Metro-east news roundup: Racing returns, road work, heat & more. What to know

Southern Illinois communities are navigating a busy week of infrastructure projects, weather warnings, school district disputes and local milestones. From a grand-opening race at Belle-Clair to a $10.5 million police station groundbreaking in Shiloh, here’s a snapshot of what’s happening across the metro-east.

Here are key takeaways:

• Racing returns to Belle-Clair Fairgrounds Park Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 1, with a grand opening event featuring KKM Midgets, DIRTcar Modifieds and NARA Winged Micro Sprints on the newly built quarter-mile dirt oval.
• A single-vehicle crash Thursday morning closed westbound I-64 in Washington County for hours near milepost 44, sending two people to the hospital before the highway reopened around 2:30 p.m.
• The Mascoutah pool will stay closed this summer ahead of a $5 million renovation that adds a lazy river, a slide into the children’s pool and a new lap pool, with reopening targeted by Memorial Day.
• Heat index values could reach 100 to 105 degrees Saturday in the metro-east, and a 20% to 40% chance of thunderstorms may disrupt Fourth of July fireworks shows.
• O’Fallon is barring unaccompanied minors and eliminating carnival rides at Friday’s America 250 celebration after last year’s homecoming festival drew nine fights and 17 juvenile arrests.
• Northbound I-55 will be reduced to one lane between the I-55/I-64 split and Exchange Avenue from July 7 through July 9 for bridge maintenance.
• Madison County has nine ongoing or upcoming road projects under the Rebuild Illinois program, expected to cost $614.8 million over the next two years, including replacing the New Chain of Rocks Bridge.
• A June 9 traffic stop in Morrisonville over an expired registration landed three Collinsville immigrant teenagers in ICE custody, with the 16-year-old transferred to Texas and placed under the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement.
• The Cahokia Federation of Teachers voted 137-70 against a tentative contract, rejecting a 5% baseline salary increase and $1,000 medical insurance addition as insufficient amid 80 open teaching positions.
• Shiloh broke ground Monday on a $10.5 million, 17,000-square-foot police station at 105 High St., funded in part by a $4 million state grant, to replace a rented 1,900-square-foot facility.
• Uptown Cheapskate will open its first Illinois location in Fairview Heights at 10 Lincoln Trail this summer, offering gently used clothing from brands including Coach, Nike and Lululemon.
• The 40-acre Knoll Family Wildlife Sanctuary in Edwardsville protects state-threatened ornate box turtles and Illinois chorus frogs in one of the state’s few remaining sand prairies — less than 1% of Illinois’ prairies remain.
• Aldi in Belleville closes early at 4 p.m. on July 4, while Sam’s Club, Schnucks, Target, Total Wine and Walmart plan to operate on regular or extended hours; U.S. Postal Service offices are closed Saturday.
• East St. Louis School District 189 will lose federal Full-Service Community Schools funding starting July 1 after a judge denied a preliminary injunction, cutting $500,000 each from James Avant and Annette Harris Officer elementary schools.
• The National Pest Management Association predicts more flies, ticks, ants and cockroaches across Illinois this summer, with the state ranking sixth nationally for West Nile virus cases over the past 25 years.
• Belleville Township High School District 201 approved a new posthumous graduation protocol Monday, following advocacy from the family of Keagan Rex, a Belleville East senior whose name was not called at graduation.
• Mike Kuhlmann, 66, the Columbia High School assistant football coach known as “Coach Mike,” died in a June 24 crash on Illinois 157 and is being remembered for his Special Olympics feats and sideline guitar performances.

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.