Belleville News-Democrat (Sunday)
Mentally ill man who was ‘terrorizing’ neighborhood died in jail
Kevin O. Peals Sr. was scheduled to appear in court for a review of his mental health treatment plan before he faced a slew of allegations, including threatening to “shoot and kill” two Belleville firefighters. Neighbors on South 31st Street reported...
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Former mayor’s City Market plan not ‘feasible,’ officials say
Belleville is dropping a controversial plan to convert a city-owned building next to City Hall into an indoor-outdoor City Market, a key initiative of former Mayor Patty Gregory. Officials are looking at an alternative site in the downSpecifically,...
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2025 in review: Images and stories that defined the year in metro-east
This year has been full of ups and downs in the metro-east. Through it all, I’ve been on the scene with my cameras, weaving between police cars, crowds and pothole-filled roads to bring visual truth to written storytelling. The metro-east is a place...
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Belleville woman accuses City Council of ‘ambush’ on Airbnb request
A Belleville woman is pushing back against a City Council decision that will keep her from expanding her Airbnb, and she is accusing an alderman of lying about neighborhood “concerns.” The controversy has resurrecfrom ted the issue of whether the city...
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Original Art on the Square crew helping revive fair
Some of the original crew who worked on Belleville’s Art on the Square are now helping to revive the St. Clair County Fair by 2026. Art on the Square founder and former Belleville Mayor Patty Gregory this week confirmed she is among four chairpeople...
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‘Those we love and lost’ remembered at tree lighting ceremony
On a cold evening, dozens gathered along Illinois Street in Belleville to light a Christmas tree in honor of loved ones they have lost. The ceremony was hosted Tuesday by Hospice of Southvigil ern Illinois, though many who were not associated with the...
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After bird flu devastation, farmer plans to start again
“devastating” wave of bird flu has struck a Freeburg-area farm known for selling a variety of eggs from pasture-raised chickens, ducks, geese and guinea hens. “I was shocked at how fast it went through,” farmer Joel Funk said Wednesday. “It’s...
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ANNUAL PARADE STEPS OFF HOLIDAY SEASON IN BELLEVILLE
The man in red himself gives lessons on correct behavior as he makes his way down Belleville’s Main Street during the 2025 annual Santa Parade. Santa’s House is open for visitors on the following schedule: 6-8:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday until Christmas...
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Metro-east employees get workers’ comp for radiation
Roughly 70 former employees of a metro-east factory tied to the Manhattan Project—and the spouses of deceased workThe ers—have become the first group in Illinois to receive workers’ compensation for radiation exposure. “I am literally a landmark...
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New $1.2M MetroBikeLink trail opens in Fairview Heights
St. Clair County Transit District officially opened the Liberty Heights Trail, the newest segment in the MetroBikeLink system. The trail spans three-quarters of a mile and cost $1.2 million. Construction was managed by Stutz Excavating after an impact...
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ICE comes to southwest Illinois
When Jose Jeronimo Guardian showed up at a Spanish language traffic court this week, he didn’t expect to be detained and face expulsion from a country he’d lived in for more than two decades. Guardian, 48, was scheduled to appear Monday in a courtroom...
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O’Fallon considers indoor center to capitalize on sports tourism boom
After seeing substantial economic impact from soccer, baseball and softball tournaments at Family Sports Park, O’Fallon is exploring the possibility of building an indoor activity center to attract yearround tourism dollars. “The primary objective of...
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Cave-turned-industrial park considers nuclear power
The developer who turned a cave into an industrial park called Rock City has been looking at alternative ways to bring electricity to its underground roads, offices and cold storage — including the possibility of miniature nuclear reactors. Rock City...
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Paralyzed firefighter has hope robotic legs will help him walk
On Oct. 2, 2021, firefighter Brad Henke had just returned from Louisiana, where he and other volunteers from Belleville’s East Side Fire District were doing cleanup after Hurricane Ida. He’d only been back for two weeks and decided to pass some time...
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St. Clair County closes on Freedom Farm, work begins
St. Clair County has closed on the purchase of the Freedom Farm, a former American Legion recreation area and campground that includes swimming and fishing lakes in rural Freeburg. The property has deteriorated in recent years and expethe rienced...
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Belleville West gun scare spurs call for metal detectors
A week after a loaded gun was found at Belleville West High School, a petition that calls for metal detectors in the district’s schools is still gathering signatures. On Tuesday, Sept. 16, a Belleville Police Department school resource officer quickly...
