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St. Louis loves Jason Momoa, and the feeling appears to be mutual. Appearing at a private event hosted by Breakthru Beverage at Maryland House in the Central West End yesterday, the hunky actor raved about the turnout for his Meili vodka events in St. Louis — and the thirsty locals. "St. Louis is definitely the wettest state I've ever been," Momoa said, appreciatively.

Green Door Art Gallery is pleased to partner with Bobby Lessentine, Financial Advisor, Edward Jones, in presenting The City Beautiful, St. Louis Views 2007-2023, a collection of paintings by Michael […]

The post The City Beautiful, St. Louis Views 2007-2023 Art Exhibit appeared first on Explore St. Louis.

EDWARDSVILLE - Senior striker and midfielder Logan Rynders finished his successful high school soccer career on Oct. 17 in a 3-0 Alton loss to Edwardsville in the IHSA Class 3A regional semifinals at Edwardsville's Tiger Stadium. It was a season where he helped the Redbirds bounce back in the second half of the year, as the Redbirds bounced back from a tough start to go 5-3-0 in their last eight regular season games as Alton finished 6-13-0 overall. Throughout the entire season, the club never gave up and kept striving every night, playing with determination and fight, and kept going, no matter what. "I'm still all super proud of the boys on the team," he said following the match. "The way we've grown this season without the initial starting tournament, I don't know. It's hard to talk right now; I just played a really hard game and it's hard to go out like this. But I'm really excited to see what the boys can do for the rest of their years." Rynders is an Auto Butler Alton High Male

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On October 17 in Sydney, Australia, the surviving members of INXS reunited for the first time since 2017 -- and were surprised with a special award commemorating four billion global streams of their hit-packed…

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The Ballwin police chief has been placed on paid leave until further notice and FOX 2 is working to find out why.

There is a new member of the legal team defending the ballot language Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft wrote for proposed initiatives that would add abortion rights to the Missouri Constitution – Ashcroft himself. Ashcroft, who was an engineer by trade until earning his law degree in 2008, rarely appeared in court on behalf of […]

The post Jay Ashcroft joins legal team defending his summary of Missouri abortion amendment appeared first on Missouri Independent.

As noted last month, the Biden FCC is finally getting ready to restore net neutrality rules stripped away during the Trump administration amidst a lot of bullshit and fraud. And unpopular telecom giants, with the usual support of the GOP, are already busy trying to undermine the effort with a whole new list of manufactured […]

An alleged sexual assault by a DoorDash driver in north St. Louis County.

St. Louis County Police are refusing to discuss the specifics of officer Matthew McCulloch's status in the department in the days leading up to Sunday's shooting at a Kirkwood middle school — a period of erratic behavior that appears to have spanned at least the full weekend, if not longer, and culminated with the shooting at the Tillman Elementary trunk or treat event. On Sunday, the 39-year-old officer opened fire with a handgun at the event after allegedly threatening a woman and then being pushed to the ground by her husband.

by Adriana Gallardo, ProPublica, and Jessica Miller, The Salt Lake Tribune

Leer en español.

This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with The Salt Lake Tribune. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published.

This story discusses sexual assault.

When Carmela arrived in Utah from a village in Oaxaca, Mexico, in 1998, she was a newlywed following her husband for his job and was four months pregnant with her first child. She had never seen an OB-GYN and was hoping to find one who spoke Spanish.

The doctor she found was David Broadbent. Early on, however, she said she noticed that her visits with him left her bleeding and in pain, which felt as if she had “eaten and passed a glass bottle.”

Following her appointments, she said she took warm baths to help ease that pain.

But she kept going to Broadbent, unaware that the way the doctor was treating her was unusual. Over the next 14 years, he delivered her three children, two sons and a middle daughter. Carmela trusted him because he was American-educated and spoke her language, and because she had never been told what to expect during such visits.

“I stayed for the language,” she said of why she kept seeing Broadbent despite her pain. “I stayed there because I didn’t know what a gynecologist does.”

But through the years, Carmela had her doubts about whether the pain she felt after her doctor appointments was normal. At one point, Carmela called her older sister in Mexico to ask about her own OB visits. “What do they do to you, sister?”

Her sister described her experience; no part of it involved probing of the anus or pain. “Yes, but what else?” Carmela recalled asking, hoping to understand if her experience was common. “That’s it?”

After that conversation, Carmela reasoned that the exams in Mexico weren’t as advanced.

Ultimately, the 45-minute drive to his office became too much for their family. Five years after she stopped seeing him, her perspective continued to change when her teen daughter, Ana, asked about what to expect from her first gynecological exam. Ana listened to distressing details about her mother’s visits with Broadbent, and about how those differed from other doctors Carmela had subsequently seen. And Ana began doing her own research in 2017, including reading patient reviews of Broadbent online. (Carmela and Ana are being identified only by their first names.)

“Mom,” she said, “something’s not right.”

In 2022, it was Ana who saw on the news that other women had accused Broadbent of sexual assault. Ana, now 21, worked with attorneys to make sure that her mother would be included among the 94 women who filed a civil lawsuit against him that year.

Broadbent’s attorney, Chris Nelson, has said the women’s allegations are “without merit,” but declined further comment, saying Broadbent’s lawyers will present their case in court. In the meantime, the doctor has agreed to stop practicing while police and prosecutors investigate.

The civil case will be heard on Friday by Utah’s highest court, which will decide whether to reverse a judge’s ruling that had previously dismissed it. Because their alleged assailant is a doctor, that judge decided, the case must be governed by medical malpractice rules rather than those that apply to cases of sexual assault. If the court sides with Broadbent, many of his accusers may lose their chance to sue because, under Utah’s medical malpractice rules, too much time has passed.

