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<\/figure><\/div>\n\nWith the first of the year local Madison County public health inspectors begin making their rounds. \u201cThe goal of the Food Sanitation Program is to protect citizens from contracting and transmitting foodborne diseases and to educate food service operators and consumers about safe food handling practices.\u201d How does your favorite establishment compare to others? From full-service restaurants, fast food chains, and even the local hospital you will find information published on the Madison County, Illinois website.<\/p>\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\nThe Granite City, Il. Pizza Hut located at 3801 Nameoki Road had a perfect inspection report without a single violation reported. You can find\u00a0more reports by tapping the link.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n Kari Shipley and Chelsea Scaturro Bring Mardi Gras Back to Granite City for the Third Year in a Row<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Shipley, along with Chelsea Scaturro, organized the first Granite City Mardi Gras two years ago and were told they were signed up for life to organize future Mardi Gras celebrations in town. The two gladly accepted the role.<\/p>\n\n Article written by Billy Woods, The Telegraph<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re huge on family,\u201d co-organizer Kari Shipley said. \u201cIt\u2019s more about family than drinking. I know Mardi Gras is a big drinking holiday, but we focus on coming together and starting the spring off right.\u201d \u201cWe\u2019re hoping that people really show up,\u201d Shipley said. \u201cBeing on stage when I\u2019m making the announcements and seeing all those people laughing and having fun is what makes it all worth it.\u201d The Thursday Night Date Night Adventure<\/strong><\/p>\n\n The daily life of work, rest, play and repeat can easily be turned upside down with a simple phone call. Suddenly all that seems important is scrambled and rearranged and priorities and goals get a reset. This is exactly what can happen when the non-discriminating disease of Cancer finds its way into a family. Thursday Night Date Night with Paula and Kendall<\/strong><\/p>\n\n \u201cFor tonight\u2019s Thursday Night Date Night, we stopped at one of the two oldest establishments in Granite City! We ate at The Park Grill!!! This restaurant was established in 1956 in Venice, Illinois. It moved to Granite City in 2002. The waiter that waited on us is the grandson of a woman who started working here in 1958. She still helps out. She\u2019s 82 years old. In the Still of the Night<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Working the night shift can present a special opportunity every now and then that many people don\u2019t get to experience. An event such as the one Dawson Pierson, working the night shift security at Wilson Park in Granite City was able to capture while on the job.<\/p>\n\n When the snow begins to fall and busy streets become deserted, it seems as if mother nature brings on a winter night\u2019s silence that gives way to the flapping wings and variety of sounds that come from the park\u2019s visiting owls. State Senator Erica Harriss and Senator Jason Plummer<\/strong> As a way to honor area seniors,\u00a0<\/strong>State Senator Erica Harriss (56th<\/sup>-Glen Carbon) and Senator Jason Plummer (55-Edwardsville) will host their annual Valentines for Seniors Card Drive through February 5, 2024. This information is from the newsletter of Kurt Prenzler, December, 27, 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n\n \u201cThis evening I was wondering if there were any backdoor referendums in St. Clair County and began searching on the\u00a0Public Notice Illinois website<\/a>. \u201cSearching for backdoor referendums in St. Clair County, I discovered that Dec. 20,\u00a0O\u2019Fallon District 90<\/a>, also known as the St. Clair County Community Consolidated School District Number 90, published a\u00a0$18.5 million working cash backdoor referendum<\/a>. January 2024 Archives<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Article written by Billy Woods, The Telegraph \u201cWe\u2019re huge on family,\u201d co-organizer Kari Shipley said. \u201cIt\u2019s more about family than drinking. I know Mardi Gras is a big drinking holiday, but we focus on coming together and starting the spring off right.\u201d \u201cWe\u2019re hoping that people really show up,\u201d Shipley said. \u201cBeing on stage when … Continue reading “February 2024 Archived Articles”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-16013","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16013"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16306,"href":"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16013\/revisions\/16306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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The celebration starts with the 1 p.m. parade, which takes off from Granite City High School, goes down State Street to Madison Avenue and down Niedringhaus Avenue, where it ends, and the block party will begin. In years past, Niedringhaus Avenue has been jam-packed with families for the parade and the ensuing block party, which spills into Civic Park and will feature eight food trucks and stands, participating bars and mobile axe throwing.
For kids, there is the Alligator Alley. The kids\u2019 section features plenty of children\u2019s games and activities, such as face painting. The block party lasts from 2-5 p.m. and is followed by the bar crawl from 5-10 p.m. Buses take partygoers around 18 different bars in Granite City. Full article here\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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With one goal in mind, Paula Wilder, retired schoolteacher of 30 years teaching for the Granite City school district and her husband Kendall Wilder, that works for the Public Works Department for Granite City decided to turn one night a week, each Thursday into \u201cdate night\u201d. Throughout the process of the 43 radiation treatments, five days a week, Paula knew after speaking with other cancer patients one of the biggest challenges they all shared was the loss of appetite and finding the energy to eat.
