East St. Louis Mayor Limits Liquor Sales After Shootings

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) - The mayor of East St. Louis says the city is limiting alcohol sales after several incidents of weekend violence. Mayor Alvin L. Parks Jr. released a statement Sunday saying the city would suspend all non-casino sales of liquor after 1 a.m. until further notice. He says he's doing so to "re-stabilize the community's health and safety."  

The move followed a series of shootings outside East St. Louis clubs, including the Sunday death of a 23-year-old man who police say was shot as he walked to his car. East St. Louis has instituted similar alcohol restrictions before.  

The city of 27,000 has been grappling with a high murder rate and the city's night clubs have particularly been under scrutiny.  U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin says he wants the businesses to close earlier.

http://goo.gl/MMHLD

Cocaine sent to U.N. headquarters

More than 35 pounds of cocaine was discovered in at least one bag that turned up at the United Nations headquarters in New York, police said Thursday.

The narcotics were uncovered on January 16 inside hollowed-out books that had been shipped from Mexico City in a bag made to look like a diplomatic pouch, according to New York police spokesman Paul Browne.

"The actual pouch is blue and has a U.N. symbol, a lock and seal, and words like "Diplomatic Mail," Browne said. "This bag was white instead of blue and had no locked seal and no wording of any kind."

The bag was being screened at the United Nations' postal receiving center when the cocaine was discovered.

It lacked a destination address and was without a return address, Browne added.

U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said, "This was not connected to the United Nations, and that's why the host government, the city authorities, in the shape of the NYPD, were brought in to assist."

He said that it "was not a diplomatic pouch."

In a written statement, Nesirky noted that "two suspicious mail bags were intercepted."

Authorities have not located the intended recipient, he said.

http://goo.gl/UH8Jg

Trail of Tears tour to be offered later this month

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS — The Illinois Chapter Trail of Tears Association is offering a guided bus tour of the Trail of Tears across Southern Illinois beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday, March 24, at the parking lot of the Golden Circle Center in Golconda.

The tour will be an eight hour, 60 mile trip with onboard trip guides giving historical information about the path of the Trail through Pope, Johnson and Union Counties. Stops will be made at historic locations along the Trail. The tour guides will share Trail of Tears stories.

In 1838-1839, the U.S. Government forced several groups of Native Americans to leave their homelands in the Eastern States and travel to Oklahoma Territory to live, in which many died during the trip. The event and the path of their journey became known as the Trail of Tears.

For more information call Sandra Boaz, Chapter President, at 618-833-8216 or Vice-President Joe Crabb at 618-949-3355.

http://goo.gl/B9OWR