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Last week, Pence came out with his most forceful rejection of President Trump's belief that he could have taken action to change the result of the 2020 campaign.

Ask the experts from the Missouri Department of Transportation, St. Louis and St. Charles counties and St. Louis City your questions about highways and roads. The live chat starts at 1 p.m. on Wednesday.

Police are looking for the owners of property recovered during a Feb. 8 investigation in the Vandeventer neighborhood.

St. Louis City has spent just 2% of available American Relief Plan Act, or ARPA, funds. In August 2021, the Board of Aldermen passed a bill appropriating around $135 million dollars of federal pandemic relief. The money came to the city as part of ARPA. This is just the first slice of relief funds, with the city set to receive a total of $498 million. Since Board Bill 2 was passed last year, the city has spent just $3.4 million of the available money. That is only about 2% of the money the Board…

CARLINVILLE - Blackburn College has received a $500,000 gift to create the Sonja Faust Hudren Endowed Professorship in Education. Hudren’s brother, Blackburn Trustee Jim Faust, his wife Helen, and their children Kristen, Erika, and Stephen established the Professorship to honor her incredible passion for teaching and to preserve her legacy at Blackburn. Originally from Chicago, both siblings attended and graduated from Blackburn - Faust in 1964 and Hudren in 1966. “I wanted to go away for college and discovered in a brochure that you could get to Blackburn by train,” Faust said. “The College was a very friendly place and, when my sister came down to visit me, she enjoyed the campus as much as I did.” After earning her bachelor’s degree in elementary education, Hudren spent nearly 25 years in the classroom for the Dundee Community School District where she was well-liked by students and widely respected by her colleagues. Hudren cared deeply about

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ALTON — United Way 2-1-1 is partnering with local tax coalitions to provide free tax preparation services to St. Louis-area families with a household income of $57,000 or less in 2021. Local residents can dial 2-1-1 or visit 211helps.org to find their nearest tax preparation site, learn how to make an appointment, or get more information. The program will continue to operate flexibly to meet COVID-19 guidelines and keep volunteers and participants safe. While a limited number of sites offer walk-ins, most require advance appointments. “We are grateful to continue offering free income tax preparation services in light of the financial challenges the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has created for families in the St. Louis region,” said Debbie Irwin, community economic development director, United Way of Greater St. Louis. “By offering free tax preparation services, families save money on costly tax preparation fees. Trained volunteers also work to make sure families

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SPRINGFIELD – In honor of Black History Month, Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs today kicked off a virtual campaign to highlight and celebrate the achievements of African Americans in Illinois. This year’s national theme is Black Health and Wellness. “Each year, it is important that we pause to honor the great contributions of people in Illinois doing impactful work in their communities,” Frerichs said. “These leaders are creating jobs, making a positive difference in the lives of our youth, and breaking down barriers to lead to a more equitable Illinois. We are thankful for their dedication and will continue to support those working hard to make things better for all.” Frerichs will honor the following recipients for their outstanding commitment to their Illinois communities: Outstanding Achievement in Arts and Humanities Roger J. Carter , Artist, Chicago Outstanding Service in Business Trez V. Pugh III , Founde

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Growing gardens in the summer can leave one feeling a little bored through the winter. Although there are a lot of cold-hardy plants you can still grow outside with minimal assistance, it's actually a lot easier to grow some things indoors than you might think. Growing salad greens or micro-greens can be done relatively easily and it really doesn't take up too much space. This can be done in a 10x20 tray on a designated shelf with grow lights or it can even be done in a cup on a window sill. It all just depends on what you want to grow and how much of it you want to have. A few ideas that are common include lettuce mixes, herbs and micro-greens. Some supplies you might want to have would include the seeds of your choice, a growing space, container(s), heat mats, potting soil mix, fertilizer and water. Really, all a plant needs to grow is soil, light and water. The additional supplies are certainly not “must haves,” they are just going to add to your success. Obviously, you

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St. Louis designers harness the power of color, textiles, and accessories to create interiors that range from sweet to moody.

Our Love Story: The Couple: Bob & Monica from Wood River Date Met/Started Dating: March 23, 1986 Briefly Describe First Date: Pere Marquette Date Married: March 26, 1994 Name Something You Enjoy Doing Together: Spending family time, Date night, watching dirt racing. Share Advice For A Happy Relationship: Relationships are 50/50 and always tell each other " I Love You."

