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Several local events are scheduled in the St. Louis area this weekend, including the Festival of the Little Hills, One World Fest, and a Saint Louis City SC soccer match.

In a closed meeting, the Webster Groves City Council voted to hire a consultant and begin the search for a new city manager.

Jessica Bowie was arrested for allegedly planning an explosive attack on the New York State Capitol in support of ISIS, with federal officials scheduled to hold a press conference regarding the case today.

Age verification (laws and regulations requiring platforms and websites to assure or estimate that a user seeking to use an online service is of a certain age) is everywhere. At the time of writing, about half the states in the US have some internet age verification law in place, and dangerous proposals, from the KIDS Act to the Kids Online Safety […]

The Plantum app is a digital tool that helps to identify plants, diagnose plant diseases, and improve plant care. The app can identify over 40,000 plant species, assess their health, and give specific care advice. Plantum offers a suite of digital tools that help users improve plant care by considering light conditions, soil, water schedule, […]

A federal court ruling out of Idaho has potential implications for exceptions in abortion bans nationwide and could eventually end up before the U.S. Supreme Court to decide. U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled earlier this month that the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides a narrow right for a pregnant patient to […]

An employee of Central Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) High School in St. Louis was arrested Thursday after a gun was found at the school, police say.

ALTON – Two people charged in separate cases involving damage to AT&T cables face felonies in Jersey and Madison Counties. Robert C. Kenshalo, 50, of Alton, was charged on Aug. 14, 2026 with a Class 3 felony count of theft and a Class 4 felony count of tampering with communication services for remuneration (a Class 4 felony). Kenshalo allegedly stole over $500 worth of telecommunications wire or cables belonging to AT&T on April 7, 2026 before using, concealing, or abandoning the property.

The St. Louis Sheriff's Office has reached an agreement with the federal government to resolve 13 race and age discrimination charges, stemming from the termination of employees during Alfred Montgomery's tenure as sheriff.

ALTON — Club Car Wash has begun demolition at the former Auto Butler site on Homer Adams Parkway in Alton, where it plans to build a new car wash facility with the latest technology after Auto Butler closed permanently following 20 years in business. Auto Butler owners Lisa Heims-Stout and Gary Stout retired and Club Car Wash purchased the property, Lisa Heims-Stout said Saturday, June 20, 2026. She said Club Car Wash purchased the property where Auto Butler had operated, but not the business

The pronounced paucity of office workers has continued to frustrate the businesses that feed them.

Homicide Detectives are investigating a shooting that left a man dead on August 4, 2026 in the Walnut Park West neighborhood.

The post UPDATE: Man Shot & Killed in Walnut Park West Identified appeared first on St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

Dear Friend of Press Freedom:

An imprisoned journalist in Los Angeles has endured months of violence and medical neglect at the hands of federal agents. Plus, Disney takes a stand against the FCC’s anti-press antics, and you can too.

Imprisoned journalist faces horrifying conditions

Los Angeles-based journalist Carlitos Ricardo Parias has been in ICE detention for more than 300 days. Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Deputy Director of Advocacy Adam Rose wrote for The Intercept about the horrific abuse he’s endured.

The government can’t make a journalist disappear simply by locking him in a cell. But by giving him drinking water filled with fly larvae, deleting surveillance footage of federal agents shooting him, and treating his gunshot wound with vitamin D and Bengay, they’re certainly trying. Rose also discussed Parias’ case on the “This Week On Ice” podcast.

• Read Rose’s piece about Parias

Disney fights back against the FCC

Disney filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday alleging that the Federal Communications Commission — led by Donald Trump loyalist Brendan Carr — has been retaliating against it for reporting by ABC News that the president doesn’t like.

As FPF Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern said, “It’s about time for someone to take Carr and his FCC to court over their endless campaign of intimidation and retaliation against journalism that displeases Carr’s thin-skinned boss.” We hope this will encourage other outlets to fight back too.

