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Police on Wednesday identified the 24-year-old man who was shot Monday morning in the city's O'Fallon neighborhood.

Novvia Group, a St. Louis-based rigid container and life sciences packaging distributor, has acquired an Illinois-based distributor of rigid packaging products serving a variety of sectors.

A new Queen photo exhibit is set to open in London this week. Queen Will Rock You in 3D will open at London’s Proud Galleries on June 2 to coincide with the return…

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Police on Wednesday identified the 42-year-old man who was found shot dead early Monday near Laclede's Landing.

This is just a cranky aside, but I keep seeing liberals mocking Republicans as "hostage takers who didn't even know what to do with the hostage." In this telling, the debt ceiling deal was an ongoing fiasco of dealing with terrorists willing to blow up the economy for reasons they themselves didn't even fathom. Give ...continue reading "Republicans were never a mob of idiot hostage takers"

Frontier Airlines offers a new fall and winter all-you-can-fly pass following the success of its similar spring and summer pass.

A school board member's Facebook post about an LGBTQ book display at a Pennsylvania high school library similar to the one pictured here led to a public records case that could make it harder to access public official’s social media posts.

AntoniaGreen, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

If a public official or employee in your town posted racist comments about students at the school where they work, an offensive rape joke when discussing the president, or an expletive-laden rant in response to a constituent, wouldn’t you think you have a right to know about it? Unfortunately, if you live in Pennsylvania, it just got harder to exercise your right to learn about — and report on — public employees’ social media activity. A recent decision by a Pennsylvania appellate court raises the bar for public records requests for social media posts made on officials’ personal accounts, even when they are about public business.

The decision in Penncrest School District v. Cagle establishes a complex three-part test for determining when social media posts made by public officials on their personal accounts are public records under the state’s Right-to-Know Law. The test requires courts to examine whether the social media account has indicators of an “official” status, whether the posts “prove, support, or evidence a transaction or activity of an agency,” and whether the public official acted in their official capacity in creating, receiving, or retaining the posts.

The case involved a request for Facebook posts and comments made by two Penncrest School Board members about LGBTQ issues and the school district. The request was spurred by school board members’ social media posts about a display of LGBTQ books at a local high school library. The display and posts were also discussed at school board meetings.

As one Pennsylvania attorney told Spotlight PA, the appeals court’s decision is a significant change to Pennsylvania law, which had previously been interpreted to presume that a record is public “anytime a public official communicates about public business.”

In contrast, the test the appellate court lays out requires records requesters to satisfy multiple factors, some of which seem contrary to the Right-to-Know Law’s presumption of openness.

For example, the appellate court identified two indicators that suggest a social media account has “official” status: if the account has the “trappings” of an official agency or if that official has a “duty” to run it. Officials may be able to circumventing public records laws, then, by purposefully using a social media account that appears personal or unofficial. Officials are far more likely to let their guards down and speak frankly on their personal accounts — especially when compared to bland talking points likely to be found on an official account — but the court’s test makes it harder to access these often highly newsworthy statements.

The appellate court also says that lower courts must consider all three of the factors laid out in its decision, but allows them to assign different weights to each factor on a case-by-case basis. This means that a court could deny a requester access to social media records even if they prevail on most of the factors, if the court decides that a single factor outweighs the others. A judge who is inclined to keep a newsworthy post out of public view can almost always find a way to do so under such a loose and subjective standard.

Making it harder for Pennsylvanians to access records of social media posts by government officials is a move in the wrong direction. There’s already a long and unfortunate history of officials attempting to evade public records laws by using personal email accounts or text messages. Thankfully, many courts and public agencies have recognized that government business conducted through personal email accounts or texts on personal devices still creates a public record subject to freedom of information laws. The same principle should apply to social media: Regardless of where government officials discuss or conduct government business, the public should have access to the records.

Of course, it may be difficult for governments to retain and produce social media posts made on officials’ private accounts. That difficulty, however, does not excuse them from their obligation to do so. Governments can address this issue by establishing social media policies that direct all employees to limit posts about government business only to official social media accounts or by requiring officials to maintain records of their personal accounts if they post about public business.

Pennsylvania is not the only state to consider whether public officials’ posts on their personal social media accounts are public records. For example, in 2018, a Washington appellate court explained that social media posts on a personal page are public records if they relate to the conduct of government and are prepared by a government employee “acting in her official capacity, conducting public business, or otherwise furthering the [government’s] interests.” This more straightforward analysis is less likely to lead to lengthy litigation that can stymie public records requests and allow governments to withhold records about the conduct of public business from the public.

Public officials’ use of personal social media accounts also raises other legal questions. The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear two cases about whether public officials can block people from their personal social media accounts that they use to communicate about government business. Both cases are about lower-level government officials, but they echo the issues in the case challenging then-President Donald Trump’s blocking of critics on Twitter, which the Second Circuit said violated the First Amendment. The Supreme Court’s decisions will have important ramifications for journalists, whom public officials sometimes block on social media, and interpretations of the First Amendment more broadly.