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Joe Hubbard’s life of service inspired many across metro-east
Joe Hubbard’s lifelong dedication to serving others across the metro-east inspired many for decades. His nephew, David Williams, said Hubbard’s influence even inspired him to change careers — sales to working as a recreational therapist at a mental...
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Salvation Army pantry needs cleanup help after 13 break-ins
After a series of break-ins at the Salvation Army in East St. Louis this year — leading the social service provider to temporarily shut down its food pantry — leaders are hoping volunteers can help restore the location. Thirteen break-ins over the...
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Fray continues over plans for cemetery solar farm
For at least two decades, the Catholic Diocese of Belleville has been leasing a small section of Mount Carmel Cemetery land to a trucking company that’s digging a borrow pit and hauling out fill dirt, east of the burial grounds on the bluff. The...
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Company removes contentious Proud Boys billboard near school
A controversial billboard for the Proud Boys near a Clinton County high school has been removed following an on “The slaught of opposition from area residents and people all over the country. The billboard had been placed late last week by Lamar...
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Illinois is changing testing benchmarks for students
former East St. Louis student’s story is a real-world example of why Illinois is changing benchmarks for state testing, the state board of eduful cation said. The 2023 graduate, who wasn’t identified by name, managed a 4.0 grade point average while...
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Landlord accused of ignoring tenants, defaulting on mortgage
When Andrea Polk brought her newborn baby home this summer, running their apartment’s central air conditioning caused the furnace to leak and flood the living room on the first floor. But the cool air didn’t reach the second floor, where her family...
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Man who bought derelict homes may go to prison for fraud
The guilty plea of a prominent metro-east businessman on federal fraud charges in June came as a relief to some people concerned about Belleville’s derelict-housing crisis. That’s because Columbia contractor Gregg Crawford, 65, who formerly lived in...
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Monroe County Fair gathers community to honor deceased teen
though Emma Schultheis, 14, just recently finished her first year in high school, her unexpected death reverberated throughout Monroe County. The community honored her memory during an auction at her favorite place, the Monroe County Fair. At Thursday...
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Firefighters rescue cat from Metrolink overpass
Belleville firefighters rescued an unfortunate cat from a Metrolink overpass on Sunday and helped the animal find its new forever home. The cat was found near the Southwestern Illinois College Metrolink stop, with no witnesses attesting to how the cat...
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City risks legal action for cemetery solar farm, critic says
An opponent of the Mount Hope Cemetery solar farm has sent a 36-page legal memorandum to the mayor and other Belleville officials, maintaining that the city’s plan vio“Because lates state law. Jesse Berger, who lives nearby, stated that he’s prepared...
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Pride, hope and fear at naturalization ceremony in metro-east
More than 65 people officially became United States citizens during naturalization ceremony in Collinsville Wednesday. The event took place inside of the Gateway Convention Center in Collinsville. The newest U.S. citizens, 61 in total, came from 27...
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Low-income local residents face AC outages during heat wave
Two local apartment properties that serve low-income residents didn’t have working air conditioning systems this week during an ongoing summer heat wave, when temperatures have been in the 90s with triple-digit heat index values. Residents affected by...
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Sewer flooding struggles continue in Southern Illinois
Arianna Norris, 63, paid cash for her home in Cahokia Heights. For as long as she’s lived there, during intense rainstorms, water surrounds her property and last year her basement started flooding. Norris was around four years ago when residents in...
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Holistic health care supported with new housing units
Illinois Healthcare Foundation publicly unveiled 16 one-bedroom housing units in Cahokia Heights on Wednesers day, marking the completion of the first portion of its affordable housing development. Dubbed “Vivian’s Village,” the $6.5 million facility...
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Freeburg Avenue may finally get roundabout in Belleville
The city of Belleville and state of Illinois are moving forward on a $5 million project to convert a busy intersection into a roundabout after 14 years of financial and political hurdles. The City Council voted Monday night to provide construction and...
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Budzinski wants Granite City Works to get some Nippon cash
The congresswoman who represents much of the metroeast wants some of the $14 billion from the Japanese company investing in U.S. Steel to trickle down to the steel mill in Granite City. Last week, President Donald Trump said Nippon’s proposed takeover...
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Mother of stabbing victim speaks out on girl’s death
Seventeen-year-old Cadence Eileen Prince, who went by her middle name at school, was supposed to start her first job Thursday. The “,HTXT=”“>O’Fallon Township High School junior had a lot to be excited about, her mother Victoria Dimmitt said. There...
