Aggregator

Entertainment Weekly has released shots from film scheduled for release later this year. Hamm was signed in 2020; shooting began in summer 2021.

The boy was listed in serious but stable condition.

CHESTERFIELD, Mo. - St. Luke's Hospital has dressed the newborns in some Valentine's Day-themed outfits. The babies are sporting red hats and they have pink or red blankets that say a variety of Valentine's Day-themed sentiments on them. Each blanket says "love," "xoxo," or "Happy Valentine's Day." This is the 25th year St. Luke's has [...]

Things get interesting Wednesday into Thursday.

ALTON - The organizers of Freezin' For The Funds recently presented a $3,520.42 check to the Alton Athletic Association. The Alton High School Class Of 1986 wanted to find a way to give back to the community, so they formulated the plan for the Freezin' For The Funds Day at Glazebrook Park Lake on January 8, 2022. It was quite a feat for those who participated to jump into the lake on that cold winter day. "The check was for $3,520.42 for the Alton Athletic Association, which we thought was great," Craig Lombardi, one of the event organizers, said. The people shown above are from left to right: Trisha Perks, Madeline Eades (AAA President), Cami Jo Giertz, Craig Lombardi, and Tawyna Hooper. "I just wanted to let everyone know that even though the four of us are from the Alton High Class of 1986 and that Alton Athletic Association won, this was not an Alton High event and we had over 50 charities and organizations that were registered which was great. It just so happened that the

Continue Reading

The Blues are averaging 17,511 fans per home game for the season, ranking the team 7th in the NHL for total home attendance, according to ESPN.

O'Fallon native Jincy Dunne and the USA Women's Hockey Team are going for gold at the Winter Olympics. Here's how you can catch this local star in action on the ice.

Spire Missouri’s warnings that St. Louis customers could be left without heat this winter if the company’s affiliated pipeline shut down were misleading, left out key context and heightened public panic, an investigation by state regulators concluded.  But staff of the Missouri Public Service Commission won’t pursue a complaint against the natural gas utility because […]

The post Spire ‘created unnecessary panic and confusion’ with warnings of gas outages, regulators say appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The comedian will bring laughs to the Enterprise Center on Saturday, Sept. 24. Tickets go on sale Feb. 18.

WOOD RIVER - The Wood River Police Department is investigating a shooting that occurred Sunday night. The call to Wood River Police came in at 11:35 p.m. on Sunday, February 13, 2022. Wood River Police officers were dispatched to the 300 block of Bonita Street in Wood River for a report of a man being shot. "Upon arrival officers located a male victim in his own front yard," the Wood River Police Department said in a news release. "The victim was alert and talked with officers. Medical attention was given to the victim. He was treated at the scene and transported to a St. Louis area hospital. The shooting was not random. "The suspect came to the home to make contact with a visitor at the victim’s address. The victim was interceding for the visitor when he was shot, one time, on the road in front of his residence. "The suspect drove away from the scene and remains at large." Wood River Police detectives are investigating the incident. Wood River Police Department

Continue Reading

Our Love Story: The Couple: Jeremy & Tonia Chapman from Bethalto Date Met/Started Dating: March 2, 2015 Briefly Describe First Date: Dinner at LongHorn and Miniature Golf. Date Married: March 14, 2017 Name Something You Enjoy Doing Together: Going to the gun range. Going to the movies. Share Advice For A Happy Relationship: Communication!

Continue Reading

In admitting that his EARN IT Act is really about attacking encryption, Senator Richard Blumenthal said he wouldn't agree to keep encryption out of the bill because he worried that it would give companies a "get-out-of-jail-free card." That's nonsense for multiple reasons, which we explained in that post, but the fact is Blumenthal's bill actually does contain a "get-out-of-jail-free card" that is incredibly damaging. It's one that child sexual abusers may be able to use to suppress any evidence collected against them and which would not just undermine the very point of EARN IT Act, but would make it that much harder to do the thing that needs to be done: stopping such abusers.

We touched on this a little bit in our earlier post about the mistakes senators made during the markup, but it's a little wonky, so it deserves a deeper exploration. Here's a good short description from Kir Nuthi in Slate:

As it stands, most companies that host online content voluntarily turn over huge amounts of potential evidence of child abuse to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Because private companies search for this evidence voluntarily, courts have held that the searches are not subject to the Fourth Amendment. But the EARN IT Actthreatens to disrupt this relationship by using the threat of endless litigation and criminal prosecution to strongly pressure private companies to proactively search for illegal material. Thanks to how the EARN IT Act amends Section 230, companies are more exposed to civil and criminal liability if they don’t follow the government’s “or else” threat and search for child sexual abuse material.

