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ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – The officer-involved shooting happened in the 3300 block of Wellsberg on Wednesday. Police identified the man shot and killed as 37-year-old Troy C. Hamilton. His family says right now they have more questions than answers. "I'm devastated by this loss. I have not heard any reason for this tragedy," said Charles Hamilton, the father of [...]

EDWARDSVILLE — After approximately five hours of deliberation, a jury found Stanford Stokes guilty on all charges related to the shooting death of Jarred O. Hayes. The incident occurred at 9:16 p.m. on Nov. 7, 2023, in the 900 block of East 7th Street in Alton. Stokes was convicted of first-degree murder, home invasion, and unlawful possession of a firearm. First-degree murder is punishable by 20 to 60 years in prison. The jury made a finding that Stokes personally discharged a firearm during the commission of first-degree murder, meaning he is eligible for an enhanced sentence: an additional 25 years to life in prison. Sentencing for Stokes has not yet been scheduled.

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Because of widespread DEI cutbacks in 2025, many vendors chose not to participate.

A young adult and two juveniles are in custody after dropping a shooting victim off at Barnes Jewish Hospital late Wednesday afternoon.

Whether you're A, B, or O, the American Red Cross wants to help you check your A1C.

CARROLLTON - Mitigation projects and activities that can reduce injuries and fatalities while maintaining vital services for Greene County residents will be the main topic of discussion at the Greene County Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee meeting at the Greene County Health Department, 310 5th Street in Carrollton, at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 3. The Committee began work last year to update the County’s Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan. This Plan details the past severe weather events that have impacted the County and identifies mitigation projects and activities that can be taken before a severe weather event occurs to protect residents and critical services and infrastructure. “Obtaining FEMA’s approval of our updated Plan will make all of the participants eligible to receive federal grant money for mitigation projects and activities,” explained Greene County Emergency Services and Disaster Agency Coordinator, Cale Hoesman. Projects identified

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by Drew Shaw, Fort Worth Report

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Officials in a large North Texas county decided this week to cut more than 100 Election Day polling sites and reduce the number of early voting locations, amid growing concern about GOP efforts to limit voting access ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

The 3-2 vote on Tuesday by commissioners in Tarrant County, which includes Fort Worth, came one day after President Donald Trump vowed to end the use of mail-in ballots. The president lacks the unilateral power to decide how individual states run elections, but his declaration speaks to long-brewing and unfounded claims by some conservatives that the country’s electoral system is insecure and vulnerable to widespread fraud. Trump has repeatedly and falsely asserted that he won the 2020 presidential election instead of Joe Biden.

Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare, who heads up the commissioners court, has also raised numerous questions about the security of local elections, helping to launch an electoral integrity unit in the county after he became judge in 2022. As of last summer, however, the unit had received fewer than 100 allegations of voter fraud. He and fellow Republican commissioners also cut funding to provide free bus rides to the polls for low-income residents. “I don’t believe it’s the county government’s responsibility to try to get more people out to the polls,” O’Hare said at the time. And commissioners prohibited outside organizations from registering voters inside county buildings after Tarrant County GOP leaders raised concerns about what they said were left-leaning groups holding registration drives. (ProPublica and The Texas Tribune have previously written about O’Hare’s political influence in North Texas.)

On Tuesday, O’Hare voted with the two Republican commissioners on the court to reduce the number of polling sites in the county to 216, down from 331 in 2023. The decision also cut down the number of early voting sites.

County officials said the move was to save money, as they historically see low voter turnout in nonpresidential elections.

Throughout the meeting, O’Hare repeatedly emphasized that the cuts were intended to make the election more efficient. He argued that both the switch to county-wide voting in 2019, which allows voters to cast a ballot at any polling site in the county, and the expected low turnout made the cuts appropriate.

"I would venture to guess 99% of the public cannot name a single thing on (the 2025 ballot),” he said during the meeting.

Fewer voting sites means fewer voters, Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston, told the Report.

“If you move a polling place farther away from someone’s house, then they’re less likely to vote because you’ve increased the cost of voting,” said Rottinghaus, who has studied poll placement and its impact on turnout. “The cost can be your time. It can be your gas.”

The county’s move falls in line with a national trend that generally sees Republican-led states and localities “restrain and restrict” how voting operates — often in the name of discouraging illegal voting or, in Tarrant County’s recent case, cutting costs, Rottinghaus said. This could look like reducing voting locations or shortening early voting hours, he said.

Texas has led multiple efforts to make going to the polls more difficult, he said, such as making mail-in ballots harder to obtain and requiring photo IDs when casting a ballot.

