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Pritzker and Democratic lawmakers vowed to strengthen the "force field" that has made Illinois an abortion rights island in the Midwest.

The complex denies violating the Fair Housing Act, but tells the I-Team it's making changes to paperwork.

Missouri man Carman Deck executed for killing De Soto couple in 1996, becoming just the fifth person to be put to death in the U.S. this year.

The Rolling Stones have partnered with the LEGO Group on the creation of a new LEGO set that celebrates the band's classic tongue-and-lips logo in honor of the British rock…

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Enjoy Trivia by Unleashed Music STL, including prizes and drink specials, every other Tuesday at Aloft St. Louis Cortex.

The post Trivia Night @ ALOFT appeared first on Explore St. Louis.

The letter said it's "imperative that Congress acts swiftly to ensure that all Americans continue to have meaningful access to reproductive healthcare and abortion."

Some governors of Democratic states are pledging to protect women's reproductive rights. and some Republican governors are saying they will call for special sessions if Roe is overturned.

The start of planting season and Mother’s Day go hand-in-hand, making gardening supplies and plants the perfect gifts for a mom with a green thumb.

The Zoo will be open a little bit longer on Saturdays and Sundays from May 13 to August 14.

The New Yorker magazine is famous for its fact checking effort. Indeed, the New Yorker itself has written multiple pieces about how ridiculously far its fact checking team will go. And when people want to present the quintessential example of how “fact checking” should work, they often point to The New Yorker. Of course, I […]

24-year-old Yepez has played games at first base, third base, left field and designated hitter for the Memphis Redbirds this season. He will wear No. 36.

by Brittany Freeman, Rocky Mountain PBS

This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with Rocky Mountain PBS. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published.

Colorado lawmakers passed a bill Monday aimed at protecting residents in disputes with their homeowners associations.

House Bill 22-1137 limits HOAs from seeking foreclosure against homeowners who accumulate fines for violating community rules known as covenants. The bill also stops HOAs from assessing those penalties on a daily basis and limits them to $500. The legislation now heads to Gov. Jared Polis, whose office said he plans to sign it into law.

“As it currently stands, Coloradans have little recourse and almost no protections when facing down the endless resources held by associations and the lawyers they may hire,” bill cosponsor Sen. James Coleman, D-Denver, told his colleagues at a committee hearing Friday.

The bill went through numerous changes after its first House committee hearing. Supporters said lawmakers removed a provision that would have limited the amount of legal fees that HOAs can charge residents in court cases, but added provisions that specifically prohibited foreclosure on liens that only contain fines or the costs of collecting them.

Coleman said the changes were driven by hours of meetings with representatives of HOAs and their advocates. “We really took our time,” he said, “so that we ultimately make it so that our communities continue to be safe and beautiful, but at the same time folks aren’t losing their homes because they had weeds in their grass.”

Coleman represents Green Valley Ranch, a community that has become the subject of months of publicity after one of the HOAs there filed dozens of foreclosure cases against residents in the past year. Rep. Naquetta Ricks, D-Aurora, was the bill’s initial sponsor.

An analysis of court case data by Rocky Mountain PBS and ProPublica found that Colorado HOAs have filed at least 2,400 foreclosure cases against residents since 2018. HOAs in the state have the legal right to seek foreclosure against homeowners who are at the equivalent of six months behind on their routine dues, but that total can also include fees, fines and collection costs, such as legal fees.

Many homeowners who faced foreclosure have told Rocky Mountain PBS and ProPublica that they ultimately ended up paying thousands of dollars more than their original debts to save their homes because the HOA billed them legal fees after they fell behind. Residents of one HOA community in Aurora, the Timbers Homeowners Association I, told the news organizations that they were surprised to learn their HOA has filed 41 foreclosure cases since 2018.

The newly passed legislation contains several measures that supporters said would give homeowners due process before delinquencies end up in court. It requires several notifications to residents about delinquencies and fines, requires those notices to be provided in the native language designated by homeowners and allows them the opportunity to seek longer payment plans of 18 months to repay debts to the HOA.

Representatives from the HOA industry told lawmakers they opposed the legislation. They said it would make it harder to enforce their rules, especially when homeowners are defiant, and would push more costs onto others who are compliant.

“This bill is going to harm the people who keep their promises and cause expenses for those people. It’s been through so many different amendments and variations, and it’s still so messy,” testified Lindsay Smith, an HOA attorney who heads Colorado’s legislative action committee for the Community Associations Institute.

The bill’s supporters said a provision that opens up small claims court as a venue for disputes could also make a big difference for homeowners who cannot afford to hire an attorney to fight their HOA.

“The disputes that are creating all of the heat within HOAs finally have a place to go,” said Andrew Mowery, an HOA homeowner advocate whose group helped craft the original legislation.

Missouri lawmakers will try one more time before they adjourn for the year to reach agreement on a new Congressional redistricting map. If they fail, the job will likely fall to the courts. But with three pending lawsuits – one in federal court and two in state court – it is uncertain where a map […]

The post Missouri lawmakers to make one more attempt at congressional redistricting map appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Jared Spurgeon was fined $5,000, the maximum allowable fine under the CBA, for cross-checking Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich.

If a draft U.S. Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade holds true, nearly all abortions in Missouri would become illegal. But anti-abortion advocates worry the ban would be swiftly met with …

When the spring weather starts to heat up, fresh fruit is arguably one of the signifiers of the impending summer solstice, hoisting farmer’s markets into the limelight. Eckert’s Farm (multiple locations including 2719 Eckert Orchard Lane, Millstadt, Illinois; 618-233-0513, eckerts.com) hosts a temporary farmer’s market each year in celebration of their fresh produce, and this year, they’ll be extending their season a little bit longer. The farm has operated a pop-up market for more than 20 years, and this year it will be in Rock Hill at 9530 Manchester Road beginning May 12 and running until August 28.

EDWARDSVILLE - Mikayla Spano is a performance mechanic who works at Turbo Connection Racing in Edwardsville and was invited to last year’s SEMA Show in Las Vegas for her work in the automotive industry. Spano said she hopes her success in a male-dominated career can inspire other women to do anything they set their minds to. Spano said her interest in mechanics began long before she could drive - or even reach the pedals. “I started literally from the time I could walk. My Dad and Grandpa are mechanics and they’re my best friends, so growing up, I was in the garage with them. I wanted to know what they were doing and how they were doing it,” Spano said. “So I basically learned from them and then took what I learned from them and progressed to what I know now.” While Spano took some automotive classes in high school and even received a few scholarships, rather than going to college, Spano said she went “straight into the performance world.”

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Kaleidoscope art is a serious venture. Artists and collectors Mike and Donna Thibodeau of St. Charles discuss the kaleidoscope exhibit on display at the Foundry Art Centre and the international expo that comes to Westport Plaza later this month.