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In the hours after the House passed the bills, politicians and organizations provided statements on the legislation.

Satellite TV provider Dish Network isn’t having much fun. Despite oodles of direct government assistance during the Trump era, the company’s attempt to pivot from mediocre satellite TV provider to modern streaming service and wireless giant has been a hot mess. The company lost another 552,000 pay TV subscribers during the last quarter. In part […]

The St. Charles Parks and Recreation Department announced Wednesday that the McNair Aquatic Facility will permanently close. The decision came after "facing major functionality and infrastructure issues," according to the department's Facebook post. The latest issue was a "substantial leak" underneath the pool shell. The leak was capable of draining the 165,000-gallon pool in days unless it was continuously being filled. "Since the 2014 Aquatics Facility Audit leading to Prop P and rebuilding…

A staffing crisis in the Circuit Attorney’s Office has serious implications throughout the criminal justice system. Many reports indicate there are fewer than 10 assistant circuit attorneys handling serious criminal cases.

WOOD RIVER - Bill Dettmers and Gary Ayres were sworn in as new Wood River City Council Members at the most recent meeting, and both said they are honored to serve on the council. Dettmers said the following: "I am humbled and appreciate the support I have received from the community. I will dedicate myself to serving the City of Wood River to the best of my ability." Dettmers said he and Ayres are like-minded in their thinking and are both analytical people and businessmen and look forward to the challenges ahead. Ayres said he is also honored to be serving as a new Wood River City Council member. He previously served as mayor of Wood River from 2001-2005. Ayres added that one of his goals is to see how to pay for the rec center that is in development. "I think that is our goal: to keep where taxpayers don't have an increase in taxes and getting a portion of the city out of a flood plain," he said. "Those are two big issues during campaign voters seemed to comment most. I am looking

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A Verizon innovative learning lab opens Thursday at long International Middle School on Morganford Road.

"Meeting of the Waters," by Swedish-born sculptor Carl Milles, was unveiled on May 11, 1940, across Market Street from Union Station. The idea was to showcase St. Louis' river origin with a stirring artwork at a prime location.

Emergency crews are at the scene of two vacant house fires in south St. Louis City.

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans have requested more than $10 billion in earmarks to be included in next year’s appropriations bills, despite demanding massive spending cuts as a contingent for raising the nation’s debt ceiling. All but a handful of House Republicans barely pushed through a bill that would temporarily raise the U.S. borrowing limit, but […]

The post U.S. House GOP wants spending cuts — and also $10B in home-state earmarks appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A new show debuting in St. Louis next weekend takes on a timely topic — the horrors of working for Amazon. The Workers' Opera: Blue Light Special takes it name from the lights that start spinning on the floor of Amazon warehouses when workers aren't moving fast enough, says Emily Kohring, the executive director of Bread and Roses Missouri, which is putting on the show. That sort of verisimilitude can only come from playwrights who've done their homework — or, in the case of Bread and Roses Missouri, members of the company who live that reality every day.  For this show, writer/director Mariah Richardson worked closely with Amazon workers at STL8, the fulfillment center in St. Peters that has been target for union organizers, holding "story circles" to get their experiences and working with them in the creation of the opera.

There are a few things that can get a person out of bed on a weekend morning. A tornado siren.

There's a chance of rain and thunderstorms that will be in the forecast now through the weekend. It won’t be raining or storming all the time, but outdoor plans could be impacted each day. 

A massive overnight fire in Washington Park destroyed two houses and damages a third home. No serious injuries are being reported, however one firefighter was treated at the scene for heat exhaustion.

Steel manufactured using hydrogen and powered by renewable energy could drastically reduce carbon emissions and employ a well-paid, industrial workforce.

But exemptions mean the chemicals will not completely disappear.

CEO Elon Musk said the plant will protect against a future "choke point" on battery-grade lithium availability.

by Anjeanette Damon, Byard Duncan and Mollie Simon

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

On April 18, HomeVestors of America executives held a virtual meeting for its nearly 1,150 franchisees. The purpose: Alert local “We Buy Ugly Houses” operations about a forthcoming ProPublica investigation into their business tactics.

