Marine News

The deluge expected to come down the Mississippi River this weekend is prompting Alton and corporate officials to take flood precautions at the city's riverfront and Downtown.

Fond du Lac businesses have been bailing water, assessing damage and doing all they can to help each other.

When Alvin Belmer was killed in the 1983 bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon, his West Side family never thought there might be a way to legally punish the terrorists responsible.

Daughter of Destiny By Benazir Bhutto HarperPerennial, $15.95 This 1988 autobiography of the Pakistani political leader assassinated in December 2007 includes a new epilogue.

“But the military commanders are better suited than me and my colleagues to determine whether or not there are sanctuaries that should be taken out.”

Iran's malign influence is ever present in the Middle East. In Iraq, Iranian-made weapons and Iranian-trained forces kill American troops as well as Iraqi soldiers and civilians. via Chicago Sun-Times

Marin Schools and Education , posted by Editor, Pacific Sun Online, 39 minutes ago "We're in the business of turning lemons into lemonade," says Don Carney, executive director of the Marin YMCA Youth Court. via Pacific Sun

Triad's new school building has been named Silver Creek Elementary, as the district's construction program continues. via Belleville News

The Madison County HAZMAT Team cleaned up a fuel spill along Interstate 70 near Marine this morning after the driver of a tractor-trailer ran off the road. via Alton Telegraph

“But she used to bring the boy up to the fire department every day on the anniversary until he was 12 or 13 years old.”

Don Amenn has been plowing state roads for 41 years, so he was on the front lines during one of the worst snowstorms in metro-east history.

The unexpected storm dumped up to 18 inches on Belleville the weekend of Jan. 30-31, 1982, closing schools, businesses and government offices and stranding hundreds of vehicles on treacherous roads.

By Feb. 1, officials were listing Illinois 159 from Belleville to Edwardsville as the only 'passable' main road in the metro-east, and Illinois 3 through Cahokia as the only open route to St. Louis. Read more

From editorials and some letters in the IJ, one might believe SPAWN to be a veritable behemoth, running roughshod over Marin supervisors and citizens, suing and threatening to sue left and right, intent on ... via Marin Independent Journal

“Now I'd say I do 90 percent of the combine driving. A lot of times, I have little ones (grandchildren) with me.”

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It can be a challenge being a working mother these days. It's a balancing act of juggling a job -- or two -- with taking the kids to ball games or band practice and helping with homework and running a household -- cooking, cleaning, laundry and keeping track of the family's finances.

But what if that job started when the sun came up in the morning and didn't end until you went to sleep at night? What if it included milking cows, feeding hogs, operating heavy machinery and pricing grain on the futures market -- and you still had all those other household duties? Well, if that were the case, you just might be able to call yourself a Madison County farm woman. Read more

A falling tree knocked out electricity to more than 2,100 Ameren customers in eastern Madison County this morning. via St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“It was three lives that he saved. One of them is Brian Troy and the other two we have no idea.”

Two Chicago Marines share a special bond. One is alive today due to another's sacrifice and an organ donation. via cbs2chicago.com

“It shows you what kind of a person my son was”

ROCKFORD, Ill. - The heart transplant that saved Brian Troy was made possible by a fellow Marine. via WGN-TV Chicago

“We were going to watch a movie that night, and I called her to tell her I would be late because of the traffic being backed up because of the accident”

The daughter of the late Janet M. Bell, well known as a courthouse clerk and a waitress at a downtown Edwardsville lunch counter, said she was driving by the accident scene where her mother lay without ... via Alton Telegraph

Marinites can drink easy--MMWD officials announced this week that tests on most of the county's water supply showed no pharmaceutical contaminants. via Pacific Sun

“I wanted Elwood to be the kind of guy I'd meet at Ron's (a tavern across from the playhouse).”

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There is an invisible presence on the stage of the Looking Glass Playhouse.

With 'Harvey' opening tonight, it's not a great leap to think it's the imaginary rabbit that Elwood P. Dowd befriends in the comedy that won playwright Mary Chase a Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1945.

In fact, the aura has much more to do with reality than fantasy. When Rob Lippert of Lebanon chose the cast for his directing debut at the Looking Glass, his selections included two couples whose combined thespian talents number into the century mark. It made his work considerably more educational and less stressful. Read more

“We therefore recommend that the United States bring its measures into conformity with its obligations under the Anti-Dumping Agreement”

U.S. measures aimed at reducing cheap imports of shrimp from India and Thailand are illegal, the World Trade Organization ruled on Friday, a setback in Washington's efforts to tackle unfairly priced imports. via Daily Herald

Local Public Issues , posted by Veronica Valero, Live Well Network, a resident of the Novato neighborhood, 57 minutes ago I really appreciated learning about how MALT came into existence in your Going Green ... via Pacific Sun

“I am excited to see what all it has in store”

Madison County Clerk Mark Von Nida is pushing for the purchase of an electronic voting system that he feels will bring efficiency and fairness to the County Boardroom. via Alton Telegraph