Okawville News

Parents: John and Molly Ronsick, of Okawville. John, 30, originally from St. Louis, works at Auto Tire in Fairview Heights.

A new poll conducted for the Illinois Manufacturers' Association has challenger Charlie Meier leading in the three-way Republican primary race for the 108th Illinois House District, but statistically that may mean little and nearly two-thirds of the voters were undecided.

Springfield, Ill. - Merging the state's 800-plus school districts into a more manageable number could cost nearly $4 billion, according to a recent report that may kill any chance that a commission looking for ways to improve Illinois education will recommend a major consolidation.

Jeston Cade has gone from working in a clothing store and singing in bars to living in a mansion and being groomed as a member of America's next "supergroup." The Okawville native is one of six singers who won an Internet talent show hosted by music manager Johnny Wright last spring, when he was living in Nashville, Tenn.