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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Dana Howard, a state champion at East St. Louis High School and an All-American linebacker at the University of Illinois before being drafted by the Dallas Cowboys and playing for the St. Louis Rams, was named in the indictment along with two others. -
Kenny Euge, 75, was pronounced dead on Saturday after a fire at his residence. It had been a years-long battle for Euge, a Vietnam veteran, to remain living in a caboose in rural St. Clair County where he died. -
Linda J. Johnson faced three counts of theft from Dupo Community Unit School District 196, where she worked. -
Juan McCoy, formerly of the East St. Louis Police Department, was indicted Wednesday in connection with the incident, which occurred in October of 2019.
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The former director of the East St. Louis Public Library was indicted in federal court on five counts of wire fraud and embezzlement.
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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. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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.