Currently, tech platforms have an obligation to report but not search for suspected instances of child sexual abuse material. That’s why searches today are constitutional—they’re conducted voluntarily. By encouraging and pressuring private sector searches, the EARN IT Act casts doubt on every search—they’d no longer be voluntary. Thus, the Fourth Amendment would apply, and evidence collected without a warrant—all child sexual abuse material in this case, since private parties can’t get a warrant—would be at risk of exclusion from trial.

The Supreme Court has long held that when the government “encourages” private parties to search for evidence, those private parties become “government agents” subject to the Fourth Amendment and its warrant requirement. That means any evidence these companies collect could be ruled inadmissible in criminal trials against child predators because the evidence was procured unconstitutionally.

Put simply, thanks to the EARN IT Act, under theExclusionary Rule, defense attorneys could argue that evidence was collected in violation of the Fourth Amendment and should be excluded from trial. As a result, the bill could lead to fewer convictions of child predators, not more.

In short: under the current setup, companies can search for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and if they find it they must report it to NCMEC (and remove it). This is good and useful and helps prevent the further spread. But under the 4th Amendment, if the government is mandating a search, then it would require a warrant before the search can happen. So, if the government mandates the search -- and as various senators made clear in both their "myths and facts" document, and in the markup hearing, that's exactly what they intend this bill to do -- then anyone who is charged with evidence found via such a search would have an unfortunately strong response that the evidence was collected under state action, and, as such in order to survive a 4th Amendment review, would require a warrant.

In other words, it hands terrible criminals -- those involved in the abuse of children -- a way to suppress the evidence used against them on 4th Amendment grounds. Under such a regime that would make it more difficult to prosecute actual criminals. But, even worse, it would then create a perverse and dangerous precedent in which companies would be greatly encouraged not to use basic scanning tools to find, remove, and report CSAM content, because in doing so, it would no longer be usable in prosecutions.

So the failure by senators to understand how the 4th Amendment works, means that EARN IT (beyond all its other problems) creates a constitutional mess that is, effectively (and almost literally) a "get-out-of-jail-free card" for criminals.

Our Love Story: The Couple: Marc and Crystal from Jerseyville Date Met/Started Dating: May 25, 2018 Briefly Describe First Date: We went to Applebee’s and to buy my cat some expensive cat food when I accidentally left my debit card at home. Date Married: August 7, 2021 Name Something You Enjoy Doing Together: We love to run together. We ran our first marathon together as a married couple in October. We plan to run all the miles! Share Advice For A Happy Relationship: In order to keep a happy relationship, learn to keep keep your mouth shut… Just kidding … I think a happy relationship is a lot of listening and relating to your partner. Always looking at them in a new light because no one stays the same forever. Be willing to change and learn new tricks as they say! Never assume your partner feels secure and loved. Always remind them that they are loved. There is never a wrong time to send flowers! Chocolate fixes many problems, too!

Continue Reading

ALTON - Mackenzie Leonard is exceptional in both the classroom and as a competitive cheerleader for Alton High School. She is the winter captain for the Redbirds’ cheer team and is a scholar-athlete with a 4.1 GPA. Mackenzie is one of the Auto Butler Female Athletes of the Month for Alton High School. She has been a cheerleader for four years and competed in varsity team competitions for three years. She is a team captain this year. Mackenzie plans to attend the University of Missouri after graduation from AHS and major in education. The Alton senior’s tip to other cheerleaders is as follows: “Teamwork in cheerleading is so important. I wouldn’t have the same confidence in my skills if we weren’t constantly supporting and hyping up each other.” Mackenzie had some beautiful things to say about her parents; “I thank my mom and dad who have given me endless amounts of love and support during my cheer career. My parents have always motivated

Continue Reading

Our Love Story: The Couple: Taylor and Colin Ahlvers from Bethalto Date Met/Started Dating: June 8, 2017 Briefly Describe First Date: We went to mission taco. Date Married: October 8, 2018 Name Something You Enjoy Doing Together: We love going to eat Chinese, watching movies, and golfing. Share Advice For A Happy Relationship: Make God the center of your relationship. Also always bring your wife food home if you work late!

Continue Reading

Irvin is in a five-way race for the Republican nomination in the June 28 primary.

Our Love Story: The Couple: Damone {Big Daddy) & Michelle (Bubbie) Wittman from Godfrey Date Met/Started Dating: August 8, 1987 Briefly Describe First Date: Does high school Band trip count? Date Married: May 30, 1992 Name Something You Enjoy Doing Together: Live music scene. Damone has been playing drums since age 13. Michelle has been watching him out in the music scene since he was 15 and still today and will be celebrating 30 years together on May 30. They also enjoy gardening together and time with their dog Lucy on Saturday’s getting pup cones and caramel Lattes at Shivers. Share Advice For A Happy Relationship: Do what you enjoy and don’t let others stand in your way. Forgive each other, support each other, and plan to grow old together!

Continue Reading