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Northern Illinois would have to wait three years before it could see self-driving taxis on the road.

An Illinois lawmaker is seeking to reverse a statewide protection on rooftop solar projects, introducing a measure that would allow cities and villages to restrict or even ban rooftop solar installations.

Illinois lawmakers are considering a bill that would charge shoppers a fee for carryout bags, with the goal of restricting the use of plastic bags over the next few years.

A Missouri Lottery player in St. Charles County has claimed an $1 million prize from a Scratchers ticket. According to the Missouri Lottery, the winning $10 ticket was bought at the FastLane gas station at 21 E. Highway N, in Wentzville.

ST. CHARLES, Mo. - One gas station customer won big on a scratchers ticket purchased in St. Charles. According to the Missouri Lottery, the Magnificent Millions ticket with a $100,000 prize was bought at the Phillips 66 gas station, located at 2675 W. Clay St. The winner marks the second person to receive more than [...]

Missouri Representative Ed Lewis has proposed House Bill 2951 to require Missourians to file a resident address and pay all applicable taxes and fees, or face a fine of up to $500 and suspension of their driver's license.

With temperatures slowly on the rise over the course of this weekend, the city has plenty to do for everyone!

EDWARDSVILLE - Early voting is underway in Madison County ahead of the March 17, 2026, general primary election, giving voters the option to cast ballots before Election Day at designated sites across the county. Madison County Clerk Lynda Andreas said early voting is intended to make the process more convenient. “Early Voting makes voting easier for almost everyone,” Andreas said. “You don’t have to wait in line at the polling place and can vote when it fits your schedule.”

David Hoffmann, a Missouri-raised entrepreneur and billionaire, has publicly expressed interest in buying the St. Louis Cardinals if the franchise is put up for sale, according to a St. Louis Business Journal report.

For over half a century, the CIA’s World Factbook has been one of the most quietly useful things the federal government has ever produced. A comprehensive, regularly updated, freely available reference on every country in the world—population stats, government structures, economic data, geography, the works. It was the kind of thing that made you think, […]

Dear Friend of Press Freedom,

Attacks on well-known journalists like Don Lemon are in the headlines, but noncitizens exercising First Amendment rights remain the most vulnerable. Rümeysa Öztürk has been facing deportation for 318 days for co-writing an op-ed the government didn’t like, and journalist Ya’akub Vijandre remains locked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement over social media posts about issues he reported on. Read on for more on the state of press freedom.

What we know because of leaks

The Department of Homeland Security secretary calls leakers a threat to national security and wants to prosecute them. Federal agents raided Washington Post journalist Hannah Natanson’s home and seized terabytes of data, purportedly to aid their prosecution of leaks.

But much of what the public knows about government agencies like DHS, which includes ICE and Customs and Border Protection, is thanks to whistleblowers and leakers who have exposed the government’s increasingly unlawful conduct as it aggressively enforces immigration law across the country.

Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Senior Adviser Caitlin Vogus wrote about a few recent examples.

• Read more here

Lemon case is an opportunity to mobilize

The public’s outrage about attacks on the First Amendment like Don Lemon’s arrest and, before that, the censorship of Jimmy Kimmel isn’t because everyone protesting is a member of their fan clubs. It’s because people genuinely care about free speech, but with everything else going on, sometimes it takes a celebrity name to get their attention.

That’s why it’s important to keep the outrageous arrests of Lemon and independent journalist Georgia Fort in the news and not let the moment pass. We’re doing our part. Our executive director, Trevor Timm, spoke at the National Association of Black Journalists’ town hall about the arrests. Our chief of advocacy, Seth Stern, wrote for The Guardian and told everyone from CNN to MeidasTouch to legal podcasts and radio shows about how the charges are both legally frivolous and an obviously retaliatory political stunt to intimidate journalists.

• Watch a clip from CNN

A journalist’s fight to fix local transparency law

Last summer, Shirley L. Smith, an independent investigative journalist from the U.S. Virgin Islands, reached out about her efforts to get lawmakers there to modernize the territory’s public records laws.

