Gillespie News

I have had the honor of working with John Fritsche and others in organizing the Tour de Coal ride in the Benld-Gillespie, Ill., area the past four years.

A Gillespie School District committee has narrowed possible locations for a new school to three.

Officials with the Gillespie School District have a lot of decisions to make. District officials are continuing with the monumental task of gathering information to move forward with multiple decisions to replace the Benld Elementary School, which was closed earlier this year because of severe structural damage from mine subsidence.

Kelly S. Gray, 39, of Collinsville, was charged Tuesday with burglary. She allegedly entered the Premier Homes building in the 3800 block of North Arbor Lake, Edwardsville, on Tuesday with the intent to commit a theft.

Students head back to school Wednesday in Gillespie, Illinois, after a series of events forced students out of two buildings.

Rainbow, a blind Sheltie mix whose sad story was in the Journal-Courier several weeks ago, is settling into a new home.

The Ben-Gil Boosters are hosting a fund-raiser on Saturday, July 18, at the Gillespie Civic Center to raise money for a new Benld Elementary School.

Fortified by a $750,000 federal boost, officials now are moving forward on a plan to lease a modular building to accommodate Benld Elementary School students displaced by mine subsidence.

Schools in the Gillespie School District will return to normal schedules early in the coming school year, thanks to a $750,000 federal grant that will help lease 27 temporary classrooms.

A cell phone company's expanded presence is ringing up some good news for residents long plagued by lack of service.

A 45-year-old man was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison for possession of child pornography, Acting US Attorney Michael Reap said Friday.

More than 30 Park Ridge teenagers and young adults were arrested Sunday on underage drinking charges after Des Plaines police broke up a party in a vacant house.

The city is almost back to normal after nearly a week of storm cleanup that focused on damage to buildings and businesses along Macoupin Street/Illinois Route 4. Mayor John Hicks said that AmerenIP was working on getting the streetlights along the main drag back on and said he hoped they would be back up Friday morning.