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Bi-State said it will announce Wednesday whether the trolley will run on Thursday, its next scheduled operating day.

For the Culture STL’s 5th Annual Culture Kickback Fest at Loretta Hall Park on Sunday August 13, 2023, shared the same festive air as the Woodstock Festival held in upstate New York exactly 54 years earlier.

ALTON - State Representative Amy Elik (R-Alton) and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) announced today that America’s Central Port is one of nine recipients of the Megasites Investment Program in the amount of $5 million. The program is funded through Rebuild Illinois Capital Funds. “I am thrilled that America’s Central Port in Granite City was selected to receive funding to continue providing world-class service for our transportation network which includes access to the Mississippi River, our railways, and roads,” said Rep. Elik. “The investments being made will help grow the economy and bring more jobs to the region.” Megasites are large, developed sites ready for occupancy for manufacturers, distribution centers, industrial centers, and more. Investing in megasites develops underutilized areas and former industrial sites, while making the State more competitive for large-scale industrial investments. “The

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GODFREY - On Sept. 9 and 10, the Riverbend region will welcome 1,000 bicyclists for Bike MS: Gateway Getaway 2023. This event is based out of St. Louis and will take bicyclists on 25-, 50-, 75- or 100-mile routes through local communities, starting at Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey. The event aims to raise $1.3 million for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. “It’s hard not to pay attention when you’ve got that many people out there to raise not only funds but awareness for multiple sclerosis,” Marisa Hacker, the senior manager for Bike MS, said. Hacker explained that there are 50 Bike MS events across the U.S., and the St. Louis region ride is in the top 15. Cyclists will spend two days riding up the Great River Road and through towns from Godfrey to Jerseyville, Bunker Hill, Bethalto and others. The Lewis and Clark Community College (LCCC) campus will serve as the home base, and cyclists will have access to bike mechanics, support vehicles,

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ALTON/WOOD RIVER - Union members and their families are invited to enjoy a morning of fun at the Annual East Alton – Wood River Labor Day Parade to be held on Saturday, August 26, 2023. This year’s parade will begin at 10:00 a.m. at the famous Roundhouse located at 633 N. Wood River Avenue in Wood River, Illinois, and proceed north along Wood River Avenue to the Wilshire shopping center parking lot in East Alton, Illinois. The celebration continues at Gordon Moore Park in Alton, Illinois, where the James Stanley Charity Softball Tournament will wrap up and union members and their families are welcome to enjoy children’s games, food, and refreshments (wrist bands are required to attend the Picnic – see your local union). The Annual Granite City Labor Day Parade will be held on Monday, September 4, 2023. The parade events will begin at 10:00 a.m. downtown Granite City on State Street between Niedringhaus and 18 th Streets and will continue to Wilson Park where

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EAST ALTON - The East Alton Parks & Recreation Department is hosting their 28th Annual Soap Box “Race of Fun” on Saturday, Sept. 9, immediately after the first-ever 5k Run For Infertility. Superintendent Tyler Lafferty and Adult/Seniors Event Coordinator Robin Carlton with the department discussed the events and many other exciting things going on with East Alton Parks and Rec on a recent episode of Our Daily Show on Riverbender.com . The first-ever 5k Run For Infertility will begin on Saturday, Sept. 9 at 627 Berkshire Blvd. in East Alton. Check-in begins at 8 a.m. and the 5k itself begins at 8:30 a.m. The One Mile For Fun Run/Walk begins at 9 a.m. and the cost is $20, which includes a free t-shirt. Registration can be completed online at this link . This year’s Soap Box “Race Of Fun” will also be held on Saturday, Sept. 9 from 10 a.m to 3 p.m. The cost of admission is $2 for East Alton residents or $4 for non-residents. Soapbox cars are provided

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ALTON - When Troy Hughes decided to open We’re Outside, he knew he’d have to put in some hard work. But he had no idea how much that work would pay off. Two weeks after opening, We’re Outside has taken Alton by storm with its hearty barbecue menu. Hughes watches it all from behind the grill, serving up favorites like ribs, pork steaks, loaded nachos, pulled pork and 80 pounds of wings a day. “It just turned out that everybody liked it,” Hughes said. “I didn’t know what to expect. The first day, the anxiety was up, but it turned out to be a good turnout. I was really happy with it.” The turnout is still impressive; you can always count on a long line of eager customers. Located at 1692 Oakwood Avenue, We’re Outside is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from March to October. As the name suggests, We’re Outside is an open-air restaurant with umbrellas and space to sit out in the grass. In the future

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St. Louis County is suing to stop a question from appearing on November ballots asking if some unincorporated county residents should be annexed into the city of Manchester.

