Fairview Heights News Archives

“We want everyone eligible to get the stimulus payment”

The Internal Revenue Service and many of its partners nationwide will open hundreds of locations this weekend on "Super Saturday" in an effort to reach people who are eligible for the economic stimulus payment ... via Belleville News

A bill now before the Illinois Legislature would require computer technicians to report to police any child pornography they find. via RedOrbit

A missing Alzheimer's patient has been found in Fairview Heights, Ill. St. Charles police said Billy Ray Kennedy, 76, was not hurt. via KSDK NewsChannel 5

“Are we holding out (the note for) risen?”

Every Sunday -- not just Easter Sunday -- is reason to sing at New Life in Christ Interdenominational Church in Lebanon.

On Palm Sunday, members of the Singles of Standard Worship Ensemble choir started the service with a rousing chorus of 'We magnify your name, glorify your name, O God!'

They didn't just sing the music. They felt it.

Wearing their Sunday best, they moved in time to the music. Jaron Hicks pointed skyward and Angela Sweetland closed her eyes. Others swayed and rocked as the music moved them. Read more

“I still work every day, I call the shots.”

By next month, Leland Smith plans to close his jewelry store in Fairview Heights and concentrate all of his attention on his store in Collinsville. He opened L.E. Smith's Jewelry eight years ago in the two metro-east communities after 50 years of operating out of Grandpa Pidgeon's store in Fairmont City. It all started with merchandise on a card table and grew to more than a dozen store in-store jewelry counters throughout the St. Louis area. The man many call 'Smitty' now prepares to down-size and recently talked to business reporter Will Buss about it and his life's work: Read more

People tend to think of the metro-east as a Catholic area. The church is strong here but there is a wide range of religions in the area and an even bigger supply of religious opinions.

There are more than eight pages of church listings in the AT&T Real Yellow Pages in the Belleville area directory. There are 80 subheads of denominations -- 14 alone for Baptists.

There are listings for Presbyterian, Presbyterian in America, Presbyterian USA, Divine Science, United Church of Christ, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Catholic Byzantine, Christ Catholic, six different Churches of God, Pentecostal, non-denominational, Assembly of God, Islamic, Baha'i, Jehovah's Witness, Unitarian and Latter Day Saints, among others. Read more

READ AND SEND

Paul K. Dickey

Teresa Price

Kim L. Kirn

Joan M. Lang

Roxanne Simpson

Dr. James Dennis

Sara Votrain

Sharon Bateman

Vicki Avedisian

Steve Bates

Paul K. Dickey has been hired as the chief financial officer of Construction Services 2000 Inc. in Fairview Heights. The company specializes in drywall, acoustical ceilings, and EFIS (Exterior Insulation Finish System).

Teresa Price of Concept Photography of Nashville has received special honors in the Professional Photographers Association of Greater St. Louis' print competition. She placed three times in two categories: 'A Great Joy is Coming' received second place in the Portrait category; 'Two Against Time' received second place in the Wedding category and 'Snow Dog' received third place in the Portrait category. Read more

“It takes one foot of water to displace a car”

Steady rainfall throughout the afternoon and evening has caused no flooding problems in the metro-east tonight, police said.

The area will remain under a flood watch through this morning. However, law enforcement agencies, including East St. Louis, O'Fallon, Fairview Heights and Madison and St. Clair counties, were reporting no major flooding of local roads.

'We've had some minor flooding in certain intersections, but nothing out of the ordinary,' O'Fallon Police Officer Mark Lopinot said. Read more

Jon Guthrie knows cars. So do his wife and his brother-in-law. Guthrie is the co-owner of Hemann Guthrie Chevrolet in New Baden. via Belleville.com

“Mystery buyers today are just as much a mystery as they have always been. Where did the money come from? Why be apprehensive in providing documents if you're a viable entity?”

By Carolyn P. Smith

--

Mayor Alvin Parks on Friday called for the communities of East St. Louis and the surrounding area to sponsor buses to take people to the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board meeting April 8 in Springfield.

The board is scheduled to make a decision that day about whether to allow Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation to merge its certificate of need at Kenneth Hall Regional Hospital with Touchette Regional Hospital in Centreville.

Parks wants people from Washington Park, Alorton, Fairview Heights, Brooklyn and elsewhere to get on the bus to support keeping Kenneth Hall open. Read more

“We really want to create a working environment that promotes efficiency and conservation from a building owner's or a developer's perspective. Green has really become what makes economical sense.”

A local commercial and retail construction company is growing -- green.

