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U.S. District Judge John Blakey issued former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan's sentence Friday, of seven years and four months after he was convicted of 10 felony charges. Elik Statement On Madigan Verdict ALTON –State Representative Amy Elik (R-Alton) issued a statement following the sentencing former longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, who received 7.5 years in prison and a $2.5 million fine for wire fraud and bribery charges. “I never thought I would see the day that the most powerful Speaker in the country would be held accountable for the damage he did to Illinois over his decades of control. The Illinois Democrats' King has fallen, and all Illinoisans can be relieved that the man who was allowed to rule, unfettered, for 50 years has been brought to justice. Unfortunately, Illinois has been permanently harmed by his actions and current Democrat leadership still plays by Madigan's playbook.” Rep. Amy Elik serves the constituents

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Today marks one month since a deadly tornado blew through parts of St. Louis. Since the storm, relief efforts led by the community and organizations have filled a much-needed gap.

Nearly three years ago, I called for bollards at Sinker and Forest Park Parkway. Too regularly drivers could not keep their vehicles between the curbs and the car debris and carcasses left behind screamed for action to protect the many people crossing the intersection to access the Metrolink station, Forest Park, the Delmar Loop, Washington […]

The post Update: Bollards at Skinker and Forest Park Parkway Needed appeared first on NextSTL.

The Animal Protective Association, which runs a shelter in Brentwood, wants to build a new facility at the intersection of Benham Road and Redman Road.

HARDIN - On June 9th 2025, the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office received two separate reports of Burglaries which had occurred in Calhoun County, Illinois; during the early morning hours of June 9th 2025. One burglary occurred at “ Flower’s By Glenda ” in Kampsville; wherein the door was breached and a cash register was stolen. An additional burglary occurred at “ Michael Tavern ” in Michael, IL; wherein two doors were breached and items were stolen from behind the bar. The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office immediately began an intensive investigation into the burglaries. During that investigation, Calhoun County Sheriff’s Deputy Zack Orr, who also serves as the Chief Deputy of Pike County Sheriff’s Department notified CCSO that he was also investigating a burglary which occurred during the same time in Pleasant Hill, Illinois. The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office contacted the Illinois State Police Crime Scene Unit, who assisted

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Missouri advocates scored a victory during this year’s legislative session with the elimination of non-disclosure agreements in child sex abuse cases. But the internal politics of the Capitol spelled doom for another high-profile bill seeking to extend the time victims have to file lawsuits.  It was the third year in a row that legislation to […]

BELLE PLAINE, Minn. (AP) — The man suspected of killing a Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another crawled to officers in surrender Sunday after they located him in the woods near his home, bringing an end to a massive, nearly two-day search that put the entire state on edge. Vance Boelter was arrested and charged with [...]

The Trump administration is implementing an executive order that includes removing certain historical documents, portraits and monuments from national museums and federal properties while replacing or restoring others in public spaces. In March, President Trump signed an executive order under the guise of “restoring truth and sanity to American history by revitalizing key cultural institutions […]

The café was open for less than a year in downtown St. Louis before closing.

Atomic Wings specializes in “fresh, never frozen” chicken ingredients, through wings, tenders and sandwiches with a choice of more than a dozen sauces.

ST. LOUIS - The workweek will begin with cloudy skies and the possibility of spot showers. A new wave of energy will spark scattered rain & thunderstorms Monday afternoon, with temperature highs in the 80s. Tuesday we will endure our first 90 F high with sunshine, followed by scattered strong thunderstorms from Tuesday night into [...]

The SUV ran off the roadway, striking a rock bluff and ejecting the 34-year-old driver, according to MSHP.

The Eddie Vedder documentary Matter of Time had its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival Thursday, and while it features portions of a 2023 Seattle concert by Vedder, it’s much more…

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It’s not so much about ‘abundance’ as it is about how to reconnect with a justifiably angry working class.

The Big Beautiful Bill will benefit the rich and hurt the poor, while reducing economic growth and causing mass death. Other than that, it’s perfect.

by Eric Umansky

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.

