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The task force numbers over the past two months show just how much of a virus tsunami the omicron surge proved to be.

Prosecutors, sheriffs, police, religious and civil rights leaders slammed the bill.

Patrick Pinnell, 29, died near Chippewa Street and Marine Avenue.

GREENE COUNTY - As Winter Storm Landon takes hold of the Midwest, Greene County road conditions are getting more dangerous. “Right now, most of the roads seem to be somewhat passable - they are snow-packed and dangerous, though,” said Greene County Chief Deputy Cale Hoesman. “They are starting to drift some, too.” Hoesman said he would advise Greene County residents to “stay home” - but if they must go out, to be adequately prepared. “If people are going out for emergency purposes, they need to be prepared: charged cell phone, blankets, things of that nature,” Hoesman said. “And know where they’re at - know their location, so they can tell us to get them help.” The latest road conditions for Illinois can be found at gettingaroundillinois.com .

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During her 14-year tenure, which will end in July, Prost orchestrated the purchase of the Centene Center for the Arts in Grand Center.

WOODSTOCK - Gary Rabine: “Today we witnessed how out of touch our billionaire Governor, JB Pritzker, is with the people of Illinois. In his State of the State/Budget address, he described the State of Illinois in terms that only someone who spends his days in the cocoon of a North-side mansion or private jet could use.” “JB Pritzker has not done one thing to improve the fundamental fiscal trajectory of the state. Biden paid off JB’s Illinois credit cards last year, but we are still in a fiscal death spiral. A one-time bailout from the federal government does not equate with sound fiscal management. Millions of dollars spent on TV and digital ads don’t turn fantasy into reality either.” “The truth is that Illinois, outside of the Astor Street Mansion, is far different than what JB described. Chicago and its suburbs are the crime capitols of the country. Our unfunded public pension liability is at $130 billion – the worst in the nation.

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ST. LOUIS – The Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation is excited to announce the 18 th Annual Kids’ Night at the Fabulous Fox will take place Tuesday, March 8, 2022, at 7:30 PM for a fun-filled evening for the performance of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Fabulous Fox Theatre. For this performance of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory adults will have the opportunity to purchase an adult ticket and receive a kid’s ticket free! Tickets are on sale now. The BOGO offer applies to kids ages 17 & under. BOGO offer is valid on all seating and price levels except front row, premium, and price A orchestra seating. Tickets must be purchased by calling MetroTix at 314-534-1111 or at the Fox Theatre Box Office to receive the BOGO offer. The offer is not available through online purchases. The Fox Theatre Box Office is located at 531 North Grand Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63103 and hours are limited. This program is presented by the Fox Performing

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The boys told police they were walking to get pizza when they were hit by gunfire in the 400 block of North Tucker Boulevard.

Whatever the (I'd argue unfortunate) politics behind Stephen Breyer's decision to retire as a Supreme Court Justice at the conclusion of this term, it is notable around here for his views on copyright. Breyer has generally been seen as the one Justice on the court most open to the idea that overly aggressive copyright policy was dangerous and potentially unconstitutional. Perhaps ironically, given that they are often lumped together on the overly simplistic "left/right" spectrum -- Justices Breyer and Ginsburg -- presented somewhat opposite ends of the copyright spectrum. Ginsburg consistently was a voice in favor of expanding copyright law to extreme degrees, while Breyer seemed much more willing to recognize that the rights of users -- including fair use -- were extremely important.

If you want to see that clearly, read Ginsburg's majority opinion in the Eldred case (on whether or not copyright term extension is constitutional) as compared to Breyer's dissent. To this day I believe that 21st century copyright law would have been so much more reasonable and so much more for the benefit of the public if Breyer had been able to convince others on the court to his views. As Breyer notes in his dissent, a copyright law that does not benefit the public should not be able to survive constitutional scrutiny:

Thus, I would find that the statute lacks the constitutionally necessary rational support (1) if the significant benefits that it bestows are private, not public; (2) if it threatens seriously to undermine the expressive values that the Copyright Clause embodies; and (3) if it cannot find justification in any significant Clause-related objective.

