies provisions relating to financial statements of certain local governments7/11/2025 – Signed

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Immigration law, policy scholar to present SIU Simmons Law School Lesar Lecture

by Pete Rosenbery CARBONDALE, Ill. — Immigration law and policy scholar César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández will discuss federal courts and President Donald Trump’s immigration policies when he presents the Hiram H. Lesar Distinguished Lecture on Wednesday, Jan. 14, at Southern Illinois University’s Simmons Law School. Garcia Hernández’s free, public presentation, “Immigration Law in Turbulent Times,” is at 6

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Influenza climbs to ‘very high’ levels in Illinois; COVID-19 also on the rise

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is urging residents to take precautions against the spread of influenza (flu) and other seasonal respiratory illnesses, as rates continue to climb across the state. Flu activity in the state has climbed to “Very High” in recent days, the most severe of five categories of respiratory illness

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Three locals named to Columbia College Dean’s List

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Columbia College recently announced its dean’s list for the Fall 2025 Semester (August-December 2025). To be named to the dean’s list, a student must have completed 12 undergraduate credit hours in a 16-week period and achieved a minimum GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0-point scale.   Among the local students named to

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