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Police said in a Thursday update that detectives do not believe he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

I'll admit that the nonstop pronouncements of joy at the DNC kind of set my teeth on edge, but regardless of the word itself it sure does highlight an aspect of the Trump campaign that never got much attention before: it's relentlessly dour, angry, and driven by grievance. It's almost like we had all forgotten ...continue reading "I’m in favor of ordinary this year"

Police in Haiti have arrested a suspect in the fatal shooting of a U.S. missionary couple and a Haitian man in an attack by gunmen earlier this year, marking a rare arrest in high-profile killings in the troubled Caribbean country.

Natalie Lloyd, the daughter of Missouri state Rep. Ben Baker, and her husband Davy Lloyd were killed on May 23.

Police disperse both protesters and journalists at a demonstration during the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago.

AP Photo/Noah Berger

The First Amendment prohibits police from dispersing law-abiding journalists covering protests, even in circumstances where lawbreaking protesters can be dispersed. Everyone from the Department of Justice to federal appellate courts agrees on that.

Nonetheless, the Chicago Police Department repeatedly dispersed, arrested, and threatened journalists at protests during the first two days of the Democratic National Convention.

They can’t claim they weren’t warned. I joined WBEZ Chicago’s Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons on the first day of the convention to remind CPD officers responding to demonstrations of journalists’ rights.

By dispersing and arresting journalists, police are effectively censoring newsworthy, vital information, including about their own conduct and potential misconduct.

I explained that “the aftermath of a protest is every bit as much the news as the protest itself. The police response to a protest is a huge part of the story, (and) that story can't get out if journalists are dispersed along with protesters.”

It wasn’t the first time we've cautioned Chicago police about this. We also wrote an op-ed in the Chicago Sun-Times, quoting the DOJ’s proclamation last year that “blanket enforcement of dispersal orders and curfews against press violates (the First Amendment) because they foreclose the press from reporting about what happens after the dispersal or curfew is issued, including how police enforce those orders.” We emailed that op-ed to numerous police and city officials to make sure they saw it, but received no response.

It’s not that we’re offended that police brass don’t read our emails and op-eds. We all get too many emails. But we’re offended that we even need to write them, given how easy it would be for officials to educate themselves about press freedom if they cared.

Mickey H. Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, told us on Wednesday that the NPPA had conducted a training on press rights for Milwaukee police in advance of the Republican National Convention and offered to do the same in Chicago.

“They told me that they had been providing First Amendment training and they didn’t need anything from NPPA. Given the events of last night, I would have to say that that alleged training was an abysmal failure,” he said.

Indeed, hours after the WBEZ broadcast, Deputy Director of News Affairs and Communications Thomas Ahern was filmed warning journalists that if they failed to disperse from a city park along with protesters their press passes would be revoked.

That alone should disqualify Ahern from serving as a news affairs and communications official for CPD or any other police department. But he doubled down the next day, reportedly ripping press credentials off of journalist Josh Pacheco, one of at least three arrested after police dispersed protesters. Pacheco's and another journalist's seized credentials were later returned, after the NPPA and lawyers for the journalists intervened.

Several more protests are planned during the remainder of the convention. In light of the events of this week, and CPD’s long history of First Amendment violations when policing protests, from the DNC in 1968 to Black Lives Matter demonstrations in 2020, we’re not optimistic that officers will change their unconstitutional ways.

This won’t just impact journalists – reporters who are needlessly detained can’t report on police response to protests in a city on edge about a potential repeat of 1968. By dispersing and arresting journalists, police are effectively censoring newsworthy, vital information, including about their own conduct and potential misconduct.

We’ve asked Ahern and others at CPD if they have some sort of legal or constitutional basis for disagreeing with the DOJ and appellate courts about the unlawfulness of stopping journalists from reporting news through dispersal orders. Let’s see if they read that email.

This article has been updated to note the return of journalists' seized credentials.

The police have identified the teen victim of a fatal shooting. Investigators say that Amorion Fuller, 16, of St. Louis, did not die of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Aerosmith canceled their Peace Out tour and retired from the road in early August, citing Steven Tyler’s continuing vocal problems. Now bassist Tom Hamilton is giving fans a little more…

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Single-game tickets for the St. Louis Blues' 2024-25 season are now for sale online.

