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Tom Prater’s nomination faced scrutiny from a Republican lawmaker and DC-based nonprofit.

Join them on Saturday, April 26 for a heartwarming celebration during Spring Family Weekend and the Resident Masquerade Ball, held on the Beverly Farm campus in Godfrey, Illinois.

Plastics, bamboo and other materials are common imports for American companies to use for diapers.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio claims the authority to unilaterally declare students who protest the Israel-Gaza war antisemites and terrorism supporters in order to kick them out of the country.

So when even Rubio’s State Department doubts the government has grounds to deport a student — especially an anti-war student from the Middle East — the administration’s position must be exceptionally weak. In the case of Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk, it is. The only known “evidence” against her was her co-authoring an op-ed criticizing the war and calling for Tufts to divest from Israeli investments.

According to The Washington Post, the department issued a memo reaching one of the most obvious conclusions in the history of memos – that the Department of Homeland Security’s claim that Öztürk acted “in support of Hamas,” and therefore could be thrown out of the country, is baseless.

Yet the public hasn’t seen that key document about Öztürk, who was abducted by plainclothes federal agents in March and is currently in an immigration jail in Louisiana. The Post’s source was only able to “describe” the memo’s content to journalists.

Nor has the public seen another memo, also reported by the Post, from DHS official Andre Watson to senior State Department official John Armstrong, accusing Öztürk of “anti-Israel activism” with “adverse policy consequences for the United States.” Tellingly, the only example provided by Watson, according to the Post, was the aforementioned op-ed.

These two documents expose the frivolousness of the administration’s case against Öztürk, which is central to one of the most important public debates in America, now and possibly ever. And it’s alarming that whether the government can incarcerate and expel non-citizens (and maybe citizens) who express ideas it doesn’t like qualifies as a “debate” these days.

Federal courts up to the Supreme Court have shot down the administration’s due process-free deportation practices. Some of President Donald Trump’s closest supporters, both in Congress and popular culture, are breaking from his rhetoric on this issue, recognizing the obvious dangers of persecuting nonviolent anti-war speech. Journalists everywhere are self-censoring and pulling stories out of fear of being thrown in jail cells from Louisiana to El Salvador.

A country that expels op-ed writers and hides government records about why simply does not have freedom of the press.

Last week, Federal Communications Commission Chair and shameless Trump lapdog Brendan Carr (the guy wears a golden bust of Trump as a lapel pin) threatened to investigate news outlets that doubt the administration’s false narratives or don’t air all of its spin sessions. Predictably, a Trump-aligned organization filed an FCC complaint echoing Carr’s nonsense.

All that is to say, it’s a big deal that even the State Department knows the administration is wrong. The existence and substance of the two memos have already been reported, so the cat is out of the bag — there is no basis for secrecy. There never was. And there is little risk of tainting a future jury pool — Öztürk can only dream of that kind of due process.

In any event, now that the memos have been disclosed, it’s hard to argue that the public is better off with a potentially incomplete news report than with the entire documents. But this is an administration that believes questioning its infallibility is contrary to the “public interest.”

That’s not how officials who are confident in the accuracy of their facts and the soundness of their legal arguments behave. The administration needs to be prepared to defend its (indefensible) views on free expression, not hide from them. If it claims the First Amendment tolerates throwing people out of the country for using news ink to express political beliefs shared by millions, it needs to be transparent, including about why it overruled internal dissent.

We’ve filed Freedom of Information Act requests for both memos. We know the administration is likely to deny those requests, and we’re prepared to put up a fight there and anywhere else we see an opportunity to force some transparency out of this lawless administration.

As a press freedom organization, there’s no other option. A country that expels op-ed writers and hides government records about why simply does not have freedom of the press.

Local agtech pioneers share candid insights on the sector's future, discussing everything from AI's potential to reshape the industry to lessons learned from recent setbacks.

Red Hot Chili Peppers are featured in the upcoming fourth season of Netflix's animated anthology series, Love, Death + Robots.The episode titled "Can't Stop," directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker David Fincher, recreates…

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A Missouri police chase ended with an ironic twist last weekend: In a yard marked by a sign that read, "Protected by: F*** Around and Find Out."

A man in Lake St. Louis recently became $6.3 million richer after realizing he had won a Missouri Lottery jackpot prize.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers faces tough questions from community members about the extent of contamination in St. Louis suburbs linked to Manhattan Project activities.

There are a few ways to think about Elon Musk’s announcement this week that he’s stepping back from DOGE. The first is that he’s leaving a job he officially doesn’t have. The second is that he’s returning to a job (Tesla CEO) that he’s supposedly been doing this whole time. The third, and perhaps most […]

SPRINGFIELD - State Representative Kevin Schmidt (R-Millstadt) welcomed Barbara Sparkman and Wendy Granger from Millstadt to the “Women to Watch" Leadership Conference in Springfield. The event, hosted by House Republicans, consisted of breakfast and conversations, keynote speakers, networking lunch, and an informational seminar. “I am honored to have Barbara Sparkman and Wendy Granger as my guests at this year's conference and celebrate their well-deserved recognition for their work supporting our community,” said Schmidt. Barbara serves as the Millstadt Food Pantry's treasurer, and Wendy serves on the pantry board in addition to various other functions ranging from picking up food, packing bags for clients and distributing holiday food throughout the year. The Millstadt Food Pantry began years ago in a small garage with a big mission. Today, the pantry continues to exceed local annual donations and helps to feed less fortunate families across the Millstadt

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The Raspberry Pi and Arduino Bootcamp Bundle has 5 courses to help you dive into the world of hands-on programming. Courses cover Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and ROS2. It’s on sale for $30. Note: The Techdirt Deals Store is powered and curated by StackCommerce. A portion of all sales from Techdirt Deals helps support Techdirt. The […]

Sometimes you need to treat yourself after a bad day on the job.

ALTON - Visitors flocked to Christmas Wonderland in Alton in record numbers during the 2024 holiday season and that success means the volunteer organization was able to increase its donations to local organizations. Nearly $73,000 in donations has been distributed to over 70 civic organizations courtesy of the Grandpa Gang and Christmas Wonderland, a direct result of strong holiday seasonal visitors to the landmark Alton attraction. Christmas Wonderland, spearheaded by the volunteer Grandpa Gang, features more than 4 million lights strung throughout Rock Spring Park and also includes the Enchanted Forest and visits with Santa Claus. “The financial support we received in 2024 means we can help others in our surrounding communities and that is the true meaning of the holiday season,” Dick Alford, of the Grandpa Gang, noted. The “Grandpa Gang”, a group of retirees and volunteers, organizes and designs the Christmas spectacular of cascading lights, tunnels

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Most of the debate Thursday surrounded a provision added to the bill by the Senate prohibiting child marriage. Under current law, 16-year-olds in Missouri can marry someone under the age of 21 with parental consent.