The central issue the justices will weigh: Were the alleged sexual assaults part of these women’s health care?

Medical Care or Sexual Assault?

When Carmela and the 93 other women filed their civil suit, they alleged Broadbent inappropriately touched their breasts, vaginas and rectums, without warning or explanation, and hurt them. Some said he used his bare hand — instead of using a speculum or wearing gloves — during exams. One alleged that she saw he had an erection while he was touching her.

The judge who dismissed their case last September didn’t consider its merits. Judge Robert Lunnen said they should have brought their case under Utah’s medical malpractice law. Instead, they had asserted that Broadbent’s painful and traumatic treatment of them was sexual assault. They want to sue him and two of the hospitals where he delivered some of their babies for civil damages.

State laws are generally silent on whether sexual assault lawsuits involving health care workers should be covered by malpractice laws, leaving courts to grapple with that question and leading to different conclusions across the country. The Salt Lake Tribune and ProPublica identified at least seven cases outside of Utah in which state appellate judges sharply distinguished between assault and health care in such cases.

Earlier this year, Utah’s legislature stepped in and passed a law affirmatively declaring that sexual assault committed in health care settings cannot be considered health care. This mandate means that a civil lawsuit in such a case does not need to be filed as a malpractice claim, which comes with more restrictive rules, such as a lower cap on financial damages for pain and suffering and a shorter window of time in which to file a suit.

But the law was not retroactive; it wouldn’t help Carmela and the 93 other women. So they appealed to the Utah Supreme Court.

Attorneys for Broadbent and the hospitals argue his alleged misconduct “arose” out of health care and, therefore, is covered by Utah’s medical malpractice law. They further argue that his actions could have been considered medically necessary.

“For example, several plaintiffs alleged that, during a scheduled gynecological exam, Dr. Broadbent inserted his fingers or a speculum into their vaginas or rectums in an abrupt or painful way,” the lawyers wrote in filings to the Supreme Court. “Because that touching occurred during a medically indicated vaginal exam, there is a question as to whether the pain the patient experienced was typical for a non-negligent version of such an exam or whether the pain was the result of negligence.”

The women argue in their lawsuit that what there is no question in their minds that what happened to them was sexual assault — not negligence or a part of their medical treatment.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the lead professional organization for OB-GYNs in the U.S, advises OB-GYNs to explain physical exams and only proceed after a patient consents, and categorizes touching patients’ internal genital area without gloves as a “sexual impropriety.” Those guidelines don’t address pain and bleeding.

Adam Sorenson, an attorney for the ​94 women, argue​s that what ​they experienced was not medical care, and ​he asked the justices to revive their case.

“A sexually abusive OBGYN,” he wrote in his court filings, “should receive no special treatment, protection, or leniency.”

“We Trusted Him and He Failed Us”

Carmela and several other Spanish speakers who have accused Broadbent of abuse rely on volunteer translators or bilingual family members to relay their experiences to lawyers.

For Ana, this has meant hours steeping in the details of her mother’s case. The retelling, through her voice, provided the needed details for her mother’s lawsuit.

“At every single appointment, over the course of a number of years and pregnancies,” the lawsuit states, “Broadbent would have [Carmela] undress and would feel her breasts and look into her vagina, occasionally inserting his fingers into her vagina. Then, when Broadbent went to perform a pap smear, he inserted a speculum, took a sample, and then inserted four fingers inside her, causing discomfort and bleeding. He then inserted his middle finger in [Carmela’s] rectum with a lot of force and would insert it repeatedly for a few minutes, causing bleeding and sensitivity.”

Processing this information was difficult, she said. “It was just sad. I was shocked.”

Carmela’s family home is lined with photos of her children and their accomplishments. Tucked in a closet is an album with the photos of Broadbent at the three births. The tall white man with glasses stands shoulder to shoulder with her husband, who is glowing in each picture at the sight of their newborn.

Ana describes looking at the delivery room photos as “maddening.”

“For him to be one of the first people that ever held me,” she said, “knowing what he did to my mom, that’s so infuriating.”

Mostly, Ana wants her mother to believe she is not to blame for the doctor’s actions.

“My mom feels a lot of fault that that happened to her … or why she didn’t come forward sooner,” she said.

Carmela follows the lawsuit’s every development with much attention, but it also causes her a debilitating mix of guilt and anger. That’s why she’ll be following Friday’s court arguments from home.

“I feel rage because we trusted him and he failed us,” she said. “I want this article to reach the ears of that gynecologist, for him to remember well all that he did to me when he would hurt my rectum and say it was for my own good.”

Mollie Simon contributed research.

Laumeier Sculpture Park’s 2023 Visiting Artists in Residence are Pittsburgh-based artists Lenka Clayton and Phillip Andrew Lewis. This collaborative duo utilizes innovative approaches to conceptualism and minimalism to realize their […]

The post A Number of Tragedies appeared first on Explore St. Louis.

A nonpartisan education policy organization's report shows the educator shortage in Illinois is better than in other Midwestern states. It also suggests keeping teachers in Illinois improved during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Most Americans could have cheaper heating bills this winter.

Episcopal City Mission, a program that ministers to children and youth in St. Louis' juvenile justice system, will host its gala fundraiser Thursday night.

Two St. Louis-area school districts will return to full local governance after years of state education officials overseeing their boards. The Missouri State Board of Education decided Tuesday that Riverview Gardens School District and Normandy Schools Collaborative had shown enough progress to return to traditional school-board elections. The state currently has appointed board members at […]

The post Missouri education board returns St. Louis-area school districts to local control appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Justin Torres, the 43-year-old bassist for the Illinois-based Clusterpluck, cuts a cool figure on stage. He's lanky and expressive, breaking into broad smiles and dancy seesaws, an even split between jamgrass hippie and rock & roll bad boy.