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A look at Belleville School District’s new CAVE Annex
Belleville School District 201 unveiled the 15,000-square-foot expansion to its Center for Academic and Vocational Excellence, better known as The CAVE, Wednesday. Community members got an up-close look at the new CAVE Annex, which is a separate...
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After-school programs at risk for East St. Louis students
When Charlotte McDaniel’s granddaughter Jadah, a 7-grader at Wyvetter Younge School of Excellence, strolled up to her one morning and offered to make breakfast, you would’ve thought McDaniel heard the funniest joke ever told. “I thought, ‘I’m not...
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After 25 years in government service, Meyer sworn in as mayor
Jenny Gain Meyer knows more about the inner workings of the city of Belleville than just about anyone. That knowledge comes from being a lifelong resident, a former city employee, a community volunteer and, most importantly, city clerk for the past...
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Disabled Illinois woman fears loss of home if Medicaid cut
Jennifer Foushee is worried she and her friends could lose their home if Congress makes cuts to Medicaid. Foushee, 40, is among the thousands of people who use the public health insurance program to pay for long-term, residential care in their...
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Elks open new lodge on Main Street in Belleville
Belleville Elks Lodge #481 closed its 21,000-square-foot building on South Illinois Street in 2019, ending an era for one of the city’s most prominent fraternal organizations. But members continued to meet in a space provided by Catholic War Veterans...
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Maryville nursing home closes after losing public funding
local nursing home has closed after losing public funding because of substandard care and the conditions inside its building. Before the closure this month, regulators cited Well Care Home of Maryville for a preventable resident death and other...
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Belleville city clerk defeats incumbent in mayor’s race
Belleville City Clerk Jenny Gain Meyer has defeated Mayor Patty Gregory, who became the city’s first female mayor four years ago by successfully challenging a longtime incumbent. Belleville voters in Tuesday’s consolidated election cast 3,399 ballots...
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Belleville mayor’s campaign attacks called ‘offensive’
Recently mailed postcards supporting Mayor Patty Gregory and attacking her challenger, City Clerk Jenny Gain Meyer, have Meyer’s supporters arguing that Gregory’s campaign has gone from civil debate and criticism to lies and personal mudslinging. The...
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State police agent pleads guilty, loses job over hit-and-run
An Illinois State Police special agent has pleaded guilty to two traffic tickets after being accused of running a red light, crashing his unmarked SUV into a car driven by a teenage boy and leaving the scene of an accident while off duty in Shiloh in...
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Claims by Belleville’s candidates for mayor fact-checked
‘Tis the season for campaign literature, and that includes the closely watched Belleville mayoral race. Mayor Patty Gregory and challenger Jenny Gain Meyer, who now serves as city clerk, have made their pitches to residents through several mailers....
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Tax incentive, infrastructure part of Park Place proposal
Planning details are emerging for a “transformative” economic development proposal in O’Fallon. They include establishing a business district around the 320-acre Park Place site that would allow developers to collect up to an additional 1% sales tax...
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Pritzker leads opposition to Trump by invoking Hitler, Nazis
A month into President Donald Trump’s second term in the White House, Gov. JB Pritzker last week warned that the breakneck pace at which the Trump administration has been remaking federal policy could be a harbinger of something darker. “It took the...
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New superintendent has metro-east, Belleville schools ties
After a decade with Belleville Township High School District 201, Marshaun C. Warren was promoted to become its next superintendent. Warren, who is currently the district’s assistant superintendent of human resources and diversity, equity and...
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Mayor’s former advisers endorse her challenger
Two of Belleville Mayor Patty Gregory’s closest former advisers are throwing their support behind her challenger in the mayoral race. Gigi Dowling Urban, who worked as administrative liaison to the mayor from the beginning of Gregory’s term in 2021...
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Freeburg school board rejects superintendent severance
The superintendent of Freeburg Community Consolidated School District 70 announced seven weeks ago that she was leaving for another job, but board members are still wavering on how to respond. First, they accepted Melanie Brink’s resignation at a...
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City of Belleville to demolish 14 derelict buildings
A company hired by the city of Belleville is expected to begin demolition of 14 derelict buildings in early February. The list consists of 12 homes, plus a trailer and former church. The total demolition cost is $245,000. “These are houses that...
