Ice is the real winter hazard in this valley — a slow freezing drizzle off the river, and by morning every lot, step and windshield is one sheet. Salt Industries, Inc. answers it with plowing, clearing and ice control across East St. Louis, treating pavement so cars can stop and people can walk without measuring every step. Wind comes hard over the levee once a front pulls out, drifting back over whatever the blade left, which is what the second pass is for. The measure of a good night is simple: nobody slips, nobody gets stuck, and the morning goes on as if nothing happened. East St. Louis and the towns beside it get that, storm after storm.