The governor’s ban on intoxicating hemp products hit a delay Wednesday after Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft rejected the emergency rules detailing how it would have been enforced. Gov. Mike Parson signed an executive order earlier this month to remove all hemp-derived THC edibles and beverages from store shelves and threatening penalties to any establishment with a Missouri liquor license or that sells food products for selling them. It was supposed to take effect on Sept. 1, pending…

St. Louis is becoming more educated and active in addressing wealth gaps and inequities, including in communities of color; that gives me hope, but there is so much more to do, writes Zack Boyers of U.S. Bank Community Impact Finance.

St. Louis has everything it needs to heal itself. The illness is generational, so must be the cures, writes Annissa McCaskill, executive director of Forward Through Ferguson.

Oh, Fifth Circuit, you crazy, crazy kid. I take back almost all the bad things I’ve said about you. The cop-friendliest circuit in the nation has done the unimaginable: set up a circuit-on-circuit showdown that can only be resolved by a Supreme Court decision. Until that happens (don’t hold your breath), you and your Google […]

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has launched an investigation into National Public Data, a company designed to conduct background checks. The move comes amid widespread reports of stolen Social Security numbers last week.

StackSkills is the premier online learning platform for mastering today’s most in-demand skills. Now, with this exclusive limited-time offer, you’ll gain access to 1000+ StackSkills courses for life! Whether you’re looking to earn a promotion, make a career change, or pick up a side hustle to make some extra cash, StackSkills delivers engaging online courses […]

From Cision:  St. Louisans can find what they need for their homes, inside and out, including kitchen and bath designs and fixtures, flooring, window treatments, decks, fencing, windows, siding, doors and so much more. Visiting the Show is also a great opportunity to have a fun family day out, with a little something for everyone. People […]

The Missouri Department of Transportation confirmed with 5 On Your Side that the rock had been on its list to be removed for a number of months.

Officials with the hotel, which has been closed for nearly all of this year, say it plans to reopen in 2025.

PONTOON BEACH - Three individuals from three different cities face the same set of criminal charges after allegedly damaging gaming machines and stealing money from them. The following individuals were each charged with theft and criminal damage to property: Courtney T. Jones, 33, of East St. Louis Melvannli G. Dean, 28, of Collinsville Brandon B. McCullar, 36, of Glen Carbon According to Madison County court documents, all three individuals allegedly damaged and stole over $500 from gaming machines owned by J&J Gambling, which were located at the Flying J Travel Center at 1310 E. Chain of Rocks Road in Pontoon Beach. While all three individuals face Class 3 felonies for theft, Jones and Dean additionally face Class 4 felonies, as the damage they caused to the gaming machines reportedly exceeded $500. McCullar’s property damage charge was classified as a Class A misdemeanor, as the damage he caused to the machines totaled less than $500. The Pontoon Beach Police

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EDWARDSVILLE — A large contingent of law enforcement officers gathered at Hawthorne Animal Hospital on Thursday morning to honor Odin, a beloved Alton Police K-9 who died after being shot at a scene at Seventh and Liberty in Alton. Representatives from the Alton Police, the DEA, Madison County Sheriff's Office, Illinois State Police, Edwardsville Police, Granite City Police, Glen Carbon Police, and Columbia Police, along with numerous unmarked law enforcement vehicles, participated in the tribute. Odin's casket, draped with an American flag, was brought out as the Edwardsville Fire Department displayed an American flag from its ladder truck at Plum Street. Taps were played as the canine was moved into a van, and officers saluted the fallen canine during the transfer. The procession escorted Odin to an undisclosed location, marking a solemn farewell to the canine who served the community.

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ALTON - Bernice and Clarence Geisler of the Nutwood Drainage District in Jersey County had been married for about a year when a horse trade gone bad tore them apart. Their fathers, Henry Geisler and Charles Ontis, decided to swap horses. For a time, everything was fine, but then Henry Geisler decided that his new horse was balky. Ontis refused to trade back, and responded that Geisler had waited nearly three months to complain, and that while Geisler had the horse it was maimed by barbed wire and injured. Geisler employed attorney R.C. Chappel of Jerseyville to bring suit to retrieve his horse and Ontis retained Attorney Martin J. Dolan to defend his side. Jersey County Sheriff Frank Sowell spent an entire week interviewing witnesses, and subpoenaed 20 of them. Bernice and Clarence Geisler had been living with his parents, but when the dispute over the horse trade became heated, Bernice packed her clothes, left her husband, and went home to her parents’ house where she could

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