“It is not going to be flattering for us,” HomeVestors CEO David Hicks warned.

Our reporting found HomeVestors franchisees who used deception and targeted the elderly, infirm and those so close to poverty that they feared homelessness would be a consequence of selling. The franchisees were trained by HomeVestors to look for signs of desperation and pounce on so-called distressed sellers. Many used legal tactics, described as predatory by five experts, to trap sellers in below-market deals.

A HomeVestors spokesperson said in a statement that ProPublica’s reporting examined a small fraction of the more than 71,400 homes bought by its franchises since 2016. "We do not discriminate or target our advertising to any specific demographic groups based on age, race, or socio-economic status,” the company said. It has removed several franchises and is investigating some cases identified by ProPublica to “determine appropriate action.”

After we first contacted the company in early March, a former FBI spokesperson who specializes in “crisis and special situations” and “reputation management” began answering questions on their behalf.

Hicks, through this spokesperson, declined requests for interviews. But during the virtual meeting — which ProPublica obtained a recording of — the CEO alternated between accusing the news organization of writing “attack articles” and praising the rigor of our investigation.

“It’s amazing what they have brought up,” he said.

In a slide titled “Public Relations,” Hicks outlined HomeVestors’ plan to drown out ProPublica’s story with “strategic ad buys on social and web pages” and “SEO content to minimize visibility” of the article.

He instructed franchisees not to click on ProPublica’s story link; doing so, he warned, might improve its internet search ranking.

“Our goal is to bury it,” he said.

The company did not respond to a ProPublica question about executives telling franchisees that they want to bury the story. But in a statement, HomeVestors wrote, “As a company, we embrace any opportunity to improve customer service and satisfaction. We used the meeting to reinforce our code of conduct and company tenets that emphasize the importance of doing the right thing for our sellers and our communities.”

During the same webinar, Hicks and other senior leaders announced new policies to end the very practices ProPublica’s investigation brought to light.

On April 11, HomeVestors updated its “Systems and Standards” to forbid franchises from clouding sellers’ titles, a maneuver that makes it difficult for homeowners to back out of a deal. The company discouraged franchisees from suing sellers for breach of contract. And it reiterated that buyers who deal with seniors should always involve family, attorneys or other guardians in the transaction.

Some franchise owners on the call pushed back on the changes, claiming they could hurt business. But HomeVestors general counsel Anthony Lowenberg was unequivocal: Those who regularly sue to enforce the sale of homes are “putting the entire system at risk,” he said.

“The juice is not worth the squeeze,” Hicks added, repeating a comment from a franchise owner in the call’s chat.

Maren Kasper, managing director at Bayview Asset Management, the investment management firm that bought HomeVestors in 2022, also spoke during the virtual meeting. Kasper said that ProPublica had uncovered two cases of improper behavior that HomeVestors had not known about. “Those franchises have since received default letters,” she said, referring to a formal notice that they are not in compliance with company policies.

In the course of our reporting, we sent the company questions that detailed our findings point by point. We issued similar letters to each franchise mentioned in the story. In all cases, we allowed ample time to respond.

During the webinar, Kasper acknowledged the depth and thoroughness of our investigation.

“They have scoured every corner of the internet,” she said. “They’ve done, you know, good reporting, I would say.” She predicted other inquiries might follow. “If the Department of Justice came knocking, and needed us to verify every answer that we provided to this reporter, we have all the data and materials to do so,” she said.

“This is going to make us a better company,” Hicks concluded. “Because overall, we're going to change some of our practices, and make sure we change our Systems and Standards to make sure that we have our franchise doing the right things.”

A few days after the webinar, HomeVestors sent its franchises an email unveiling a webpage to address and counter ProPublica’s story. Among the offerings: a copy of its corporate response, a list of talking points and the number for a “rapid response media hotline.” When a ProPublica reporter called the hotline, a company representative declined to answer questions or provide comment.

The email, signed by Hicks and HomeVestors COO Larry Goodman, also contained a warning for franchisees:

“Don’t get baited into arguments or ‘off the record’ conversations.”

Help ProPublica Investigate “We Buy Houses” Practices