Our Past: The Telegraph headlines for June 8 over past 100 years

A judge in Jersey County Circuit Court sentenced a Georgia man to 87 days in the County Jail for his guilty plea to a reckless homicide charge in connection with a 2002 boating accident on the Mississippi River that killed a 15-year-old California boy. Thomas M. Paris, 43, of Savannah, Georgia, admitted to intentionally disabling his pleasure boat as part of an insurance fraud scheme. The drifting boat collided with a towboat pushing 16 barges near the Raging Rivers Water Park in Grafton on Oct. 12, 2002. Gregory Williams of Compton, California, jumped off Paris's boat before the collision but drowned after being pulled under by the tow.

The Telegraph profiled members of the 1961 East Alton-Wood River High School baseball team on the 40th anniversary of their second-place finish in the state tournament. The Oilers posted a record of 19-5 during the 1961 season before losing to Cicero's Morton East High School in the state championship game, 20-0. Members of the EA-WR 1961 squad reminisced about growing up and playing baseball together in East Alton and Wood River.

The Telegraph did not publish that day, a Saturday.

The Telegraph reported that arson had damaged a home in an all-white Godfrey subdivision being purchased by a Black family, but officials with the Fosterburg Fire Protection District had tried to conceal the report to avoid publicity. Damage from the fire, estimated at $12,000, was temporarily preventing the Melton Thomas family from moving into the $45,000 house in the Town and County subdivision, but they still planned to move in after repairs were made. Fosterburg Fire Chief Charles Miller initially withheld the fire report from the press and public, even though fire department reports were public records under Illinois law.

An Alton ambulance driver was credited with doing a “masterful job†of delivering a baby. Robert Streeper, head of the Streeper Funeral Home, responded to a call for an ambulance in the 1000 block of Willard Street. Upon arrival, family members told Streeper that Mrs. Cleve Logan would not make it to the hospital before the baby was born, so he took over. As it turned out, Streeper had never delivered a baby before. The child, Deborah Dee, was born weighing 2 pounds and 14 ounces, and she was moved from Alton Memorial Hospital to the premature baby clinic in East St. Louis.

The Alton Water Co. made a formal request to the Wood River City Council for leasing of the Wood River Water system for a period of 10 to 20 years. Standard Oil Co., which had been furnishing water to Wood River residents since the municipality’s incorporation, reportedly said it would be happy to be relieved of the responsibility. The City Council unanimously passed a resolution to give favorable consideration to the leasing plan.