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Exploring the Traditions of Passover: A Journey Through History and Ritual

Riverbender 🕸
1 week 2 days ago
Did you know that nearly 80% of Jewish families around the world engage in the Passover Seder, a ritual feast that has remained remarkably consistent for over three millennia? This statistic underscores not only the significance of Passover in Jewish culture but also the resilience and adaptability of its traditions. As families gather each year to commemorate their ancestors’ liberation from slavery in Egypt, they partake in deeply-rooted rituals that connect generations and impart fundamental lessons about freedom, faith, and community. Unpacking the Meaning of Passover Passover, or Pesach in Hebrew, is one of the most important festivals in Judaism. It commemorates the Exodus, the biblical story of the Israelites' escape from Egyptian bondage. The holiday lasts for seven or eight days (depending on one’s community) and involves various rituals and customs aimed at remembering this pivotal moment in Jewish history. At the heart of Passover is the Seder, a ceremonial

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Nature Club Aims to Educate and Give Back to Community

Riverbender 🕸
1 week 2 days ago
EDWARDSVILLE - A group of eight 4th grade girls that attend St. Mary’s School have been busy working on a “Nature Club” everyday at recess. The girls came up with the idea because they all share a love for being outside, helping animals, and observing how plants, trees, seeds and grass grow. The girls have been working hard to organize, plan, and come up with fun ways to make money for their club so they can use the money to support community organizations that support nature. All their hard work came to fruition this weekend when they hosted their first check presentation at Metro East Humane Society. They were able to donate $50 to the organization. They were excited to learn that with the $50, MEHS will be able to help four dogs. Katie from Metro East Humane Society expressed her appreciation to the girls. Katie said, “Thank you for stopping by and for supporting MEHS! We loved having you out and sharing our love for animals and the environment with you.”

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Jerseyville Man Charged With Multiple Offenses After Domestic Incident

Riverbender 🕸
1 week 2 days ago
HARDIN - On March 25, 2025, the Calhoun County Sheriff's Office was notified of a Domestic Disturbance, which was alleged to have occurred on the night of Jan. 10, 2025, at a residence in Hamburg, Calhoun County, Illinois. Deputies with the Calhoun County Sheriff's Office began an investigation, collected video evidence and took statements from witnesses. Subsequent to that investigation, Timothy J. Roth, age 47, of Jerseyville, was arrested for the following offenses: Intimidation, Domestic Battery – Physical Contact, Aggravated Assault – Deadly Weapon. Roth was arrested without incident and was transported to the Greene County Jail. All suspect(s) are innocent until proven guilty.

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This Day in History on April 11: Apollo 13 Launches

Riverbender 🕸
1 week 2 days ago
April 11th has been a day of remarkable events throughout history, ranging from groundbreaking scientific achievements to pivotal political developments. One of the most iconic events in modern history took place on April 11, 1970, when NASA launched Apollo 13, a mission that would become one of the most famous in space exploration. Originally intended to land on the Moon, the mission faced a critical failure just two days into its journey when an oxygen tank exploded. This catastrophic event led to a heroic struggle for survival as the crew, along with mission control, devised innovative solutions to bring the astronauts back safely to Earth. The phrase 'Houston, we have a problem' has since become synonymous with crisis management and problem-solving under pressure. The successful return of the Apollo 13 crew is a testament to human ingenuity and resilience. Fast forward to April 11, 1981, when the first space shuttle, Columbia, was launched on its maiden flight, STS-1. This

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No secret deportation hearings

Freedom of the Press
1 week 2 days ago

Dear Friend of Press Freedom, 

Protecting press freedom is protecting democracy — here are the latest issues to know about. 

Deportation hearings must be transparent

Nearly 600 people tried to watch an immigration hearing in the case of detained activist and U.S. legal permanent resident Mahmoud Khalil on April 8, only to find themselves shut out of the virtual room. 

We led a letter from press freedom organizations to the judge explaining that in-person access in rural Louisiana is not sufficient for a case of major national and international significance like Khalil’s. Interest in the case is only heightened now that the government has filed a memorandum conceding that its only “evidence” against Khalil is of his involvement in protesting the Israel-Gaza war. 

The government is likely to assert a similar theory in the case of Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts University graduate student who was also abducted by federal agents and brought to Louisiana, in her case apparently over an op-ed she co-authored criticizing the war. 

