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How a blaze on steamboat sparked an inferno that changed the face of downtown St. Louis.

The Kaufman Fund will be giving out $100,000 to veteran charities Wednesday and Thursday. They're hosting a mental health networking conference to address veterans suffering from PTSD and mental illness.

St. Louis metro officials are meeting Wednesday for a regional crime summit. The East-West Gateway Council of Governments is hosting the event.

Kim Gardner is officially out as St. Louis circuit attorney. Gardner resigning more than two weeks earlier than she originally planned.

The Illinois AG would be empowered to investigate claims that a pregnancy center engaged in fraud, deception or false pretense.

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans on Tuesday grilled the secretary of education about student debt cancellation and protections for transgender student athletes during a lengthy hearing on the president’s proposed budget request for the Department of Education. While the subject of the five-hour House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing was the fiscal 2024 budget […]

The post U.S. House GOP questions education secretary on transgender athletes, student loans appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Pasta Plus, an Italian restaurant known for its assortment of pastas, pizzas and subs, opened its doors in 1992.

As FEMA struggles to keep up with climate disasters, extremist groups see an opportunity.

But advocates argue the new report doesn’t focus enough on curbing plastic use.

by Marilyn W. Thompson

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.

The Supreme Court said Monday that it will hear oral arguments in a South Carolina redistricting case where the NAACP is challenging the state’s Republican plan as racially motivated.

The role of the state’s most powerful Democrat, U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, is likely to play an important part in the discussions, legal experts said.

In 2021, South Carolina Republicans reshaped the voting map, taking a district that had been in the hands of a Democrat as recently as 2018 and making it a much safer seat for the incumbent Republican. The NAACP brought a suit against the effort, and in January, three Democratic-appointed judges ruled in the group’s favor.

The Supreme Court could decide to restore the map that the Republicans drew or order the legislature to create a new map. The case comes after a series of rulings from the high court that have made partisan gerrymandering easier, though the court has still deemed redistricting predominantly based on race to be illegal. Legal experts said this week that the South Carolina case will help define the limits of how much a legislature can consider race as it draws new maps.

South Carolina Republicans have defended their efforts, saying they were not motivated to dilute Black political power in the state. Lawyers for state Republican leaders argued during the trial that they did not consider race in making their map. They also contended that their map could not have targeted Black voters because they worked with Clyburn, one of the most powerful Black Democrats in the country.

This month, ProPublica added new detail to this account, reporting that Clyburn had been more involved in the process than previously known. He recommended moving Black and white voters in such a way that made his district politically safer but hurt Black Democrats.

A map of the new district lines. They were the subject of a 2021 lawsuit, and the Supreme Court said it will hear oral arguments in the case. (Cheney Orr for ProPublica)

Clyburn’s role could be an important underlying factor for the court, according to legal experts following the case.

“The court likely will get into the details of South Carolina redistricting, including the role played by Rep. Clyburn, because all this information is potentially relevant to whether racial or partisan factors predominantly explain” a district’s design, said Nicholas O. Stephanopoulos, an election and constitutional law professor at Harvard Law School.

Clyburn’s recommendations for how his district map should be drawn are “potentially relevant” as the court weighs the three-judge panel’s decision that the Republican-led legislature predominantly used race to create the maps, said Justin Levitt, an election law expert at Loyola Law School. Clyburn’s role has already complicated the NAACP’s case. The appellate panel threw out some of the racial gerrymandering allegations, partly because Clyburn’s office had recommended the changes. Nevertheless, it found that the new map of the coastal 1st, which had been the swing district, was an illegal racial gerrymander that deliberately targeted Black Democrats and moved most of them into Clyburn’s district, the 6th.

Court documents and testimony showed that Clyburn, who had no official role in the redistricting, submitted a confidential hand-drawn map that Republican lawmakers said they used as their starting point. None of his requests were made public.

Clyburn’s recommendations sought to move about 85,000 people into the majority-Black 6th District to make up for a population deficit. His map also moved some white Republican-leaning residents out of his district into the 1st, currently represented by the Republican Nancy Mace. Under the redistricting plan, each of the state’s seven congressional districts had to represent 731,203 people.

