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Task force formed to help sidewalk squatters

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:23 GMT

ST. LOUIS – Following Tuesday night’s report on south St. Louis sidewalk squatters, FOX 2 has learned much more about the couple at the center of things.The man and woman who've been living in squalor on neighborhood sidewalks for more than a decade are Sudanese refugees who arrived here 12 years ago. There have been repeated efforts to help. All have failed.A new task force has been initiated to try again.The saga has now been an issue for three consecutive St. Louis mayors.The man and woman have been living in a sidewalk dwelling constructed from shopping carts, cardboard, old coats, blankets, and plastic sheeting at Chippewa and Spring for two years. They’ve been moving around to various spots in the Dutchtown neighborhood for more than 10 years.“Before here they were on Bamberger (Avenue),” said neighborhood resident Temika Young.The couple has also squatted at Chippewa and Gustine. Before that, it was Gravois and Gustine, with the dwelling growing larger through the years. Cl...

Missouri AG: I want to get people their open records

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:23 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said he's dedicated to a transparent and open government after the FOX Files discovered hundreds of requests for public records, some of which could take his office nearly a year to fulfill.According to Bailey, his office is working to fulfill 416 open Sunshine Law requests. His office said 224 of those were inherited from the previous administration."I want the government to be transparent," Bailey said. "Not all requests are equal. One request might generate 10, 20, 30,000 documents, and it takes time to review those documents."The state's Sunshine Law is critical to public transparency because it allows citizens to request records like salaries, emails, and contracts from government officials and public agencies.Bailey said he's hiring more people to keep up."We got two full-time staff working on this. We just brought on a third staff member that's going to be working on this full-time. We're dedicated to getting peopl...

St. Louis man gets 120 years for making child pornography

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:23 GMT

ST. LOUIS - A U.S. District Court judge sentenced a St. Louis man to more than a century in federal prison for producing sexual abuse material involving three children.Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said a jury convicted Anthony Lemicy, 44, in March of four counts of producing child pornography.Lemicy sexually abused a 7-year-old child that he was babysitting in 2019 and took pictures and videos of the abuse, prosecutors said. He also took videos of two other children in the shower.When police were notified of Lemicy's crimes, he fled to Tacoma, Washington. FBI agents tracked Lemicy down and found him hiding in a clothes dryer.All told, Lemicy was handed a 120-year prison term; ostensibly a life sentence.

Athletics snap 9-game road skid with an 8-0 win over Cardinals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:23 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Zack Gelof had four hits and Paul Blackburn pitched seven scoreless innings as the Oakland Athletics snapped a nine-game road losing streak and avoided a sweep in St. Louis with an 8-0 win over the Cardinals on Wednesday night.Gelof had his second career four-hit game — and the second this week — after getting four against Washington on Sunday.Blackburn (3-3) turned in the longest outing of his season, allowing six hits, with eight strikeouts and one walk.The A’s, who have the worst record in the majors at 34-87, snapped the Cardinals' three-game winning streak. St. Louis is last in the NL Central at 54-67.Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore (2-5) allowed six runs, five earned, in 4 1/3 innings. He gave up 10 hits, struck out five and walked three.Liberatore’s struggles came after the best start of his career in which he pitched eight scoreless innings and struck out seven against Tampa Bay on Thursday.The A’s jumped on Liberatore early, batting around in the first...

St. Charles water well no. 10 back up and running

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:23 GMT

ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The City of St. Charles is once again able to supply some of the drinking water to its residents. This comes just a couple of days after a noticeable drop in ammonia levels at well #10, forcing the city to shut down it's only operational water treatment plant."Now, we're out spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to get ammonia to put into our water in the plant so that we can process it and get it to the people as safe drinking water," Mayor Dan Borgmeyer said.The mayor said adding ammonia is a short-term solution to a long-term problem. Cannabis recall in Missouri: Dispensaries pulling 60K products "That's not something we've ever encountered in 60 years of operation, so it's not an anticipated thing by any means. In order to deal with that, we had to put a temporary chemical treatment system in. Basically, we had to add that ammonia in where it was no longer there," said John Phillips, utilities superintendent for St. Charles.Phillips said the ammonia solv...

