Freedom Fest postponed, Belle-Clair Speedway updates and other top local stories
The Belleville News-Democrat’s top news stories for the week of June 22 include the tragic death of a Swansea construction worker, the sudden closure of a 60-year-old church, confusion that led to the postponement of Freedom Fest and other headlines.
Below is a quick review of the week’s top local stories:
- A 55-year-old Swansea construction worker, Murphy Rogers, was struck and killed June 19 while holding a stop-slow paddle on Illinois 158 in Shiloh, prompting union and county officials to urge drivers to slow down in work zones.
- Calvary Assembly of God in Belleville will hold its final service Sunday, June 28, after more than 60 years, with the congregation having shrunk from about 30 members 25 years ago to just 12 by last October.
- East St. Louis School District 189 could lose its food pantry and tutoring programs as a judge weighs whether to restore $18.5 million in Illinois grant funding by a June 30 deadline after the U.S. Department of Education canceled the Full Service Community Schools program.
- Belleville’s Freedom Fest, a two-day patriotic music festival headlined by Head East, was abruptly postponed eight days before opening after a venue change to protect The Campus’s $543,000 artificial turf added $20,000 in costs and logistical hurdles.
- Michael A. Kuhlmann, 66, of Waterloo, died of blunt-force trauma after a Wednesday crash on Illinois Route 157 involving an SUV and a pickup truck towing a trailer; six others were injured.
- St. Clair County’s new $10.5 million animal control facility on Comwest Parkway is expected to open by mid-July, with capacity for roughly 75 dogs and 100 cats, an on-staff veterinarian and outdoor “catios” for felines.
- Connecticut-based Bob’s Discount Furniture will open its first southern Illinois location at the former Value City site in Fairview Heights this fall, expanding the 200-store chain into the metro-east.
- The St. Clair County Board signed a 10-year lease with WM Marketing, Inc., run by World Wide Technology Raceway owner Curtis Francois, to operate the rebuilt Belle-Clair Speedway, with the first race set for Aug. 1.
- Belleville School District 118 approved a $91,380 deal with Raptor Technologies to equip every teacher with wearable panic buttons for the coming school year, joining a growing list of metro-east districts adopting similar systems.
- Southern Illinois residents face a rising threat from alpha-gal syndrome, a meat allergy triggered by lone star tick bites, with a 2025 University of Illinois study showing only 25% of surveyed Illinois medical professionals had heard of the condition and just 12% knew a diagnostic test existed.
The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.