Annalise Schmidt

SIU’s Board of Trustees voted to increase tuition rates for Carbondale students for the upcoming academic year, marking the first adjustment in nearly a decade. University leadership framed the increase as a necessary step to maintain operations while keeping costs relatively low compared to peer institutions. Advertisement   “Carbondale is requesting a 2% increase...

Categories: February 24, 2026 Photo of Carbondale Fire Chief Jay Crippen provided by the Carbondale Fire Department. After 24 years with the Carbondale Fire Department, Jay Crippen has stepped into its top leadership role. City Manager Stan Reno appointed Crippen as fire chief effective Feb. 1, 2026. Crippen brings 27 years of fire service experience to the position, including more than two decades serving with Carbondale.

Categories: February 24, 2026 Earlier this month, Carbondale firefighter Connor McBride responded to an apartment fire alongside her father, Steve McBride, chief of the Murphysboro Fire Department, marking the first time the two had worked the same scene together. Connor always knew what the fire service meant to her father, and after completing the academy and beginning her own career, she started building her own path in the profession he spent decades in.