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The owner of the vacant properties, which date to the late 1800s, claims they couldn't be saved. But the city blamed him for the demolition outcome.

GODFREY - Godfrey resident Jean Connoyer had some fun on Friday with her beloved horse - Henry - as he was in a stable for a few days the first part of the week because of the inclement weather. Today, Henry was in a playful mood, she said, with the weather breaking and he enjoyed time with Connoyer grazing outside. Henry is a black-coated horse and is a half Morgan and Friesian breed. The Morgan bread is compact, refined, and generally gray, black, or chestnut in color. Henry is boarded at Hoagland Stables in Godfrey. The Morgan breed is considered the ultimate all-American horse and originated in Vermont, Connoyer said. The Friesian breed originates in Friesland in the Netherlands. Friesian horses were in great demand during war times because they are graceful and nimble for their size and are better designed for the cold, Connoyer said. "The Morgan breed is a do it all kind of breed, Connoyer said, who has had Henry for about nine years." The yellow-coated horse - Sonny - below

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Congress is trying to overload anyone who supports an open internet with terrible bill after terrible bill. Last week, they brought out the "COMPETES Act" (renamed from Endless Frontiers which had already been renamed as "USICA" and then became COMPETES). The underlying concept of the bill actually is important -- reviving American innovation. The Senate version of the bill was mostly good and had broad bipartisan support. However, for reasons I don't understand, Nancy Pelosi allowed the bill to be loaded up with a bunch of items on the Democrats' wish list, including the ridiculously dangerous SHOP SAFE Act.

This week, of course, we've been stuck dealing with the reintroduction of the also terrible EARN IT Act in the Senate, and while all of the open internet activists were gearing up to fight that, the House went ahead and voted to approve the COMPETES Act with no changes. It was an almost strict party-line vote, ending up at 222 for and 210 against. One Democrat -- Rep. Stephanie Murphy -- voted against it, and one Republican -- Rep. Adam Kinzinger (who technically is still a Republican) voted for it.

This all seems so incredibly counterproductive by Pelosi and the Democrats. I know they want a "win" and when there's a bill that will move they feel they need to hang all sorts of gifts on it, but following the Senate's lead and coming up with a more reasonable bill that wasn't stuff full of bad ideas would have presented this as an actually interesting and useful bill, rather than turning it into a partisan thing. Politics is where policy goes to die. And, unfortunately, it may take parts of the open internet with it.

That said, the Senate version does not have the nonsense and dangerous SHOP SAFE bill attached, and the hope is that during the conference process where the House and Senate try to square up the different bills, SHOP SAFE will get left on the cutting room floor, where it belongs.

In sixth grade, Emma Lembke couldn’t wait for permission to explore social media. But by high school, she found herself disgusted with her apps. Now she and other teens are building a movement for change.

The blood drive will be at Busch Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 19. Appointments are required.

Some viewers told 5 On Your Side they have gone without mail delivery for days. USPS said winter weather conditions in some areas are creating "challenges."

Asian restaurants have been in St. Louis for generations and are some of the most popular spots around, but Shayn Prapaisilp, owner of Chao Baan restaurant and of King & I, wants people to recognize there is still racism and xenophobia against Asian Americans. That’s why his restaurants and thirteen others have grouped together to fundraise for the Very Asian Foundation, founded by KSDK news anchor Michelle Li after a racist voicemail was left for her following a news segment.…

Our Love Story: The Couple: Jenny & Amos from Godfrey Date Met/Started Dating: June 8, 2020 Briefly Describe First Date: We met up and went out to explore Cuivre River in Missouri, after not having seen each other for at least 20 years. Name Something You Enjoy Doing Together: We love exploring, watching movies, pokemoning, traveling, and just talking and laughing together. Share Advice For A Happy Relationship: Communication is so very important.

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Our Love Story: The Couple: Carrie and David from Collinsville Date Met/Started Dating: July 10, 2021 Briefly Describe First Date: I met him on Facebook through a friend and asked him to go to my best friend's wedding with me…and he said yes! Date Married: June 25, 2022 Name Something You Enjoy Doing Together: We love going to the gun range and just being together. Share Advice For A Happy Relationship: Always be truthful and honest…laugh a lot and don’t take life too seriously…live in the now.

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A student at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville has been accused of falsely reporting a hate crime.

This month, PBS announced its offering plentiful programming and digital content to celebrate Black History Month in an effort to feature significant stories from the people and communities that shape our country’s history.

