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The Ferguson-based industrial technology and software firm has found its next legal chief at a California-based tech company.

CHICAGO - Building on the State’s data-driven plan to improve the asylum seeker response, Governor JB Pritzker, the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), and the Greater Chicago Food Depository announced an additional $4 million investment to provide meals to asylum seekers through the end of the calendar year. The additional $2 million state investment will be matched by philanthropy through the Food Depository. At the request of the City of Chicago in June 2023, the State has provided $10.5 million in funding to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, a food bank with a network of community-based providers, to deliver meals to asylum seekers while the City worked to procure additional vendors. Due to delays in the procurement process, the State and Food Depository will now contribute an additional $2 million each, to ensure asylum seekers are fed through the month of December. In January, the City of Chicago will assume this responsibility as the State ramps up its shelter,

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by Zach Despart, The Texas Tribune

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This article is co-published with The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan local newsroom that informs and engages with Texans. Sign up for The Brief Weekly to get up to speed on their essential coverage of Texas issues.

A state district judge in Travis County has ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to release law enforcement records related to the May 2022 Uvalde school shooting, more than a year after a consortium of news organizations sued for access.

The ruling by 261st Civil District Court Judge Daniella DeSeta Lyttle calls on DPS to fulfill 28 records requests filed by the news organizations, which include ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, subject to redactions such as personal information of police officers and blurring the faces of minor victims in crime scene photographs.

The files would shed light on the failed police response, in which officers waited more than an hour to confront the shooter who had an AR-15-style rifle. Nineteen children and two teachers died that day.

Lyttle issued a preliminary order in June. The one issued Tuesday is the final judgment. It requires DPS to provide the records sought within 20 days, unless the state police agency appeals the ruling.

“DPS promised to disclose the results of this investigation once it was completed,” said Laura Prather, a media law attorney with Haynes Boone who represents the news organizations. “It was completed in February, and they still haven’t provided any answers to these families.”

DPS did not return a request for comment on Thursday.

Prather said an appeal would likely limit the ability of victims’ families to file federal lawsuits alleging that police had committed civil rights violations. The statute of limitations on those complaints is two years.

“It prevents (families) from having the evidence they need,” Prather said.

The state police agency previously argued that releasing records could interfere with ongoing investigations into the shooting, though DPS said it had completed its initial report on the shooting and provided it to the Uvalde County district attorney.

Between the shooting in May 2022 and the filing of the news organizations’ lawsuit three months later, DPS selectively released information about the shooting during press conferences and public hearings held by the Legislature.

The Tribune and ProPublica separately gained access to materials from the investigation, publishing a series of stories that detailed multiple failures. On Tuesday, the news organizations will publish an article and a documentary, in collaboration with FRONTLINE, that reveal new details about the response.

Uvalde District Attorney Christina Mitchell also opposed disclosure of records to the news organizations. She argued their release could harm her investigation into any potential criminal charges she could pursue based on the DPS investigation.

Mitchell also claimed that “all of the families of the deceased children” had told her they supported blocking the records from release. Attorneys representing the majority of the 21 families whose relatives were killed in the massacre refuted the claim, saying that the information should be made public. Mitchell was later stricken from the case.

This article originally ran on St. Louis Post Distpatch on December 1, 2023. On Tuesday morning, a former Boeing CEO took the stage before a crowd of Missouri’s political and business leaders and offered a bold prediction: After decades of losses in manufacturing, the sector is poised for a turnaround in St. Louis. Dennis Muilenburg, the former Boeing CEO who […]

The post Regional Business Leaders Promise a New Era of Manufacturing in St. Louis appeared first on St. Louis Regional Freightway.

This wasn’t hard to predict. When Montana passed its TikTok ban in April we called it “laughably unconstitutional.” Montana’s very silly Attorney General, Austin Knudsen, who claimed to have been the driving force behind the bill, had insisted that the state would be vindicated in court. As we noted when the bill passed, his public […]

Boxes come and go around here. Some get used for a while and some are one-hit wonders. Who knows why? But through it all, this box is everyone's favorite. It's been sitting next to the sofa for many years and will probably stay there for many more.