What Happened: A monitor appointed by a federal court has found that a New York City Police Department unit has been unjustly stopping and searching New Yorkers, almost all of them Black and Hispanic men. The report on the NYPD’s Community Response Team echoes a recent ProPublica investigation that found the unit, championed by Mayor Eric Adams, has been ridden with abuses.

The federal monitor found that while the CRT was initially created in the early days of the Adams’ administration to focus on so-called quality-of-life issues such as illegal motorbikes, its officers have more recently been “stopping, frisking, and searching unconstitutionally.”

What They Said: In a sample of body-worn camera footage, the monitor found that 41% of stops, searches, and frisks by CRT officers were unlawful, a far higher percentage than with other NYPD units. What’s more, while officers are required to document such stops, which the department then releases as public data, the report found that officers often failed to do so, and even when they did there was a “lack of meaningful review” by supervisors.

As ProPublica previously reported, that behavior goes back to at least 2023, when an NYPD audit found officers were wrongfully stopping New Yorkers and failing to log the incidents. Soon after the audit, the mayor took to Instagram. “Turning out with the team,” he wrote, showing a photo of him wearing the CRT’s signature khaki pants.

The federal monitor had other striking findings. For instance, it found that “97% of the individuals stopped, frisked, and searched were Black or Hispanic men.”

It also found, as ProPublica previously reported, that the NYPD had not been straightforward about the CRT with the monitor itself. Department officials had initially told the monitor that the CRT was just a “pilot program” that already ended, only for the monitor to later learn the team was here to stay and actually expanding.

Background: Our March investigation detailed a wide range of troubling behavior by CRT officers that alarmed NYPD leaders. In the fall of 2022, department lawyers and others warned that highlight videos of the CRT that the team posted on social media showed problematic conduct. Other incidents included a CRT commander who punched a driver, another commander who shoved a pedestrian into a car window and a third officer who drove into a motorbiker, ultimately killing him.

Over the past two years, New Yorkers have filed at least 200 complaints alleging improper use of force by CRT members, according to Civilian Complaint Review Board records. Another NYPD team with a similar size and mandate has had about half as many complaints.

Adams’ connection to CRT has been so close, former officials said, that the mayor was given private access to a live feed of the unit’s body-worn cameras. This year, he chose one of the team’s leaders, Kaz Daughtry, to be deputy mayor of public safety.

Why It Matters: The federal monitor for the NYPD was created a dozen years ago after a court found that the department had been engaging in widespread unconstitutional stop-and-frisks, a practice overwhelmingly focused on Black and Hispanic men. The seminal ruling imposed court oversight — the creation of the monitor’s office — of the country’s largest police department. The monitor in turn files regular progress reports.

The monitor’s latest report was filed with Judge Analisa Torres, who oversees the case and has the power to impose fixes. But whatever Torres does, the monitor’s findings make clear that the problems identified by the court all those years ago still persist.

Former NYPD Chief Matthew Pontillo, who wrote the 2023 audit of the CRT, said that the conduct of the team may actually be worse than what’s described in the monitor’s report, noting that the recent investigation relied on body-worn camera footage to examine officers’ conduct. In his own review, Pontillo had found that CRT officers were often not turning on their cameras to fully capture incidents.

Lawmakers and civil rights advocates have called for the CRT to be disbanded.

Response: The mayor’s office declined to answer ProPublica’s questions and instead suggested contacting the NYPD. The department has not replied to our questions.

Adams has previously defended the CRT. Asked about the unit at a mayoral press conference this spring, Adams said: “CRT is here. I support all my units. And if they don’t all stand up and do the job the way they’re supposed to do, those who don’t will be held accountable.”

The NYPD has also defended the CRT’s work and touted the unit’s confiscation of illegal motorbikes and ATVs.

Hazardous chemical accidents happen in the U.S. about every other day. Who will investigate them now?

Ted Bundy, the Green River Killer, and others terrorized the Pacific Northwest. "Murderland" asks what role polluters played.