CHICAGO — While some metropolitan areas are still struggling to create jobs, a growing number of cities and employers are beginning to face the one downside of continued economic expansion: labor shortages. For longtime job seekers still struggling to find employment, the idea of labor shortages may seem laughable, but in a new survey 77…

GODFREY – Lewis and Clark Community College recently forged some new green partnerships as a way to advance its commitment to sustainability — and the goal of reaching campus carbon neutrality by 2058. For several years, LCCC’s Dining Services has been composting food waste on campus. In April 2014, the college took it a step…

EAST ST. LOUIS – Two area women have pleaded guilty to Medicaid funds fraud Stephen R. Wigginton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, said Tamekia Hall, 38, of East St. Louis, pleaded guilty Thursday to submitting false and fraudulent bills in relation to personal assistant services in the Home Services Program, a Medicaid…

Danice Brown, right, stands with SIUE Chancellor Julie Furst-Bowe during Brown’s receipt of the SIUE Champion for Diversity Award EDWARDSVILLE – Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Dr. Danice Brown is the first recipient of the Champion for Diversity Award. The honor was announced Thursday during SIUE Chancellor Julie Furst-Bowe’s annual State of the University address in…

CHICAGO – Attorney General Lisa Madigan is warning consumers to be on the lookout for unauthorized charges on their credit or debit accounts due to a suspected data breach at an estimated 216 Jimmy John’s restaurants around the country. Madigan announced her office is leading an investigation into the possible breach of customers’ personal and…

GRANITE CITY – Advanced manufacturing programs at Southwestern Illinois College have jumped 50 percent in the last year, and skilled workers are in high demand by manufacturers in the Metro East. The college and six area manufacturers will open their doors for a Manufacturing Day Open House, Oct. 3, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.,…

STAUNTON – After years of frustration, commuters in the city of Staunton are getting upgrades to East Main Street, officials announced today. The work will take place between the railroad tracks and Old Route 66. The road will receive a complete resurfacing and a portion of sidewalks will be replaced. Within the first week of…

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, today spoke highly of Attorney General Eric Holder, in the wake of Holder’s plans to resign, which were announced today by President Obama. “Eric Holder has been a valuable ally…

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, says  the U.S. Department of Education has $791,108 in funding for three Illinois school districts and the Illinois State Board of Education to improve safety in the classroom and help prevent students from entering the school-to-prison pipeline. The funding is through the Now is the Time Grant…

A report released today by the Department of Health and Human Services projects that hospitals will save $5.7 billion this year in uncompensated care costs because of the Affordable Care Act, with states — like Illinois — that have expanded Medicaid seeing about 74 percent of the total savings nationally compared to states that have…