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GODFREY – Beverly Farm resident Kathleen Gastler has been selected to be on Team Illinois and compete in bocce at the Special Olympics USA Games, June 5-12, 2022, in Orlando, Florida. Kathleen lives in Group Home 5, one of Beverly Farm’s six group homes, and she has been a Beverly Farm resident since 2011, which is when she first moved into Group Home 5. She enjoys bocce and has been playing the sport for about 10 years. “We will all be cheering for Kathleen when she is down in Orlando competing in the USA Games in just four short months,” said Crystal Officer, CEO of Beverly Farm Foundation. “Kathleen is the first Beverly Farm athlete to be selected to compete at any national competition. She makes us proud.” Bocce is a game that originated in Italy. The basic principle of the sport is to roll a bocce ball closest to the target ball, which is called a “palina.” Bocce as a Special Olympics sport provides people with special needs th

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EDWARDSVILLE - Due to severe inclement weather in Madison County, it is hereby ordered that the Courts and the Offices of the Circuit Clerk for Madison County, Illinois, shall be closed at 3 p.m Thursday, February 17, 2022. This order is filed in the Office of the Circuit Clerk of Madison County and that said order be made available to the members of the bar and public by Chief Judge William Mudge.

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The event will be at 11 a.m. Feb. 26, at the league's headquarters, 1408 North Kingshighway, prior to the Urban League’s regular emergency relief food distribution.

If you’re stuck at work right now and headed home in a few hours, you might want to ask your boss if you can duck out early.…

It’s a shop unlike any other. Go Figure Skates is the only full-service figure skating store in St. Louis. Owner, Annie Gonzalez Givens wants to create a boutique environment that pairs skating ambitions with the right equipment for the job. “It’s got a slight curve but instead of a hockey blade being completely curved, it does tend to be a little bit flatter,” she explained. And outfits with just the right amount of eye-catching pizazz. Gonzalez Givens and Eliza Heerboth know firsthand…

The firm, which is one of the largest with operations in St. Louis, said the merger will result in a “top 10, national professional services firm, setting the stage for a national growth strategy."

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber announced today his decision in a 25-page opinion that nevertheless required the feds to identify false statements made amid alleged eight-year scheme prosecutors say was designed to show favor with former State Sen. Michael Madigan. The four were accused of arranging for the ex-House speaker’s associates and allies to get jobs, contracts, and money in order to influence Madigan as key legislation worked its way through Springfield. The judge declined to issue federal charges against Madigan's inner circle and rejected arguments in what is described as a key ruling seven months ahead of a trial. In the 50-page November 2020 indictment were Madigan confidant Michael McClain, ex-ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, ex-top ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and Jay Doherty, the former president of the City Club. The four people had been accused of arranging for Madigan’s associates and allies to get jobs, contracts, and money in order

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Josh Hawley, the waifish fascist Senator from Missouri, has made it onto our pages several times in the past. When he's not advocating breaking up Twitter because he doesn't like how a private company is run (fascist), or breaking up lots of other companies he simply disagrees with (fascist), you can typically find him pretending the First Amendment works the exact opposite of how it does in reality or explaining in published books and newspaper pages how much he's been silenced and canceled. It might all look very stupid on its face, but it isn't. It's actually quite diabolical.  

Hawley is a graduate of both Stanford and Yale. And, sure, you can convince me that someone can graduate from both of those schools somehow while being an idiot, but that's not Hawley. When he advocates for fascist policies and generally acts like a right-wing radio talk show host, it's not because he's stupid. It's because he's an assbag.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's talk about the Josh Hawley mug he's selling on his website.

See? He's an asshole. In case you can't see the image or don't know what the issue is, that picture of Hawley was snapped by the AP and was him saluting the crowd of strange people protesting outside the Capital building because their preferred candidate lost. Some of those people later stormed the capital in a violent attempt to overthrow the will of the America people. Now Hawley, in a plain bid to generate outrage, is utilizing that picture of him saluting that crowd in order to raise campaign funds. Immediately after the launch of the mug product, his team sent out an email fundraising on it, apparently purely over the joy of making liberals angry, which appears to be one of Hawley's major policy positions.

Everyone remembers the photo of profa senator Josh Hawley raising his fist to salute the murderous rioters who stormed the Capitol, injured 150 police officers, and tried to hang Mike Pence. Now Hawley is selling a curiously named "Show Me Strong White Coffee Mug" with the same image in an amateurishly designed graphic.

He says its a "perfect way to enjoy Coffee, Tea, or Liberal Tears!" and is "not a pro-riot mug."

None of this is new or creative. The liberal tears thing is at least as old as Ben Shapiro saying it all the time and is probably older than that. The slogan is lame. And the picture, as Boing Boing goes on to note, is from the AP.

In addition, his mug uses an image based on an Associated Press photograph and is probably a copyright violation. AP told Rolling Stone that it's investigating. As you might recall, artist Shepard Fairey used an AP photo of Obama a decade ago, and ended up paying AP an undisclosed amount to settle the copyright lawsuit.