No single law dramatically impacts voter turnout, Rottinghaus said, rather, it’s the collective of ever-changing policies that can discourage people from voting.

“The more you move around how voting occurs, like the hours and the locations, the harder it is for voters to understand exactly what they’re supposed to do and when,” he said. “A confused voter is usually a nonvoter.”

This is not the first time Tarrant County has been at the forefront of changing political headwinds. Earlier this summer, the commissioners, led by O’Hare, voted along party lines to redraw the county precincts; such changes usually happen after the decennial census rather than in the middle of the decade. O’Hare admitted the goal of the redrawn maps was to favor Republican candidates.

“This is about Republican versus Democrat, period,” O’Hare told Dallas television station WFAA ahead of the commissioners’ June 3 vote. “If it passes with one of the maps that I would want to see pass, it’s a very strong likelihood that we will have three Republicans on the Commissioners Court.”

In July, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott added redistricting to the agenda of a special legislative session — a step he was apparently reluctant to take until he received a call from Trump to discuss the issue, the Tribune reported. The proposal has sparked a national fight over the redrawing of congressional maps. On Wednesday, the GOP-led Texas House took an initial vote adopting a new map designed to increase the number of Republican seats in the U.S. Congress.

Abbott has also fanned concerns about allegations of illegal voting, last year announcing the removal of more than 1 million ineligible voters from the state’s rolls, including more than 6,500 potential noncitizens. An investigation by ProPublica, the Tribune and Votebeat, however, found that the number of alleged noncitizens the governor cited was likely inflated and, in some cases, wrong.

Concerns About the Cuts

More than three dozen speakers at Tuesday’s meeting denounced the move to cut polling sites and early voting locations, with some raising concerns that it amounted to the suppression of Black, Hispanic and college-age voters. Several speakers called the cuts a more extreme version of O’Hare’s failed effort to remove eight early voting locations at colleges last year. Only one person spoke in favor of the reductions.

Sabrina Ball, who opposed reducing the polling sites, said she has worked as an election judge in Republican Commissioner Manny Ramirez’s district in northwest Tarrant County. She said she’s seen firsthand people working hard to find the time to get to a polling location and vote.

“You’re not saving money. You’re sacrificing democracy to save a buck,” she said.

The two Democratic commissioners, Roderick Miles Jr. and Alisa Simmons, voted against the changes after unsuccessfully trying to delay the decision.

“Everybody deserves the right to have a place that they are comfortable with and familiar with to go and to cast their vote,” said Miles, who represents predominantly Black neighborhoods that saw a reduction in voting locations. He later added, “To dismantle or take those rights away from us that we worked hard to get is unacceptable at any level.”

Simmons said it was inappropriate to reduce voting locations as Tarrant County’s population grows. She pointed out that the Republican members of the Commissioners Court used that growth as a reason to redistrict the county’s precincts midcycle this year — a change that would significantly increase the chances of a GOP candidate defeating her in 2026.

A Texas law passed in May reduces the county’s minimum Election Day voting locations to 212 — rolling back a 2023 requirement of 347.

Tarrant County Commissioners Alisa Simmons, a Democrat, first image, and Manny Ramirez, a Republican, second image. The move to reduce polling places passed by a 3-2 vote. (Drew Shaw/Fort Worth Report)

Tarrant County Election Administrator Clinton Ludwig said the sites meet the state’s new “bare minimum,” with “a little bit of wiggle room” in case certain planned locations fall through. He told commissioners that the initially proposed cuts aimed to save about $1 million.

He said he based the reductions on voter turnout in 2023, which saw about 12.5% registered voters cast ballots, he said. Locations’ accessibility and ability to securely store voting information were also considered, Ludwig said.

He said that no commissioner had any influence on the list and that no partisan analysis was taken into account.

Ludwig and O’Hare’s office did not immediately respond to requests to comment following the vote. O’Hare has also not responded to ProPublica and the Tribune’s previous reporting about him, declining multiple interview requests and refusing to answer questions, though a spokesperson sent the newsrooms a list of eight of his major accomplishments, including cutting county spending and lowering local property tax rates.

Rottinghaus said some counties “yo-yo” year to year in the number of polling places they have. Elections such as November’s typically have fewer locations than presidential and midterm ones, he said. Still, Tarrant County’s reduction seems “aggressive,” he said.

Once the number of polling places goes down, it usually stays down, Rottinghaus said.

“You’re going to generally see that same number continue for at least the near term,” he said.

Though he ultimately voted to reduce polling locations, Ramirez pushed back on the initial list of cuts to early voting sites, some of which he said were established and popular with voters. Ramirez said the county must balance access and efficiency. Commissioners then added back nine early voting locations. O’Hare was the lone vote against that move, saying some of those sites had historically low turnout.

