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Scattered showers Saturday and dry Sunday near St. Louis

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:22 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- Expect scattered showers Saturday morning ahead of a cold front that will move through the area this afternoon. Lots of clouds today and highs in the low 80s. The scattered rain wraps up this evening and the remainder of the weekend will be dry. St. Louis radar: See a map of current weather here Sunday is looking beautiful with highs in the mid-80s, low humidity, and partly cloudy skies. Seasonably hot Monday into Tuesday, and storm chances return for the second half of the work week.

Man accused of lude act near children at Collinsville water park

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:22 GMT

MADISON COUNTY, Ill. - A 32-year-old faces criminal charges after being accused of masturbating near children at a Collinsville water park. The Madison County State’s Attorney's Office has charged Chad A. Green, 32, with sexual exploitation of a child and disorderly conduct over alleged actions at the Collinsville Aqua Park.Investigators say Green was engaged in an act of masturbation Thursday while in the presence of children. Suspect found beaten and bloody in field, police involvement investigated Green is jailed in Madison County as of Friday afternoon on a $50,000. A judge also granted a prosecution request that, in the event Green is released on bond, he would be prohibited from having contact with anyone younger than 18The Madison County State’s Attorney's Office asks anyone with additional information relevant to this case contact Collinsville Police at 618-344-2131.

Avalanche Journal: NHL free agency winners and losers … so far

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:22 GMT

The bulk of NHL free agency movement occurs within 24 hours of the market opening, so now that we’re a week removed from July 1, it’s safe to start casting judgment on what went down across the league.With a weak UFA class, this hasn’t been the splashiest offseason for anybody, but here are a few standout winners and losers (so far) of the offseason.Winner: Carolina HurricanesThe East was Carolina’s to win this spring after Boston sputtered, but the Canes couldn’t quite learn from the Bruins’ slip-up against Matthew Tkachuk. So what did Carolina do? Land the top defenseman available from Boston, naturally. Dmitry Orlov joins Brent Burns and Jaccob Slavin on the blueline at two years, $7.75 million AAV, and forward Michael Bunting bolsters the scoring depth of a team that couldn’t find a timely goal in the ECF. If Vladimir Tarasenko ends up in Raleigh, as has been rumored, then the storm might finally surge back to the Cup Final.Loser: Detroi...

Rockies 2023 MLB Draft preview: Colorado’s options at No. 9 overall as pitching-needy club enters critical weekend

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:22 GMT

For a draft-and-build organization, the Rockies have proven they know how to identify a bat that can slug at 20th and Blake, from Helton and Tulowitzki, to Arenado, Story and Blackmon.But when it comes to selecting and developing starting pitchers, success has been much more elusive for Colorado, especially during the tenures of ex-general manager Jeff Bridich and current GM Bill Schmidt, who has long overseen the draft for the franchise.Hence the importance of this year’s draft, which begins Sunday at 5 p.m. Operating from their spring training headquarters at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, Ariz., the Rockies select at No. 9 overall in the first round of a draft critical to addressing the club’s dearth of starting pitching prospects. “The Rockies have drafted hitters well, speaking generally, for the better part of 20 years and beyond,” observed Baseball America senior writer Kyle Glaser. “And they’ve had times when they’ve drafted pitchi...

Mathews: How to give people a bigger voice in government

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:22 GMT

In this time of rising polarization, authoritarian populism, and maddening big-money politics, leaders often say that it’s up to we the people to save democracy.But democracy costs money. And democracy — unlike the governments and special interests that seek to control it—has no budget. So how are you and I supposed to pay for all thatdemocracy-saving?There’s a new and practical answer to that question — called “Democratic Action Funds.” I first heard a proposal for these from Marjan Ehsassi, a non-resident future of democracyfellow with the Los Angeles-based Berggruen Institute, at a democracy conference I ran in Mexico City.Ehsassi has studied some of the world’s least democratic places — Iran, Cuba, and North Korea. But in recent years she has turned her attention to backsliding democratic societies, including the United States, where big majorities of people tell pollsters that they have no real voice or power in government. As a result of feeling powerless, more of us are disen...