And here is where we take the Techdirt turn. The Fairey case was settled out of court, but we argued all along the way that Fairey's use should have qualified as fair use. I take the same view of Hawley's use of an AP photo. The use is for raising campaign funds, rather than purely commercial use. The photo is being used as political speech. It's at least mildly transformative, although not as strongly as Fairey's, given that most people will recognize where that image is from. And, ultimately, Hawley's mug represents zero threat to the AP's business. The AP isn't selling mugs with the picture on it to those that wish to drink liberal tears.

So while it's fun to discuss what a jerk Hawley is, trying to pretend that we think this is copyright infringement just because I don't like him would be disingenuous. And I, unlike Josh Hawley, am not that.

Today on TAP: It’s not the Nazi-Soviet Pact, but their alliance is rotten nonetheless.

Our Love Story: The Couple: Pete & Ashley Diamond from Wood River Date Met/Started Dating: April 3, 2000 Briefly Describe First Date: Ashley joined 7th-grade track at Trimpe to spend more time with Pete. Date Married: August 1, 2020 Name Something You Enjoy Doing Together: We love going on trips, spending time with our families, and hanging out at home with our furkids. Share Advice For A Happy Relationship: Communication is absolutely key! Live every day with love, compassion, and trust.

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ALTON - The Overnight Warming Center of Alton is activating Thursday, February 17 – doors open at 5pm, at the Deliverance Temple Church at 1125 East Sixth Street in Alton. Doors are located on Cherry Street. "We are aware that multiple days coming up are going to be cold overnight," Chelsea Boyles, a spokesperson for the Overnight Warming Center, said. "We will still continue to make the decision each morning on whether we will be open. "Part of this reason is that we need to ensure that we are staffed properly. We are looking for more volunteers. If you know anyone interested please send them to our Facebook page to sign up to be a volunteer!" Contact Boyles at (877) 467-3123 if you wish to volunteer.

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ST. LOUIS - As of 1:15 p.m. Thursday, there were various reports of accidents in the late morning and early afternoon because of inclement weather conditions throughout the area. Illinois State Police was addressing crashes on I-255 and I-55, I-64, and Alton Police responded to one on Homer Adams Parkway. St. Louis National Weather Service Meteorologist Melissa Mainhart said after 3 p.m. today the weather will continue to deteriorate. “We will go from freezing rains to snow in the St Louis region after 3 p.m.,” she said. “Rush hour should be really challenging. We are really concerned about the afternoon. If you can leave work or school early that would be good. Motorists need to be especially careful on bridges and overpasses.” Mainhart pointed out that bridges and overpasses freeze more quickly than the rest of the roadway. Mainhart’s advice for motorists this afternoon and tonight was to take it slow and leave a lot of room between the car in front

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ALTON - An Alton man and his granddaughter have filed suit against his neighbors, claiming two American bulldogs attacked the young girl and her grandfather when he tried to rescue her. Gerald L. Harrison and Kayleigh Harrison, a minor, and Shemetra Matlock on behalf of her daughter and herself have named Anthony A. Chiello, Brittany R. Ritchey and Steve Atkins. “Defendant knew or should have known that said dogs had a dangerous and vicious propensity,” the suit claims. The alleged attack was in the yard of Harrison at his home at 2918 Sunnyside St., Alton, on May 21, 2021. The dogs allegedly entered the plaintiff’s yard from the owner's yard at 523 Winkler Ave., Alton. “As a direct and proximate result of the aforesaid unprovoked attack, the plaintiff was caused to suffer temporary and permanently disabling injuries and scars this hand and pain and suffering, and disfigurement by reason of which plaintiff has expended and incurred obligations for medical

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GLEN CARBON – Nathan J. Foote, 25, of the 100 block of Bayhill Boulevard, Glen Carbon, was charged Thursday with unlawful marijuana trafficking, unlawful possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, and criminal fortification of a residence or building. He allegedly brought more than 5,000 grams of marijuana into the state, possessed with intent to deliver more than 5,000 grams of the drug and placed surveillance devices at his home. Bail was set at $250,000. The trafficking and delivery charges are Class X crimes, punishable by prison terms of between six and 30 years. BETHALTO - Robert T. Yates, 29, of Springfield, was charged Wednesday with burglary. He allegedly entered the Walgreen Drug Store, 172 McArthur Drive, Bethalto, with the intent to commit a theft. Bail was set at $50,000. COTTAGE HILLS - Bennie L.Thompson, 53, of the 1300 block of Lee Avenue, Cottage Hills, was charged Wednesday with unlawful possession of methamphetamine. He allegedly possessed

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"It's truly a way to keep people alive in the hopes they will seek treatment," the bill's sponsor, Democrat Trish Gunby of St. Louis County said.

A Clinton County man has a history of trying to contact underage girls via social media, prosecutors said.

The woman admitted to police that she killed her son in a bathtub and decapitated him. A decapitated dog was also found in the basement.