(As an aside, the book No Law has a very, very thorough breakdown of how the majority ruling by Justice Ginsburg in that case was just, fundamentally, objectively wrong.)

That said, Breyer wasn't -- as he was sometimes painted -- a copyleft crusader or anything. As Jonathan Band details, Breyer's views on copyright appeared to be extremely balanced -- sometimes ruling for the copyright holder, and sometimes not. Indeed, to this day, I still cannot fathom how he came to write the majority opinion in the Aereo case, which used a "looks like a duck" kind of test. In that case, the company carefully followed the letter of the law regarding copyright, and the end result was that, even by playing within the lines, because it felt like some other service, the court was fine with declaring it to be a different kind of service (even though technically it was not). We are still suffering from the impact of that case today.

So, while I didn't always think that Breyer got copyright cases correct, he was -- consistently -- much more thoughtful on copyright issues that any other Justice on today's court, and that perspective will certainly be missed.

A veteran of 45 years on radio, Raley has been hired by KBDZ (93.1 FM) in Ste. Genevieve to helm its morning-drive shift, from 6 to 10 a.m.

The facility is about 65 miles southwest of St. Louis in St. Francois County.

Areas that haven't seen any snow will get it tonight.

CARLINVILLE - Blackburn College has named Jody Sturgeon as the Marguerite Steffey Snyder Endowed Dean of Work. One of ten federally-recognized Work Colleges, Blackburn has the only program managed by a team of student leaders. In her role as the Dean of Work, Sturgeon will coach and mentor the Student Work Committee managing their peers and classmates while maintaining operations across 12 work departments. She will also serve as a key member and advisor on the President’s leadership team. For more than a century, Blackburn’s Work Program has added an incredible dimension to the traditional college experience. Established in 1913, the program began as a means to help reduce tuition costs and make higher education more affordable. Today, Blackburn students help plan and manage day-to-day operations on campus, fully recognizing that their success and the College’s success go hand-in-hand. In turn, Blackburn also offers tangible benefits, like four years of resume-building

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WEST FRANKFORT – Addiction is one of the hardest things a person might go through in their life. It can also be challenging for friends and loved ones to watch the people they love struggle with addiction. No one’s journey is the same when it comes to recovery, and that is why building a support system is a huge proponent in achieving and maintaining sobriety. Recovery is a unique learning process for those who are sober and for those who are supporting their loved one’s sobriety. “Go where you feel supported,” says Shane Kuhlman, Chief Psychology Officer at Centerstone, “Advocate for yourself and limit your contact or get away from people who don’t support you in your recovery.” Boundaries are essential for sober living—you can’t assume that everyone is aware or supportive of your sobriety so you need to make your needs known to those who want to be there for you and to disconnect from those who are unsupportive of your recovery.

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WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today reiterated that the United States stands with Ukraine and the surrounding countries against increasing Russian aggression. During his speech, Durbin reflected on the contributions of Ukrainian-Americans such as Sgt. Michael Strank, a Marine who fought in WWII and one of the Iwo Jima flag raisers. Durbin also condemned Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s actions, including ongoing belligerence against NATO allies in the Baltics and Poland. “The Ukrainian people have made it clear: They want to be free and independent, they want to chart their own future, they want to choose their own leaders in the elections that they conduct,” Durbin said. “This is the future that more than 92 percent of Ukrainians chose in a referendum in 1991, after Ukraine declared its independence from the crumbling and corrupt Soviet Union. But Russian President Vladimir Putin—the old

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Credit: U.S. Dept. of Justice

More than six months ago, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced sweeping changes to its “media guidelines” — the agency’s internal rules for when and how it can spy on reporters. In a memo to all its staff, Attorney General Merrick Garland barred the surveillance of journalists who were engaged in ordinary newsgathering in all but the most extreme scenarios.

As we said when the initial announcement was made, the DOJ’s new guidelines were potentially a sea change for press freedom rights — and we called for Congress to quickly enshrine them into law. We explained how action from Congress is vital for the policy to have any teeth.

Sen. Wyden called the Justice Department's inaction 'frustrating and unacceptable.'

