Belleville News-Democrat

City leaders say municipal employees must go without raises in fiscal 2010 or else there will have to be additional layoffs. Full Story »

City Council members voted Monday to reap the sales tax revenue generated by a tax increment financing district rather than putting the money back into the district, at least for the time being. Full Story »

St. Clair County property owners have until 5 p.m. today to pay the final installment due on their 2008 property taxes. Full Story »

Police said they may seek charges today against a suspect arrested in the killings of three women in East St. Louis. Full Story »

Three additional H1N1 vaccination clinics have been announced, after 350 metro-east residents were vaccinated last week in East St. Louis. Full Story »

After the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed a historic health care reform bill Saturday, all eyes are on U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Springfield. Full Story »

East St. Louis has requested the help of the Major Case Squad to investigate the murder of a woman who was related to one of the three killed Saturday. Full Story »

Patty and Jim Grindstaff plan to open another Jefferson's Restaurant in Mascoutah next spring. Full Story »

No. 33 appeared to be the O'Fallon Little Panthers football team's most valuable player at Sunday night's game -- almost as valuable as the touchdown he scored was to him. Those in the stands and on the sidelines cheered and applauded 10-year-old Tyrek Newson as members of the Little Panthers pushed his wheelchair into the end zone for the touchdown. Full Story »

The East St. Louis City Council voted 4-0 Sunday night to fire City Manager Robert Betts. Betts was the city manager for more than three years, but city leaders said they need a new direction. Full Story »

Despite agreeing four years ago not to list an unaccredited doctorate from a California diploma mill on his resume, St. Clair County Assessor Gordon Bush is still calling himself, "Dr. Bush." Full Story »

Autism doesn't keep David Sims from being a star employee in the laundry at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Belleville. Full Story »

Furloughs for city employees are being met with strong criticism by some because they said they were not done fairly across the board. Full Story »

A shootout at a strip club early Saturday littered the parking lot with shell casings, sent one man to the hospital, put five in jail and led the shooter to flee. Full Story »

All lanes of westbound Interstate 64 near Mascoutah reopened late Friday night after a truck fire earlier in the day had the highway closed. Full Story »

A Washington Park man who eluded police for months was charged Friday in connection with a shooting earlier this year. Full Story »

Lane and ramp closures will be encountered on northbound Illinois 111 at the interchange with Interstate 270 near Pontoon Road beginning Monday, weather permitting. Full Story »

A Centreville man was sentenced to more than 2 1/2 years in federal prison for selling Ecstasy. Full Story »

A Cahokia man who was nabbed by a U.S. attorney finalist was convicted of burglary on Thursday. Full Story »

The St. Clair County Drug Tactical Unit executed a search warrant at a Swansea home on Friday morning and found drugs and guns. Full Story »

Changes to a revised bill that proposes to create sales tax revenue bonds in Illinois includes giving a share of property tax revenue generated from the "STAR" bond district to neighboring communities. Full Story »

After a month-long hiatus, the weekly flights of flowers flown straight in from South America to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport are set to resume by the end of November. Full Story »

There's a new arson dog in town and she's eager to put her nose to work. Onyx, a two-year-old Black English Labrador Retriever, is one of the two newest arson sniffing dogs in the state working for the Illinois Office of the State Fire Marshal's Arson Investigation Division. Full Story »

No parent ever goes into parenthood with all the answers. Full Story »

Those seeking assistance Thursday afternoon at the local unemployment office support a federal bill that would extend jobless benefits for up to 20 weeks. Full Story »