Ameren Illinois Utilities is giving one-time grants of up to $300 to customers who were laid-off since December.

In order to qualify, a residential electric customer must provide documentation of unemployment, such as confirmation of an unemployment insurance claim.

There is a limit of one grant per household.

A total of $2.2 million is available for grants.

The funds are part of the Illinois rate relief package adopted by the Illinois General Assembly and signed into law in 2007.

The National Park Service is backing a plan that calls for growing the park into Illinois, potentially making good on a decades-old dream of extending the Arch grounds into East St. Louis. 

Under that approach, the East St. Louis waterfront would be included in a competition -- similar to the one that led to the construction of Eero Saarinen's iconic sculpture -- to revamp the entire park. 

Additional ideas include linking the shorelines with a water taxi or even building a grass-covered "Eco Arch" opposite the existing Arch. 

The common goal: Connecting the region, while providing a grand view of the 630-foot monument.

The proposed "Eco Arch," a 30-acre site across the river from the Arch grounds that would feature a large sculpture and an amphitheater.

Thursday was supposed to be the highlight of the year for more than 100 kindergarteners from Stafford County, Va. They got up early and took a chartered bus to the White House for a school field trip. But when they arrived, all the 5-year-olds got was a lesson in disappointment.

The buses from Conway Elementary arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue a little later than planned, and they were locked out.

"We were going to the White House, but we couldn't get in so I felt sad," 5-year-old Cameron Stine said.

Parents say they were just 10 minutes late for their scheduled tour. School officials say White House staff said they needed to get ready for the president's event with the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, so they couldn't come in.

"I was angry cause they were disappointed," parent and chaperone Paty Stine said.

The Steelers and the Obama administration used their time together to create 3,000 care packages for U.S. troops as part of a Wounded Warriors initiative.

A lot of preparing had gone into the trip. Conway Elementary teachers had been planning the trip for months, each child paid $20 for a seat on the chartered bus, and names were submitted to the White House for clearance.

Parents say they tried to make it on time, but their chartered buses hit heavy traffic that slowed them down substantially. They thought they were supposed to show up by 10:15, but they say they arrived at 10:25 instead, and couldn't get in.

"The person who headed this White House trip up came out and said, 'I'm sorry, the White House tour's off.' There were a lot of crying kids," parent Barbara Stine said.