\u201cWe started playing a game, a restaurant game.\u00a0 I told him to start thinking about what sounded good to him to eat, and where he would like to go on Thursday nights.\u00a0 We were going to start going out to eat every Thursday night and call it Thursday Night Date Night.\u00a0 One of the early rules was that we could only go to that restaurant one time, then he would have to pick somewhere new to eat.\u00a0 This gave him incentive to eat, think about eating, and research places to eat.\u00a0 We started going all over Creve Coeur at first, then traveled to Webster Groves, The Hill, and anywhere that he wanted to go.\u201d<\/em>
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Kendall\u2019s first treatment was on September 25th\u00a0<\/sup>and his last was November 26th<\/sup>.\u00a0 We\u2019re very happy to report that Kendall has remained Cancer free since that last treatment.\u00a0 The Thursday night date night adventures have continued and taken on a whole new meaning now. The restaurant adventures of Paula and Kendall have become a popular story they have started sharing with friends and family and now they are dedicating at least one Thursday a month for local establishments only.
\u201cAfter all of the years of trying new restaurants all over the St. Louis area, we never posted about Granite City.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that we don\u2019t ever eat in Granite City, but we never posted about it.\u00a0 We never featured it in our restaurant adventure.\u00a0 \u00a0We never made it a priority.\u00a0 We kind of took Granite City restaurants for granted, because it\u2019s right here. I decided to start featuring a different place in Granite City every month.\u00a0 We have a pretty good following for our Thursday Night Date Nights, so why not help our own community?\u00a0Now, our mission is to help Granite City.\u00a0 We believe in this city.\u00a0 We love this city, and we are going to try to help our city in our very small, but huge heartfelt way.\u201d<\/em>
You can find Paula and Kendall\u2019s Thursday night date night adventure below.
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Okay. Let\u2019s talk food. I had the hamburger steak with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, fries, and applesauce. The applesauce and mashed potatoes were for the grand baby. Kendall had the pork tenderloin, salad, coleslaw, baked beans. Yes, that\u2019s how he eats. My hamburger steak was fantastic, as were the mashed potatoes and fries. Astrid was a huge yes for the applesauce.
The atmosphere is a rustic 4, service was a 5, food was fantastic, 5, and price was like no other, 5. We are taking dinner to two other people for a total of $48.00. That\u2019s dinner for four for $48.00.
People!! You can\u2019t feed a family of 4 for $48.00 at McDonald\u2019s!!! Check out Park Grill in Granite City!!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Screenshot_15-2-2024_182951_granitecitygossip.com_.jpeg\")
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The city slows down for the night and as the quiet grows you can actually hear the snowflakes as they float from the skies to settle on the tree limbs and the ground. The snow covered park and its water features and structures were as beautiful as a wintery postcard.<\/p>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Web-capture_13-2-2024_2384_granitecitygossip.com_.jpeg\")
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Remembering Seniors for Valentine\u2019s Day<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\u201cI often hear of people in the community looking for ways to help others. This is an opportunity people can show our seniors love and support this Valentine\u2019s Day,\u201d said Senator Harriss. \u201cWe have several nursing homes and long-term care facilities across the district, and I want to make sure these residents don\u2019t feel unloved or forgotten about on a day focused on love.\u201d
Both Senators are asking students, scout groups, churches, families, and other groups to consider creating homemade cards that will be delivered to nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, and other long-term care facilities throughout each Senate District.
\u201cThis is a chance to make sure people know that we care and are thinking about them,\u201d said Senator Plummer. \u201cEvery year our communities show these recipients that they are appreciated, and I look forward to another great response in 2024.\u201d
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Cards can be dropped off from now until February 5th at Senator Harriss\u2019 District Office at 120 North Main Street, Suite 1B, Edwardsville or at Senator Plummer\u2019s District Office at 310 West Gallatin Street, Vandalia.
There will be a drop box inside both offices during normal business hours, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. A small mailbox will be located outside the office for after-hour drop-offs.
In 2023, members of the Senate Republican Caucus collected and delivered more than 45,000 Valentines through the program.
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To my surprise . . . I discovered that\u00a0Granite City District #9 had \u2013 on Nov. 22<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 published \u2013 in the Belleville News-Democrat newspaper \u2013 a $20 million \u201cworking cash\u201d backdoor referendum.
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That means the 30 day opportunity to gather signatures to put this on the ballot has come and gone.<\/strong>
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My office routinely searches the Public Notice Illinois website for notices in Madison County \u2013 looking for notices just like this.
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Why did we not see it?
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Look closely \u2013 below \u2013 on the left hand side of the notice. It says:\u00a0\u201cPublication County: St. Clair.\u201d<\/strong>
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No wonder we didn\u2019t see it.\u00a0
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We don\u2019t search public notices in St. Clair County.
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I will look into this tomorrow.
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And if you\u2019re a taxpayer in Granite City District #9, you also probably want to look into it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/newspapernotice2023-1-1.jpg\")
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A \u201cworking cash\u201d bond means that the proceeds of the bond sale go into the working cash fund, which means that the district can basically use the money as it sees fit, without restriction.
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The notice says that if 2,320 signatures are gathered within 30 days of the publication date, then the voters will be able to vote on it \u2013 on Nov. 5, 2024. If the signatures are not gathered, then District 90 will be able to issue the bonds, which will be repaid with higher property taxes.\u201d
Click here for the rest of the newsletter\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n
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