The first of Collinsville’s Hometown Heroes banners. (Photo courtesy: City of Collinsville)

Thousands mourn slain officer

In perhaps the largest memorial tribute ever seen in the Great St. Louis area, thousands turned out Oct. 13 to honor fallen St. Louis County Police Officer Blake Snyder, 33, of Edwardsville.  Crowds, often with placards or other memorial tributes, gathered along the route of Officer Snyder’s funeral procession from a South St. Louis County mortuary to St. Louis Family Church in Chesterfield, Mo., and finally through Alton to the Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in Godfrey.  

Law enforcement officers from around the nation, and as far away as Canada, attended the services.  Public buildings across the region were draped in blue crape.

The following Monday, several hundred friends and family gathered for a candlelight vigil at the Alton High School athletic field.  Snyder’s widow, Elizabeth, and the TreeHouse Wildlife Center on Sunday released a bald eagle in honor of the slain officer at the Audubon Center at the Riverlands in West Alton. A commemorative soccer match at Lewis and Clark Community College (LCCC) raised money for Snyder’s family.

Following submission of a petition with thousands of signatures, St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger announced Oct. 19 that the county’s Clydesdale Park will be renamed in honor of  Snyder.

Snyder was shot after responding to a disturbance call in the St. Louis County community of Green Park on Oct. 6. A Godfrey native and Alton High graduate, Snyder is an LCCC graduate and played for the college Trailblazers soccer team, before settling in Edwardsville with his family. He was the son of former LCCC administrator and Professor Emeritus Dick Snyder.  Elizabeth Snyder is a former intern at the TreeHouse Wildlife Center.

SIU to cover MAP grants

Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants will be available to help eligible students pay tuition for the spring 2017 semester at Southern Illinois University (SIU), according to university President Randy Dunn.  

With state funding for the academic grant program still in limbo, Dunn announced last week the university will cover the cost of grants for the coming semester at both its Edwardsville and Carbondale campuses.

Distinct from student loans, MAP grants are made available to Illinois residents who attend approved Illinois colleges and demonstrate financial need based on federal student aid applications. Repayment is not required.

The MAP program was established by the state of Illinois to allow economically disadvantaged students to attend college. However, funding for the program has been jeopardized by the state’s ongoing budget crisis.

SIU and other Illinois colleges received MAP funding for the current fall 2016 semester, after Gov. Bruce Rauner in April, signed a stopgap bill, which provided $600 million for higher education in the state; including $170 million for MAP grants.

Dunn expressed confidence Rauner and the Illinois General Assembly will ultimately reach a similar deal to ensure MAP funding for the coming semester.

In the meantime, SIU will ensure the availability of MAP grants by covering costs out of university fund balances, Dunn said.

Some 2,219 SIU Edwardsville students received MAP grants totaling $3.4 million in MAP grants this  semester.

LCCC approves five-year plan

Wrapping up a year-long planning process, Lewis and Clark Community College (LCCC) has approved a new five-year strategic plan designed to improve student academic success, institutional quality and effectiveness, program completion, and public engagement, as well as establish new research programs to attract funding.

The plan calls for the Godfrey college to increase:

• The number of high school seniors who begin their postsecondary education at college and the number of dual-credit graduates by 1 percent annually,
• Enrollment at the Edwardsville N.O. Nelson Campus by 3 percent annually,
• Adult and evening student enrollment by 1 percent each annually,
• Minority enrollment by 1 percent annually, and
• The number of students in low-enrollment programs.

The plan outlines 52 specific projects, including documentation of labor market demand, enrollment trends, student success rates, and program reviews, to support the college’s career-oriented education programs.

The plan also calls for the college to reduce its carbon footprint; reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by 2 percent from 2015 by 2018, and increasing recycling efforts by 5 percent from 2013 levels.

The college also hopes to expand the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center by increasing collaborative partners from 128 to 143 by June 2017, and by expanding grant applications for the center to 126 from 120 by the same date.

Casino Queen in East St. Louis. (Photo courtesy of SWIDA)

Casino Queen to buy Iowa gaming hall

Swansea -based CQ Holdings, which owns the Casino Queen in East St. Louis, announced Oct 14 plans to purchase a second gambling establishment, the Lady Luck Marquette in Marquette, Iowa. The purchase prices for the riverboat casino, on the Mississippi River across from Prairie du Chien, Wisc., is approximately $40 million, according to a statement from the holding company.  The boat will be renamed the Casino Queen Marquette.

The Casino Queen has been employee-owned since 2012.  The holding company has been seeking state legislation that would allow a merger of the Casino Queen and the struggling Cahokia Down race track in Collinsville.

The purchase announcement has taken some industry watchers by surprise. The Casino Queen is generally among the lowest grossing in the St. Louis area.

American Water announces grants to fire departments

Over $48,000 will be awarded to 70 Illinois fire departments through Illinois American Water’s 2016 Firefighter Grant Program.  The program was created in 2010 to provide financial assistance to fire and emergency organizations serving customers in Illinois American Water’s service area.

To date, the program has resulted in over 350 grants totaling over $342,000 awarded across the state.

