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Metro-east News

Caseyville Police Chief Jose Alvarez outside his office at the police station.

Caseyville chief, mayor return to their corners; next bout March 19

Jose Alvarez is still the Caseyville Police chief, at least until March 19, which is when the Village Board meets.

Crime

Madison County State's Attorney Thomas Gibbons in a 2012 BND file photo.

'We have a problem': Leaders say Madison County heroin epidemic worsens

Coroner Steve Nonn and Michael Shah, of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, have seen more than enough to know a heroin epidemic has hit Madison County and is getting worse.

Hot Topics

Woman killed when gun goes off in donated clothes

A woman working at a thrift store was killed when a gun that was in dropped-off clothing accidentally discharged, hitting her in the chest.

Sports

St. Louis Cardinals' Matt Carpenter, right, shakes hands with Chairman Bill DeWitt, Jr., left, as Sr. Vice President and General Manager John Mozeliak, center, looks on at a news conference at the team's spring training baseball facility, Saturday, March 8, 2014, in Jupiter, Fla. The Cardinals announced Saturday that they have agreed to a six-year contract extension with Carpenter for $52 million.

Cardinals, 3B Carpenter agree to $52M, 6-year deal

Matt Carpenter called agreeing to a new $52 million, six-year deal with St. Louis a no-brainer. The Cardinals are hoping their third baseman sticks even longer than that. 31 minutes ago

Features

This photo released by Fox shows Neil deGrasse Tyson, the astrophysicist who hosts the television show, "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey," on location during the episode "When Knowledge Conquered Fear" in New Mexico, airing Sunday, March 23, 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT on Fox and Monday, March 24, 10:00-11:00 PM ET/PT on Nat Geo. The television series premieres Sunday, March 9, 2014, 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT on Fox and simultaneously across multiple U.S. Fox networks.

'Cosmos' is back with new host for new generation

Astronomer Carl Sagan become Mr. Science for a generation after his 1980 series, "Cosmos," took audiences on a groundbreaking TV journey through the universe.

State|Region

This photo provided by Papers of Abraham Lincoln project shows a note written by Abraham Lincoln. Historians believe they’ve unraveled the mystery of a cryptic note Lincoln penned that doesn’t identify the recipient by name and has a section clipped out. Researchers at the Papers of Abraham Lincoln project concluded Lincoln was writing to an ally to ask him to maintain a secret relationship with a political insider during the 1860 election campaign. Lincoln asked his cohort to "keep up a correspondence" with the person. The use of that phrase gave researchers their best clue. They ran it through a searchable database they are compiling of Lincoln’s papers and found several matches.

Historians unravel mystery of cryptic Lincoln note

The cryptic note penned by Abraham Lincoln identifies its recipient only as "my dear Sir" and has a small section carefully clipped out. 3 hours ago

Nation|World

A woman wipes her tears after walking out of the reception center and holding area for family and friend of passengers aboard a missing Malaysia Airlines plane, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Saturday, March 8, 2014. Search teams across Southeast Asia scrambled on Saturday to find a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 with 239 people on board that disappeared from air traffic control screens over waters between Malaysia and Vietnam early that morning.

2 on missing Malaysia jet used stolen EU passports

Foreign ministry officials in Rome and Vienna confirmed Saturday that names of two nationals listed on the manifest of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight match passports reported stolen in Thailand. 10 minutes ago

Opinion

Free will cost state taxpayers

The pay-it-forward interest-free loan concept has caught the fancy of many state lawmakers, including in Illinois. It's a feel-good, utopian-sounding idea -- which should be enough to make lawmakers run the other way.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?