At the time, Garland appeared to agree. The attorney general explicitly stated the DOJ would support congressional legislation to bring the force of law to his new rules: “[T]o ensure that protections regarding the use of compulsory legal process for obtaining information from or records of members of the news media continue in succeeding Administrations,” he wrote, “the Department will support congressional legislation to embody protections in law.”

But from what we can tell, the DOJ has not lifted a finger publicly or privately in order to help get its new media rules passed by Congress since — despite the fact that multiple bills have been introduced that would do just that.

The DOJ could easily lend its support to Sen. Ron Wyden’s PRESS Act, which Freedom of the Press Foundation endorsed last year. Sen. Wyden’s bill—which was also introduced in the House by Rep. Jamie Raskin—closely hews to the language the DOJ now supposedly abides by, and it provides law enforcement narrow but legitimate exceptions in cases of emergency.

But according to Sen. Wyden himself, the DOJ has not responded to half a dozen official inquiries from his office for comment on his PRESS Act.

“The Justice Department’s failure to engage on one of the attorney general’s own priorities is extremely frustrating, and frankly unacceptable,” Sen. Wyden said in a statement released to Freedom of the Press Foundation. He continued:

"Attorney General Garland asked Congress to pass a journalist shield law just a few days before I introduced the Press Act to put protections similar to DOJ’s current policies into black letter law. My office reached out to the Justice Department half-a-dozen times over the past six months to work together on my bill with Rep. Raskin, but has gotten zero response."

Through the DOJ’s press office, we also asked the agency’s legislative affairs team whether they have weighed in publicly or privately on any bill since Garland’s promise six months ago. As of press time, we have not heard back either.

Why is this step so important? As it stands, the DOJ media policy is nearly unenforceable; if the DOJ breaks its word, there is no clear avenue to accountability, since the guidelines are only internal to the agency. Indeed, the DOJ has been accused of breaking previous iterations of its own media policy many times over the years. The rules can also be changed at any time by the current attorney general, or the next one, with just a flick of the pen. And the DOJ’s endorsement of any bill could mean the difference between it sailing through Congress and languishing in committee indefinitely.

The DOJ’s internal media policy changes were certainly a welcome break from both the Trump and Obama administrations, where secret and invasive surveillance of journalists became increasingly prevalent. But as of now, it's a half-measure — one that can be taken away from us at any time.

Lest our caution be interpreted as undue cynicism: we’ve seen this movie before — and even played a role in it.

In 2009, to great fanfare, Obama’s Justice Department released new internal guidelines for the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), as part of President Obama's promise to be the most transparent administration ever. But when Congress tried to pass DOJ’s guidelines — almost word for word! — into law, DOJ vociferously opposed the bill in private. It was only after our successful FOIA lawsuit exposing the DOJ’s hypocrisy that the agency was forced to drop its protest to its own rules, and Congress finally passed them.

We hope this time is different, but we fear it is not. The DOJ needs to follow through on its promise, and it can start by immediately endorsing the PRESS Act and helping the bill make its way through Congress.

EDWARDSVILLE - Chief Judge William Mudge issued an administrative order today that due to inclement weather in Madison County, the courts and offices of the Circuit Clerk for Madison County will be closed on Wednesday, February 2, 2022. However, Mudge said, that matter noticed for remote proceed as planned from home, where possible.

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The Jersey County Highway Department offered motorists some advice as snow begins to accumulate at the start of Winter Storm Landon : stay home. “I really advise to stay home until we can get through these events that are going to be taking place,” said Thomas Klasner, county engineer with the Jersey County Highway Department. “My guys, I’ve talked to them. They said there’s hardly anybody out on the roads, so I mean, people are taking the advice of staying home.” In Jersey County, where snowfall was predicted to reach 12-18” , Klasner said the Highway Department has been working steadily to address the issue as much as possible - but drivers should still be careful if they have to venture out. “We’re actually out there plowing the roads as we speak to keep them open. The roads are passable, the county highways are passable from that standpoint,” Klasner said. “Snow’s not piled up on them - there i

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