Impact Strategies of Fairview Heights is building its new company headquarters with the environment in mind. The new building, in Fountains Court Service Center One in Fairview Heights, will be a $2.1 million, 20,000-square-foot building designed with environmental guidelines from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, authorized by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Impact Strategies is also building a $6 million, 52,000-square-foot office 'green' building within the Regency Park Development at Interstate 64 and Green Mount Road in O'Fallon. Read more

The O'Fallon VFW Post 805 and the Fairview Heights Moose 3rd annual Easter Dinner will be held March 23 at the post.

The dinner is open to anyone who wants to attend and will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Doors will open at noon. Dinner will be stuffed pork loin, ham and all the trimmings. There is no cost to attend the dinner and phones will be available to anyone who would like to contact family in the United States.

The VFW is seeking traditional donations of Easter baked goods or other donations from March 20 through March 23 at the post. Read more

A Belleville woman has been charged with lying to police about a car accident that killed a man.

Naomi Embrich, 19, of 216 S. 12th St., was charged with obstructing justice, a felony, for telling St. Clair County Sheriff's deputies that she was not driving a gold Ford Explorer when it was involved in a single-vehicle accident around 5:40 a.m. Feb. 25.

According to the police report, Sheriff's Deputy David Frisse responded to the accident and found Embrich walking around the vehicle, which appeared to have rolled several times before settling upright on the road near 5108 Concordia Church Road in Belleville. Read more

Alcohol and improper lane usage lead to the deaths of two people in a three-car collision this morning on Highway 64 in Fairview Heights, police said.

Benjamin A. Seres, 19, of Shiloh, was driving a 1988 Dodge Dakota pickup truck westbound on I-64 about 6 a.m. Seres and passenger Rachel Lynn Mongiovi, 25, of Troy, died after the vehicle swerved across all lanes of the interstate, hit another car and then crashed into the center barrier before rolling several times, according to Illinois State Police Trooper Kevin Coates. Read more

“There was nothing here but swamp when I started”

Q. Near Germantown someone is building a fort. My husband and I drove by it several weeks back. More work has been done and now there are cannons. Do you know if there is a history behind this? Or is this just someone's hobby?

-- Donna Bickerstaff

A. Just ask Bob Eversgerd the obligatory 'How are you?' and you immediately sense you're about to talk to one unique character.

'Things are really going good today!' he says with an energy that makes you feel like it's the same answer he gives every day. Read more

“If I live to be 200, I won't ever get these cakes out of my head and do all these ideas I want to do.”

Outside, a sleety wintry mix bounces off cars and windowsills.

Inside Nancy Robinson's Fairview Heights home, it's cake paradise.

Multi-tiered wedding cakes with dots, stripes and bows decorate the family room mantel and hearth. Cakes shaped like hatboxes and purses, flip-flops and diaper bags call for a closer look.

Is that baby powder container real? No, it's cake and icing.

How did she put that intricate black toile design on the white purse? A stencil and a powdered edible dust. Read more

“Some of the money ensures that athletes are able to compete for free.”

Metro-east police officers will be serving more than citations to local diners today and Friday.

The officers will assist servers and ask for donations at the Fairview Heights Red Lobster from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. today and Friday for the annual Cops and Lobsters fundraising event. The restaurant is at 110 Ludwig Drive.

The event is a part of the year-round Law Enforcement Torch Run which raises money and awareness for Special Olympics Illinois.

The Torch Run was established in 1981 and made its debut in Illinois in 1986. It started as an intrastate relay that carried the ceremonial 'Flame of Hope' to the Special Olympics games site. Over the years, the organization has incorporated other fundraising events such as Cops and Lobsters and polar plunges. Read more

The city is considering creating a tax increment financing district in the area that would include a new convention center to attract developers.

The goal is to attract a major retail center and corporate office complex to the area located off Green Mount Road just north of Interstate 64, city officials said.

Finance Director Dean Rich presented aldermen with the details of a pair of resolutions -- one calling for the creation of a TIF District on more than 60 acres north of the city's Regency Park Conference Center now under construction. Another resolution will create a special business district south of I-64 on Central Park Drive between American Furniture and the Drury Inn. Read more

“The filing process should only take about 20-30 minutes.”

The newly approved tax stimulus package will mean rebates for most taxpayers, including those who would not normally file a tax return.

Liberty Tax Service will file free tax returns for those who do not meet regular filing requirements.

According to Fairview Heights Liberty Tax Service store owner Andy Le, there are many people in the area who would not normally file but should do so this year to receive the rebate.

'We estimate at least 1,000 people in the St. Clair County area are eligible' for the free service,' Le said. 'We want them to get the money the government has allotted for them and let them help stimulate the economy, too.' Read more

“This is the first of what we hope will be many locations in the St. Louis area”

Olga's Kitchen Restaurant in Fairview Heights is getting a sister across the river: The chain will open its first Missouri restaurant in the Chesterfield Mall. via Belleville News