The state's pension funds have an estimated $14.8 billion invested in fossil fuel companies.

Metro Transit on Aug. 3 asked companies to bid on the construction package for four stations in St. Clair County.

A California judge on Friday dismissed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed by members of the group that own the now-shuttered South City Hospital.

ST. LOUIS -- Police have located the child, and she is safe. The vehicle has also been located, but the suspect has not been arrested. Police are searching for James Steven Richardson Jr., a 28-year-old African American man, weighing 200 pounds and standing five feet seven inches tall. He was last seen wearing a white [...]

Tanya Musskopf is the mother of Kaitlyn Anderson, a pregnant MoDOT worker who died nearly two years ago during a collision on Interstate 255.

An Excessive Heat Warning will go into effect at noon tomorrow and last through 10 PM on Thursday (for now). Highs each day will be around 100°F with heat index values reaching around 110°F.

Hot temperatures are predicted today. Temperatures are projected to be a scorcher today with temperatures reaching a high of 91 though it will feel even hotter at 94. We'll see a low temperature of 73 degrees today. We'll see sunshine…

by Hannah Dreyfus

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week.

ProPublica has been reporting on family courts’ handling of custody disputes that involve allegations of child or domestic abuse. The reporting shows that a disputed psychological theory that’s been rejected by mainstream scientists has widespread influence on outcomes in family court.

What is parental alienation?

Parental alienation is a theory in which one parent is accused of brainwashing a child to turn them against the other parent. It is most frequently diagnosed and cited as evidence in divorce and custody cases, even though most mental health professionals reject it as junk science.

The theory was the brainchild of Dr. Richard Gardner, a New York psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who made a career as a paid expert witness in more than 400 child custody cases, testifying most often on behalf of fathers accused of sexually abusing their children.

Gardner developed the theory of parental alienation syndrome, a condition in which children wrongly believe they are being abused, and recommended courts treat the children by placing them in the custody of the parent accused of abuse. “Severe” cases, he argued, required “threat therapy” to disabuse children of their distorted beliefs.

Few mainstream professional groups have accepted it as a diagnosable condition. But today, programs across the country claim to treat parental alienation using similar techniques, according to a ProPublica investigation. These programs, which can cost $15,000 or more for a four-day intervention, are court-ordered.

Contemporary advocates of the theory vary in their allegiance to Gardner and his version of parental alienation as a syndrome. Some classify it as a “relational disorder” rather than a syndrome. Others continue to defend Gardner’s conceptualization of parental alienation syndrome, despite Gardner coming under fire in the 1990s for arguing that pedophilia has benefits for human survival.

Demosthenes Lorandos, a lawyer and parental alienation scholar who knew Gardner personally, said he has been misrepresented. “The woke types would go completely crazy and say, ‘Oh my God, he’s advocating for pedophiles,’ which is the opposite of what he was doing,” Lorandos told ProPublica. The controversy surrounded “Richard’s desire to stop false sexual abuse cases,” he said.

What do mental health professionals say about parental alienation?

Parental alienation is not accepted as a mental health disorder by psychiatry’s diagnostic bodies. The American Psychiatric Association has repeatedly declined to include parental alienation in the DSM-V, the group’s diagnostic manual. Scholars of parental alienation claim it is a rapidly developing field of scientific inquiry and advocate for its inclusion in the diagnostic manual.

It has also been denounced by the World Health Organization and is shunned by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges for failing to meet court evidentiary standards. And in May, a special report released by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council blasted parental alienation as a “pseudo-concept” and recommended member states prohibit its use in family courts.

Madelyn Milchman, a licensed psychologist in New Jersey who researches child custody and traumatic memory, said the theory relies heavily on “perceptions of women in Judeo-Christian societies as hysterical, vitriolic and irrational.” (Gardner’s original rendering of the theory portrayed mothers in this way, she said.)

“Once you start on that train ride, and you believe that the mother has programmed the child, it no longer matters what the child says because the child is not credible, and the mother’s not credible,” said Milchman, who holds a doctorate in psychology. This doubt can lead to a “snowball effect” in family courts, fueled by “experts who testify on behalf of the alienation belief system.”

Some defenders of parental alienation have tried to separate the theory from its gender-focused origins. Jennifer Harman, an associate professor of psychology at Colorado State University who serves as an expert witness on parental alienation, argues that doing so overlooks men as victims of domestic violence and abuse.