“The formula for where you put these voting sites has to be scientific,” Ramirez told the Report ahead of the vote. “It should be population-based and proximity to additional site-based.”

Several Fort Worth City Council members urged their constituents to speak against the effort in the lead-up to the vote.

Council member Carlos Flores, who represents parts of northwest Fort Worth, issued a statement against the vote, saying fewer sites negatively impact diverse communities. In a statement to the Report, he added that limited polling locations and inconvenient voting procedures contribute to low turnout.

Mia Hall, who represents southwest Fort Worth, sent a news release to her district on Monday, decrying the proposed cuts in parts of her district that are predominantly Black or Hispanic.

“These communities have long fought for equitable access to the ballot box, and removing their polling locations is simply unacceptable,” Hall wrote. “While I understand the pressures of state regulations and budgetary constraints, disenfranchising entire communities is not an acceptable response.”

Drew Shaw is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org.

HIGHLAND - Leaps of Love, a Highland-based nonprofit, supports families impacted by childhood brain tumors and the long-term effects of childhood cancer, offering hope, strength, and encouragement. Their mission is to connect and encourage families impacted by childhood cancer through retreats, support for bereaved parents, and survivor programs for ages 18+. Leaps of Love celebrated their 15th year in 2025, and as they continue to grow, the concern of funding is always a challenge. In 2022, a group of young men created the 24-Hour Laps for Leaps endurance race at Highland Speedway to support Leaps of Love. Although founder Traci Riechmann initially thought it would be a long and tedious event, it became the most fun and emotional fundraiser she experienced. Participants worked together in the pits, helping each other keep cars running, while competing fiercely on the track to see who could complete the most laps in 24 hours. The camaraderie and competitive spirit were all for raising

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The city will soon receive one of the largest per capita infusions of full-time agents and intel personnel in the nation.

SPRINGFIELD, IL – In an effort to forge relationships and increase export sales of agricultural products, the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) will host 21 international buyers from six different countries as part of a four-day tour. Buyers from Peru, Colombia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Mexico, and Dominican Republic will visit Illinois facilities August 25-28. “The Illinois Grain Tour offers a unique opportunity for visitors from around the world to meet Illinois farmers, producers, and retailers face-to-face,” said IDOA Director Jerry Costello II . “Illinois is the top producer of soybeans and second in corn. Nearly half of that production – billions of dollars annually – is sold internationally. At a time when global tensions are high and the impact of tariffs remains to be seen, building these mutually beneficial relationships is more important than ever.” The 2024 Illinois Grain Tour had projected sales of $159 million. Representativ

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ST. LOUIS – The City of St. Louis is about to begin a significant upgrade to the zoning regulations that guide how the city will develop and grow in the decades ahead. The Zoning Upgrade - a modern code to meet the moment - will be the first major rewrite and map update to the city’s zoning code since the 1950s. More information can be found on the project website . Ahead of this effort’s official launch event on Sept. 3 , the City is welcoming residents to apply to join the Zoning Upgrade Community Advisory Committee , a 12-member group that will play a vital role in shaping the new zoning code by providing community insights, reviewing materials for usability and supporting engagement efforts throughout the process. “Our zoning code should reflect who we are and where we want to go as a city,” said Mayor Cara Spencer. “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to design a zoning framework that supports growth, equity, sustainability and high-quality

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Despite a flurry of speculation from both sides of the political aisle, Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe hasn’t signaled whether or not he’ll call a special session of the legislature to redraw congressional maps.

Madrina the Italian-American neighborhood restaurant in Webster Groves, will host the Silk Road Dinner Series, a three-part dinner experience celebrating diversity in the St. Louis culinary space. The Silk Road […]

The post Madrina Silk Road Dinner Series appeared first on Explore St. Louis.

EDWARDSVILLE – A Troy resident faces felony charges of battery and mob action after he and an unidentified accomplice allegedly attacked someone riding their bike in Edwardsville. Hughes W. Crumbley, 18, of Troy, was charged on Aug. 15, 2025 with a Class 3 felony count of aggravated battery and a Class 4 felony count of mob action. On Aug. 13, 2025, Crumbley allegedly acted together with an unidentified male in striking the same victim without legal authority about the head and neck, causing the victim to sustain facial fractures. According to the state’s petition to deny Crumbley’s pretrial release from custody, at the time of this incident, he was on probation for similar behavior in another mob action case filed in Madison County earlier this year. “Victim and witnesses report that victim was riding a bicycle near Watershed Park and was pursued by multiple suspects in a truck,” the petition states. “The truck got ahead of the victim and two

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