Clyburn’s office declined to answer specific questions about his requests and said his only input was responding to legislative inquiries. Clyburn said in an interview that he did not get everything he wanted in the plan passed by the legislature, mainly because it lowered the Black voting age population in his district to under 50%. Maintaining a majority-Black district had been important to Clyburn, who was elected in 1992 and rose to become one of the most prominent Democrats in the House.

Clyburn’s office said he opposes the Republican map and hopes the decision of the three-judge panel will be upheld.

The Supreme Court has pending decisions on several other important redistricting cases, including an Alabama racial gerrymandering case that addresses whether legislatures in states with high Black populations have an obligation to draw more majority Black districts.

Richard Pildes, a constitutional law professor at New York University School of Law, said the court generally accepts findings of fact from a three-judge panel unless it concludes they are “clearly erroneous.” In that case, he said, it will look more deeply into the court record and question parties at oral arguments.

Joshua Douglas, an election law and voting rights expert at J. David Rosenberg College of Law at the University of Kentucky, said the South Carolina case is significant because it “involves the interplay of race and politics.”

“The legislature says it was trying to achieve a partisan result, not a racial result. The court had previously said a legislature cannot hide behind politics to justify a racial gerrymander. It’s possible the court will use this case to reevaluate that rule,” Douglas said.

Republican lawyers have asked the Supreme Court to render an early decision in the case because it may require new maps that could impact congressional races in 2024.

Do you have access to information about redistricting that should be public? Email marilyn.thompson@propublica.org. Here’s how to send tips and documents to ProPublica securely.

KISS’ 50th anniversary is being celebrated with a brand new coffee table book.  KISS at 50, from rock journalist Martin Popoff, looks at the legendary Rock & Roll Hall of Famers…

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On today’s X-Date, how passing a bill gave Kevin McCarthy a momentary advantage that has yet to be counteracted

Maybe by 2100 America can have a proper tax authority.

Gardner was due in court Tuesday for another hearing in Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey's effort to remove her from office.

The Biden administration is promoting a new liquefied natural gas complex on the Pacific Coast, with expanded subsidies from the bipartisan infrastructure bill and Inflation Reduction Act.

by Byard Duncan and Anjeanette Damon

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.

You’ve seen the ads in your neighborhood. They’ve flashed across your television and buzzed your phone to life at odd hours. The slogans and phone numbers might change, but the pitch is the same: “We buy houses for cash.”

Thousands of real estate investors across the country use a variety of techniques to find potential sellers and plan their next deal.

A recent ProPublica investigation looked at how HomeVestors of America, one of the house flipping industry’s leaders, teaches its franchisees to seek out people in “Ugly Situations.” (In a statement, the company said it does not target vulnerable sellers and pointed to an internally calculated 96% seller satisfaction rate.)

In the course of our reporting, we interviewed dozens of experts, attorneys, advocates, sellers and investors to better understand the world of cash home buying. Here’s what they say you should know to get the most money for your home.

Jump to:

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There are many reasons a cash home buyer might advertise to you. You may live in a neighborhood that has a high percentage of homeowners with a lot of equity, meaning you wouldn’t be left underwater on a mortgage even if a company paid you less than your home is worth. Home prices in the area may be going up rapidly, creating opportunities for cash buyers to fix and flip them for a profit. Your contact information may have been scooped up by a company that sells leads to real estate investors.

It’s also possible that you’ve been identified as a so-called motivated seller: someone in a difficult situation who needs money soon. Our reporting shows that some real estate investors comb public records looking for signs of financial hardship, such as foreclosures, divorces or death notices. They scout neighborhoods for signs of disrepair, such as boarded-up windows or water shut-off notices. And they leverage personal connections — with other investors, lawyers, nursing home administrators and others — to locate distressed properties.

I am NOT interested in selling. How do I get them to stop advertising to me?