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In June 2020, in Brattleboro, Vermont, something extremely ordinary happened. Two residents of the community interacted on Facebook. It was not a friendly interaction, which made it perhaps even more ordinary.

Here's the ordinariness in all of its mundane detail, as recounted in Brattleboro resident Isabel Vinson's lawsuit [PDF] seeking to have one of the state's laws found unconstitutional.

In June 2020, Christian Antoniello, a Brattleboro resident and the owner of a local business called the Harmony Underground, criticized the Black Lives Matter movement on his personal Facebook page, stating, “How about all lives matter. Not black lives, not white lives. Get over yourself no one’s life is more important than the next. Put your race card away and grow up.”

On June 6, Ms. Vinson posted on her own Facebook page and tagged the Harmony Underground’s business page. Ms. Vinson’s post stated: “Disgusting. The owner of the Harmony Underground here in Brattleboro thinks this is okay and no matter how many people try and tell him it’s wrong he doesn’t seem to care.” In the comments on her post, Ms. Vinson recommended that everyone “leave a review on his page so [Antoniello] can never forget to be honest,” and also tagged a Facebook group called “Exposing Every Racist.”

In response to Ms. Vinson’s Facebook post, a conversation thread ensued among several people, including Ms. Vinson, about her post, Mr. Antoniello, and other complaints about the business.

That's when things stopped being normal, and started becoming increasingly more bizarre.

Several weeks later, Antoniello and his wife reported to the Brattleboro Police Department that they were being harassed on Facebook and that Ms. Vinson’s Facebook activity caused them to fear for their safety.

This is kind of a normal reaction. Kind of. Not everyone subjected to online pitchforks will choose to make it a police matter, but this couple did.

If you're wondering where the criminal activity is, the Brattleboro police department has an answer for you.

On July 7, the Brattleboro Police Department cited Ms. Vinson under § 1027 based on her Facebook activity.

Here's what the state law (Section 1027) says:

A person who, with intent to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, or annoy makes contact by means of a telephonic or other electronic communication with another and makes any request, suggestion, or proposal that is obscene, lewd, lascivious, or indecent; threatens to inflict injury or physical harm to the person or property of any person; or disturbs, or attempts to disturb, by repeated telephone calls or other electronic communications, whether or not conversation ensues, the peace, quiet, or right of privacy of any person at the place where the communication or communications are received shall be fined not more than $250.00 or be imprisoned not more than three months, or both.

It's an amazingly broad law that criminalizes all sorts of speech since it can be stretched to fit nearly any speech a complainant doesn't care for. "Harass" is a pretty non-specific term. "Annoy" is even more vague.

That's the law being challenged by Vinson and the ACLU. It's a vague, unconstitutional law. And it's a law the PD obviously didn't sincerely believe applied to Vinson's Facebook post because it ditched everything about this highly questionable case the moment questions started being asked.

Two weeks later -- following an ACLU public records request for all documents related to Vinson's charge and prosecution -- the Brattleboro PD approached Vinson and offered to drop the charges in exchange for her entering a diversion program that could be completed in lieu of criminal charges. Vinson refused to enter the diversion program and said she was seeking legal representation. Here's what happened next:

Two days later, the Brattleboro police informed Ms. Vinson that she would not be charged.

All's well that ends abruptly in the face of the slightest resistance. But the law is still on the books. If the Brattleboro cops may decide not to take a second swing at Isabel Vinson with this law, law enforcement officers in the state are still free to misuse the law to punish people for saying things other people didn't like. And, needless to say, the vague law presents a perfect crime of opportunity for cops if a state resident says something cops don't like. That's why the state is being sued and the Vermont federal court being asked to declare the law unconstitutional. As it stands, the law presents an existential threat to free speech in the state. And Isabel Vinson's experience in Brattleboro shows what can happen when the threat goes from theoretical to fully-realized.

If capturing a bird's eye view of your favorite places is a fun way for you to unwind when you have some time, then the Vivitar VTI Phoenix Foldable Camera Drone (certified refurbished) is a great choice for updating your hobby's capabilities. All the pieces come secured in the sided carrying case, which helps protect them from damage as well as keeps them neatly organized. The two included batteries allow for a combined flight time of over 32 minutes, so you can get the most out of your drone's 1152p video camera video imaging. With a range of 2000 feet, Follow Me technology, GPS location locking, and Wi-Fi transmission capability, this drone has all the bells and whistles you need. It's on sale for $159.

