Aggregator

This sweet-looking dome home in central Missouri will have you thinking about Bundt cake.

Avian influenza is a family of highly contagious viruses that are not typically harmful to most wild birds that transmit it, but are deadly to domesticated birds.

EAST ALTON - At 10:48 p.m. on Sunday evening, December 11, 2022, the East Alton Police Department responded to a single-unit traffic crash, involving a motorcycle, in the 300 block of Lewis and Clark Boulevard. Upon arrival, the operator of the motorcycle was determined to be deceased at the scene. The deceased was Harrison A. Henderson, a 25-year-old male from Alton.

Continue Reading

by Marilyn W. Thompson

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.

In a victory for public health advocates, a federal judge in Montana has blocked the state from implementing a law that would make it illegal for hospitals to ask employees if they are vaccinated. The measure, which passed last year, was the country’s most extreme anti-vaccination law.

Health care providers in Montana had sued the state over the law, arguing that it violates constitutional protections for disabled Americans. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy agreed with them. His ruling permanently enjoined the state from implementing its law in any health care facility.

ProPublica recently investigated the passage of the law, known as House Bill 702, and detailed how a hospital just a short walk from the state Capitol soon faced horrific choices amid COVID-19’s delta wave.

Montana’s GOP-controlled Legislature had passed the bill as debate raged in the state about government efforts to control the spread of COVID-19. The legislation made it illegal for hospitals and doctor’s offices to require vaccinations of any kind. It also prohibited them from reassigning employees based on vaccination status.

The legislation covered not just COVID-19 vaccines but any vaccines, including childhood immunizations for mumps, measles and rubella.

The bill’s author, Republican Rep. Jennifer Carlson, told ProPublica in an interview this year that the legislation was an important privacy protection. “Believing that individuals have the right to make their own private medical decisions is not the same thing as being ‘anti’ anything,” Carlson had said.

The Montana Medical Association and other groups challenged the legislation in a federal lawsuit, and Molloy issued a preliminary injunction in March.

During hearings on the case, immunocompromised patients testified about how routine medical visits had put them at high risk because health facilities could not ensure basic protections.

The judge’s final decision “ensures that Montanans can obtain safe, quality health care without arbitrary government interference,” said Raph Graybill, lead counsel for the Montana Nurses Association, a plaintiff in the case.

The office of Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, which defended the bill as a human rights protection, told local media that it will consider appealing the decision. Knudsen’s office did not respond to ProPublica’s request for comment.

At least a dozen states have placed limits on vaccine mandates, according to tracking from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Meanwhile, the National Conference of State Legislatures identified hundreds of bills introduced in the last two years aimed at prohibiting COVID-19 vaccine mandates, though few have succeeded.

In ProPublica’s story, administrators and staff at St. Peter’s Health in Helena described their terror as patients, many of them unvaccinated, flooded the facility and clogged its small intensive care unit. Deaths reached record highs in October 2021 while the hospital was operating under “crisis standards of care,” a legal distinction that warns patients they cannot expect usual levels of treatment.

Hospital staff who served on its Scarce Resources Committee recounted a dramatic episode when the panel had to decide which of a handful of critically ill patients would get an ICU bed.

St. Peter’s told ProPublica that no COVID-19 patient went without treatment.

St. Peter’s administrators struggled to get staff vaccinated, and Carlson’s bill added to widespread uncertainty about how to best protect the public. Most health care facilities in Montana rely heavily on payments from federal agencies and have been under pressure to comply with vaccine mandates from the Biden administration that conflicted with the state law.

Vicky Byrd, CEO of the nurses association, said the federal ruling means that acute care facilities will be better able to protect their patients. “It was and is the right thing to do,” she told ProPublica.

Mollie Simon contributed research.

The 44-story, 1.4 Million Square Foot, AT&T Building at 909 Chestnut in Downtown is set to be redeveloped in a mixed-use redevelopment...

ST. LOUIS COUNTY - St. Louis County Police Crimes Against Persons detectives are investigating a pedestrian struck at the intersection of Buckley Road and Lemay Ferry Road that resulted in the death of an adult female. The deceased has been positively identified as Subrina Coleman, 44 years of age, of the 300 block of North Fourth Street in Pacific, Missouri, 63069. On December 9, 2022, at 6:14 p.m. St. Louis County Police officers from the South County precinct responded to a call for service at the intersection of Buckley Road and Lemay Ferry Road for a person struck. Responding officers located an adult female who had been struck by a motor vehicle. The female was transported to an area hospital for life-saving treatment, but later succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced deceased. A preliminary investigation has revealed a vehicle was traveling eastbound on Buckley Road at Lemay Ferry Road when a female entered the roadway and was struck. The driver of the vehicle remained

Continue Reading

You've probably heard by now that the Department of Energy will announce tomorrow that one of their fusion machines has achieved the holy grail: net energy production. That is, the energy coming out will be greater than the energy going in. Not to put a damper on the whole thing, but there's a little less ...continue reading "Warning: The NIF fusion facility didn’t really produce a net energy gain"

