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The project has added solar panels to the library's Buder and Julia Davis branches.

Personal items belonging to the late Fleetwood Mac star Christine McVie are set to go up for auction on Oct. 16 and Oct. 17. To celebrate the event, AXS TV will air a weekend…

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WASHINGTON — U.S. Supreme Court justices Tuesday grappled with whether the Biden administration exceeded its authority when it set regulations for kits that can be assembled into untraceable firearms, and a majority of justices seemed somewhat skeptical the rule was an overreach. In Garland v. VanDerStok, the nine justices are tasked with determining whether a rule issued […]

Fortified with work authorizations and a new freedom, Haitian immigrants are moving out of their longtime strongholds in Florida and New York, often finding good jobs while remaining wary of how they will be received in new places in the Midwest and South. This movement helps explain why Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, have become […]

Detectives are seeking information about a suspect after an attempted robbery at a bank in the city's Carondelet neighborhood.

The Department of Health, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and CareSTL Health will be hosting a free vaccine clinic before Cabinet in Community.

A National conference with a mission of strengthening neighborhoods is being held in St.Louis this week. Hosted by the Center for Community Progress, the Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference runs thru Friday at the Hyatt Regency at the Arch. Among the events is a Thursday workshop that will highlight recovery and redevelopment efforts on West Florissant Avenue…

The post St. Louis Conference on Vacant Properties appeared first on The Big 550 KTRS.

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (AP) — President Joe Biden is making a rare jump into the 2024 battleground political fray since ending his reelection bid. He’ll campaign on Tuesday in Pennsylvania for a close ally and visit Wisconsin to spotlight a signature legislative achievement. But as Biden makes a quick swing through the key states, two Democratic…

The post Biden makes rare dip into battleground state fray with a visit to Pennsylvania and Wisconsin appeared first on The Big 550 KTRS.

SSM Health's St. Louis region on Monday opened a new outpatient center in southern St. Charles County that's been two years in the making.

CHICAGO – U.S. Senator and combat Veteran Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), who serves on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees, issued the following statement recognizing the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s terror attacks against Israel on October 7th, 2023: “One year ago, Hamas committed the single deadliest atrocity against Jews since the Holocaust, killing nearly 1,200 innocents and taking hundreds more hostage—nearly 100 of whom remain in captivity to this day. My thoughts are with them, and with their loved ones, today and every day. “My heart breaks for those who lost loved ones during the attacks, for the families of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians killed in the days since, for those who suffered the unique torture of having their hopes of ever seeing their captive loved ones again so heartlessly dashed—like the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin—and for the millions in Gaza who are still suffering

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This is a Komodo dragon at the LA Zoo, using its tongue to check things out: As with many other reptiles, the Komodo dragon primarily relies on its tongue to detect, taste, and smell stimuli, with the vomeronasal sense using the Jacobson's organ, rather than using the nostrils. With the help of a favorable wind ...continue reading "Lunchtime Photo"

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) Acting Director James Jennings today announced a $27 million Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the replacement of existing public transit buses with new all-electric transit options. Grant awards will cover 75% of the eligible cost per electric transit bus and any necessary charging infrastructure, with a minimum award amount of $300,000. Madison and St. Clair counties will receive funding for the replacement of existing public transit vehicles. Eligible applicants include government and transit agencies that own and operate public transit buses in any of the three priority areas outlined in the Volkswagen Beneficiary Mitigation Plan (BMP) and further described below. This funding opportunity will remain open until funding is depleted with grants awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis. As outlined in Illinois’ BMP for the Volkswagen diesel emissions settlement, and as specified in the

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While an arts-focused location in the Grove closed, the company is running more coworking spaces in St. Louis than it did before the pandemic.

CNN's Joan Biskupic reports that Chief Justice John Roberts doesn't understand why people were upset about his presidential immunity ruling earlier this year: Roberts was shaken by the adverse public reaction to his decision affording Trump substantial immunity from criminal prosecution. His protestations that the case concerned the presidency, not Trump, held little currency. Is ...continue reading "John Roberts is puzzled"

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—co-founder of the U.S. Senate Lead Task Force and the U.S. Senate Environmental Justice Caucus—and U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today lauded the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to finalize the Biden Administration’s proposed Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI), which would lower the lead action level to better protect human health and require water systems to replace old and deteriorating lead pipes within a decade. In addition to the LCRI, EPA also announced that Illinois will receive $75,558,000 in newly available drinking water infrastructure funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to support lead-related activities, including lead pipe replacement projects. The finalized rule comes ahead of the October 16th finalization deadline to not only help ensure these important improvements are implemented as quickly as possible, but also prevent water

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Creating surveillance backdoors for law enforcement is just asking for trouble. They inevitably become targets for hackers and foreign adversaries. Case in point: the US just discovered its wiretapping system has been compromised for who knows how long. This should end the encryption backdoor debate once and for all. The law enforcement world has been […]

MARYVILLE - Anderson Hospital Foundation accepted a generous contribution from Allison’s Friends of Hope! Their 2024 Golf Tournament was “a huge success”, raising funds and resulting in a $12,500 donation towards Anderson Friends of Hope Breast Diagnostic Center. This center was named after Allison Cassens, who unfortunately lost her life due to colon cancer. We are beyond grateful for the support of Allison’s Friends of Hope and their remarkable efforts in cancer research. Their unwavering commitment to this cause has managed to raise more than $1 million since 2004, and we could not be more thankful for their dedication. Allison’s Friends of Hope truly embodies the spirit of generosity and kindness, and we are honored to have them as part of our community.

