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St. Louis trailed 3-0 in the second inning and 4-2 in the fourth before coming back.

The City Justice Center opened in 2002. Since then, 45 people have died in custody, including 29 who were pronounced dead after being transported to area hospitals.

It comes at a time when the community is rallying to gather kids' supplies for area children and families who lost everything in the storm. 

The Missouri Council of the Blind is offering emergency relief and financial assistance to blind and visually impaired residents.

After a paver operator was struck by a dump truck’s mirror on a rural road project, N.B. West Contracting Co. explored ways to avoid future mishaps. This lead to a new invention — a safety cage, which currently has a patent pending. The innovation earned West the 2024 Asphalt Operations Safety Innovations Award from the […]

As HHS and RFK Jr. continue to bumble their way towards making America less healthy, while saying they’re doing the opposite of course, measles cases are still on the rise. The rate of new cases appears to be slowing somewhat, assuming we think the data coming out of the CDC these days is accurate. Given […]

North St. Louis is still reeling from the magnitude of destruction after a recent tornado.

The for lease signs have come down at the vacant spot between Paramount Jewelers and The Book House, at 7352 Manchester Road. A representative of Rothschild St. Louis—the property’s owner—would only say that there are plans for the empty space, and then speculated about the last time it was in use.

Forest Park faces months-long tree removal after a May 16 storm that spawned a tornado damaged thousands of trees.

Local construction companies--teaming up to remove debris in the hardest-hit neighborhoods—have been a major source of help.

Nearly two weeks since a tornado ravaged parts of St. Louis and entire neighborhoods still look like disaster zones. The devastation is indescribable as an apocalyptic scene stretches across the Academy/Sherman Park neighborhood.

Energizer Park has been named as a finalist for the 2025 ULI Americas Awards for Excellence. There are 18 finalists and four special mention projects. Ten projects are selected as winners. ULI began the Awards for Excellence program in 1979 to recognize truly superior development efforts in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. Winning projects […]

The Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ebsworth Park (FLWHEP) announced a landmark preservation initiative to completely restore the historic Kraus House roof to Wright’s original cedar shingle design specifications. This meticulous restoration will preserve the architectural integrity of one of Missouri’s five Wright-designed structures. Completed in 1955 for Ruth and Russell Kraus, the house serves […]

ALTON – The Alton Police Department has a newly appointed Deputy Chief. Lieutenant Dustin Christner was officially appointed as Deputy Chief of Police at Wednesday’s Alton City Council meeting. Chief Jarrett Ford spoke highly of Christner not only as an officer, but as a person. “I’m extremely happy and excited to have you as the Deputy Chief of the Alton Police Department,” Ford said, describing Christner as “honest, loyal, dedicated, a hard worker, and honestly, to me, a friend.” “There are very few people that I trust as much as this man,” Ford added. “He is a man of honor and faith and I know he’s going to do a great job in this position.” Noting the fellow officers present, Ford said: “This room is filled with the men and women that keep this city safe day in and day out … I appreciate you guys taking time out of your schedule, not only for this great night for him, but also just as a showing

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by Jodi S. Cohen and Jennifer Smith Richards

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week.

Illinois legislators on Wednesday passed a law to explicitly prevent police from ticketing and fining students for minor misbehavior at school, ending a practice that harmed students across the state.

The new law would apply to all public schools, including charters. It will require school districts, beginning in the 2027-28 school year, to report to the state how often they involve police in student matters each year and to separate the data by race, gender and disability. The state will be required to make the data public.

The legislation comes three years after a ProPublica and Chicago Tribune investigation, “The Price Kids Pay,” revealed that even though Illinois law bans school officials from fining students directly, districts skirted the law by calling on police to issue citations for violating local ordinances.

“The Price Kids Pay” found that thousands of Illinois students had been ticketed in recent years for adolescent behavior once handled by the principal’s office — things like littering, making loud noises, swearing, fighting or vaping in the bathroom. It also found that Black students were twice as likely to be ticketed at school than their white peers.

From the House floor, Rep. La Shawn Ford, a Democrat from Chicago, thanked the news organizations for exposing the practice and told legislators that the goal of the bill “is to make sure if there is a violation of school code, the school should use their discipline policies” rather than disciplining students through police-issued tickets.

State Sen. Karina Villa, a Democrat from suburban West Chicago and a sponsor of the measure, said in a statement that ticketing students failed to address the reasons for misbehavior. “This bill will once and for all prohibit monetary fines as a form of discipline for Illinois students,” she said.

The legislation also would prevent police from issuing tickets to students for behavior on school transportation or during school-related events or activities.

The Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police opposed the legislation. The group said in a statement that while school-based officers should not be responsible for disciplining students, they should have the option to issue citations for criminal conduct as one of a “variety of resolutions.” The group said it’s concerned that not having the option to issue tickets could lead to students facing arrest and criminal charges instead.

The legislation passed the House 69-44. It passed in the Senate last month 37-17 and now heads to Gov. JB Pritzker, who previously has spoken out against ticketing students at school. A spokesperson said Wednesday night that he “was supportive of this initiative” and plans to review the bill.

The legislation makes clear that police can arrest students for crimes or violence they commit, but that they cannot ticket students for violating local ordinances prohibiting a range of minor infractions.

That distinction was not clear in previous versions of the legislation, which led to concern that schools would not be able to involve police in serious matters — and was a key reason legislation on ticketing foundered in previous legislative sessions. Students also may still be ordered to pay for lost, stolen or damaged property.

“This bill helps create an environment where students can learn from their mistakes without being unnecessarily funneled into the justice system,” said Aimee Galvin, government affairs director with Stand for Children, one of the groups that advocated for banning municipal tickets as school-based discipline.

The news investigation detailed how students were doubly penalized: when they were punished in school, with detention or a suspension, and then when they were ticketed by police for minor misbehavior. The investigation also revealed how, to resolve the tickets, children were thrown into a legal process designed for adults. Illinois law permits fines of up to $750 for municipal ordinance violations; it’s difficult to fight the charges, and students and families can be sent to collections if they don’t pay.

After the investigation was published, some school districts stopped asking police to ticket students. But the practice has continued in many other districts.

The legislation also adds regulations for districts that hire school-based police officers, known as school resource officers. Starting next year, districts with school resource officers must enter into agreements with local police to lay out the roles and responsibilities of officers on campus. The agreements will need to specify that officers are prohibited from issuing citations on school property and that they must be trained in working with students with disabilities. The agreements also must outline a process for data collection and reporting. School personnel also would be prohibited from referring truant students to police to be ticketed as punishment.

Before the new legislation, there had been some piecemeal changes and efforts at reform. A state attorney general investigation into a large suburban Chicago district confirmed that school administrators were exploiting a loophole in state law when they asked police to issue tickets to students. The district denied wrongdoing, but that investigation found the district broke the law and that the practice disproportionately affected Black and Latino students. The state’s top legal authority declared the practice illegal and said it should stop.

Following community controversy and postponement, the Fediverse's most popular unconference is back on track. Here's the details on the next event!