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Twelve-hour shifts over weekends are nearing an end for officers within the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

Enjoy the 5th season of this playable, artist-designed, nine-hole mini golf installation, designed to be inclusive, family friendly and accessible.

The post Golf the Galleries appeared first on Explore St. Louis.

by Justin Elliott and Paul Kiel

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

The United States has made a small but significant move toward creating a public system to allow millions of Americans to file their taxes for free.

The sweeping domestic policy bill passed by the House and Senate last week mandates that the IRS study options to provide a free tax filing option for Americans. That study represents a threat to the for-profit tax prep industry dominated by TurboTax, a product of the Silicon Valley company Intuit. President Joe Biden said he plans to sign the bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, today, following the party-line vote in the House to approve it on Friday.

The bill provides $15 million to study how the IRS could implement such a program, how much it might cost and how Americans would view it. The report, which must include the input of an independent third party, is due to Congress within nine months of the bill’s passage.

Unlike many developed countries, the U.S. does not offer free tax filing services for taxpayers, who instead pay billions of dollars every year to highly profitable private tax prep companies.

The industry has tried to block or subvert a government free tax filing system for decades. ProPublica has reported for years on how companies have sometimes even tricked customers into paying for services that they should have gotten for free. Those articles led to investigations by federal agencies and states as well as a barrage of consumer legal actions. The reporting was also cited by Senate Finance Committee chair Ron Wyden, who was behind the new provision. The companies maintain they did nothing wrong.

“I’ve been working to allow taxpayers to file directly with the IRS for many years, and this is an important step toward achieving that goal,” Wyden said in a statement. “Reporting about industry scams certainly helped members see the importance of this issue and get this across the finish line.”

The last time the federal government attempted to provide free tax filing was back in 2002, under the George W. Bush administration. Back then, soon after the White House floated “an easy, no-cost option for taxpayers to file their tax return online,” Intuit and its lobbyists fought back hard. The result was a program that relied on Intuit and other private software providers to provide the service instead.

As we detailed in our story on Intuit’s 20-year campaign to prevent a government-provided tax filing service, the so-called Free File program was flawed from the start. Supposedly available to 70% of taxpayers, it only reached between 2% and 3% in recent years. After ProPublica reported that Intuit and others were intentionally making it harder for taxpayers to find the program online, there was renewed focus on Free File, including numerous investigations. The company stopped including code on its Free File website that made it harder to find the free version. Eventually, both Intuit and H&R Block, by far the largest providers, pulled out.

Through information forms like W-2s, the IRS already has the info on wages and other forms of income in its systems that it would need to provide such a service. A recent study by researchers from the Treasury Department, Minneapolis Federal Reserve and Dartmouth College found that “between 62 and 73 million returns (41 to 48 percent of all returns) could be accurately pre-populated using only current-year information returns and the prior-year return.”

At a Senate hearing in June, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she supported a new free filing service. “We need to develop a new system,” Yellen said in an exchange with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. “There’s no reason in the world that a modern economy shouldn't have a system that makes it easy for such a large group of taxpayers to file their returns.”

A spokesperson for Intuit reiterated the company’s opposition to the IRS offering a free public tax filing option.

“Decades of experience and numerous independent studies, polling, and in-depth research about the idea of an IRS-run tax preparation system show that taxpayers see an inherent conflict of interest in having the IRS be the tax collector, investigator, auditor, enforcer and now preparer when taxpayers want the IRS to focus on its core mission rather than spending billions of taxpayer dollars on a system that would disenfranchise millions of taxpayers and jeopardize their financial freedom,” said Intuit’s Rick Heineman.

In a recent settlement with state attorneys general, the company agreed to pay $141 million to filers who paid for tax prep services they were eligible to get for free. More than four million people are expected to receive payments of up to $90 each in the coming months. Intuit maintained it did nothing wrong.

A spokesperson for the IRS declined to comment on the provision to study free filing options.

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Bus service will be suspended for at least two weeks for six high schools and two elementary schools.

Two people were gunned down Monday afternoon in separate shooting incidents.

