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St. Louisans know the Lumière Place Casino as the soaring riverfront tower with the perpetually pixelated light display whose appearance in the rearview mirror signals to drivers that they've taken the wrong right turn onto the MLK bridge to Illinois — but the casino's ownership group is angling for a change. On February 7, Caesars Entertainment announced a grand rebranding that will see the casino renamed Horseshoe St. Louis, a plan that seems to assume that St. Louisans comprehend the concept of “names” in a way that, frankly, flies in the face of our city’s many mispronounced French streets and total disregard for the existence of whatever “Panera” is.…

A spokeswoman said an inmate made his own weapon and used it to stab a staff member. The man was treated at a hospital and released.

The Moscow Mills resident estimated she'd made about $10,000 in fake bills in two months.

The STL Reentry Collective is on a mission to reimagine how people adapt to life after prison. The organizers, formerly incarcerated individuals themselves, are focused on addressing the trauma they say often lands people back in prison.

Wash U law professor Neil Richards discusses how knowledge is power, and what that means for our privacy as tech companies and governments seek to surveil us. He also shares where he sees hope even with privacy’s continued erosion in the digital age.

It’s important to keep in mind that not all cases and deaths announced on a particular day occurred in the last 24 hours.

Missouri Senator Eric Burlison, R-Battlefield, is hoping for another smash hit. Mostly living in infamy for the clusterfuck that is the “Second Amendment Preservation Act,” which has caused many headaches for law enforcement and prosecutors alike, Burlison has now gone a step further in his quest to Make Missouri Murder More.…

The property's owner said market conditions favor a sale. Litigation involving the property is also pending.

The work will take place during the day on Wednesday and Thursday, and close one eastbound lane.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, along with Sen. Lindsey Graham, has re-introduced the dangerous EARN IT Act.

CC BY, Senate Democrats

After public backlash led to a major defeat in 2020, lawmakers are now attempting to rush the anti-privacy legislation through the Senate.

The EARN IT Act, a fundamentally anti-encryption bill targeting the cornerstone of Internet law, is on the fast track for a Senate vote after an earlier version collapsed amid widespread backlash from pro-privacy organizations. Two years ago we described the bill as a "threat to press freedom," an assessment that applies just as accurately to the current legislation.

EFF has published a tool to allow U.S. residents to contact their senators and urge them to oppose this dangerous bill. Fight for the Future has also rolled out an easy way to contact lawmakers about the bill.

The reintroduced version is in some ways worse than the draft that attracted such vehement pushback two years ago, but could be rushed through to a vote before meaningful opposition can reassemble. Expert analysis suggests it would be worse than useless at its stated goals: Though nominally aimed at reducing the spread of child sexual abuse material online, it could exacerbate that problem.

At the same time, it would wreak havoc on critical components of online infrastructure, such as strong encryption and established legal safe harbors.

Bills that complicate the deployment of strong encryption are bad for journalists, who must rely on broad privacy protections to communicate with sources and to conduct investigative research. It's no guarantee that even specialized privacy-focused platforms would be able to overcome the hurdles put in place by a law like EARN IT: two years ago, the non-profit behind Signal messenger said it would not be able to operate in the United States in such a legal environment.

The bill, if passed, would constrain existing legal safe harbors, incentivizing platforms to overzealously restrict the kinds of content that users can post and share. This kind of chilling effect followed an earlier law, SESTA/FOSTA, on which EARN IT is modeled. In the wake of SESTA/FOSTA's passage in 2018, multiple platforms did immediately shut down rather than face the legal jeopardy of continuing to operate.

A government study on the topic and a comprehensive law review article have confirmed the suspicion that the environment is now worse for investigators to find sex trafficking offenders and victims. Although the role of journalistic investigations and law enforcement investigations are very different, dynamics that restrict one can certainly impact the other.

For these reasons and more, in just the week since its reintroduction EARN IT has received vociferous opposition across the political spectrum from ACLU to Americans for Prosperity. Freedom of the Press Foundation strongly opposes the proposal, and we will be following as its backers attempt to rush it through the process.

Karen Foss became a household name in St. Louis, sharing stories of the people and the community. Now, she’s sharing her own terrifying experience with COVID-19.

Chuny Ann Reed has been charged with distribution of crack cocaine base and fentanyl which led to several overdoses.

SPRINGFIELD – The following is attributable to Illinois Education Association Vice President Al Llorens regarding the ruling by Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow on the temporary restraining order (TRO) that would prohibit enforcement of face masks, vaccination, and COVID testing mandates: “Our students thrive on consistency and the last two years have been anything, but consistent. We do not want another disruption to our students’ learning while we are still working to bridge the learning gap created by the pandemic. That’s why we believe our school districts should not make any rash decisions changing COVID safety requirements until after this process plays out in our court system. Our educators should be focused on their students - not worrying about health and safety. We’ve been able to keep our schools open with these safety measures in place. We know that in person learning is the best way for our students to learn and we should be doing everything

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The corrections systems at the city and state level are in chaos. Just this week, three people were stabbed in three days at a prison in Bonne Terre, four teens escaped from a juvenile detention facility in St. Louis, and some nut mailed the director of Missouri prisons an envelope full of white powder, leading to the evacuation of the Missouri Department of Corrections' headquarters in Jefferson City.…

SPRINGFIELD – To address cases of sexual abuse against mothers while giving birth, State Senator Rachelle Aud Crowe (D-Glen Carbon) advanced legislation to allow parents to remove the physician’s name from a copy of the child’s birth certificate. “When giving birth, women trust their physician to offer support, guidance, and encouragement on one of the happiest, most memorable days of her life,” Crowe said. “Unfortunately, there are multiple cases where mothers endure sexual assault and abuse in the process, and this measure aims to remove the disgraced physician’s name from the child’s birth certificate.” In Illinois, the short-form birth certificate does not include the physician’s name. Under Crowe’s proposal, a parent or 18-year old child can request a long-form birth certificate with the physician’s name removed. The redacted certified copy of the birth certificate does not replace the original certificate.

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Chuny Ann Reed is suspected of selling drugs at the Parkview Apartments, 4451 Forest Park Avenue, after at least five died of overdoses there.

The St. Louis area will be the home of a new area code later this year, the 557 area code. The existing 314 area code is currently used for St. Louis, Overland, Bridgeton, Florissant, Webster Groves, Creve Coeur, Kirkwood and other nearby jurisdictions, but the number of new 314 numbers that can be issued is running low. According to the North American Numbering Plan Administrator, the last of the 314 phone numbers will be exhausted by the third quarter of 2022. Because of the short supply, the…

Once the 314 numbers run out later this year, new phone numbers in the area will be issued 557 area codes.

West End Grill and Pub (354 North Boyle Avenue, 314-531-4607), a beloved mainstay of the Central West End dining scene that traces its roots all the way back to the iconic Duff's, will soon be a memory. The restaurant will serve its lasts guests on Sunday, February 13th in the form of a Super Bowl blowout that is sure to draw longtime employees, regulars and those just wanting to say their goodbyes to a piece of the city's restaurant history.…