How is parental alienation used in court?

Parental alienation is diagnosed almost exclusively in family courts — either by privately hired expert witnesses or court-appointed custody evaluators. There, it is used to explain why a minor is claiming that he or she is being abused.

For example, in an ongoing case in Utah, siblings Ty and Brynlee Larson accused their father of sexually abusing them. The father’s attorney argued that the children’s mother was brainwashing them to believe their father had abused them. The abuse had been substantiated by state authorities in 2018. As a result, a court official restricted the father’s visits. Earlier this year, a judge agreed that the mother was alienating the minors and authorized police to place them into the custody of their father. In his order, the judge did not mention the previous findings of abuse against the father. The siblings resisted, barricading themselves in a bedroom in their mother’s home where they used TikTok to call attention to the judge’s orders.

Critics of parental alienation say that its nearly exclusive manifestation in custody litigation — and the fact that it almost exclusively affects children from higher socioeconomic backgrounds — further undermines the argument that it is a legitimate disorder. “True mental health disorders are more equally distributed throughout the population, regardless of socioeconomic status, class or social context,” said Dr. David Corwin, a professor and director of pediatric forensic services at the University of Utah and a past president of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children.

Corwin also said that the words “parental alienation” do not need to be used in court to implicate the theory in a custody dispute. In fact, many lawyers and custody evaluators specifically avoid using the term because it has become so polarized. Other commonly used terms that implicate the theory include coaching, used to describe a child being trained by an adult to claim abuse when it did not happen; triangulation, used to describe a parent purposely manipulating a child in order to gain power in a conflict; and pathogenic parenting, used to describe parents projecting delusional beliefs onto their children.

Law enforcement and state child welfare agencies also sometimes cite parental alienation to dismiss allegations of child abuse. In a Colorado custody case ProPublica just reported on, state child welfare agencies decided not to investigate dozens of reports by mandatory reporters who expressed concern that a child was being physically and sexually abused by his father. Authorities appeared to believe that the child had been manipulated by his mother to report abuse so she could gain ground in the custody dispute. The court also agreed that the mother’s conduct met the definition of alienation.

The courtroom is where advocates of the theory have pressed for its acceptance. In Colorado, they have seized on a 2020 state Supreme Court ruling that parental alienation is a form of child endangerment.

The first courtroom battle is to establish that parental alienation is “real,” said Amy J.L. Baker, an advocate for the theory who holds a doctorate in developmental psychology but is not a licensed psychologist. “If you have a Supreme Court that’s already said it is, that door is, like, unlocked.”

Baker co-authored a recent proposal to the APA to include parental alienation in the DSM-V. The group previously rejected a similar request made in 2012.

Can a parent lose custody for parental alienation?

In cases when mothers allege abuse and fathers respond with claims of parental alienation, it roughly doubled a woman’s chances of losing custody in court, according to a 2020 national study on parental alienation funded by the U.S. Justice Department.

Another study funded by the Justice Department found the primary reason judges award custody to an abusive parent is that the mother is not viewed as credible. Two-thirds of the mothers in the study were dismissed as psychologically unwell and, in some cases, were denied custody even after their concerns about abuse were found to be valid.

Though family court judges operate with maximum discretion and little oversight — family court records are routinely sealed from the public — an increasing number of custody rulings based on parental alienation are being appealed, according to Paul Griffin, a former litigator of child abuse cases and the legal director of Child Justice, a legal assistance group.

“There are not enough lawyers attacking it sufficiently,” Griffin said. “But that could change as parents realize they have grounds to stand on and lawyers realize the higher courts are starting to pay attention to how a junk theory is proliferating unchecked in lower courts.”

A primary concern among those who oppose the use of parental alienation in the court is that it misinterprets evidence that would otherwise indicate child abuse.

“Parental alienation concocts this notion that if a kid exhibits certain symptoms that, incidentally, are the same symptoms of being abused, it was alienation,” said Richard Ducote, an attorney who specializes in defending parents accused of alienation. “It was a very clever idea to take the evidence of a child being abused and recast it.”

But advocates of parental alienation disagree that the theory provides cover for abusers. Harman argues that children’s reports of abuse cannot be relied upon because they are easily influenced, leading to false claims. “I’m accused all the time of protecting pedophiles. I’m like, why would I do that? No, I don’t protect people who are abusive. If anything, I want children to not be abused in any form.”