Organizers have planned a full day of author talks and accompanying events across Downtown Washington.

Congressional hearings into the January 6, 2021 raid of the US Capitol building continue, focusing on the actions of Donald Trump and members of his administration as they sought to have Trump’s loss turned into a win. Congressional investigators are looking into the possible involvement of Trump and Pence’s security teams. But subpoenaed communications from […]

Abby managed to survive nearly 60 days out on her own, apparently much or all of it in a barren, pitch-dark, 58-degree cave.

It would be a class "A" misdemeanor if anyone provides visually explicit sexual material to a student.

The International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum (IPHF) held a juried international photography contest collecting submissions from talented artists from all around the world.

The post 2022 IPHF International Photography Contest Exhibition appeared first on Explore St. Louis.

The photographs in the Silver Seas exhibit are an extraordinary result of an exceptional career. Ernest H. Brooks II, often referred to as the Ansel

The post Silver Seas: An Odyssey appeared first on Explore St. Louis.

Starbucks cited allegations from a board employee that regional NLRB officials in St. Louis improperly coordinated with union organizers.

Volunteers placed flags at Scott Airforce Base to line the entry to the Shiloh Gate for the memorial service for Colonel Zachary Hall.

WACO, Texas – More than 3,000 Baylor University graduates – including nearly 90 graduates who completed their degree requirements in 2020 and 2021 – received their degrees during four commencement ceremonies May 13-14 in the Ferrell Center. One of those students was Jerseyville's very own Faith N. Frank. She graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration, Economics, Summa Cum Laude, Hankamer School of Business. On top of that, she also earned her spot on Dean's List. The Dean's Academic Honor List recognizes Baylor undergraduates for their outstanding academic work during each semester. Students honored on the Dean’s List earned a minimum semester grade-point average of 3.70 with no grade lower than a "C" while enrolled in at least 12 graded semester hours.

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MARYVILLE – State Senator Kris Tharp joined officials Monday to announce a combined $7.6 million to support restoration projects in Alton, Collinsville and Edwardsville. “Take a walk or drive down any Main Street in the Metro East, and you’ll be met with character, historic buildings and cultural history,” said Tharp (D-Bethalto). “For those of us who are proud to live here and call this area home, we understand its potential to be a major tourism destination, and I’m pleased to announce this funding to help bring these plans in Alton, Collinsville and Edwardsville to fruition.” Funded in part through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s Rebuild Illinois Main Street and Downtown Capital Program and the American Rescue Plan Act, three entities in Madison County were awarded funds to develop downtown areas: Alton Works - $3,000,000 City of Collinsville - $1,828,350 City of Edwardsville - $2,869,031 To restore

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EDWARDSVILLE - The City learned Monday that it will receive a nearly $2.87 million state grant to rebuild its water and sewer system on a portion of Main Street and to add pedestrian-friendly streetscape improvements. The grant is part of the Rebuild Illinois (RBI) Downtowns and Main Streets Capital program. Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) announced Monday that $106 million in capital grants had been awarded to 50 commercial corridors and main streets throughout Illinois. Edwardsville City officials applied for the grant to replace the 130-year-old water main in the 100 block of Main Street and to make other improvements. Rebuilding the water main, which dates to 1892, will provide adequate flow to all buildings along the route and ensure the integrity and longevity of the system, City officials said. Replacing the water main and lining the sewers have been a priority for the City. The grant will cover the construction

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An investigation is underway after a group fired Orbeez pellets into a crowd at the Bridgeton pool over the weekend.

SPRINGFIELD — Governor JB Pritzker along with the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) today announced the launch of the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) to better meet the needs of older adults across Illinois. The program expands options for community-based care and serves as an alternative to traditional nursing facility care, allowing eligible seniors to continue living safely at home. The PACE program brings another option for older adults in Illinois who are dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare in choosing their care. It provides customized and coordinated medical care and social services for adults aged 55 and older who are certified by the state as qualifying for nursing home care but are able to safely continue living in the community at the time of their enrollment. “Here in Illinois, we recognize that our elders thrive when they remain in our communities as they age,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “The PACE program

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