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2018 January Issue

SIUE Science Building survives the test

Facility delayed by state budget issues ready for its closeup  By DENNIS GRUBAUGH    About the time that many of this year’s freshman students were arriving in the world, SIUE began laying out plans to remodel one of the university’s oldest buildings.       Now, those students — 19 years old and counting — will soon meet…

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Mayors push regionalized growth effort

By DENNIS GRUBAUGH    A group of Metro East mayors, cast in a rare forum to talk about their towns, said they are leaning on each other more than ever and believe growth will rely on such cooperation.    “Our communities just have a battle being in the state of Illinois. We don’t need to battle ourselves,”…

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New fiduciary rule driving investors to fee-only financial management firms

By ALAN J. ORTBALS    As 2017 wound down, Ken Diel, principal of Diel and Forguson, an O’Fallon CPA firm and founding partner of Cambridge Capital Management, was receiving numerous calls from investors seeking to move their funds to a fee-only wealth manager.     Driving this movement is a new U.S. Department of Labor rule that…

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Your business could be a spammer (and it might cost you)

By JAMES DANIELS Jr.    Could you be a spammer? Does your company use email as a marketing tool? If so, you could be considered a spammer as defined by the U.S. CAN-SPAM Act (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing).     The CAN-SPAM act has five main components and applies to all commercial electronic…

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POINT: America’s oil resources: Protect or drill?

Easing restrictions will unleash further success in the energy sector.     EDITOR’S NOTE: The new tax reform law includes a measure to open oil drilling in parts of Alaska. This month’s Point/Counterpoint columns, written before that law was signed, show the debate is far from over. By NICOLAS LORIS    In another move to free up…

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COUNTERPOINT: America’s oil resources: Protect or drill?

New offshore drilling legislation is Big Oil’s dream come true By MICHAEL CONATHAN and SHIVA POLEFKA    While the ongoing controversies surrounding Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke’s questionable travel expenditures fill column inches of news outlets, the Trump administration and congressional Republicans are working overtime to radically expand their “drill, baby, drill” agenda.    On Oct.…

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Q&A with Mary Vandevord, president and CEO, HeartLands Conservancy

    IBJ: For years, HeartLands has played a quiet, behind-the-scenes role in community planning, but we’ve noticed lately that it’s been more publicly active. Are we right? What’s behind that?        Vandevord: HeartLands as an organization has been around for 30 years but we’ve kind of evolved. In the past we were part of a…

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New multimodal station opens several opportunities for Alton

By DENNIS GRUBAUGH    The new Regional Multimodal Transportation Center and substantial remodeling to nearby Alton Square have the city rolling into the new year on a high note.    The train station is now seeing full parking lots, Mayor Brant Walker said.    “It’s not what it will mean, it’s what it already is meaning. They expect…

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Illinois American Water recognized for diversity, inclusion by NAACP

    On Oct. 8, Illinois American Water was named the Corporate Business of the Year for Diversity and Inclusion by the East St. Louis Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People at a ceremony in St. Louis. This award is presented to companies who visibly exceed standards in the areas of…

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Belleville City Hall work was a highlight in 2017

By DENNIS GRUBAUGH    Mayor Mark Eckert says Belleville saw progress in virtually every corner of the community this past year, but one of the most significant developments was the $5 million overhaul of City Hall.    “One of our biggest accomplishments in 2017 was getting our government center totally renovated,” he said.    The work to City…

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