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ISBE tells local schools to prep for immigration enforcement
The Illinois State Board of Education is encouraging local school districts to adopt clear policies spelling out how and when their staff should cooperate with federal immigration officials carrying out enforcement actions or seeking information from...
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Group alleges Freeburg High mascot violates federal law
A group of activists from across the country has filed formal complaints against Freeburg High School alleging that its controversial mascot is breaking the law, which could force the school to find a new moniker after it has rejected requests in the...
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Belleville high school superintendent leaving for Millstadt
Brian Mentzer is leaving his job as superintendent of Belleville Township High School District 201 to work for a much smaller elementary district that feeds into one of 201’s high schools. Mentzer will serve as assistant superintendent of Millstadt...
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Belleville continues to plan for downtown parking garage
In setting up funding for Belleville’s next annual budget, city leaders decided to take money set aside for a proposed downtown parking garage and use it to help support pensions for police officers and firefighters. But city officials said the...
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Belleville’s park plans call for new pickleball courts, splash pad improvements
Belleville’s splash pad is set to get a decorative fence, a shade structure and more parking while the city also intends to open more pickleball courts. These are some of the highlights of the Parks and Recreation Department’s plans to improve the...
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Investment firm has been buying metro-east mobile home parks
As resident Patty Totty walked through her mobile home community this fall, she reminisced about how things used to be when she moved in 19 years ago so that her daughters could go to Belleville East High School. She lives at Greenmount Station, just...
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Men recall saving pilot from fiery plane crash near Columbia
A trip to a driving range Sunday turned “surreal” for two Missouri men who are good friends and brothers-in-law. Clayton Poindexter of Affton and Mark Amoroso of St. Louis were headed to the Jefferson Barracks Golf Tee in Columbia when they pulled off...
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Medical examiner IDs victim of shooting at McDonald’s
The St. Louis Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the victim in a fatal shooting at the McDonald’s restaurant in East St. Louis. Dionna Samuel, 23, of Belleville, was pronounced deceased at Saint Louis University Hospital at 8:08 p.m. Monday,...
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Teen hockey player from O’Fallon has died after shooting
Colin Brown, a 16-year-old hockey standout from O’Fallon, has died, four days after he was shot while riding in a vehicle with his father on Interstate 55 in South St. Louis after a game. Mitch McCoy, spokesman for St. Louis Metropolitan Police...
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American Legion property plagued by neglect in rural Freeburg
George E. Hilgard American Legion Post 58 used to be one of the largest posts in southern Illinois and the only one that operated a recreation area with a campground and swimming and fishing lakes. But the past few years haven’t been kind to the...
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Can St. Clair County find fix for lack of small town police?
Small villages have been relying on the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department to respond to calls from their citizens about crimes the past two years because they don’t always have officers available, according to county officials. Now, St. Clair...
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Republican Schmidt holds on to state House seat
The Republican candidate has retained the longtime Democratic seat in Illinois House District 114 in Tuesday’s rematch between Kevin Schmidt, R-Millstadt, and LaToya Greenwood, D-East St. Louis, according to unofficial election results. District 114...
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Signal Hill neighborhood criticized over gates
A “60 Minutes” correspondent traveled to Belleville in 1993 to film an episode on alleged racism, and one of his backdrops was a steel gate across a road leading from Illinois 157 to Signal Hill. More than 30 years later, a Belleville man is upset...
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Madison County jury finds man guilty of murder in cold case
Madison County prosecutors had no coroner’s ruling on Patrenia Butler-Turner’s cause or manner of death and no DNA evidence linking Roger D. Sutton Jr. to her disappearance in 2013. But jurors in his trial this week apparently believed his nephew,...
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New Animal Control building in St. Clair County may cost $16M
The price of a new St. Clair County Animal Control building could total $16 million by the time construction is completed, according to county officials. St. Clair County has been planning to construct a new building since dogs and cats had to be...
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Voters will see resolutions on their Illinois ballots
Lawmakers in Illinois are asking voters to weigh in on three hot-button issues on their ballots this year: election interference, income taxes and reproductive health care. Voters in Illinois are being posed three “advisory” questions that ask voters...
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Belleville business celebrates employee’s 65th anniversary
Empire Comfort Systems recently celebrated longtime employee Carol Burtz, who has been with the Belleville business for more than two thirds of its 92-year history. To be specific, Burtz has worked at Empire for 65 years. Company President Nick Bauer...
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