Rubin: As we celebrated our independence, Ukrainians fought to keep theirs

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:22 GMT

As we celebrated the Fourth of July with hot dogs and fireworks, mourners gathered at Kyiv’s famous St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral. They were paying last respects to one of Ukraine’s most noted young writers.Victoria Amelina, 37, was fatally wounded by a Russian missile strike on July 1 on a large, well-known pizza restaurant in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. At the time, it was filled with journalists, humanitarian aid workers, local families, and probably some soldiers taking time out from the front lines. How like the Russians to bomb a pizza place.I didn’t know Amelina, but have several Ukrainian friends who did, including one who was at her hospital bedside as she lay in an irreversible coma.I’m writing about her, not to guilt-trip those who enjoyed their backyard barbecue this week, but because she inspired such admiration from her peers. She had paused her successful literary career to investigate and document war crimes in areas liberated by Ukrainian forces from Russian occupat...

Opinion: Looking for the next California tech boom. You’ll find it in farmlands

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:22 GMT

The world may see California largely as home to Silicon Valley and Hollywood, but it’s agriculture technology where we can most clearly outshine our competitors. In a new study, “Nurturing California Industries,” we identified it as among the six industries most critical to the state’s economic future.In many ways, advances in agricultural technology will have as much to do for California’s future as AI, streaming movies and electric vehicles. Agriculture is, by far, California’s strongest sector in terms of employment. In the latest 2022 Census of Wages and Employment, agriculture employs 419,582 people in this state, more than four times the number in the next-largest state, Washington.While tech businesses and corporate headquarters head elsewhere, California’s agricultural supremacy remains unchallenged. The agricultural industry provides more than a third of the country’s vegetables and three-quarters of the country’s fruits and nuts. In 2021, the state’s farms and ranches earn...

What can buyers do when a seller’s agent claims them as ‘his client’?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:22 GMT

Regarding your June 24, 2023, column titled “Is saving money worth the potential of stigmatizing your home after a failed sale?” on The Mercury News and East Bay Times websites:Q: A seller’s agent tricked us. We attended an open house and asked for the presale seller inspections. The listing agent complied — no questions asked. In Silicon Valley, homebuyers can ask the listing agent for the seller’s presale inspections. If, after reading the documents, we are still interested in the property, then our buyer’s agent will be called upon. It’s how our friends bought homes. However, the sellers’ agent claimed us as homebuyers. It’s a shame. We loved that house.A buyer’s agent, working under the seller’s agent, must represent us. We, of course, protested. The seller’s agent claimed us as his client. He stated that Realtors procure causes for this reason. It was outrageous. The reality sunk in. We were being prohibited from using our buyer’s agent to make an offer. Worse, we had to make a...

EL Gobierno de los Países Bajos colapsa por una disputa sobre la política de inmigración

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:22 GMT

(CNN) — El gobierno de los Países Bajos se derrumbó tras no poder llegar a un acuerdo para frenar la inmigración.El primer ministro Mark Rutte dijo este viernes que su gobierno presentaría su renuncia al rey holandés, lo que provocaría la celebración de nuevas elecciones en el otoño.Rutte, que ha estado en el poder desde 2010 y es el segundo líder con más años en el cargo en Europa, dijo que las disputas sobre las medidas para restringir la inmigración habían provocado la fractura de su gobierno de coalición de cuatro partidos.“No es ningún secreto que los socios de la coalición tienen opiniones diferentes sobre la política de inmigración”, dijo Rutte en una conferencia de prensa este viernes por la noche, afirmando que “esas diferencias se han vuelto insuperables”.El rey Willem-Alexander regresó temprano de sus vacaciones para reunirse con Rutte este sábado, cuando el primer ministro presentará formalmente su renuncia.La decisión fue provocada por las diferencias entre el par...

Natasha Howard makes 2 FTs with 0.4 to play, Wings hand Aces their second loss of season 80-78

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:22 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — Natasha Howard made two free throws with less than a second to play and the Dallas Wings handed the Las Vegas Aces just their second loss, pulling out an 80-78 win before a sell-out crowd on Friday night.Getting the ball with 14.2 seconds remaining, the Wings grabbed three offensive rebounds after Satou Sabally missed the initial shot from the right wing.Teaira McCowan had the first two rebounds but A’ja Wilson blocked her first shot and McCowan missed the second, but Howard was there for the rebound and was fouled with 0.4 on the clock.After a timeout, Las Vegas tried a lob pass toward the basket but the clock started before a player touched the ball. Given a second chance, the ball was inbounded to Jackie Young but she had to take a dribble and the clock ran out before her shot swished through and the Aces’ nine-game winning streak was over.Arike Ogunbowale scored 21 points for the Wings (9-9) and Howard and McCowan both had double-doubles. Howard had 16 ...