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US House GOP struggles to advance megabill against Freedom Caucus resistance

1 day 9 hours ago
This report has been updated. WASHINGTON —  U.S. House Republican efforts to pass the “big, beautiful bill” hit a roadblock Wednesday, when leaders left the chamber in a holding pattern for more than seven hours before calling a procedural vote that stalled amid opposition from hard-right members and others. The House must adopt the rule […]
Jennifer Shutt, Ashley Murray, Ariana Figueroa

Protesters outside the US House make a last stand against the GOP megabill

1 day 10 hours ago
WASHINGTON — Protesters demonstrated against the “big beautiful bill” outside the U.S. Capitol Wednesday as House Republicans whipped votes to get the bill across the finish line and to President Donald Trump’s desk by a self-imposed July Fourth deadline. Shelley Feist stood on Independence Avenue near the entrance to the House of Representatives holding signs […]
Ashley Murray

LC Associate Biology Professor Rosemarie Vithayathil Shines as Mentor and Educator  

1 day 10 hours ago
GODFREY – At Lewis and Clark Community College, Associate Biology Professor Rosemarie Vithayathil is more than an instructor — she’s a mentor, a motivator and, for many students, a trusted guide through the challenges of higher education. Effective at the start of the 2025–2026 academic year, Vithayathil will be promoted to the rank of professor — a recognition of her outstanding contributions to teaching, mentorship and campus leadership. Vithayathil said what she enjoys most is how, each semester, her class transforms into a close-knit family. “Our class sizes are small, and I get to know each of my students personally,” she said. “Besides being a teacher, I sometimes have to take on the role of confidant and friend.” Her approach to teaching emphasizes not only academic excellence but also personal growth. In rigorous courses like microbiology, she challenges students to commit fully,

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Alton Residents Charged In Battery, Burglary Cases

1 day 10 hours ago
ALTON – An Alton woman accused of battering an elderly victim and an Alton man charged with burglarizing a Wood River building face felony charges filed last week in Madison County. Kelsey L. Graham, 34, of Alton, was charged on June 23, 2025 with a Class 2 felony count of aggravated battery and one count each of battery and criminal trespass to a residence, both Class A misdemeanors. On June 20, 2025, Graham allegedly entered a residence in Marine without authority and attacked the home’s occupants. She is accused of knowingly pushing one victim to the ground who was 60 years of age or older at the time, as well as grabbing another victim by the neck with her hands. The Madison County Sheriff’s Office presented the case against Graham, who was granted pretrial release from custody. Additional conditions have been imposed on her release, including that she have no contact with the victims in this case and refrain from entering the Marine residence where the incident

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Legendary First Amendment lawyers slam Paramount-Trump settlement

1 day 10 hours ago

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Paramount Global, which owns CBS News, has reportedly decided to settle President Donald Trump’s frivolous lawsuit over the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with his former presidential rival Kamala Harris.

Virtually no one aside from Trump’s hangers-on believes the case had any merit, let alone $16 million worth. There was no rational reason for Paramount to settle — aside from paying for favoritism, including over its planned merger with Skydance Media.

Legendary First Amendment lawyers Floyd Abrams and James Goodale each recall a time when news outlets were owned by news companies that had both economic and principled interests in defending the First Amendment. They’re alarmed by what they’re seeing today.

“The agreement of Paramount to pay any settlement amount to Donald Trump ... is an ominous blow to press freedom in our nation.”

Floyd Abrams

Abrams, who represented The New York Times during the Pentagon Papers case and had a hand in countless other seminal First Amendment rulings, told Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) via email that “the agreement of Paramount to pay any settlement amount to Donald Trump based on a ‘60 Minutes’ broadcast that was both journalistically responsible and fully protected by the First Amendment is an ominous blow to press freedom in our nation.”

As Abrams noted in a letter to the Times, despite the significant challenges the Trump administration presents for media outlets, “it is not too much for the public to ask of the press that it remain vigilant in its coverage of him and militant in defense of itself.”

Goodale, the Times vice president, vice chairman, and general counsel from 1963 to 1980, led the newspaper’s resistance to the Nixon administration’s war on the press. He told FPF in an email, “It’s a sad day for journalism in the United States when the corporate owners of major news broadcasters are unwilling to fight back against baseless lawsuits by politicians.”

“It’s a sad day for journalism in the United States when the corporate owners of major news broadcasters are unwilling to fight back against baseless lawsuits by politicians.”

James Goodale

Goodale reiterated his view, which he also expressed in a prior interview with FPF, that businesspeople unwilling to safeguard reporters’ rights should choose a different industry. “Operating a news outlet is a serious responsibility and those whose other financial interests won’t allow them to stand up for the First Amendment should stay out of the news business.”

Seth Stern, FPF’s director of advocacy, added that Paramount’s settlement and other capitulations by major media outlets “put to rest the myth that billionaires and corporate conglomerates will refrain from meddling with the editorial affairs of news publishers they own. CBS and other corporate-owned news outlets are full of great journalists who deserve ownership that won’t throw them under the bus to make a buck. Americans concerned by these developments should support independent news outlets willing to stand up for their journalists’ First Amendment rights so that our free press can survive this administration.”

Please contact us if you would like further comment.

Freedom of the Press Foundation

Granite City Woman Sentenced To 15 Years for Decade-Long Arson and Insurance Fraud Scheme

1 day 10 hours ago
EAST ST. LOUIS — Evette “Betty” Osuegbu, 62, of Granite City, was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in federal prison for orchestrating a series of arsons and insurance fraud schemes spanning nearly a decade. A jury in East St. Louis found Osuegbu guilty in December on all 15 counts of an indictment charging conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit arson, and use of fire to commit a federal felony. The crimes occurred between 2014 and 2023 and involved multiple properties, including an occupied apartment complex. U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft described arson as “an inherently dangerous crime,” emphasizing the risks to firefighters and the broader community. “Arsons cause unnecessary blight, raise insurance rates, lower property values and can harm neighbors,” he said. “We will continue to seek heavy penalties for these destructive and dangerous crimes.” Osuegbu’s co-defendant, Rufis Jefferson, 48,

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