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Coming Sunday: Escaping poverty, an artist's quest, money-saving coupons

Be sure to get the Sunday Belleville News-Democrat for the latest local news, features and sports...

Highland investigation: Did teacher help students cheat on ISAT test?

Highland Community Unit School District 5 launched an internal investigation this week into allegations...

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Metro-east News

I-64 to close in St. Louis for construction project this weekend

Metro-east motorists who are traveling west this weekend might have to find a different route to get where they're going. 2 hours ago

Crime

Police: Man sets motorcycle, apartment on fire, attacks firefighter

A man has been arrested after police said he started a fire in St. Libory and then attacked a firefighter who came to put it out.

Hot Topics

Ed Eversman, vice president of the American Postal Workers Union Southwestern Illinois Area Local 407 in front of the Belleville Post Office. A postal workers union is planning to picket along the sidewalks Friday outside Ben's Crafts & Floral because the downtown Belleville retailer houses a new post office.

Postal workers to picket Ben's in Belleville over in-store post office

A postal workers union is planning to picket along the sidewalks Friday outside Ben's Crafts & Floral because the downtown Belleville retailer houses a new post office.

Sports

Nebraska's Walter Pitchford, left, chases a loose ball with teammate Terran Petteway, right, and Illinois' Malcolm Hill (21) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Champaign, Ill., on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014.

Former metro-east athletes making their marks at colleges

Freshman Malcolm Hill's playing time has increased in recent games as he and a talented group of freshmen try to build a stronger basketball program at Illinois.

Features

Jamie McDougal of Kitchener, Canada takes a photograph of one of the exhibits while visiting the Cahokia Mounds State Historical Site Thursday in Collinsville.

Group: Cahokia Mounds should be designated national historic site

Cahokia Mounds is continuing its public hearings on a proposal to become a nationally recognized historic site.

State|Region

In this Thursday, March 6, 2014, photo Jessica Palys, an enrollment counselor with Campaign for Better Health Care in Chicago, works with a new free online tool developed by a nonprofit group that uses actuarial data to estimate total annual costs for each health plan tailored to a consumer’s profile. The website, HealthPlanRatings.org, which offers Illinois consumers more information about insurance costs, could help address widespread confusion about choosing a plan on the government sites that are a cornerstone of President Barack Obama’s health care law.

Tool to compare health plans tested with consumers

A website that offers Illinois consumers more information about insurance costs could help address widespread confusion about choosing a plan on the government sites that are a cornerstone of President Barack Obama's health care law. 3 hours ago

Nation|World

FILE - In this March 4, 2014 file image made from video, a lifeguard carries one of the three children rescued from a minivan that their mother, Ebony Wilkerson, drove into the Atlantic in Daytona Beach, Fla. Wilkerson as charged Friday with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse, though she has denied trying to harm anyone, authorities said. (AP Photo/Simon Besner, File) NO SALES

Mom who drove kids into ocean faces charges

A pregnant South Carolina woman who drove a minivan carrying her three young children into the ocean surf off Florida was charged Friday with attempted murder and child abuse, with authorities saying the children were screaming to bystanders that ... 13 minutes ago

Opinion

Keep court out of Caseyville chief dispute

If you thought the police chief dispute in Caseyville couldn't get any crazier, guess again. A quick recap for those without a scorecard: Mayor Leonard Black hired Jose Alvarez...

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