stLouISTAggregator
West St. Louis County shoplifting ring busted
The St. Louis County Circuit Court issued a slew of criminal summonses to a trio of shoplifting suspects from Southwest Illinois.
Holiday Fun Galore Headlines Your Weekend Go-Guide
This weekend brings a delightful array of events across the region, showcasing everything from festive holiday markets and family-friendly celebrations to enchanting concerts and community gatherings, ensuring there's something for everyone to enjoy. For a complete listing of all the exciting happenings, be sure to visit https://www.riverbender.com/events/ . If you want to make sure even more of the region is aware of your event email cj@riverbender.com and explore our range of Event Promotion Services! Join Godfrey, Illinois in celebrating the holiday season at Snowflake Festival from 6 – 8:30 pm at Robert E. Glazebrook Community Park! Get your picture taken with Santa in the gazebo. There will be s’mores roasting on an open fire, carriage rides, hot cocoa and cookies, and more. This is a free event, but in honor of the giving season, we will be collecting toys for the United States Marine Corps of Alton Toys for Tots campaign. Don't miss the 2024 ABOB Olde Alton
Retirement of Missouri’s top cop gives new governor opening to name his own crime czar
Sandra Karsten worked for the Missouri Department of Public Safety for nearly four decades.
Lunchtime Photo
This is the Flaming Star Nebula, aka IC 405, a combination emission/reflection nebula in the Auriga constellation. I took this picture Sunday night after a multi-month layoff, and it was the best night of astrophotography I've ever had. Usually something goes wrong during the imaging session—it's always weird and different each time—but the sky was ...continue reading "Lunchtime Photo"
Bob Dylan shares his thoughts on upcoming movie ‘A Complete Unknown’
It sounds like Bob Dylan is confident that the upcoming movie A Complete Unknown is going to be a good one. He took to social media platform X Wednesday to share his…
Final push for bipartisan PRESS Act
Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Advocacy Director Seth Stern joined National Public Radio’s 1A to discuss the urgent need for the Senate to finally pass the bipartisan PRESS Act and protect journalist-source confidentiality.
Stern emphasized that the PRESS Act is a bipartisan solution to a bipartisan problem — administrations from both political parties have come after journalists’ sources, as have local prosecutors and litigants in cases that have nothing to do with presidential politics.
“A subpoena is a subpoena. A contempt finding is a contempt finding, and jail is jail,” Stern explained. “And whether it's Donald Trump, Barack Obama, or somebody else who is coming after a journalist, the repercussions are the same."
He added that Trump, who recently called for Republicans to kill the PRESS Act, “should consider that this is not only about the mainstream media, not only about the journalists that he personally dislikes. It's about all journalists, including journalists who benefit him by exposing the stories that he wants told."
Axios journalist Sara Fischer and former Fox and CBS journalist Catherine Herridge — who is currently appealing an order holding her in contempt of court for not burning a source — also joined the show.
Herridge, who has requested a conversation with Trump to explain why he should support the PRESS Act, explained that if she hadn't had a credible pledge of confidentiality, she would never have been able to expose what she characterized as defects in the Russia collusion case.
You can listen to the full episode here.
Plaza Frontenac seeking to evict movie theater
Angie Housman's killer dies in prison at age 67
He was sentenced to life for first-degree murder and first-degree sex abuse in Angie Housman's death. He was also serving a 40-year sentence in a separate sodomy case.
Plastics company to shutter plant, lay off workers
A Chesterfield-based custom packaging manufacturer said it plans to shutter a local plant next year, terminating all the workers there.
Will Trump and Republicans quash the FBI headquarters move to Maryland?
WASHINGTON — The decade-long endeavor to move the Federal Bureau of Investigation out of its crumbling headquarters in downtown Washington, D.C., and into a new facility outside the city could face roadblocks next year. President-elect Donald Trump and some of his top allies in Congress have rebuked the federal agency that undertook the search for […]
Messenger: Sandbags divide St. Charles neighbors amid construction dispute
New home in historic district is causing flooding for house next door; the matter has ended up in court.
