See historic front pages: How the BND covered 9/11, 2016 election, COVID pandemic
While the 24-hour news cycle means headlines are constantly cycling, a few major events covered by the Belleville News-Democrat particularly stand out over the past couple of decades.
We’ve rounded up historic front pages from one major event each in the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s, including the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the 2016 presidential election and the beginning of the COVID pandemic in 2020.
Here’s a look back, from our archives.
Aftermath of 9/11 attacks
Sept. 12, 2001: “Our nation saw evil”
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, airports in the metro-east and St. Louis shut down temporarily and began instituting increased security measures.
Debbie Edwards, a Belleville resident and wife to then-BND editor Greg Edwards, was in New York City on a business trip when the attacks happened.
“She hiked miles toward the billowing black smoke until a police barricade finally stopped her six blocks from the World Trade Center rubble,” the Sept. 12, 2001, BND article reads.
“Along the way, Debbie Edwards of Belleville passed scenes on the streets of New York City that amazed and moved her: A man carrying an American flag on a silver pole, a dust-covered and dazed firefighter who stared straight ahead as people touched his arm in gratitude, a Macy’s cashier with tears streaming down her face and, inevitably, New Yorkers oblivious to calamity, sipping wine at sidewalk cafes as police cars and ambulances roared past.”
Edwards was 5 miles away from the World Trade Center when the planes hit the towers, and said she didn’t realize what happened at first until a driver stopped his car and shouted, “Did you hear? Did you hear?”
2016 Presidential election
Nov. 9, 2016: President Trump elected
President Donald Trump’s 2016 election win was considered a surprise by many media outlets and polling organizations, which reported candidate Hillary Clinton had a 90% chance of winning.
Eight days after the 2016 presidential election, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville students staged a walk-out to protest racist attacks reported on campus after the election.
“Student speakers talked about more than just the hate incidents of the last week, but about a feeling of self-segregation and students failing to connect with each other beyond racial and ethnic boundaries,” Elizabeth Donald wrote in the BND at the time. “It is also an opportunity for students, faculty, staff and administration to hold each other accountable for the mission and values of SIUE, they said.”
In lighter post-election news, BND reporter Lexi Cortes wrote Nov. 11, 2016, about metro-east schoolchildren’s mock elections. Pre-K students in Millstadt cast ballots for their favorite cookies — results were split between Oreos and chocolate chip.
Gov. Pritzker orders Illinoisans to ‘stay at home’
March 21, 2020: Shelter-in-place order
COVID took the BND’s front page spotlight March 21, 2020, when Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a “shelter-in-place” order to mitigate the coronavirus’ spread. Illinois residents were told to avoid unnecessary travel, although trips to the grocery store, pharmacy and workplaces for essential employees remained open.
“My bedrock has been to rely upon science,” Pritzker is quoted. “To avoid the loss of potentially tens of thousands of lives, we must enact an immediate stay-at-home order for the state of Illinois.”
The World Health Organization declared May 5, 2023, COVID was no longer a “global health emergency” after the U.S. Department of Defense’s “Operation Warp Speed” succeeded in developing the COVID vaccine in record time.
While the pandemic was declared officially over in 2023, and the federal government no longer collects or reports as much public health data as a result, COVID is still leading to tens of thousands of deaths annually across the nation.
The respiratory illness killed 20,587 Americans in 2025, according to estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with 1,973 deaths already reported in 2026.
Do you have a question about health or health care in the metro-east or Illinois for the News-Democrat? We’d like to hear from you. Fill out our Metro-east Matters form below.