Today on TAP: It’s grossly unfair, but don’t look to the good economy to improve Biden’s re-election chances.

HARDIN - Jennifer M. Geninatti, 43, of Jacksonville, IL., faces three serious charges after a traffic stop in Calhoun County. Geninatti has been charged with the following: Driving Under the Influence - Drugs Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine Unlawful Possession of Drug Paraphernalia On November 15, 2023, a Deputy Sheriff with the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office conducted a traffic stop on a white 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe at Illinois River Road near Gallinepper, in Calhoun County. The Calhoun Sheriff's Office said Geninatti was arrested without incident and transported to the Calhoun County Sheriff's Office. As is now required under the provisions of the new House Bill 3653, known as the SAFE-T Act; Geninatti was booked and released with a Notice to Appear at a later date at the Calhoun County Courthouse. All suspect(s) are innocent until proven guilty.

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HARDIN - A Hardin man faces charges of stalking, violation of an Order of Protection and Criminal Damage to Property. Charged in the case is Donald G. Dawson, 55, of Hardin. On November 19, 2023, the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office received a complaint of Stalking and Criminal Damage to Property. The Calhoun Sheriff's Office said Dawson was arrested without incident and was booked into the Greene County Jail and is currently being held without Bond. Dawson was currently on Mandatory Supervised Release (Parole) from the Illinois Department of Corrections, in relation to a 2021 Calhoun County conviction for the offenses of: Intimidation and Threatening a Public Official. The Illinois Department of Corrections has since ordered a Parole Violation Warrant and Dawson is to return to the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections. All suspect(s) are innocent until proven guilty.

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BENTON – A district judge sentenced a man from Marshall, Illinois, to spend more than three years in federal prison after he called in a bomb threat to a company in Paris, Illinois. Justin L. Switzer, 29, pleaded guilty to one count of willfully threatening the use of explosives. According to court documents, Switzer called in a bomb threat to North American Lighting Company, Inc. in Paris, Illinois on Nov. 2, 2022. He admitted to calling the business and stating “two minutes to detonation”. In response to the bomb threat, North American Lighting evacuated personnel, which caused the company to lose approximately $456,000 in gross revenue. In addition to his prison sentence, Switzer was ordered to pay $456,000 in restitution. FBI Springfield Field Office and Homeland Security Investigations contributed to the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin Burke and Liam Coonan prosecuted the case.

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Peter Frampton has announced a new set of 2024 tour dates. The rocker just revealed new 2024 dates for his Never Say Never Tour, telling fans, “I don’t want to give up my…

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An elderly man found dead along a road in Washington Park, Illinois. Investigators say he was shot multiple times.

The Brentwood-based consumer packaged goods holding company is shuttering one of its cereal production plants.

“This will help seniors keep money in their pockets,” Alderwoman Anne Schweitzer said after the vote.

In 2022, a judge vacated Chatman's convictions after finding that his lawyer misadvised him about the sentencing law for first-degree murder.

               CNN listed Pad Thai as tenth on their “World’s 50 Most Delicious Foods” Pad Thai á la Harper and Austin I love seeing the next generation take up the spoon and spatula. Last week cousins Harper and Austin co-cooked a splendid Pad Thai. When visiting in Thailand my... 

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The post Pad Thai, Oh My, My! appeared first on Good Food St. Louis.

Over at the Washington Post, Philip Bump questions Sean Hannity's claim that both California and Florida have suffered about the same death rate from COVID-19: “Both your states, with such different approaches, which is pretty fascinating, were both lower, significantly lower than the national average,” he said. “These numbers come straight from the [Centers for ...continue reading "Who did COVID better, California or Florida?"