Dan Brannan is Content Director of RiverBender and EdGlenToday.com. Dan started at Riverbender.com/Edglentoday.com in December 2014. He is a graduate of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, IL with degrees in Journalism and Psychology. Having previously served as the Executive Editor of The Telegraph in Alton, his 17-year tenure led the paper to over 350 awards including several General Excellence awards in the Illinois Press Association, Illinois Associated Press, Freedom Communications, Southern Illinois Editorial Association and Journal Register Company contests. Brannan was chosen to lead Freedom Communications' national pilot on social media.
He is the author of eight nonfiction books including: "The Courage to Live," a biography about Donna Gustavel, a young woman with multiple disabilities; "Everyday Angels," an inspirational book of moving human interest stories; "Live Life to the Fullest: Stories of People Coping With Diabetes" which is endorsed by the American Diabetes Association; "Boy Giant: The Story of Robert Wadlow The World's Tallest Man;" "Damn Cold and Starving" written with Sgt. Marion Ray; "You Can't Kill the Dream" co-written with fellow journalist Ande Yakstis; and "A Life in Parts," the story of Loretta Goebel and endorsed by Beatle Paul McCartney.
Dan, an avid exercise enthusiast, is a member of the American Diabetes Association and lives in Maryville. Dan has two children in college - Savannah and Sierra.
EDWARDSVILLE - Junior guard Rowan Weller has been Edwardsville's most clutch player the last few weeks, and on Wednesday night, Feb. 25, 2026, he came through again, delivering the two baskets that put the Tigers ahead for good, and later hit a big free throw in the dying seconds, and it was enough...
QUINCY/ALTON - 89 years ago, on Feb. 25, 1937, Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. of Quincy, Illinois, enlisted as a cadet in the Army Air Corps, a step that preceded his later role as the pilot of the Enola Gay. He is shown in front of the famed aircraft above. This aircraft dropped the first atomic bomb...
EAST ALTON - Chris Carpenter, a 20-year-old from East Alton, is undergoing multiple surgeries for severe second- and third-degree burns after a fire destroyed his family’s home, and relatives have launched a GoFundMe to help cover medical costs and the family’s homeowners' insurance...
EAST ALTON - East Alton Fire Chief Jeremy Diveley reflected on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, about the massive fire in the Wilshire Strip Mall early Tuesday morning, Feb. 24, 2026. One point he wanted to emphasize was how important all the fire agencies were when the box alarms went out for the fire....
EAST ALTON - East Alton Fire Chief Jeremy Diveley said the fire in the Wilshire Strip Mall area early Tuesday morning, Feb. 24, 2026, was devastating for not only residents and those who still worked and owned businesses in the buildings. He pointed out that residents depend on the businesses...
VIRDEN - Marquette Catholic’s season ended the 2025-2026 season with a loss to Pleasant Plains on Tuesday night, Feb. 24, 2026, but coach Whitney Sykes said she remained proud of what her team accomplished. Pleasant Plains defeated Marquette 52-21 in a sectional semifinal. The win set up a girls...
EAST ST. LOUIS - Meonshai Houston, a fourth-grade English Language Arts and social studies teacher at Annette Harris Officer Elementary School in East St. Louis, has been named one of 30 finalists for the 2026 Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching, selected from nearly 600 nominations statewide....
ST. LOUIS COUNTY - The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, charged Jesse St. John, 28, with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of 19-year-old Steffon Marmon, authorities said. St. John, of the 300 block of Henquin Drive in St....
ST. LOUIS — Washington University Police Chief Angela Coonce said after a thorough investigation, they do not believe reports of an armed person on the university’s Danforth Campus were credible after the campus briefly went into a shelter-in-place on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. Coonce adde...
EAST ST. LOUIS - The Center for Racial Harmony honored K-12 students for “outstanding character traits” during its annual “The Gathering” youth recognition program this past weekend. At the event, Dunbar Elementary School fourth-grader Chaya Reynolds from the...
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