Carolyn P. Smith
Breaking News Reporter | Belleville News DemocratCarolyn P. Smith has worked for the Belleville News-Democrat since 2000 and currently covers breaking news in the Metro East. She graduated from the Journalism School at the University of Missouri at Columbia and says news is in her DNA.
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The regional engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation said he'd hoped the project would be complete by August or early September. “But if things continue to go well, we expect it could be opened much earlier,” he said.
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East St. Louis' attorneys are asking the court for a permanent injunction that would block the Illinois comptroller’s office from intercepting state funds to instead support police pensions.
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The warning was part of an April letter the director of the Chicago regional office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to the East St. Louis mayor and city council.
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The bridge just southwest of Highway 15 closed in late April after a vehicle struck it. The Illinois Department of Transportation made the move over safety concerns.
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The six-time Olympic medalist and others spoke at the 28th annual Winning in Life event earlier this month. Joyner-Kersee, the East St. Louis native, told students that pursuing their dreams in life and sports take the same tools.
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Despite the fire pension board reaching a deal with East St. Louis, the pension board representing police will move forward with a plan to have Illinois's comptroller intercept funds from the city.
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This is not the first time the East St. Louis Police and Fire Pension Boards plan to ask the Illinois comptroller to intervene. In 2019, the comptroller did just that — the intercept caused interruptions in city services.
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The longtime civil rights and voting rights activist died Thanksgiving Day in O'Fallon, Illinois. Scott spent 32 years as the head of the East St. Louis NAACP branch.
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Under Illinois law, all police agencies will be required to begin wearing body cameras by the start of 2025. East St. Louis got its first body cameras in September.
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The shooting happened just blocks from the site of the annual Chili Cook-off, which was Friday and Saturday in downtown Belleville.
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Washington Park trustees say Mayor Leonard Moore has been locking them out of a building where they want to meet to conduct village business.
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Kendall Perry was rehired as chief after the new mayor, Charles Powell III, took office. Depending on who you ask, Perry either abruptly retired or was among the four city staff members fired in January for reasons they say were political.