Flash mob robbers ransack luxury clothing store in Hancock Park

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:23 GMT

A group of thieves remains at large after ransacking a luxury retail store in Hancock Park Tuesday night in a flash mob-style robbery.The thieves targeted denim retailer Ksubi located at 132 S. La Brea Ave. around 6:55 p.m., according to the Los Angeles Police Department.Around 11 masked men entered the luxury clothing store right before closing time and ransacked the shop.The suspects swarmed the shop and began quickly grabbing clothing from store shelves and display racks. A pair of Ksubi jeans are priced anywhere from $190 to $280 a pair with other clothing items priced even higher.Two security guards attempted to stop the mass theft, but were unable to overtake the thieves, authorities said.At one point, one suspect reportedly hinted at possessing a handgun in his pocket to encourage the guards to step away, police said.  Elderly woman violently dragged by purse snatcher in Hacienda Heights Ksubi store located at 132 S. La Brea Avenue. (KTLA)The suspects fled the store in...

Man, woman arrested, face charges of human trafficking, false imprisonment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:23 GMT

A 44-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman have been arrested and are facing a slew of charges, including human trafficking, false imprisonment and sexual assault of a minor, authorities announced Wednesday.  In July, detectives with the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department’s Specialized Investigation Division, as well as deputies from the Victor Valley Station were dispatched to investigate allegations of human trafficking, sexual abuse and labor trafficking of numerous victims.  During their investigation, authorities identified Rigoberto Hernandez Latin and Maria Olimpia Hernandez, both residents of Phelan, as the suspects, according to an SBSD news release.  Rigoberto Latin and Maria Hernandez, seen here, were arrested and face numerous charges of human trafficking and sexual assault against a minor. (SBSD)Latin and Hernandez were arrested and booked into the High Desert Detention Center in Adelanto. The pair have been charged with human trafficking, false imprisonment, ...

Gelof’s 4 hits, Blackburn’s gem key Oakland A’s shutout over Cards

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:23 GMT

ST. LOUIS — Rookie Zack Gelof had four hits and Paul Blackburn pitched seven scoreless inning as the Oakland Athletics snapped a nine-game road losing streak and avoided a sweep in St. Louis with an 8-0 win over the Cardinals on Wednesday night.“I’m just trying to be as consistent as I can,” Gelof said. “I think I’m just trying to keep it simple and, you know, be as athletic as possible in the box, and then, hit the ball hard somewhere.”Gelof had his second career four-hit game — and the second this week — after getting four against Washington on Sunday.“He plays a game hard, with an intensity about it that you want to see from the rest of the group,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “And I think there was a little bit of that message this afternoon to the rest of the group, that this guy is leading by example. And he’s going out and playing the game hard and not recklessly, but just with the passion.”Another d̶a̶y̶ inning, another @ZackGelof highlight pic.twitter.com/VLDUQS75No...

Stripling struggles and SF Giants offense remains dormant in latest loss. Now a huge road trip looms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:23 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO – After scoring just 18 runs and earning just two wins in six games at their China Basin ballpark, maybe it’s a good time for the San Francisco Giants to hit the road – even if they are set to face two of the National League’s best teams.Right-hander Ross Stripling struggled and the Giants were unable to find a timely hit in a 6-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday as they closed out a challenging six-game homestand with a 2-4 record.San Francisco, which has lost four consecutive series and is dangerously close to falling out of a playoff spot, now starts a six-game road trip on Friday with a three-game set with the MLB-leading Atlanta Braves. That’s followed by three games with the Philadelphia Phillies, who lead the NL Wild Card race.It’s all the Giants can look forward to after an at-times humbling six-game homestand in which they lost three games by five or more runs, including a 9-3 thrashing by the American League-West leading Texas Rangers on Saturday...

Armed carjackers targeting drivers in Castro Valley

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:23 GMT

DUBLIN, Calif. (KRON) -- Carjackers armed with guns have been searching for targets in Castro Valley. They find a victim backing her car out of her driveway in one incident recorded on a neighbor's surveillance cameras. The surveillance video shows armed carjackers roaming the streets of Castro Valley early Tuesday morning looking for victims.The incident occurred at 6:20 in the morning. Crimes happen at all hours of the day, but is a carjacking at that hour in Castro Valley, unusual? Teen girls nabbed after San Francisco business ransacked "Nothing is unusual right now," said Alameda County Sheriff's spokesperson Lt. Tya Modeste.In fact, Modeste, said that minutes before this carjacking on Sydney Way, there was a report that suspects matching the same description tried, unsuccessfully, to carjack someone parked at a Mobile gas station in the same neighborhood on Lake Chabot Road."She was parked in the parking lot and she noticed the silver sedan parked in front of her and attempt...