Metro East news briefs

Edwardsville industrial park expanding east of I-255

Officials from TriStar Properties, Madison County and the City of Edwardsville broke ground, June 8, on a $30 million expansion of the Gateway Commerce Center at the intersection of Interstate 255 and Interstate 270. The new 717,060-square-foot distribution center will be the first section of the industrial complex located east of the I-255. Completion of construction is anticipated in December.

Located on a 53-acre tract, the new distribution center will have 80 truck docks and will be designed to allow expansion to 1.2 million square feet. Ultimately, the new facilities could be expanded to provide up to 8 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space, utilizing all of the 700 acres of the development zone east of the highway, according to a TriStar representative.

The existing Gateway Commerce Center, west of I-255, sits on 2,300 acres and has 10 million square feet of leased space. Tenants include Dial, Hershey, Lowes, Proctor & Gamble, and Unilever.

No tenants have yet been signed for the new building. However, the existing center leases an average of 1 million square feet of new tenant space each year, a TriStar representative notes.

Buildings in the Gateway Commerce Center are eligible for a 10-year tax incentive program, under which no property taxes are fully abated for the first seven years and then phased in over the next three. No sales tax is charged on construction materials in the complex.

Little People of America, a 6,500-member national organization representing people with dwarfism, is asking the Freeburg Community High School to change the name used for its sports teams — the Midgets — as well as the mascot used by the teams.

Little People denounce Freeburg Midgets mascot

Little People of America, a 6,500-member national organization representing people with dwarfism, is asking the Freeburg Community High School to change the name used for its sports teams — the Midgets — as well as the mascot used by the teams.

Freeburg teams adopted the name and the symbol — a small mustashioed man with a boxing glove — following a 1922 upset basketball victory over a team with much greater status, according to local sports historians.

Little People of America held its annual convention in St. Louis last week. Representative of the organization delivered a petition calling for the name and mascot change to the school district June 8.

A spokesperson for the Freeburg Community High School District 77 Board of Education said board members will consider the request.

Highland woman sues Yahoo for privacy infringement

A Highland woman is taking Yahoo to court, contending the Silicon Valley technology giant violated her right to privacy.

In a civil suit filed June 2 in an Illinois Third Judicial Circuit court, Kaylynn Rehberger alleges Yahoo intercepted email messages between her and its Yahoo Mail subscribers.

In its Yahoo mail service agreement, the company claims the right to scan and analyze all incoming and outgoing messages from Yahoo Mail accounts, the suit acknowledges.

However, Rehberger is not a Yahoo Mail user and therefore not subject to the terms of the email service agreement, the suit contends.

Rehberger did not know of Yahoo’s practice to intercept emails when she began sending messages to Yahoo Mail users and did not consent to have her messages opened or analyzed.

Yahoo uses email content analysis to provide targeted advertising. Yahoo Mail users agree to accept targeted email advertisements in return for the privilege of getting free email services, the suit contends. However, non-Yahoo Mail users have not agreed to accept such advertising, according to the Edwardsville law firm of Goldenberg Heller, which is representing Rehberger
Yahoo Mail claims more than 75 million users in the United States and more than 275 million globally. Targeting email advertising reportedly accounts for 80 percent of the company’s revenue.

The suit filed by Rehberger appears to be separate from civil litigation pending against Yahoo in California. There, a judge last month granted class action status to people who have sent messages or received emails from Yahoo Mail users, allowing them to sue the company as a group. Up to 1 million plaintiffs reportedly could be involved in the California privacy lawsuit.

Metro-East landfills have 29 years of capacity

Metro-East’s four major landfills have 29 years of remaining capacity — although one is now nearly full, according to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s (IEPA) latest Landfill Projections of Disposal report.

Nearly packed is East St. Louis-base Waster Milam Recycling and Disposal Facility, a dubious landmark near the intersection of I-55 and Route 203, which is now expected to close within three years.

However, the adjacent North Milam Landfill, opened in October 2013, has created additional capacity in the region. Both North Milam and the publicly owned Roxana Lanfill in Edwardsville are expected to be accepting refuse until 2036.

The Cottonwood Hills RFD landfill near Marissa has another 56 years of useful life, through 2071. The Milan and Cottonwood sites are all operated by Waste Management of East St. Louis.

The IEPA’s landfill life totals are derived by dividing the total reported capacity by the total amount of waste accepted during the most recent calendar year.

Metro-East’s four active landfills accepted some 6.9 million cubic yards of trash last during 2014.

The IEPA compiles landfill reports annually under state law in response to concern over trash disposal capacity in Illinois

In total, landfills in the state have about 21 years of capacity remaining, according to the IEPA.

Retired judges return to Madison/Bond circuit courts

The Illinois Supreme Court has temporary recalled two retired judges to the Third Judicial Circuit, covering Bond and Madison counties, after five associate judges failed to win retention in the 2015 quadrennial reappointment election.

Retired Associate Judge Ralph Mendelsohn and retired Circuit Judge Lola Maddox were recalled, effective July 1. They are to serve on the bench through Sept. 1.

lllinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier recommended the action to his colleagues. The retired judges were recalled based on a request from Chief Judge David A. Hylla of the Third Judicial Circuit, according to the state supreme court website.

Retired Judge Mendelsohn served as an associate judge in Madison County from 2000 until 2009.

Following his retirement, Judge Mendelsohn started his own mediation practice, providing mediation and arbitration services in Madison County and the St. Louis area.

Retired Judge Maddox served as an associate judge in Madison County from 1979 to 2004. Upon retirement, she worked as a volunteer attorney for Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation in Alton. Judge Maddox briefly came out of retirement in 2006, when she was reappointed to the Third Circuit to fill the remaining term of a retiring circuit judge.

Failing to win retention in the Third Judicial Circuit this year were Associate Judges Ben Beyers,. Duane Bailey, Donald Flack, David Grounds and Elizabeth Levy. The five received passing scores in a recent Illinois State Bar Association survey of attorneys, but were among the lowest rated of the 13 associate judges in the circuit.

In a letter to Judge Hylla, last week, 100 Black Men of Alton, alleged racial bias was a factor in the vote by Third Circuit Court judges not to retain Beyers and Bailey.

Alton Police captain disciplined but retained on force

Capt. Scott Waldrup remains on the Alton Police force, but suspended for 30 days without pay, following a June 7 ruling by the Alton Civil Service Commission.

Police Chief Jason “Jake” Simmons suspended and sought to terminate Waldrup, following an incident last year in which Patrolman Jonathan Forrler allegedly cleared evidence for department storage facilities without authorization.

The improper disposal of the evidence has placed at risk prosecution of numerous criminal cases, according to local prosecutors. City officials say they can offer no rationale for the patrolman’s action.

While hearings for Waldrup were held mostly in closed session, they reportedly centered largely on how much supervisory control the police captain had over the patrolman in charge of the evidence locker.

Forrler was suspended following the incident pending an internal affairs investigation, and subsequently indicted by a Grand Jury indicted for official misconduct, a Class 3 felony. He has since resigned from the police department.