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A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel has ordered St. Louis-based Stifel Financial Corp.'s (NYSE: SF) broker-dealer unit to pay over $14.2 million to Florida investors who alleged the firm failed to supervise a broker who recommended complex securities known as structured notes.

The director of transportation for St. Louis Public Schools, Toyin Akinola, has reportedly stepped down from her position.

The Heritage Foundation sends a lot of Freedom of Information Act requests about progressive issues, from climate change to policies on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and it’s causing a stir.

A recent ProPublica article detailed the FOIA campaign, which is allegedly part of Project 2025’s effort to identify agency officials for potential firing.

ProPublica, which obtained the information for its article through its own FOIA requests, suggests that the hundreds of Heritage Foundation requests may intimidate public officials and prevent FOIA offices from effectively responding to “legitimate” requests by clogging the FOIA queues.

Reporting how the Heritage Foundation may use FOIA responses to gut the federal workforce is a worthy endeavor. Implying that FOIAs are illegitimate when the goal is partisan is a slippery slope that could give other agencies an excuse to deny requests they don’t like.

Most importantly, it is not the requesters' fault, even if they are frequent requesters, that the government can’t effectively search and review large amounts of records.

A few key points:

• Federal employees’ records that detail their work should be fair game for FOIA requests.
• Many of the requests would have been unnecessary if agencies proactively posted information like they are supposed to.
• Even a large FOIA project like the Heritage Foundation’s is not the reason the entire federal government’s FOIA backlog increases every year.

Implying that FOIAs are illegitimate when the goal is partisan is a slippery slope that could give other agencies an excuse to deny requests they don’t like.

Maligning the records seeker

Blaming FOIA requesters for the worsening of the FOIA processing landscape is not new.

Jason Leopold, a national security reporter and prolific FOIA requester, was once called a “FOIA terrorist” for the number of FOIA requests he filed. He’s been repeatedly cited by agencies as an example of why they can’t process other requests and there need to be more limits around requesters.

MuckRock, a nonprofit that makes it easier for citizens and freelance journalists to file requests, has been similarly maligned by agency FOIA officials.

And while “bad faith requesters” do exist, my colleague Caitlin Vogus recently wrote that the best way to counter them “is to correct the record with more information.”

Most agencies don’t respond by releasing more information, and instead continue to ignore requirements for proactive posting.

FOIA clearly states that agencies: 1) must publish items of public interest before anyone files a FOIA for the information, and 2) must publicly post records that are frequently requested. Most agencies struggle to consistently meet these requirements, if they meet them at all.

The monthly calendars of high-level officials requested by the Heritage Foundation are an example of records that should already have been public. Top officials’ calendars are often requested — by all sorts of organizations and individuals. If agencies had proactively posted the calendars, this would have saved them from processing hundreds of Heritage Foundation FOIAs.

Flooding the FOIA office?

One of the criticisms hurled at the Heritage Foundation — and journalists like Leopold — is that their requests are so voluminous that agencies can’t respond to other requesters.

It’s true that agencies struggle to respond to FOIA requests. Every year, the Justice Department reports that the government-wide FOIA backlog has increased.

It’s also true that large, complex requests take longer to process than simple requests. But large requests are allowed as long as it’s clear what the requester is asking for.

The more important question to ask is why can’t agencies effectively process requests for large amounts of information.

There are several reasons:

• Records are still reviewed manually even though it is impossible for human reviewers to keep up with exponentially increasing digital records.
• Many FOIA offices don’t conduct records searches because they don’t have access to the records, instead asking the person whose records are being sought or an IT department to do it. This causes delays if non-FOIA officials don’t prioritize the search, and means a FOIA officer doesn’t always know how other officials are conducting a search.
• Most FOIA funding is tight and comes from other parts of an agency’s budget. This impacts software purchases and decisions integral to the FOIA process. For example, agencies usually pay for third-party software to redact documents. Software vendors charge agencies based on the amount of documents they store during the review process. This means that agencies pay more money to process larger requests. If a FOIA office doesn’t have enough funding, this expense could be an incentive to deny large requests outright.
• These factors help contribute to a culture of secrecy over disclosure, with FOIA offices spending time and resources needlessly denying FOIAs and/or applying unnecessary exemptions.

Now what?

FOIA offices are underwater, that’s clear. The solution is equally clear. Agencies should post more information proactively and be allocated the funding necessary to invest in commonsense search and review tools.

FOIA requesters and journalists who write about FOIA problems play an important role, too — keeping the pressure on agencies to improve rather than blaming other requesters.