Tagged: Joplin

Candidates debate in Illinois' 12 Congressional District

After nearly twenty years representing Illinois’s 12th Congressional District, Jerry Costello is retiring at the end of his term.  The three candidates looking to fill the open seat debated in Carbondale last night. 

Interfaith and civil rights leaders gathered in Ballwin this morning to show support for the congregation of the Islamic Society of Joplin, which was destroyed by a suspicious fire earlier this month.

Although the FBI is still investigating the cause, the St. Louis chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person that set the fire.

Members of a Joplin mosque that was destroyed in a fire will rebuild and have been encouraged by the support shown them by the Joplin community.

Faizan Syed, executive director of the St. Louis office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Thursday that leaders of the Islamic Society of Joplin will "definitely rebuild." He says Joplin's Islamic community members "are in to stay."

The Islamic Society of Joplin's mosque was destroyed in a fire early Monday. No injuries were reported.