{"id":7879,"date":"2022-06-01T18:59:35","date_gmt":"2022-06-01T23:59:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/?page_id=7879"},"modified":"2022-06-30T21:30:35","modified_gmt":"2022-07-01T02:30:35","slug":"june-archived-articles-and-images","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/index.php\/june-archived-articles-and-images\/","title":{"rendered":"June Archived Articles and Images."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u201cLandmarks Illinois\u2019 Preservation Heritage Fund Grant Program provides funding to organizations in Illinois leading historic preservation projects at significant structures that are under threat of demolition, require stabilization and\/or reuse or structural evaluation or those that need to be evaluated for landmark eligibility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mayor Mike Parkinson and the city will be matching these \u201cPreservation Heritage\u201d funds in order to repair the roof of the Firehouse Museum, which was built in 1904 and served as Granite City\u2019s first City Hall, Police Station and Firehouse. The Firehouse Museum is owned by the City of Granite City and is located at 1411 19th Street in downtown Granite City. Currently it is not open to the public but hopes to be soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He also retired from the Long Lake Volunteer Fire Department after 47 years of dedicated and faithful service to his community, serving 30 years as Fire Chief. He had spent his youth as an Eagle Scout with Troop 46, enjoyed his days of hunting and cherished his grandchildren. Danny devoted his life to the Fire Department and his community and will be remembered for the love and special times shared with his family and friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to his beloved mother, he is survived by three children and their spouses, Penny and Jason Feldt of Glen Carbon, Terry and Kristen Kreher of Pontoon Beach and Lorri and Brian Peterson of Granite City; five grandchildren, Sierrah Kreher, Kailee Kreher, Briya Peterson, Blakelee Peterson and Bryce Feldt; a sister, Janice Atkinson of Granite City; nephew and niece, Kurt and Mandy Atkinson of Alton and Wendy and Jeff Pittman of Pontoon Beach; dear friend, Kristi Clements of Granite City; many cousins; other extended family and friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In celebration of his life, visitation will be at Irwin Chapel, 3960 Maryville Road in Granite City on Sunday, June 26, 2022 from 3:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A First Responder walk-through will be held at 7:00 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funeral services will be held at Irwin Chapel on Monday, June 27, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. with Reverend Jeff Chamberlain officiating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burial will follow at Sunset Hill Memorial Estates in Glen Carbon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Memorials may be made to the Long Lake Volunteer Fire Department and may be accepted at the funeral home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ward 4 Alderman Brad Eavenson Recaps the June, 07 2022 Council Meeting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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The Planning and Zoning committee recommended the demolition of five additional properties throughout the city. The city council approved this recommendation. Under the Legal and Legislative committee, the council approved an ordinance to allow public consumption of alcohol in certain buildings owned by the city. This is also part of the new city events center, The Mill.
Under the Public Works committee, numerous bids were awarded for projects and materials to repair streets, sidewalks, catch basins and the removal of more trees. Funding for these projects come from our motor fuel tax (MFT) and the American Recovery Act. The council approved the hiring of a probationary firefighter to fill a vacancy created by retirements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The city council approved entering into an agreement for electrical supply to city owned buildings as well as residential properties of homeowners who would like to be part of that buying co-op. In short, this program works with a vendor to provide the best price for electric service to the community. Homeowners may opt out of the program. The mayor cautioned that all indicators point to much higher utility costs in the coming months, as is the case across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Under finance committee business, the city council sold two vacant lots to adjoining property owners on Century Drive. These lots were previously owned and maintained by the city. The council approved the renewal of contracts for three city employees, the Director of Arts, Entertainment and Tourism, the Director of Economic Development and our City Grant Writer. The council approved distribution of unused funds from the Route 203 district back to the various taxing bodies in the city. Work continues on Johnson Road and several other projects throughout the city. We\u2019re now in our summer series of \u201cMusic in the Park \u201c, as well as our Market Day on one Saturday of each month in Civic Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Granite City Swing Band provided musical entertainment under the direction of MAPO Vice President Butch Mestemacher. The event honored individuals in the area who make \u201cgreat contributions to the church, government, community, personal profession and family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honorees included Granite City Mayor Mike Parkinson, KTVI Fox 2 News Anchor Kelley Hoskins and Bill Gates Scholar Tamika Mitchell. \u201cWe are honoring people that, quite simply, make this world a better place to live,\u201d said MAPO President Dr. Henrietta Young, \u201cWe want to show love to those being of service to others- the unsung heroes of our communities.\u201d Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The building and Animal Control facility at 2900 Missouri Avenue in Granite City has been on the radar of\u00a0Mayor Parkinson since his days on the Police Force before being elected Mayor. The building is in need of modernization and updates to better serve both the community and the animals.


Mayor Parkinson recognizes the need and has the vision and plans to help make these changes a reality.\u00a0The mayor is proposing the city spend $180,000 on updates for the facility or possibly rebuilding a new modern building all together.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0


Sometimes change is hard, but\u00a0necessary in order to obtain public tax dollars or federal grant money. These changes were unavoidable because tax dollars and grant monies\u00a0cannot\u00a0be used for a private organization that had helped\u00a0run the facility in recent years. Sometimes you just have to make the difficult choices for the greater good to help in\u00a0reaching the ultimate goal, and in this case the ultimate goal is an updated family friendly facility to aid in no animals being left behind when looking for placement in a forever home.