EDWARDSVILLE - Edwardsville School District 7 is considering closing Midway Elementary and sending all northern K-2 students, who come from an area larger than 50 square miles to Hamel. Through the D7 engagement process, it has become clear that D7 gathered little background on the condition of the Midway aside from the study completed by Cordogan Clark. I and others have requested basic information from D7 on the condition of Midway and have yet to get answers. At the recent November 30 Midway engagement meeting, attended by nearly 130 people opposed to closure, D7 abruptly ended the meeting, still unable to share the root causes of building issues or context on why the district has failed at conducting basic maintenance at the school. This community does not agree with the current proposal. And there are several alternative solutions to fixing Midway School that would cost far less than the $5 million proposed. D7’s failure to conduct and share research on a proposal for Midway

Continue Reading

ALTON - The Alton Community Service League Gift Wrap program enters its 44th year this Christmas season. The primary fundraiser for the organization, which donates all profits to area charities has been headed by Marge Ferguson since 2013. The gift wrap program is the primary fundraiser for Alton Community League. The volunteers will be at Alton Square Mall's first floor between J.C. Penney and Hayner Library. From December 10-19 the gift wrap volunteers will be there from noon to 6 p.m. and from noon to 7 p.m. December 20-23 and noon to 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve Dec. 24.

Continue Reading

The TSA has been working towards this goal for nearly a half-decade. Its parent agency, the DHS, has already deployed facial recognition tech, most of it aimed at foreigners. The CBP uses it all the time. In 2020, the CBP’s facial recognition scanners at US borders captured 50 million facial images and less than 300 […]

The long-delayed redevelopment of the historic Jefferson Arms building in downtown St. Louis is finally set to begin construction. Last week, Gary Perinar, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Mid-American Carpenters Regional Council, toured the property with executives from Alterra Worldwide. The Dallas-based developer plans to restore Jefferson Arms to its former glory with a 225-room hotel, […]

EDWARDSVILLE – The Edwardsville Fire and Police Departments are among multiple Madison County agencies that are upgrading to some of the newest radio technology available for emergency responders. The radios and related purchases totaled nearly $500,000, and were paid primarily through a grant from the Edwardsville Community Foundation Relief Fund, which was established in the wake of the December 2021 tornado. This month, the City of Edwardsville also authorized nearly $44,000 in additional radio purchases to further bolster its communication resources. Edwardsville Police Chief Mike Fillback said the City’s Fire and Police Departments had been planning to upgrade their radios over time, but the grant accelerated the process. All of the radios are expected to arrive within the next eight weeks. “These are some of the latest technology radios,” Edwardsville Fire Chief James Whiteford said. “These will enhance our daily capabilities and also ensure that

Continue Reading

Funny thing, lists. People tend to like them when they agree with the conclusions — and hate them when they don’t.​

The band will bring Cave Radio and Blinded by Stereo along to celebrate the release of “What Time?” and “Radar.”

Most of the campaign committee's funds came from Missouri's medical marijuana industry, which stands to gain once recreational sales begin.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The FIFA World Cup soccer semi-finals will be on FOX 2 at noon Tuesday, with a match between Argentina vs. Croatia.  You can watch Studio STL at noon on KPLR 11.  Check out the program schedule by clicking here. The Associated Press reports that momentum is building behind Messi's push to cap his career with the [...]

The dog suffered burns to the face.

Third Way Think Tank

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A coalition of nearly 40 press freedom, civil liberties and other organizations led by Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) has urged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to advance the PRESS Act to a vote before Congress adjourns.

The bipartisan act, which unanimously passed the House in September, is a "shield" bill that would protect journalists from surveillance or compelled disclosure of source materials except in emergency situations.

“The PRESS Act would be the most important press freedom legislation to pass Congress in modern history. It would finally allow journalists to do their jobs without being spied on or threatened with arrest for not burning their sources,” said FPF advocacy director Seth Stern.

The Senate must act soon to pass the PRESS Act before its session ends in the next few weeks.

“Sen. Schumer could be a hero to all journalists by making sure this bill gets a vote before the end of the year,” Stern said.

The coalition signed on to the letter includes heavyweights like the ACLU, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, Electronic Frontier Foundation, PEN America and many more. You can read the full letter and see all its signatories below.

Stern said this chance may not come again for many years. “We believe the PRESS Act has a real chance at passing, and it would finally put an end to the reporter surveillance scandals that have plagued all recent presidential administrations — but only if Schumer acts quickly,” Stern added.

FPF founding board member, actor and activist John Cusack, authored an op-ed in support of the PRESS Act, arguing that “we cannot allow the government to surveil journalists and expose sources … if we expect journalists to expose corruption, speak truth to power and print what the powerful don’t want printed.”

The coalition letter follows a separate letter from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press on behalf of 15 major news organizations including The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR and CNN. Schumer himself is among the many elected officials, both Democrat and Republican, who have in the past supported shield legislation. Forty-nine states have recognized reporter’s privileges, leaving the federal government as the outlier.

Please contact FPF advocacy director Seth Stern for more information. He can be reached at seth@freedom.press.

Webster University says that Karen Elizabeth Noonan, 20, and Patricia Mary Coyle, 20 were returning from a fall semester abroad at the Vienna campus.