As more and more government business is done online, journalists will have to continue to grapple with how to cover public officials’ use of social media for government business, whether by fighting attempts to block them or wresting public records from the digital sphere. Courts, too, will have to apply the First Amendment and public records laws that were written before the advent of the internet, let alone social media, to determine what limits there are on blocking and what disclosures the law requires.

Ultimately, public records laws are meant to shed light on government, not conceal government activity. If courts won’t protect public access to officials’ online statements on government affairs, then legislatures must act to update the laws for the digital age and preserve the public’s right to know.

It's not as official as the Star Spangled Banner or the Texas state song, but St. Louis, Missouri does indeed have a musical "anthem" of sorts.

It’s always disappointing when an internet company that should know better decides to throw the open internet it relies on under the bus. You would think that a site like OnlyFans would know better. You expect this sorta thing from Meta or Google or Netflix, which have reached a size where they’re more willing to […]

EDWARDSVILLE – Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s online master’s in healthcare informatics (MSHI) program is celebrating its 10-year anniversary. Since the start of the program, 165 students have earned their healthcare informatics master’s degree. "The health informatics program actually started as a non-credit certificate program back in 2008; the popularity of the certificate program provided the motivation necessary to develop the master’s program,” said Frank Lylera PhD, RN, CAHIMS, FHIMSS, professor in the School of Nursing and Graduate School, and director of the healthcare informatics program. “The popularity of the program persists as our 2021 and 2022 fall cohorts have experienced maximum enrollment. We are currently accepting applications for fall 2023 which will be our 20 th cohort.” SIUE developed the program in a corporate partnership with BJC Health Care to ensure its workforce would be well-trained to meet

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With hundreds of millions of dollars coming to St. Louis, what opportunities have worked in other cities that could work in St. Louis?

A rising star in the Missouri House has shown an ability to fundraise, but also take policy seriously. Most freshman lawmakers start with something non-controversial, while he filed a bill to put the St. Louis City police under control of the governor.

ST. LOUIS -- Missouri is home to around 900 bears and their population is growing at around 9% annually. The bears are especially active during this time of year. That is why the Missouri Department of Conservation is asking people to be bear-aware after a recent fatal crash. A black bear was struck and killed [...]

5 On Your Side is committing as a news organization to finding solutions outside of our region. This time, we're heading to Indianapolis.

5 On Your Side is committing as a news organization to finding solutions outside of our region. This time, we're heading to Indianapolis.

ST. LOUIS -The St. Louis area avoided the top 25 most ozone-polluted cities list for the seventh consecutive year but still receives poor grades for overall air quality in a spring release by the American Lung Association. Madison and Jersey County both had low marks in the American Lung Association’s latest “State of the Air” report. Nearly 36 percent of Americans – 119.6 million people – still live in places with failing grades for unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution. Madison County received an F grade, while Jersey and St. Clair County came in with a C grade. St. Charles County also was graded with an F and St. Louis city recorded a D grade. “It’s encouraging to see that St. Louis has once again escaped the list of the most ozone-polluted cities with more counties in the bi-state area receiving a better grade in this year’s annual “State of the Air” report compared to last year,” said Susannah Fuchs,

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ALTON - On the heels of sponsoring two (2) very successful and capacity-packed NARCAN training sessions in February 2023 and March 2023, OSF Saint Anthony’s Health Center (1 St. Anthony’s Way, Alton) is continuing its advocacy in addressing the opioid epidemic in southwestern Illinois by hosting a Community Conversation on Opioid Use Disorder. The Community Conversation on Opioid Use Disorder program will be held on Friday, June 16, 10:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., in the hospital’s Perpetual Help Center. The training program is free and lunch will be provided, but registration is required. Registration can be completed by visiting https://AltonConversation.eventbrite.com . According to statistics available through the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), between 2013 and 2021, the number of opioid overdose deaths in Illinois increased by almost 300%. According to provisional data, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates more than 108,000

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Dire Straits fans are going to have a chance to enjoy their music live this fall. DSL Dire Straits Legacy has announced a new tour that will kick off in September. DSL…

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CARROLLTON – Scholarship grants totaling $39,200.00 were awarded to 23 graduating seniors at the Carrollton Community Unit High School graduation held Friday, May 19, 2023, in the gymnasium. The awards will cover the 2023-2024 academic year at junior colleges, colleges, universities and trade schools selected by each graduate. District One Foundation (DOF) scholarships are awarded only for a student’s freshman year, although donors may continue their financial support for a particular graduate at their discretion and with assistance from the DOF Board of Trustees. Scholarship awards are supported by local donors and others who are located elsewhere in the United States, and by various fund-raising activities sponsored by DOF. Some donors specify the criteria to be used for the selection process, and some choose to make their own selection. Senior applicants can apply on line by logging on to the Google Classroom website, and a Scholarship Selection Committee (SSC), composed

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Part of Tyre's legacy will be keeping amusement park rides safer for children," said Nekia Dodd, Sampson's mother.