The developer hopes construction can start before the end of the year and be complete by next August. The new store will eliminate a food desert in the Metro East community.

The Community of Sunnybrook, which has 40 units, will provide needed affordable housing in the Metro East town, the developers and city leaders say.

“We're watching what Indiana does,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said at an unrelated event in Alton on Wednesday. “We may have to react to that.”

The Fairview Heights store is the second one in the Metro East in recent weeks to sell a million dollar winning ticket.

A small Illinois city is rallying for a prominent community member who is currently in ICE detention in Missouri. He was taken into custody after dropping his daughters off at school last week.

Certain insurance customers will see some of the highest premium hikes in the country when they start shopping for plans on the open enrollment marketplace.

Leaders at Belleville Township High School District 201, East St. Louis School District 189 and Belleville School District 118 say they have not received any indication that the federal reimbursements they receive for providing free or reduced price meals are in jeopardy.

The state hasn’t had a multiyear capital plan since 2009, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation, and this one will improve infrastructure in all 102 counties.

The Land of Lincoln Legal Aid, a nonprofit that provides assistance to lower-income residents, believes the vans will help break down geographic and transportation barriers.

"It's the right thing to do, even though, right now, we're unfortunately seeing a breakdown in leadership,” said the owner of a Swansea restaurant that’s given away more than 600 free meals since the shutdown.