Illinois American Water’s Firefighter Grant Program awards grants to provide personal protective gear, communications equipment, firefighting tools, water handling equipment, training materials and classroom programs.  Illinois American Water presented grants to the following Illinois fire departments:A company press release says the program has provided more than 350 grants worth more than $342,000 to such organizations across the state.

• Alton Fire Department, $700, going toward its 10 percent “match” of $10,818 for a separate, $108,182 grant for 16, self-containing breathing apparatus;;
• Godfrey Fire Protection District, $700, to continue replacing fire attack hoses that are old or worn; QEM Fire Protection District, $700, to offset cost of updating portable lighting (hand lights) for each firefighter;
• Hamel Volunteer Fire Department, $500, toward purchase of a 5-inch Storz inlet and three, 2.5 inch outlet ball valve assemblies to allow three hose lines to draft from one water source;
• Long Lake Volunteer Fire Department, $750, to purchase firefighter equipment for a brush truck, including weed beaters, fire rakes, knapsacks, drip torches and various brush fire hose and appliances;
• Madison Fire Department, $750, smoke generating machine for firefighter and public training exercises;
• – Midway Fire Protection District (Centreville), $750, upgrade district pagers; and the Mitchell Fire Department, $750, offset cost of purchasing reflective yellow, fire tearaway vests to protect firefighters while they are on roadways, plus flashing lights that clip to the back of their bunker coats.

The above departments and fire protection districts were among 27 recipients of Illinois American Water’s 2016 Firefighter Grant Program in the company’s Southern District.

SIUE/Community Task Force promote partnerships

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Chancellor Dr. Randy Pembrook and Madison County Chairman Alan J. Dunstan have  announced the establishment of the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville/Community Task Force, an entity charged with promoting the partnership between SIUE and the public/private sectors.

The task force will focus on three primary areas for collaboration:

• Functional operations that are campus centric and capitalize on partnerships between SIUE and the public/private sectors such as public works, public safety and opportunities for collaboration such as the City of Edwardsville’s management of the outdoor swimming pool for public use on SIUE’s campus
• Regional engagement that fits SIUE’s mission and addresses such needs as economic development, healthcare and workforce development such as the current job training available at SIUE’s East St. Louis campus
• Student and faculty development that offers internships, consulting opportunities, alumni engagement and entrepreneurial development

Dunstan said that while SIUE is ranked as one of the top universities in the state and is nationally recognized, it is particularly important to Southwestern Illinois.

First Metro-East business incubator turns 1

Peer 151, Metro East’s first broad-based effort to tap into the local startup world, is already proclaiming some success stories, even as it adapts to a challenging marketplace.

Barely a year into its existence, the coworking and collaboration space at 15 N. First St., helped at least four businesses get off the ground, saw tremendous use of its training room and drew in both an attorney and an accountant who are aiding the on-site process.

But there is a lot of work still to be done, Executive Director Chris Oswald said.

At any given time, Peer 151 has some 15 of its members in the building, which Oswald said is pretty ng other things.

Peer 151 serves as a common space in which like-minded businessmen can link up to learn how to improve their individual businesses.

Artinger has called it a “water-cooler collaboration that didn’t exist 30 years ago.”

Starting long before the operation opened last fall, Artinger and Oswald were hard at work on a business plan, getting advice from a cross section of business experts around the region.

Anyone seeking information about Peer 151 can call Oswald at (618) 795-1649 or email c.oswald@peer151.com.

Glen Carbon to seek own ZIP codes

In a move to distinguish itself from its neighbor, Glen Carbon is making a move to have the zip code of property within the village assigned the Glen Carbon zip code.

 Currently, property within the Glen Carbon corporate limits, particularly areas in the vicinity of the Edwardsville Crossing development, have an Edwardsville zip code.

In the past this has caused issues with property tax bills being incorrectly assigned to Edwardsville rather than Glen Carbon as well as advertising from businesses.

Mayor Rob Jackstadt said a developer looking to develop the vacant Foucek Property, located south of Edwardsville Crossing, asked the village administration to pursue getting the zip code changed.

“Someday that piece of property will be developed, it may be sooner than later,” Jackstadt said. “The taxes will go to the village, the water and sewer will be with the village but the U.S. government would have the address be Edwardsville.”

The meandering boundary between Glen Carbon and Edwardsville has caused some issues in the past.

Trustee Jorja Dickemann said the zip code change should help make sure taxes are paid to the proper taxing district.

jackstadt said there have been instances when residents and businesses in Glen Carbon pay taxes to Edwardsville.

Belleville mayor, council salaries increased

The Belleville City Council voted Monday night to raise salaries for the mayor, city treasurer and city clerk 2 percent each year over the next four years.

Currently the mayor earns $83,152, and the city treasurer and clerk earn $72,066 each. These salaries have not increased for four years.

The vote was 15-1, with Councilman Mike Buettner opposed. One resident, Michael Hagberg, spoke in opposition to the salary increases, citing a lack of competition for elected officials’ seats in recent years and suggested raises be tied to rates of inflation, rather than set at 2 percent.

In other business,  the council voted to declare Shopland Plaza at the corner of West Main Street and Foley Drive blighted. The council also voted to move forward with the completion of a business plan in order to create a business district for the area.

–Metro East Area News Briefs–