The city is committed to the protection of all animals and could not pass up the opportunity to build a better facility.\u00a0Mayor Parkinson was responsible for the majority of animal abuse cases prosecuted in the city in his last few years at the police department and you can expect that he will ensure that all animals will be safeguarded under his watch.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Joe Hackler Launches Campaign for State Representative\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>
Hackler focused on lowering taxes, fighting corruption, and supporting our police<\/em>
GRANITE CITY \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Today, Joe Hackler will file the maximum 1,000 petition signatures at the State Board of Elections and is launching his campaign for state representative in the 112th District, which includes portions of Madison and St. Clair counties.\u00a0Read More<\/a>

Korte Launches Campaign for Illinois House District 112<\/strong>
Jennifer Korte, of Edwardsville, announced her campaign as a Republican for the 112th
District of the Illinois House of Representatives on Monday 3\/14\/2022.
Korte has a bachelor\u2019s degree in social work from SIUE and a master\u2019s degree in social work from St. Louis University. She worked as a social worker at Barnes-Jewish Hospital before becoming a stay-at-home mom in 2005.\u00a0Read More<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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You Know Summer Has Officially Arrived in Granite City When the Concerts in the Park Have Began<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Downtown Civic Park was filled with the sounds of music on Sunday evening. Despite the cool temperature families turned out with their coolers and lawn chairs to settle in for an evening of fun and music. Thank you to the concert sponsors who made this evening possible. Harvest Community Church, Shafer Excavating, Output Unlimited, Lisa\u2019s Dairy Bar, Uncle Linny\u2019s and the August Garden.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Honoring Our Hometown Heroes the Right Way by Paula Hubbard<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

The Memorial Day service in Granite City on Monday, May 30, 2022, was a solemn reminder of our local citizens who gave all. The service was a unifying event, well planned and attended by many wanting to honor our fallen. As we were reminded by speaker, Craig Knight, that Granite City is a POW-MIA certified city, I could not help but think why are there so few cities with this distinction. Being a history buff, this statement by Knight started me on a quest to research this very issue, as the journalist in me wanted to know the who, what, when, where and why.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I discovered several articles on MIA-POW cities, but one that appeared in the April 10, 2019 Advantage News that explained the recognition of Granite City as a certified POW-MIA city. Granite City was named the first Illinois city and the 13th<\/sup> in the entire nation to be recognized as a POW-MIA certified city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defining the reason why our City received this honor lead me to Jefferson Barracks Historic District and Military Post. According to the Jefferson Barracks museum spokesman, Paul Dillon, whose father was a POW, the museum was founded in 2011 to honor those who were captured during a war or are still missing in action. Recently, this museum, located at Jefferson Barracks National Memorial, began honoring cities and counties that raise awareness of POW and MIA veterans. Most of these municipalities are in Missouri, but word began to spread and is expanding nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Granite City was recognized for its efforts to honor veterans who were prisoners of war or are missing in action. The Jefferson Barracks POW-MIA museum officially named Granite City a POW-MIA City in February of 2019, making it the first city in Illinois to earn the distinction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dillon stated: \u201cWe cannot and will not forget the veterans who were prisoners of war, the one who are still missing from World War I and World War II and the ones who have yet to come home from overseas because they are buried somewhere over there. We remember these individuals.\u201d My sentiments exactly! He further stated this is the aim of the program and is the purpose of recognizing cities and counties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The City of Granite City, as in other cities is recognized for a number of reasons including, displaying the flag at City Hall, displaying service flags during holidays such as Veterans Day and Memorial Day and also having a MIA table at local VFW, DAV and veteran\u2019s locations. I recall GCHS has always had a MIA-POW table on specific holidays, recognizing our fallen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I pondered the unity I felt on Monday at the service at the city\u2019s Veterans Memorial Park, I was reminded of days gone by in the 1970\u2019s when I wore a POW bracelet for a missing Granite City resident, Roger Innis. I also remember the day the earth seemed to stand still when I was told one of my neighbors and favorite people, Private First class Newton Tapp was killed in action. I remember his sweet mother and his brother Ned and sister Trudy, and their profound grief. When the war in Viet Nam ended, I remember going to Scott Air Force Base to welcome home some of the POW\u2019s and soldiers. It was a time in my life I will never forget and I choose to remember and thank God daily for these brave individuals who have sacrificed all for my freedom to live my life in Granite City and a country I love that could use some unity right about now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do yourself a favor and taka a moment to visit Veterans Memorial Park located at the intersection of Madison Avenue, Niedringhaus and 21st<\/sup> streets to honor the fallen of Granite City and the surrounding areas. It is maintained by the Granite City Park District, who recently refurbished the large fountain and grounds in this hallowed park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Granite City Township Has Senior Service Plus Lunch Grand Reopening<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n