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To encourage and support growth along the proposed MetroLink Green Line route, Mayor Tishaura O. Jones has signed Board Bill 13.

The Missouri Department of Conservation is warning people in the area to bring in any pet food or bird feeders as to not entice the bears.

After teasing fans on social media, U2 has now confirmed that a movie of their Sphere residency is coming, but you’ll have to go to Sin City to see it.The band…

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Ashanti and Nelly have welcomed their first child, a baby boy named Kareem Kenkaide Hayes, and have confirmed their recent marriage.

"JewishStar newsbox2" by Douglas Wertheimer, Editor of the Chicago Jewish Star is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

A few short months ago, a couple of college kids at Northwestern University placed parody flyers with obviously fake Daily Northwestern front pages on stacks of student newspapers around campus. They didn’t remove or damage any newspapers — anyone who wanted to read one could simply discard the flyers, which objected to the school’s response to the Israel-Gaza war.

Yet prosecutors in Cook County, Illinois — which includes Chicago and Evanston, Northwestern’s (and my) hometown — dug through the law books to charge the students under a rarely used statute criminalizing “theft of advertising services.” The Daily’s publisher later urged prosecutors to back down, but only after backlash from the national press and even the Daily’s editors for involving law enforcement in responding to harmless civil disobedience on a college campus.

That’s why it was surprising to read in the Chicago Reader’s newsletter that, in anticipation of the Democratic National Convention, the city of Chicago instructed a vendor to remove at least 83 newsracks from downtown Chicago, without notifying the Reader or, presumably, other impacted news outlets.

The Reader doesn’t know what happened to the papers that were in those racks. Nor do advertisers who placed ads in them.

So what happened to “theft of advertising services”? It’s true, the law under which the Northwestern students were charged criminalizes only placing unauthorized inserts in newspapers. Taking newspapers out of circulation outright might not technically violate the law. But it’s a safe bet that no one at the state’s attorney’s office burned midnight oil last night to find another way to vindicate the rights of the Reader and its advertisers.

It sure seems like there’s a double standard at work. When activists merely obscure advertisements in newspapers with a flyer as a way to get their message out, that’s serious enough that prosecutors feel compelled to dig up a reason to charge them with a crime.

But when city officials decide newsboxes are an eyesore, they can not only obscure them but remove them, and the newspapers they contain, ads and all.

Speaking of, why do city officials apparently view the presence of newsracks as offensive in the first place? Do they seriously think visitors in town for the DNC — presumably, people who follow public affairs and read news — will think less of the city for having public displays of newspapers? Does a single resident of Chicago want their tax money spent on this?

Newsracks obviously aren’t nearly as prevalent as they once were, and the city has previously removed newsboxes it deemed abandoned pursuant to its municipal code. But alternative newspapers still use newsracks and, according to the Reader, those the city removed before the convention were far from abandoned.

Distribution of news — through newsboxes or otherwise — is constitutionally protected. Almost 40 years ago, a federal judge in Chicago struck down an ordinance granting a suburban mayor unchecked discretion over newsbox placement, calling it an unconstitutional prior restraint. That ruling came soon after the Supreme Court upheld an appellate ruling that a similar ordinance in Lakewood, Ohio, violated the First Amendment.

The Reader has promised to investigate the newsrack removals. “Following in the fine Chicago tradition, let the muckraking begin,” reads the newsletter. If reporters’ findings show that the city violated the First Amendment, hopefully it’ll be held accountable in a court of law.

Regardless, the city should be judged harshly in the court of public opinion. Chicago’s press is far from immune from the challenges facing virtually all media outlets these days — both of the city’s major daily newspapers have faced bankruptcy. But the city has also rightfully been called a “hub of innovation” for local news, with small and unconventional news outlets, including the Reader, collaborating to produce award-winning investigative journalism.

That’s something to be proud of, not something to hide from outsiders. That the city apparently feels otherwise is what’s really criminal.

This is a Fly River turtle at the Los Angeles Zoo, also known as a pig-nosed turtle for obvious reasons.

I just got back from a visit to City of Hope, and it turns out I have no choices to make after all. My prostate cancer makes me ineligible for clinical trials, so my best option is an FDA-approved bispecific treatment called Talvey, or talquetamab: TALVEY™ is a bispecific T-cell engaging antibody that binds to ...continue reading "Health update"

The desire for artificial intelligence skills in new hires has exploded over the last five years, and continues to be a priority for hiring managers across nearly every industry, data from Stanford University’s annual AI Index Report found. In 2023, 1.6% of all United States-based jobs required AI skills, a slight dip from the 2% posted in […]

With summer winding down and area students heading back to the classroom, the Clean Air Partnership is pleased to shine... Read More

For as long as the evening news has existed, America has been portrayed as a dangerous place to live. Reminding people we’re a very safe country — especially over the past 30 years — doesn’t draw in viewers. And it doesn’t draw in voters, either. Among the many, many, many things Donald Trump lied about […]

       by Pat Lindsey This is it. This is the last show of The Muny’s seven-show season and it’s a doozy. Even though every one of the other six shows was perfectly wonderful, The Muny seems to have a tradition of saving the best for last. Get ready for “Anything Goes” to come tap dancing […]

The post Anything Goes” Will Blow Muny Audiences Out of the Water appeared first on flovalleynews.com.

Plans call for investments in research infrastructure including new laboratories, greenhouses and office space at the Chesterfield campus, a Bayer spokesperson said.

The number of people languishing in Missouri jails in need of court-ordered mental health treatment currently stands at 344 — and the wait time for a hospital bed averages one year.  That’s up from 254 people this time last year, according to Missouri Department of Mental Health data provided to The Independent. A spokeswoman for the […]

CAHOKIA - A Cahokia man who died after being shot to death on Camp Jackson Road in Cahokia Heights early Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, has been identified as Trevion J. Brown. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:20 a.m. Tuesday. Brown had an address listed in the 300 block of Range Lane, Cahokia Heights. Cahokia Heights Police are investigating the crime. The call came into police at 12:39 a.m. on Tuesday. Law enforcement said a motive has not been discovered yet and they urge anyone with any information on this crime to contact the Cahokia Heights Police Department at (618) 332-1184.

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Missouri American Water said the leak could cause some customers to experience low or no water pressure.

All members of the department submitted their resignations to their city council on Monday, the county sheriff's office said.

MADISON COUNTY — At approximately 5:02 a.m. Wednesday morning, Aug. 21, 2024, Madison County Sheriff's Deputies responded to a report of an attempted vehicle theft in the 3100 block of West Chain of Rocks Road. Upon arrival, deputies observed the stolen vehicle fleeing the scene, prompting a brief vehicle pursuit. The pursuit concluded in the area of New Poag Road and Old Alton Road where the suspect abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot. A subsequent foot pursuit ensued, leading deputies to establish a perimeter in the vicinity. Several surrounding police agencies provided assistance in the search effort. Despite the coordinated efforts, the suspect remains at large. "As of this moment, the suspect is not in custody; however, we are actively following up on leads to apprehend him. The stolen vehicle has been recovered. Authorities continue to investigate and urge anyone with information to come forward.

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Activities at the birthday party will include card making, litter awareness, and even an "Eat Like Peanut" activity, the Missouri Department of Conservation said.