If you’re approached about selling your home and don’t want to, the easiest solution is simply to ignore the request: Hang up the phone, recycle the postcard, delete the text. If the solicitations keep coming, add your number to the Federal Trade Commission’s Do Not Call Registry.

Some cash home buyers will still find you. That’s why certain states and cities have added additional protections. In Philadelphia, for example, prospective real estate buyers who continue to pester residents after being told to stop can be fined. In Atlanta, a ban on “commercial harassment” prohibits investors from contacting homeowners for six months after their initial overtures are rejected.

In areas without these laws, homeowners have submitted complaints to their state attorney general’s office or real estate commission. If these officials receive repeated complaints about a particular person or company, they may investigate.

I might be interested in selling. What should I expect if I respond to an ad?

If you respond, there’s a good chance the investor or company behind the ad will promptly follow up. They may schedule a walkthrough of your home and ask questions about its condition and your circumstances. Afterward, they may present you with a purchase contract and encourage you to sign on the spot.

Experts caution homeowners against immediately jumping into a commitment. Before agreeing to sell, they say, it’s important to learn as much as possible about your home’s value.

“Don’t sign anything right away,” said Michael Froehlich, the managing attorney for Community Legal Services’ homeownership and consumer rights unit in Philadelphia. “If somebody wants you to sign something that day, that’s a huge red flag.”

How do I figure out how much my home is worth?

To get a ballpark value, search for your address on the online real estate marketplaces Zillow or Redfin. These prices are not always accurate, however: They may not take into consideration a home’s condition or recent improvements. Use Zillow or Redfin to look at the recent sales prices of similar houses in your neighborhood.

If you can afford it, a licensed appraiser can give a more precise estimate of the value of your home. That usually costs between $300 and $500, depending on your home’s size, and can take a few weeks to get scheduled.

You could also ask a real estate agent for a free market analysis, said Grant Cody, executive director of Oklahoma’s real estate commission, which regulates the industry there: In many cases, they “would bend over backwards and would love to come to your house — or email you instantly, right then and there.”

What’s the difference between a real estate agent and a cash home buyer?

A real estate agent markets your house to buyers and has a fiduciary responsibility to you; they’re required to try for the best deal possible. The agent is paid a percentage of the sales price of the house. And you are contractually bound to that person for a period, meaning if you sell your house by yourself during that time, you’d still have to pay the agent a percentage.

A cash home buyer purchases the house or “wholesales” it to another investor for a profit. Their pitch is largely about speed and convenience: They are able to quickly put money in your pocket, free you from burdensome paperwork and even clean up your home. In exchange, they get the property at a discount. They will most likely repair the house and flip it for a profit or hold it as a rental property; or they may enter a “contract assignment,” in which the deal itself is delivered to another party for a fee.

What are the risks of going with a cash buyer instead of a real estate agent?

“Irrespective of jurisdiction, real estate licensees have an obligation to act in the best interest of their client,” said Nick Rhoad, CEO of the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials. Real estate agents are bound by a code of ethics requiring them to make things as clear as possible, not misrepresent pertinent facts and more.

That standard does not apply to cash buyers, who do not always have to be licensed. While the cash buying industry does have a code of ethics, enforcement is spotty. Laws governing unlicensed real estate transactions are generally newer and less developed than those designed for licensed activity.

Our reporting shows that some real estate investors have been accused of deceptive and exploitative behavior. (When real estate agents are accused of unethical behavior, a licensing board polices it.) Wholesaling, in particular, has left many sellers feeling dismayed: Properties they signed away for one price ended up being resold, with few or no improvements, for much more.

What if I need money but don’t want to sell my home?

Don’t be discouraged. Homeowners facing personal or financial distress have a variety of possibilities to explore.

Options vary by state, but here’s where experts say to start:

• Get help from the federal government. The National Council of State Housing Agency’s Homeowner Assistance Fund, overseen by the U.S. Treasury Department, has allotted roughly $10 billion to help homeowners enduring financial hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The NCSHA website summarizes the program and maps where the assistance fund is open (44 states, as of this writing). It also has a directory of state resources.

