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A Democrat-organized town hall in Chesterfield featured U.S. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a leading critic of the Trump administration.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has reportedly rescinded her predecessor’s policy restricting federal prosecutors from forcing journalists to reveal their sources. Her memo follows news that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard asked the Department of Justice to investigate recent leaks to reporters.

Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Director of Advocacy Seth Stern said:

“Every Democrat who put the PRESS Act on the back burner when they had the opportunity to pass a bipartisan bill codifying journalist-source confidentiality should be ashamed. Everyone predicted this would happen in a second Trump administration, yet politicians in a position to prevent it prioritized empty rhetoric over putting up a meaningful fight.

Because of them, a president who threatens journalists with prison rape for protecting their sources and says reporting critically on his administration should be illegal can and almost certainly will abuse the legal system to investigate and prosecute his critics and the journalists they talk to.”

The PRESS Act, which would have prohibited the government from compelling journalists to burn sources except in life-or-death emergencies, twice passed the House unanimously.

It had bipartisan support in the Senate, including from Republican co-sponsors Sen. Mike Lee and Sen. Lindsey Graham. It was endorsed by everyone from the New York Times editorial board to former Fox News journalist Catherine Herridge.

Yet it spent months stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee, despite the best efforts of Lee and co-sponsor Sen. Ron Wyden to move it forward. Then, President Donald Trump was elected and instructed Republicans to kill the bill in a Truth Social post.

The Biden administration also deserves blame, not only for failing to vocally support the PRESS Act but for the bogus criminal theories it pursued against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Florida journalist Tim Burke under the Espionage Act and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, respectively. Biden’s validation of those theories provides Trump with significant leverage against journalists who publish secrets provided by sources.

The only good news is that those prosecutions – as well as Trump and others’ insistence that routine journalism should be illegal – opens a door for journalists who are subpoenaed to invoke the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. That would effectively dare Trump’s administration to grant immunity to reporters he calls “enemies of the people.”

Police said a gun and several items were stolen from the parking garage. A person of interest was tracked down in Crystal City and the items were recovered.

On Monday night, a person unlawfully gained entry to the parking garage at police headquarters on Olive Street in Downtown West, stealing several items.

The Barack Obama Elementary Student Council hosted a hygiene drive today, collecting over 700 essential items for Gateway 180, a shelter supporting unhoused individuals in the St. Louis area.

Morgan Meadows was terrified for her and her children’s lives during the over 40-mile pursuit from Granite City, IL that ended in a violent crash in O'Fallon, MO.

Jacob Abernathy, 29, of Farmington, Missouri, faces charges of institutional vandalism and property damage.

Gavin Newsom’s characterization of the Abrego García deportation as a “distraction” represents a catastrophic failure of moral clarity and constitutional understanding. This isn’t a distraction. This is the constitutional foundation of our Republic hinging on a single case. Let’s be absolutely clear about what’s at stake: The Supreme Court has issued a unanimous 9-0 order demanding that […]

man has just been charged following a deadly shooting that happened last night, April 24, in the 5800 block of Grace Ave. in St. Louis County.

Luther Burden III, a St. Louis native and standout Mizzou wide receiver, is officially NFL-bound.

Missouri and Illinois residents living near large cities were exposed to unhealthy ozone and pollution over the past year.

“I heard the people screaming,” Andy Goforth said. “I didn’t even think about it. I jumped out and ran upstairs.”

A bill signed Thursday by Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe generated a lawsuit Friday challenging its constitutionality even as Attorney General Andrew Bailey wasted no time using new powers granted in the law. The bill changes the deadlines and procedure for challenging the ballot language of measures placed before voters by the General Assembly or by initiative petition. It also allows the ballot summaries to be longer. But a major focus of legislative debate was the provision of the bill giving the…

The Chinese lantern festival Animals Aglow will return to illuminate the Saint Louis Zoo with dozens of new, towering lanterns and light displays this spring. Running from March 12 to […]

The post Animals Aglow Lantern Festival appeared first on Explore St. Louis.

Officials were alerted to reports of kidnapping and a  home invasion in the 2100 block of Edison Ave. in Granite City,