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St. Charles police beefed up enforcement following I-Team investigation, leading to an underground temp tag, license plate and insurance document scheme.

Add Brian May to the list of Yungblud fans. In an Instagram post, the Queen guitarist shares his reaction to the young English rocker's recent cover of "We Are the Champions."…

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Incoming treasurer Vivek Malek will be the first person of color to serve in Missouri statewide office. Republican Gov. Mike Parson on Tuesday named 45-year-old Malek to replace GOP Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick.

From KSDK:  The Chesterfield City Council is moving forward with the latest step in redeveloping the Chesterfield Mall area. In a unanimous vote, they approved more than $353 million in tax increment financing(TIF). Several people spoke at the city council meeting before the vote including an attorney for Dillard’s in Chesterfield Mall who says they planned […]

Helmkamp Construction’s Director of Operations, Joe Stange, and Project Director, Kyle Ogden, are moving into new roles at the 85-year-old general contracting firm. These new roles are being strategically put into place by President & Owner Rob Johnes to allow for viable growth in the company’s future. “These changes allow for more review, coaching, and […]

Even if the city of St. Louis contributes $30 million in Rams settlement funds to the downtown convention center expansion project, it still will not have enough money for completion, the leader of St. Louis' tourism agency said Tuesday.

From The Edwardsville Intelligencer: Tuesday, Edwardsville’s public service committee approved a pair of professional service agreements and a supplemental resolution. Alderman Chris Farrar was absent. The first agreement is for the Old North Interceptor Sewer Replacement project. The agreement is in the amount of $584,000. City Engineer Ryan Zwijack said Wednesday that the line runs for […]

From emissourian:  Washington’s largest shopping center is under new ownership. The Hoffmann Family of Companies has entered into an agreement to purchase the Phoenix Shopping Center in Washington and an additional 16 acres of undeveloped land from developer Joe Vernaci. Announced in a press release Friday, the purchase includes the buildings housing major retail box […]

From St. Louis Business Journal:  A developer has sold the last warehouse in a real estate investment fund, after selling most of the fund’s warehouses last year. Real estate investment adviser Transwestern Investment Group (TIG) sold a 500,000-square-foot warehouse at 28 Gateway Commerce Center in Edwardsville, the last piece to sell from an investment portfolio originally […]

The IBEW/NECA Electrical Connection partnership hosted a special holiday celebration for families served by the justice system – one that also opens potential career opportunities. More than 100 families served by the United States District Court Eastern District of Missouri, Probation Division received holiday gifts as the Electrical Connection again supported the division’s holiday gift […]

The Rolling Stones are getting ready to release their new live album and DVD, GRRR Live!, next year, and they’ve just shared a video of their live performance of the classic “It’s Only Rock…

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Visitors to St. Louis this holiday season can book a side trip that’s bound to create a Christmas memory they will treasure forever–a journey to the North Pole via THE

The post THE POLAR EXPRESS™ Train Ride appeared first on Explore St. Louis.

The Roll Cart Trash Collection Schedule will be adjusted to accommodate Christmas and New Year's Day Observances 2022

This article originally ran in the St. Louis Business Journal on Dec. 19, 2022.  Chesterfield-based agriculture giant Bunge Ltd. (NYSE: BG) plans to build a $550 million manufacturing facility as part of its continued focus on producing ingredients for plant-based proteins. It anticipates starting construction on the Morristown, Indiana, facility in the first quarter of 2023. Bunge said its new plant […]

The post St. Louis agriculture giant to build $550M production facility to capitalize on plant protein demand appeared first on St. Louis Regional Freightway.

On Tuesday, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office charged a former high school teacher with alleged sex crimes involving an underage student.

ALTON - A trimmer dropped a tree on main wires in the 4100 block of Humbert Road in Alton on Tuesday afternoon. A reported 450 are out of power in that vicinity as of around 4:15 p.m. Tuesday. The Alton Fire Department initially responded to the scene. Ameren-Illinois crews are en route to the situation, however, it may take multiple hours to rectify the problem.

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LLN Arizona photographer Jack Sorgi is detained at a June reproductive rights protest in Phoenix.

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Freedom of the Press Foundation’s U.S. Press Freedom Tracker reports 14 arrests of journalists in 2022, down from 59 in 2021 and 144 in 2020. As in past years, the vast majority of reporters arrested were covering protests, specifically those that followed the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.

The decrease is less likely attributable to police suddenly respecting press freedoms than to there simply being fewer protests this year than in 2021, and especially 2020. Nearly 300 arrests or detainments of journalists have been recorded in the Tracker since its 2017 launch; 18 of those journalists are still facing charges.

As of Dec. 20, 2022

Freedom of the Press Foundation/Harris Lapiroff

Totals aside, it is concerning any time a reporter is arrested for doing their job, and especially when charges are not resolved promptly by the courts. The report highlights two especially alarming cases: One, the arrest of Derek Myers, editor-in-chief of the Scioto Valley Guardian in Ohio, for wiretapping after publishing audio someone else recorded, and two, the ongoing prosecutions of Asheville Blade reporters Matilda Bliss and Veronica Coit for allegedly trespassing while documenting a homeless encampment sweep.

The report provides further detail:

Myers told the Tracker he was covering the murder trial but was not in the courtroom when a key witness took the stand. Despite the judge in the case barring recordings of that witness, Myers later received audio of the testimony. After the Guardian published the audio, officers obtained a search warrant for Myers’ laptop, issued a warrant for his arrest and seized his cellphone.

Myers turned himself in to police custody and was released on a $20,000 bond. He now waits for his case to be heard by a grand jury in 2023, which will decide whether to indict him. But just being charged, he said, has felt damaging.

“My reputation has taken a hit and, as journalists, all we have are our reputations,” Myers said.

Two North Carolina journalists, arrested in December 2021, will also continue to face charges into 2023. Asheville Blade reporters Matilda Bliss and Veronica Coit were arrested and charged with trespassing while documenting a homeless encampment sweep on Christmas night in 2021. After nearly a year of rescheduled hearings, the two were ordered in November to appear for a bench hearing, where a judge would rule on their charges and sentence them.

….

Bliss told the Tracker that each time they were ordered to appear in court, the reporters had to prepare for the possibility they would be incarcerated.

“I was trying to make sure that I had all my ducks in a row in case it was the worst case scenario: There is a maximum penalty of 20 days in jail,” Bliss said. “We’ve both had to make lots of sacrifices throughout this year.”

Myers’ arrest violates well-established Supreme Court precedent that journalists are not responsible for alleged illegality by sources while Asheville police ignored limitations on closure of public lands to reporters except where there is a serious public safety risk.

The report also notes that some wrongly arrested reporters are holding authorities accountable by filing lawsuits, including Oregon-based reporter April Ehrlich, who was also arrested while covering an encampment sweep. After multiple delays, prosecutors dropped the 2020 charges this year. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker previously reported on the more than 50 journalists who have sued over their treatment while covering Black Lives Matter protests.

Absent any indication that local police departments learned a lesson from 2020 and 2021, lawsuits and public pressure continue to be the best ways to hold police accountable and make them think twice about arresting journalists in 2023.

The full report, including more detailed statistical analysis and context surrounding the arrests, is available here.

The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a nonpartisan news website and database providing reliable and contextualized information on the number of press freedom violations in the United States. For media requests, please contact media@freedom.press.