County Police Follow Up
Throckmorton County, population 1,440, doubled its GDP in 2023
Are you wondering how your county did last year? I'm here to help. Here is real GDP growth for the 20 biggest counties in the US: Silicon Valley did well, with all of its component parts in the top ten (Santa Clara, San Mateo, and San Francisco counties). My hometown of Orange County did the ...continue reading "Throckmorton County, population 1,440, doubled its GDP in 2023"
Durbin, Markey, Waters Lead 72 Others In Calling For Department Of Education To Discharge Loans For Defrauded Borrowers
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA), and Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA-43) today called on the Department of Education to discharge student loan debt for hundreds of thousands of students who were defrauded by predatory schools. During the first Trump Administration, defrauded borrowers’ applications for debt relief were left to languish for years, and if reviewed, were often denied. In their letter today, the lawmakers called for the Department to use its authority to immediately discharge debt. Since 2022, the Department has announced group discharges for more than?1.2 million individuals?who attended schools that engaged in documented fraud and misconduct, including ITT Technical Institute and Corinthian Colleges. Yet, hundreds of thousands of borrowers are still awaiting their discharges. Many additional borrowers are eligible for borrower defense group discharge because they attended schools
Federal Court Says Dismantling A Phone To Install Firmware Isn’t A ‘Search,’ Even If Was Done To Facilitate A Search
This is probably the correct conclusion to arrive at, at least at this point in extremely limited jurisprudence, but it still raises some questions courts will likely have to confront in the future. Is manhandling a phone to make it responsive to a search itself a search, or does the Fourth Amendment not kick in […]
Kendrick Lamar, SZA's 'Grand National Tour' is coming to St. Louis
Grammy-winning R&B singer and St. Louis native SZA is teaming up with Grammy and Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar for a highly anticipated 19-stadium tour that includes a stop in her hometown.
The "Grand National Tour" will make a stop at St. Louis' Dome at America's Center on Wednesday, June 4.
This tour marks a milestone in both artists' careers, with Lamar fresh off the surprise release of his album "GNX" on Nov. 22. The album, already generating buzz, features two tracks with SZA:…
Searching for local Horror print Artist
With Cold Temps Settling in, IDPH Reminds Illinoisans to Get Protection from Respiratory Bugs
CHICAGO – Now that colder temperatures have arrived, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is reminding Illinoisans to prepare for the coming respiratory virus season by getting the recommended shots for flu and COVID-19 and RSV. While the IDPH Seasonal Respiratory Illness Dashboard shows the overall illness level in Illinois remains Low, public health officials expect viral activity to increase as the holiday season and time for indoor gatherings kicks into gear. IDPH officials are also warning of a significant increase in whooping cough (pertussis) cases this year. The largest monthly total in 20 years was recorded in October when 408 cases were reported, more than double the number in October 2023. According to preliminary data, the state has recorded more than 1,900 confirmed and probable cases of pertussis in Illinois in the year to date, the highest number since 2012. This tracks a national trend and follows a sharp drop in cases during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Illinois EPA Awards Over $285,000 in Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program Funding
SPRINGFIELD —Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Acting Director James Jennings today announced that the Agency's Office of Energy has awarded $285,400 in the third funding round of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program. The Illinois EECBG Program supports municipalities and counties with the development or revision of existing strategic energy or climate action plans, as well as supplemental energy efficiency audits and publicly owned building upgrades. The recipients of third round EECBG Program funding are: Crawford County - $108,000 City of Rochelle (Ogle County) - $150,000 Village of Riverside (Cook County) - $27,400 In total, Illinois EPA has awarded $1,837,082 to fourteen (14) municipalities and counties across Illinois through the program. A fourth-round and likely final funding opportunity is forthcoming to invest Illinois’ remaining EECBG funding in energy efficiency projects identified within municipal and county energy