Granite City

Granite City Works will need to hire roughly 400 employees to operate the blast furnace, according to U.S. Steel. When fully staffed, the mill will employ 1,200 to 1,300 people.

A police officer was shot in Granite City Friday afternoon.

Thursday’s decision by U.S. Steel will provide a short-term win for the steelworkers, who have long been critical of the company’s decision not to produce steel in Granite City.

While other former employees have been eligible under a federal program for more than $32 million in compensation, this set of employees has never tested positive for one of the 22 cancers required — which left them in a gray area.

After newly acquired U.S. Steel scrapped its decision to wind down processing at the Metro East mill later this fall, steelworkers rallied this weekend in hopes of keeping the plant open beyond 2027.

The company announced earlier this month it would stop work at the Metro East plant this fall but now has changed course.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC that the Trump administration exercised its veto power over plant decisions.

Confirming the company will cut processing later this fall in Granite City, U.S. Steel said it will move those responsibilities to bigger mills.

There will be no layoffs after October because of the decision, according to the memo.

Starting in fall 2025, the district’s elementary schools, at minimum, will serve grades kindergarten through six, with two schools serving pre-K students as well.