Under investigation by police, Collinsville High School educator and coach fired
The Collinsville Unit 10 School Board voted unanimously Monday to terminate Dan Munoz. Munoz, 33, was an educational assistant, head boys golf coach and assistant baseball coach at Collinsville High School. Assistant Chief Tom Coppotelli, of the Collinsville Police Department, confirmed that an investigation is ongoing involving Munoz, but could not confirm the nature of the […]
Read More →No internet, no problem: New concealed carry application process announced
The Illinois State Police announced Monday a way for residents to obtain a concealed carry permit if they do not have access to the internet. Applicants can contact the department’s Firearms Services (FSB) Customer Service Center phone line at 217-782-7980 and provide the same concealed carry license application information that is currently required through the on-line process. […]
Read More →PACT program shows at-risk kids that police are more than enforcers in uniforms
Twenty children mingled easily with police officers from seven local agencies Friday at Splash City Water Park in Collinsville. The children talked and laughed with each other and the officers. For Collinsville Police Officer Terry Wasser, it was another successful year of the Police and Children Together – Collinsville camp. “The biggest thing we try […]
Read More →Madison County treasurer referred for investigation, calls charges political
It is still not clear what Madison County Treasurer Kurt Prenzler hoped to accomplish when he held a press conference in front of the St. Clair County Administration building on May 30. Prenzler presented results of an analysis that at least two of his staff members helped compile while working in the Madison County Treasurer’s […]
Read More →New Illinois ticket quota law does not eliminate ticket quotas
By John Layton and Roger Starkey When Governor Pat Quinn signed into law Senate Bill 3411 on Sunday, June 15, he touted it as part of his agenda to maintain integrity in local government. State Representative Jay Hoffman, of Swansea, said the new law eliminates arbitrary quotas. “Arbitrary quotas on the number of tickets that […]
Read More →Escaped prisoner captured in Colorado
***Updated at 4 p.m. Friday, June 20*** Turhan Robinson’s escape lasted less than 12 hours and ended only a few blocks from where it started. The prisoner, charged with murder and armed robbery in the killing of Kenneth Deal on May 19 in Madison, Ill., was on his way back to Madison County from Las […]
Read More →Wheels fall off CARD mowing contract, staffers jobs spared – for now
Less than one month after the Collinsville Area Recreation District agreed to outsource grass cutting in the district, the deal has fallen apart. On May 20, Altered Grounds Outdoor Services LLC, of Pontoon Beach, was awarded the mowing contract with a bid of $2,600 per mow. The other five bids received were “about $4,770” and […]
Read More →Hearing and possible approval of new CARD budget set for Tuesday
***Updated at 1:25 p.m. Tuesday, June 17*** and Wednesday, June 18 at 10:42 p.m. Wednesday, June 18: CARD renewed the domain name and hosting agreement, so the links below work once again. Tuesday, June 17: The links below no longer work because the domain “collinsvillerec.com,” the administrative website for the Collinsville Area Recreation District, has […]
Read More →Heroin kills: A mother’s story
It started with a pill. It ended with the death of two daughters and a mother clinging ferociously to her only remaining child. Dollie Cooper’s daughter Trisha, the youngest of three girls, was caught selling a pill when she was a freshman in high school. The probation officer asked Dollie, a registered nurse, to get […]
Read More →Police report second false home invasion in Collinsville in three months
Five police organizations rushed to the scene of a reported home invasion at 2 a.m. Friday in the 1100 block of Hampstead Court, in Collinsville. Someone called 911 and reported that a woman was being dragged from her house by men dressed in black, wearing masks. When officers from Collinsville, Maryville, Caseyville, the Madison County […]
Read More →Tee it up with online bookings for Arlington Greens and other CARD programs
Booking a tee time at Arlington Greens golf course is now a 24-hour a day, 7-day per week possibility. The Collinsville Area Recreation District, which owns the course, recently implemented a new software service that, among other things, allows golfers to set a tee time with just few clicks of a mouse. The system shows […]
Read More →Local Girl Scouts show that a little group can make a big difference
A group of four Girl Scouts from Caseyville, Collinsville and Maryville recently collected supplies for Granite City APA, a no-kill animal shelter, before visiting the shelter to learn how to care for pets. The collection and visit was part of the Red Robin project for local Girl Scout Troop #726. The project first teaches the […]
Read More →Prenzler used taxpayer money to investigate fellow treasurer, says part of duties
When Madison County Treasurer Kurt Prenzler stood in front of the St. Clair County Administration Building at 1 p.m. Friday, he strongly insinuated, but stop short of accusing, St. Clair County Treasurer Charles Suarez of wrongdoing while in office. That Prenzler and some staff members compiled the information distributed to the media using Madison County […]
Read More →West Nile virus detected in Madison County mosquitoes
Between the storms and the heat, the spring and summer months bring plenty of causes for concern in the Metro East, but now the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has confirmed a new danger: the first positive reports of the West Nile virus in Illinois for 2014. Madison County Health Department employees collected a […]
Read More →Collinsville School Board votes down fence intended to secure CHS campus
With security more of an issue today than it was when Collinsville High School first opened its doors in 1972, school board members have been grappling with two projects that would offer more security at the campus. At its general meeting in May, the board voted down both plans. One would have added fencing around […]
Read More →Despite staff objection, CARD outsources mowing; two staffers likely out
The Superintendent of Parks at the Collinsville Area Recreation District told the elected CARD Commissioners that two full-time staffers do more than just cut grass, even in the summer. Despite his opinion, four of the five Commissioners voted to outsource grass cutting for the district, setting in motion a process that will eliminate two full-time positions […]
Read More →CESF rewards high school seniors with plans to give back
Four Collinsville students were recently awarded $1,000 each in scholarship money to further their post-high school education. Students Graydon Baima, Ryan Brunton, Sabrina Flohr and Corey Kitsch are the most recent group of graduating seniors to receive scholarships from the Collinsville Educational Scholarship Foundation, a group dedicated to supporting the educational experiences of Collinsville youth. […]
Read More →Interstate 44/55 ramp from Poplar Street Bridge to close Tuesday, open in 2015
The perpetual long lines to get into the one lane that carried traffic from the Poplar Street Bridge to both southbound Interstate 55 and westbound Interstate 44 may be coming to an end, but not until mid-2015. Construction will begin on the bridge will begin overnight Tuesday, with the ramps closed by the morning of Wednesday, […]
Read More →In final month on the job, Kathy Pitzer is Unit 10 Teacher of the Month
Kathy Pitzer will soon walk out the doors of Summit Elementary School and into retirement. She will be taking an Edward Jones Unit 10 Teacher of the Month Award with her. Pitzer is dedicated to her students and comes to work every day with a smile on her face, Summit Principal Julie Haake said. “She […]
Read More →Collinsville High School Student of the Month awards announced
Students of the Month April – Courtney Hasty, Nicole Hasty and Jose Oseguera While at Kiener Plaza on the senior field trip recently, the three worked together to save the life of a man who had fallen in the fountain and couldn’t swim. May – Brayden Drum Drum placed 4th in the state of […]
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