Elton John's recently relaunched Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour has put him on top of a new weekly chart: Pollstar's Artist Power Index. The ranking combines concert ticket sales data…

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The Iowa state senate chamber, where lawmakers have recently restricted journalist access.

Carol Highsmith

In a growing number of state legislatures across the country, journalists are facing new rules and proposed legislation that breaks with traditions of public access to legislators. These moves are a troubling development in the increasingly rocky relationship between government officials and the press that covers them, and should be rolled back and opposed wherever possible.

Two recent shifts were highlighted in this month's U.S. Press Freedom Tracker newsletter. In the Iowa and Kansas senates — both controlled by Republicans — legislators announced that journalists would no longer be allowed on the floor, and instead moved to a public gallery. In each case, lawmakers cited practical concerns and downplayed the First Amendment implications, but the effect has been to diminish the ability for journalists to effectively cover legislative action.

In Kansas, the Republican former president of the Senate Steve Morris objected to the move in an op-ed in the Kansas Reflector. "Placing restrictions on journalists in the Senate chamber suggests there is something to hide, or that leadership is taking unwarranted and unnecessary retaliation against reporters."

And last week, the Committee to Protect Journalists — a partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — spoke with a number of journalists about the effect of the change. Erin Murphy, the Des Moines bureau chief for the Cedar Rapids Gazette, said of the move, "When we work from the press benches on the Senate and House floors, we have direct access to those lawmakers throughout a legislative session. All these things that help inform our reporting and help our work so much better become infinitely more challenging when we’re in the upstairs gallery literally removed from those folks."

Sherman Smith, a reporter for the Kansas Reflector, told CPJ he took issue with the official explanation for the change. "I don’t know if they were trying to antagonize reporters, or if they just didn’t care about reporters. But we do know that the explanation that there are more of us now than ever before just isn’t true and the idea that it doesn’t matter because we can watch the video stream or the view from the balcony above just speaks to a fundamental misunderstanding of how we do our job."

Both journalists expressed concern that the shift would create a precedent that could be applied elsewhere — a fear that was vindicated this week as a Republican lawmaker in Utah introduced a resolution that would create similar restrictions in the Beehive State.

Following the script, Utah officials cite logistical challenges, but their explanations for restricting access hardly hold water. If there are practical concerns to allowing the journalists to effectively conduct their work on the floor of the state legislature, lawmakers should address those concerns. Hiding behind excuses like a shortage of chairs or undersized committee rooms is a bad look for the lawmakers claiming them, produces bad results for journalists just trying to do their jobs, and ultimately spells bad news for an informed public in these states.

The Weather Outside Is Frightful This week with COVID still in the air and snow on the streets, we are back in lock down mode once again. Adding to the containment here at my condo, the elevator is out of whack, my internet temporarily disrupted, and my grocery delivery delayed by the inclement weather. I... 

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The post Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow appeared first on Good Food St. Louis.

Chile is in the middle of creating a new constitution -- a process that seems fraught with both huge potential and tremendous risks, especially trying to do it amidst domestic social upheaval (though, I guess that's when most constitutions tend to be written). A process is in place and 155 people are apparently been tasked with creating this new constitution. Apparently, part of the process is open to an element of crowdsourcing, in that people can submit and vote on certain proposals, meaning that a set of three proposals regarding the internet have been put forth:

15,000 signatures are required to submit citizen proposals to the constitutional debate directly.

The opportunity to achieve substantive and long-term change for digital rights and freedom of software and other intellectual works is unique in Chile's history, and may not be repeated in our lifetime. This is why four communities historically related to the use and dissemination of free software in Chile got together to draft three of these proposals, which are:

• Access to knowledge
• Technological and digital sovereignty
• Internet privacy

These constitutional proposals explain principles of the nation, the rights of citizens, and the duties of the state concerning them. The inclusion of the constitutional articles will allow and promote the creation of laws that defend our freedoms and rights effectively. They are not the end of the road for intellectual freedoms and digital rights, but only the beginning.

All of these sound good (in fact, very good) in theory, though I'm a bit squeamish about how they would be implemented in practice, should they get the necessary signatures and support from the constitution drafters. However, at the very least, it's worth watching how modern constitution drafting is going to consider user rights online.

Attorney general’s lawsuit challenging the city health order is pending in St. Louis Circuit Court.