• Find a local adviser. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development sponsors housing counseling agencies across the country. These agencies provide free advice about foreclosure prevention and homelessness counseling. They may charge a small fee for additional services. To find resources near you, go to HUD’s website. You can also call 888-995-4673, or download the agency’s resource locator app for help in several languages.

• Consult a legal aid office. A good place to start is Legal Services Corporation’s directory of local offices. Once you reach someone, it’s important to be patient, said Lisa Sitkin, a senior staff attorney at the National Housing Law Project. Legal aid offices are usually busy, and the intake process can move slowly. Once an attorney reaches out, they will ask you for information to diagnose the situation. It’s important to have “somebody who can look at your situation holistically and give you sort of realistic advice about what steps you can take,” Sitkin said.

A cash home buyer gave me a sales contract. How do I make sense of it?

What appears — and doesn’t appear — on a sales contract varies widely, depending on state laws and the preferences of the prospective buyer. But there are a few important components to understand.

1. Disclosures: Although laws vary across states, many investors agree it’s necessary to disclose that they intend to turn a profit by buying your house for below fair market value. If the contract says the buyer is paying “below market prices for a profit,” or if it says the buyer has the “option to market this property, and assign this agreement prior to closing,” that means it’s possible there’s a higher bidder out there.

2. A “clear title” requirement: Any debts you owe, including mortgage liens, overdue water bills, property tax delinquencies and more, can be subtracted from the final price. So if the offer is $100,000, but you’re behind $25,000 in bills and back taxes, you’ll only get $75,000.

A title report costs $50 to $250 and can give you a clearer picture of what hidden debts could be deducted in a sale.

3. Cancellation provisions: In many wholesale contracts, the buyer reserves the sole right to cancel the contract. Pay attention to what rights the buyer is asking for — and which ones you’re giving up.

4. Other unexpected costs: Even if you’ve agreed to a price that seems fair, it’s important to review the contract for fine print about other charges that could affect your bottom line. Closing costs or transfer taxes are sometimes deducted from the sale price you see on the page.

5. Earnest money deposit: In traditional real estate deals, an earnest money deposit shows how serious the buyer is about the purchase. If the buyer backs out, the seller gets to keep the deposit. A broad rule of thumb is the deposit should equal 1% of the purchase price. Investors try to put down as little as possible in earnest money. Contracts reviewed by ProPublica included deposits as low as $100 on a $157,000 deal. In such cases, the buyer can bail with minimal consequences.

6. Clouding your title: Look for language that authorizes a buyer to cloud your title and make it more difficult to sell the property to another buyer if your deal falls through. Investors will often record a “memorandum of sale” on the property as a means of locking you into a contract.

I signed a contract, but I’m having second thoughts. What are my options?

Our reporting demonstrates how difficult it can be for sellers to back out of a contract that they later decide is unfair. As mentioned, real estate investors sometimes file memorandums of contract that cloud a homeowner’s title and pressure them to close the deal — even if they’ve found a much higher bidder.

This behavior is predatory, according to four housing experts we interviewed, as well as Charles Tassell, the chief operating office of the National Association of Real Estate Investors. But, barring proof of fraud or elder abuse, it’s legal. If you suspect what happened may have broken a law related to one of those practices, follow the instructions above to get legal aid.

The bottom line, according to Grant Cody of Oklahoma’s real estate commission: Cash buyers “aren’t in a position to do what’s best for the consumer. They’re in a position to do what’s best for them.”

Sometimes what’s best for them is also best for you. But not always.

Mollie Simon contributed research.

Robert Ramey of Hannibal, MO joined the Real Rock Army today

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The Riverboats at the Gateway Arch award guests one of the best views of St. Louis’ working riverfront, the Gateway Arch and the city skyline.   Narrated by the captain

The post St. Louis Riverfront Cruise appeared first on Explore St. Louis.

Kelly Welby is St. Dominic's 2023 Post-Dispatch Scholar Athlete.