Attacks on law firms are attacks on the press

The Trump administration’s strong-arming of lawyers the president doesn’t like could have significant consequences for those he calls “the enemy of the people”: the press. 

That is why 61 media organizations and press freedom advocates, led by The Intercept’s Press Freedom Defense Fund and Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), filed a legal brief urging a court to strike down an executive order sanctioning a law firm for representing President Donald Trump’s political opponents. 

“Newsrooms are broke and FOIA is broken. Journalists face the threat of SLAPP suits, subpoenas, arrest, and, these days, even deportation, just for doing their jobs,” said Seth Stern, FPF’s advocacy director. “Now more than ever, reporters need access to quality pro bono representation to overcome these obstacles and hold the government accountable. If an anti-free speech president can shake down law firms that represent clients he doesn’t like, press freedom will suffer immeasurably, and the American public will be less informed.” 

Read more here. And thanks to the attorneys at Albert Sellars LLP for their great work on the brief and for responding to Trump’s bullying the right way.

Signalgate shows chilling effect of Assange prosecution 

There’s been plenty of speculation over how journalist Jeffrey Goldberg found himself on a Signal thread with top-level administration officials. But people don’t seem as curious about an arguably more consequential question: Why did Goldberg leave a chat that could have generated countless important scoops? 

Our guess is The Atlantic’s lawyers warned about the Espionage Act — the law used to prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for obtaining and publishing government secrets. We should not have a purported “espionage” law on the books that is so vaguely drafted that it could conceivably give an experienced journalist pause when news falls in his lap. Stern has more here.

Firing FOIA officers is not ‘radical transparency’

“Hello, the FOIA office has been placed on admin leave and is unable to respond to any emails.”

This doesn’t sound like “radical transparency” to us.

Check out the latest edition of (and subscribe to) “The Classifieds,” a newsletter by our Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy Lauren Harper, to see which Freedom of Information Act offices have closed, and which might be next. 

And read more from Harper about this week’s congressional hearing on FOIA, where no FOIA officers could testify in the midst of widespread closures and firings. 

What we’re reading 

Judge orders White House ban on AP lifted (The Washington Post). “The judge got it right,” Stern told the Post, “but it should never have taken this long.”

Open letter to chair and ranking member of House Committee on Energy and Commerce (Internet Society). We joined with other rights groups to ask Congress to protect encryption and the journalists who rely on it by fixing the Take It Down Act. 

Lawyer for U-M protester detained at airport after spring break trip with family (Detroit Free Press). If this is happening to protesters’ lawyers now, there's no reason to think it won't happen to journalists or lawyers who represent them soon. 

US student journalists go dark fearing Trump crusade against pro-Palestinian speech (The Guardian). It’s a sad day in America when student journalists must resign or write anonymously because they fear government reprisals.

D.C. Attorney nominee’s threats against critics of Elon Musk and DOGE mire him in disqualifying ethics scandal (Demand Progress). Ed Martin’s conduct as interim U.S. attorney “shows that he intends to convert the office into a taxpayer-funded law firm for Trump and his friends,” Stern said.  

PSA from John Cusack

Democracy is under attack — and paywalls shouldn’t stand in the way of accessing vital public records. Our board member, activist and actor John Cusack, discussed why more news outlets need to follow the lead of Wired and 404 Media and give their public records reporting to the public. 

How to share sensitive leaks with the press

Freedom of the Press Foundation

Detective Sergeant Melissa Foster receives Major Case Squad Award

SLMPD 🚓
1 week 2 days ago

We are honored to have Detective Sergeant Melissa Foster on our team. Her dedication and hard work are being recognized as she received the Major Case Squad Certificate of Commendation Award. Her remarkable investigation skills assisted Cahokia Heights in solving a 2024 homicide case. She also played an integral role in solving several other carjackings and […]

The post Detective Sergeant Melissa Foster receives Major Case Squad Award appeared first on St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

Suleima Rojas

For-profit immigration detention expands as Trump accelerates his deportation plans

MoInd 📰
1 week 2 days ago
The Trump administration is moving quickly to dramatically expand the nation’s capacity for detaining immigrants who do not have legal authorization to be in the United States. The administration has largely turned to the for-profit, private prison industry to reopen or repurpose shuttered and aging facilities — many of which have been previously criticized for […]
Amanda Hernández