News, sports and weather for Belleville, IL | Belleville News-Democrat & bnd.com

An alleged drunken driver rammed into this state police car after the state trooper had already arrested a man on DUI charges.

Trooper arresting a DUI suspect gets hit by another DUI suspect on I-64

A DUI suspect slammed into the rear of an Illinois State Police trooper's squad car occupied by the trooper and another DUI suspect early Saturday on Interstate 64 in St. Clair County. 3 hours ago

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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

Two metro-east men arrested in crackdown on child porn

Two metro-east men are among the 57 people arrested in a statewide "Operation Glass House" to crack down on child pornography.

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. 3 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.

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. 12 minutes ago