Our response was something like, “Where have you been all our lives?” We’ve spent years imploring journalists to advocate for their own legal rights. No matter what one thinks about the place of “objectivity” in contemporary journalism, there’s no need for reporters to let it get in the way of advocating for their own ability to do their jobs.

We spoke to Smith about her campaign for transparency.

• Read more here

Transcript exposes lies to justify ICE secrecy

Days before the federal government falsely claimed cellphone-brandishing nurse Alex Pretti was a terrorist plotting a “massacre,” a jury in Chicago acquitted Juan Espinoza Martinez on bogus charges of a murder-for-hire plot against then-Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino.

Stern wrote for The Intercept about a recently unsealed court transcript that shows the government used that case as a pretext to convince a judge to obscure an ICE agent’s face during a public court proceeding when his name, face, employment, and location were publicly listed on his LinkedIn page.

• Read the article

Tulsi Gabbard’s whistleblower hypocrisy

Last May, a classified whistleblower complaint alleged misconduct by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and another unnamed federal agency.

The whistleblower should be allowed to share their complaint with Congress. But that’s not what happened. Our Daniel Ellsberg chair on government secrecy, Lauren Harper, has more on how Gabbard, a one-time advocate for whistleblowers, is dodging transparency.

• Read more here

What we're reading U.S. failed to alert judge to press law in application to search reporter’s home The New York Times

If the Privacy Protection Act of 1980 is going to stop these abuses, Congress must amend it to require that evidence gathered by breaking it is immediately thrown out.

FBI couldn’t get into WaPo reporter’s iPhone because it had lockdown mode enabled 404 Media

If you’re an iPhone user who is at elevated risk, enable Lockdown Mode. If you are an Android user, enable Advanced Protection. Read more tips in FPF’s 2026 journalist’s digisec checklist.

FBI spied on Washington Post reporter prior to raiding their home The Dissenter

The threat to press freedom from this case goes beyond seizing devices. The government shouldn’t be physically surveilling journalists.

How to film ICE Wired

The best defense against ICE seizing your camera “is other people recording that action and then being able to use that footage as evidence in court, when you sue them,” said FPF’s Timm.

ICE knocks on ad tech’s data door to see what it knows about you The Register

ICE wants to buy data from online ads to spy on people. Time to pass the Fourth Amendment is Not for Sale Act.

FAA’s mobile no-drone zones create First Amendment concerns Quill

The Federal Aviation Administration’s new no-drone zones are “mind-boggling,” FPF’s Deputy Director of Advocacy Adam Rose said.

Too many FOIA requests, too little transparency Columbia Journalism Review

“The big, systematic problems in FOIA predate the Trump administration,” FPF’s Lauren Harper said. “I think it’s fair to say that the Trump administration is making it a hell of a lot worse.”

Lenexa police investigated author of column criticizing the department. He's ‘pissed off’ KCUR

Writing op-eds is not a crime. Someone should tell police in Lenexa, Kansas, and suggest they read the First Amendment.

When enforcement hits home: Tips from local journalists covering immigration

We spoke to four journalists covering immigration enforcement across the country. Watch our conversation to learn more about reporting on protests and raids, cultivating sources, and reaching the public. Watch the discussion here:

RSVP: cpj.org/usjanpaneldata

Neil Young and his band The Chrome Hearts were supposed to launch a tour of Europe and the U.K. in June, but he’s just canceled all his shows."I have decided…

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The Ultimate AWS Data Master Class Bundle has 9 courses to get you up to speed on Amazon Web Services. The courses cover AWS, DevOPs, Kubernetes Mesosphere DC/OS, AWS Redshift, and more. It’s on sale for $40. Note: The Techdirt Deals Store is powered and curated by StackCommerce. A portion of all sales from Techdirt […]

We’re pleased to share Tower Grove CDC’s 2025 Annual Report, highlighting the progress, partnerships, and investments that advanced housing stability and community opportunity this year.

TGCDC Annual Report

The family of late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton has announced the details for the 2026 edition of Cliff Burton Day.The celebration will take place on Burton's birthday, Feb. 10, at…

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James Taylor was a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Thursday night, where the host got him to reveal his five favorite songs from his catalog.The list included Taylor classics like "Sweet Baby…

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