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Locals in Louisiana, Missouri plan to protest Wednesday, November 2, outside their city hall.

It is an important project which has been in the works for a while.

Still no answers Wednesday morning on the whereabouts of Kenny Loudermilk

French Village, Illinois, firefighters battled a fire early Wednesday morning.

On the 31st floor of 100 Above the Park, the striking origami-like sculpture dominating the Central West End skyline, exiled Bostonians Tom Choinski and Steve Jewett hosted a party in their fashionable corner apartment. While St. Louis’ social scene is known to be challenging for outsiders to navigate, Choinski says joining an organization was the secret to his success.

This week, we’re debuting a new column from man-about-town and former editor, Chris Andoe. The monthly column will take you into some of St. Louis’ best parties and introduce you to the city’s fascinating characters.

Many people impacted by the massive July floods have only days left to apply for federal financial help.

This story was commissioned by the River City Journalism Fund as part of its inaugural series, Shadow of Death, which considers St. Louis County's use of the death penalty. It's been nearly 20 years since Kevin Johnson fired seven shots into William McEntee, killing the Kirkwood police sergeant in front of horrified onlookers, but Johnson can still recall the day in striking detail. The seeming smirk on McEntee's face that triggered his anger.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, 92 Missourians have been put to death. Thirty-five have been Black, 56 white and one Native American.

In Illinois, residents of St. Clair County can now apply for federal aid at one of two disaster recovery centers that opened Oct. 28.

The road to hell isn’t paved anymore with good intentions. The asphalt is hatred. Chances are you have experienced it recently. A person may have confronted you because of race or ethnicity. One study shows that 22% of Americans have encountered that or had their property damaged because of their skin color or culture. You may hate […]

The post The optics of American hate appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Whalers from the 18th and 19th centuries are helping 21st Century scientists on climate change.

Homeowners fear the state will devalue their properties by publicizing their fire risk.

Experts say we can't adopt clean energy without more long-distance power lines. But congressional gridlock is getting in the way.

A 'hundred-year flood' would disproportionately affect the county's Black communities.

Neil Young started the '90s by rocking out on the album Ragged Glory, and subsequent 1991 live albums Arc and Weld. But when 1992 rolled around, Young, who was suffering…

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In Nevada, Arizona, and Pennsylvania, the union has been talking to voters about progressive fixes to inflation for months, when Democrats didn’t know what to say.

George Logan would be the first Republican in Connecticut to win federal office in nearly two decades.

Question 4 would uphold a state law allowing undocumented residents to get driver’s licenses. Supporters are pitching it as a public-safety measure.

by Jeremy Kohler

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.

Ohio lawmakers this fall will consider adding consumer protections to “clean energy” lending programs, responding to concerns they can burden vulnerable homeowners.

In testimony during state House committee hearings this year, some proponents of the bill pointed to reporting by ProPublica as evidence that Ohio should closely regulate the lending. That reporting showed that Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE, loans often left low-income borrowers in Missouri at risk of losing their homes.

Two Republican state House members from eastern Ohio are pursuing rules for PACE, though such a lending program has only been offered through a pilot program in Toledo. But lawmakers Bill Roemer, from Richfield, and Al Cutrona, from Canfield, said they want to make sure that, if companies try to bring a statewide program to Ohio, they comply with stricter rules.

PACE offers financing for energy-saving home improvements that borrowers pay back in their property taxes. Unlike with some other types of financing, defaulting on a PACE loan can result in a home being sold in a tax sale.

Missouri, California and Florida are the only states with active statewide residential PACE programs. Ohio last year came close to becoming the fourth, after California-based Ygrene Energy Fund announced it would offer loans to homeowners in partnership with the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority.

But the program never got started. Ygrene has since suspended all lending nationwide and last week agreed to settle a complaint by the federal government and the state of California that the company had harmed consumers through deceptive practices.

Roemer said in an interview that he co-sponsored the measure after talking to a coalition that included mortgage lenders, real estate agents and advocates for affordable housing and the homeless.