• Read our statement on Disney’s suit

You can fight the FCC’s abuses too

Disney’s suit is a significant step in combating Carr’s abuse of power. But he’s seeking to accrue more power to abuse: Trump’s nominee for fourth FCC commissioner is a Carr aide who has apparently been unable or unwilling to rein in Carr’s targeting of the press. If she’s confirmed, it’ll pave the way for Trump to fire the only dissenting voice at the FCC, Commissioner Anna Gomez.

• Tell the Senate not to confirm Trump’s nominee

White House statements are only for the wealthiest

While the president is selling advance access to official communications he posts on Truth Social, the Justice Department is working to keep the rest of the president’s records completely hidden from the public, FPF’s Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy Lauren Harper writes for MS NOW.

That’s why FPF is suing the administration on both fronts: to stop Trump’s crooked scheme to monetize his posts and to force his administration to comply with the Presidential Records Act.

• Read Harper’s op-ed

Dangerous DOJ memo expands presidential secrecy

In an unprecedented move, the DOJ has issued a memo that says executive privilege covers Trump’s communications with advisers outside the White House. That means corporate lobbyists and donors could have the ear of the president on national and foreign policy without any obligation to keep or release the records of their conversations with him.

• Watch Harper break down the memo

ICE can watch you, but you can’t watch ICE

ICE has massively expanded its surveillance operations in the last five years, collecting DNA from nearly 1 million people a year, scanning irises, and paying private contractors to spy on people who criticize the agency online. Yet it can’t manage to get its agents to wear body cameras. Allowing the agency to surveil the public while evading transparency for itself is a recipe for rampant abuse.

• See Harper’s video on ICE's hypocrisy

Release of Biden recordings is a transparency win

In some much-needed good news for transparency, an appeals court just ordered the release of recordings of former President Joe Biden being interviewed by his memoir ghostwriter, tapes that came to light during a special counsel investigation into Biden’s handling of classified records. A different special counsel investigated Trump’s hoarding of classified documents at the end of his first term. The Knight First Amendment Institute is trying to get access to that special counsel’s report, and is pointing to the Biden ruling as it appeals a ruling blocking the report’s release.

• Watch Harper explain the ruling

What we’re reading Feds struggle to explain redactions in Epstein files compliance case Courthouse News Service

A judge may hold Department of Justice attorneys in contempt for defying the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Good. The public has the right to access these records. If the DOJ keeps stonewalling, the judge should follow through.

‘Frontline Voices’ WBAI

Somehow, the administration putting a plane full of journalists in harm’s way as involuntary decoys isn’t even the top press freedom story this month — but it shouldn’t be overlooked. FPF’s Stern discussed the episode and the rest of the laundry list of Trump’s attacks on the press, along with Caroline Hendrie of the Society of Professional Journalists and Nora Benavidez of Free Press.

Lawmakers mull new bill to prevent lawsuits aimed at silencing free speech WyoFile

Both red and blue states have recognized the need to protect people from abusive lawsuits designed to silence speech. Wyoming is one of the few states still without an anti-SLAPP law — its lawmakers are right to try to change that.

NewsGuild sues DHS challenging visa rule affecting foreign journalists, others The NewsGuild-CWA

The Trump administration is trying to impose time limits on foreign journalists’ visas, which could subject their work to government review every 240 days. Thankfully, the NewsGuild and others are suing to block the move.

ABC vs. the Trump FCC 'The Steve Gruber Show’

Press freedom is not a partisan issue, and FPF opposes censorship no matter who is in office. Watch FPF Executive Director Trevor Timm push back on the idea that opposing Trump’s attacks on the press is left-wing hypocrisy.

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One of three new members St. Louis County Executive Sam Page appointed to the regional tourism board Thursday is its former leader, who was pushed out two years ago.

The Camden County Sheriff's Office and Mid-Missouri Drug Task Force arrested three individuals and seized hundreds of pounds of illegal drugs intended for the Gathering of the Juggalos.