Note: The Techdirt Deals Store is powered and curated by StackCommerce. A portion of all sales from Techdirt Deals helps support Techdirt. The products featured do not reflect endorsements by our editorial team.

Maria Kendall took a break from her job as a cafe manager in 2020 when she decided to do some house hunting on the real estate website Zillow. She looked for a new home in Marshalltown, a city of about 28,000 in Iowa between Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. It’s where she lived for more […]

The post This family lost ownership of their house without knowing. Here’s the law that allowed it appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Former RGA employees and co-founders of tech startup iCover, Nicole Mwesigwa and Hari Srinivasan, aim to cut down the time to buy life insurance from a few weeks to a few minutes. From blood tests to medical exams, circumventing the daunting steps required to purchasing life insurance, iCover utilizes predictive analytics to quote, underwrite and […]

Vs Heidelberg Photos

Last week, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said out loud what everyone inside the U.S. intelligence community already knows, but rarely will admit in public: the U.S. secrecy system is horribly broken.

"It is my view that deficiencies in the current classification system undermine our national security, as well as critical democratic objectives, by impeding our ability to share information in a timely manner, be that sharing with our intelligence partners, our oversight bodies, or, when appropriate, with the general public,” Haines wrote in response to an inquiry from Sens. Ron Wyden and Jerry Moran.

Normally, we have to wait for those involved in deploying the classified stamp to leave the government before they admit the obvious. As such, no administration has ever made a meaningful attempt to fix it.

Or perhaps the lack of reform stems from the fact that many of the same government officials who will privately admit the system is broken are also the ones who wield it as both a shield from accountability and a weapon of impunity. Haines is certainly right that overclassification hinders democracy. But the problem is worse than that. Secrecy is killing innocent people — or at least letting those doing the killing get away with it.

Two incidents last week at the White House and State Department are stark reminders on how the secrecy system can be manipulated in ways that can stifle accountability and even lead to war.

On Thursday, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki drew well-deserved criticism for implying that an NPR reporter — who was asking skeptical questions about civilian casualties during a Pentagon operation on ISIS — may be more trusting of the terrorist organization than the U.S. government.

That sentiment would be appalling under any circumstances, however it’s particularly galling now, given that just a few months ago — the last time the Biden administration was touting that it killed a terrorist — the victims turned out to be an innocent aid worker and his family. The details of the “righteous” strike were initially classified, and only through dogged investigative reporting by The New York Times was the Pentagon forced to release more information and fess up what really happened.

As we wrote at the time, if such truthful information came from a government official, instead of interviews from Afghani witnesses, that official would be subject to prosecution. Since the Pentagon “investigated” itself, no one was punished for the strike, which killed almost a dozen innocent people, including many children.

The Times followed up its investigation into the tragic Afghanistan drone strike by looking into another battlefield, this one almost wholly hidden from public view: Syria. There, the newspaper focused on a notoriously aggressive U.S. military unit that allegedly had a habit of breaking rules and piling up collateral damage. In one particularly horrific instance, the unit reportedly killed dozens of women and children, and then used the classification system to cover it up.

The same day as the White House incident, veteran Associated Press reporter Matt Lee was grilling State Department spokesman Ned Price after Price alleged Russia was planning a false flag operation on the border with Ukraine, citing classified information of nebulous origins. Lee repeatedly asked for actual evidence of such an extreme claim. After Price responded by insinuating Lee believed the Russian government more than his own, they had this exchange.

Price: "You have been doing this for quite a while —"

Lee: "I have. That's right. And I remember WMDs in Iraq, and I remember that Kabul was not going to fall. I remember a lot of things."

Lee’s retort was a humorous but powerful reminder that many of this country’s major wars, not only Iraq, but Vietnam and others, have started based on lies that were protected via the classification system.

Haines, in her letter, claims that the issue of government secrecy is of “great importance” to President Biden. It’s clear the system needs to be dismantled and rebuilt from top to bottom. But maybe they can start with de-classifying the declassification reforms put into last year’s intelligence spending bill. Yes, you read that right – even modest secrecy reform passed by Congress is still secret. Baby steps.