“You never really see all those people come together on a bill,” he said. “I did my research, and I said, ‘This is really a bad program that takes advantage of the most vulnerable people.’”

The legislative session ends on Dec. 31, leaving little time to pass the bill.

“It’s going to be a lot of work,” Roemer said, “but I think it’s very important that we do it.”

Ben Holbrook, an aide to Cutrona, said that after Ygrene’s withdrawal, the bill is “less of a reactive piece of legislation and more proactive.”

ProPublica found that state and local officials in Missouri exercised little oversight over the two entities that have run the clean-energy loan programs in that state. Ygrene and the Missouri Clean Energy District charged high interest rates and fees over terms as long as 20 years, collecting loan payments through tax bills and enforcing debts by placing liens on property — all of which left some borrowers vulnerable to losing their homes if they defaulted.

Reporters analyzed about 2,700 loans recorded in the five counties with Missouri’s most active PACE programs. They found that borrowers, particularly in predominantly Black neighborhoods, sometimes were paying more in interest and fees than their homes were worth.

PACE lenders said that their programs provided much-needed financing for home upgrades, particularly in predominantly Black neighborhoods where traditional lenders typically don’t do much business. They said their interest rates were lower than payday lenders and some credit cards.

Weeks after ProPublica’s investigation, the Missouri legislature passed and Gov. Mike Parson signed a law mandating more consumer protections and oversight of PACE. In Ohio, following our reporting, leaders in the state’s two most populous cities, Columbus and Cleveland, said they would not participate in any residential PACE plan.

Ohio’s bill would cap the annual interest rate on PACE loans at 8% and prohibit lenders from charging interest on fees. Lenders must verify that a borrower can repay a loan by confirming that the borrowers’ monthly debt does not exceed 43% of their monthly income and that they have sufficient income to meet basic living expenses.

The measure would also change how PACE lenders secure their loans. In states where PACE has thrived in residential markets, PACE liens are paid first if a home goes into foreclosure. And a homeowner can borrow without the consent of the bank holding the mortgage. Ohio’s bill would pay off PACE liens after the mortgage and any other liens on the property. In addition, the mortgage lender would have to agree to adding a PACE loan.

Ygrene officials did not respond to requests for comment. But a company official told the legislative committee that the bill would “unequivocally kill residential PACE.” Crystal Crawford, then a Ygrene vice president, told the committee in May that the bill was “not a consumer protection bill — it is a bank protection bill.”

Ohio’s limited experience with PACE illustrated how the program, with sufficient oversight, could be a low-cost option for borrowers. The Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority operated a pilot program allowing residents to borrow money for energy-saving projects without paying high interest or fees. A local nonprofit, the Lucas County Land Bank, made sure borrowers had the means to repay the loans, matched homeowners with contractors and made sure home improvements were completed correctly before releasing the loans.

Ygrene announced in August it had suspended making residential PACE loans in Missouri and California but was continuing to make residential PACE loans in Florida and commercial PACE loans in more than two dozen states. Commercial loans have not attracted as much attention from regulators because they tend to involve borrowers with more experience and access to capital who aren’t as likely as residential borrowers to default.

More recently, Ygrene’s website suggests that instead of making loans directly, Ygrene now operates as an online lending marketplace where consumers seeking personal loans for home improvements can enter personal information and receive offers from third-party lenders.

The complaint by the Federal Trade Commission and the California Department of Justice alleges the company deceived consumers about the potential financial impact of its financing and recorded liens on borrowers’ homes without their consent. To resolve the case, Ygrene agreed to provide monetary relief to some borrowers, end allegedly deceptive practices and meaningfully oversee the contractors who act as its sales force. The settlement must be approved by a judge.

Ygrene said in an email that the complaints date back to the “earliest days” of the company’s marketing of PACE loans in 2015 and that it had since taken “considerable action” to safeguard consumers.

“We deeply regret any negative consequences any customer may have experienced, as even one unhappy customer is too much,” the company said.