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Housing authority scandal rocks East St. Louis; whistleblower faces backlash

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:15:50 GMT

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. - The interim director of the East St. Louis Housing Authority was dismissed in the wake of inappropriate spending of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Several lawsuit enforcement agencies, including the FBI, are now investigating. There’s also an effort to oust the Housing Commissioner Chairwoman who blew the whistle on this deal. This all started when allegations surfaced of excessive change orders worth thousands of dollars. Housing Commission President Shonte Mueller continued digging, ultimately recommending that Jacqueline Powell be fired. The Housing Commission held a meeting to terminate Powell. Series of failures? Family blames broken system for inmate’s death Mueller sat down with You Paid For It's Elliott Davis to explain the grounds for the dismissal. She said three companies that have never done business with the East St. Louis Housing Authority were awarded contracts worth more than $206,000. Mueller says Powell awarded these contracts to famil...

Questions remain in aftershock of alleged DMV fraud

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:15:50 GMT

O'FALLON, Mo. - For nearly a decade, federal prosecutors say a fraud suspect worked with three license office workers to forge documents and cheat taxpayers.The FOX Files recently visited the main suspect’s O’Fallon workplace and one of the St. Charles County license offices potentially impacted in our attempt to get answers.Court records say the suspects were affiliated with DMV offices in four counties and allegedly used unwitting drivers to pocket taxpayer money.  Hermann, Missouri ‘Christmas Vintage’ movie now streaming Federal documents reveal examples of Venmo payments from suspect Gary Wilds to license office employee Ashlyn Graeff to help with an alleged fraud scheme.Wilds, who pleaded not guilty Tuesday, operates an O’Fallon vehicle graphics & body repair business called MADD Graphics, Autobody, Custom Paint & Wraps. He was not available to comment when the FOX Files went inside to ask.Graeff worked at the St. Charles License Office on Raymond Drive. No one would ...

St. Ann police say teenage car thief found hiding in trash can

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:15:50 GMT

ST. ANN, Mo. - What began as an investigation into a car theft from the Menard’s parking lot in St. Ann on Thursday, ended later that night with a juvenile suspect taken into custody.  St. Ann police say a 14-year-old was hiding in a trash can near the Pear Tree Apartments and was in possession of a firearm stolen from Ferguson. “Juvenile delinquency is a huge problem,” said Lt. Blake Carrigan, St. Ann Police Department.  Earlier in the week, just a few municipalities south, Ladue police investigated an attempted carjacking involving a vehicle driven by a mother and her infant. The suspects, 14 and 15, were arrested and charged.  Series of failures? Family blames broken system for inmate’s death The stolen vehicle in the St. Ann case was a Kia. Carrigan credits the use of Flock cameras for helping police identify the location of that vehicle. Several area police departments assisted in the effort to locate the suspect.“Another jurisdiction attempted to spike-strip the vehicle," sa...

Downtown drivers can expect interstate closures this weekend 

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:15:50 GMT

ST. LOUIS - There are some big closures coming to the downtown St. Louis area this weekend, beginning Friday evening. “It’s really important that we get these closures done in a dense time period, so it doesn't impact the traveling public,” Jen Wade with the Missouri Department of Transportation.  Starting at 11 p.m. on Friday, MoDOT will be closing the stretch of Interstate 44 and 55 from 7th St. and Park Ave. to Interstate 64 in downtown. It will be closed into Saturday afternoon.   Hermann, Missouri ‘Christmas Vintage’ movie now streaming The closure is in response to a request from the Terminal Railroad Association to perform maintenance on the railroad bridge over the interstate. MoDOT will also be doing some work during the closures.   “Cleaning out drains, taking care of some graffiti, doing sweeping and major item pickup from the roadway, and really taking care of as much as we can while we have the lanes closed,” Wade explained.   Close Thanks for si...

Hayes' big game lifts Blues to 4-1 victory over Devils

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:15:50 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Kevin Hayes scored a pair of goals and added an assist to help the St. Louis Blues beat the New Jersey Devils 4-1 on Friday night.Jake Neighbours and Robert Thomas also scored goals, and Jordan Binnington stopped 34 shots, including several from close range, for St. Louis, which had lost its previous two contests.Curtis Lazar scored for the Devils, who lost center Jack Hughes to an upper-body injury early in the first period.Hughes, who entered the game with an NHL-leading 15 assists and 20 points, left the game after awkwardly crashing into the boards after being slightly hooked by Blues defenseman Torey Krug. No penalty was called on the play.New Jersey was already playing without center Nico Hischier who missed his third consecutive game with an upper-body injury.Akira Schmid made 31 saves for the Devils who had won three in a row.Thomas scored an empty-net goal with nine seconds remaining after Hayes shot wide in an attempt for his third goal of the game.Hayes s...

Michael Malone, Nuggets are motivated to make it to Las Vegas in first NBA in-season tournament. But first, a repainted court in Denver

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:15:50 GMT

The court must have been too distracting for anyone to notice at first.Before the Nuggets could even warm up for the inaugural NBA in-season tournament on a new novelty court at Ball Arena, the floor had to be repainted. The initial version of the blue-and-yellow floor had incorrect 3-point line dimensions, meaning it had to be fixed the morning of the tournament opener vs. Dallas, Michael Malone said Friday night.“Hopefully it’s dry,” the Nuggets coach said, “and we won’t have blue footprints all over the court.”Other than that blip, the court and accompanying tournament group stage seemed to be successful at getting people talking, even in the Nuggets facility. “I have seen the court,” Peyton Watson announced after Nuggets shoot-around, which was held upstairs on the team’s practice court. “It’s something. It’s something.”All 30 home floors across the league are super-imposed with a logo of the NBA Cup, the new trop...

Westwood man stole over $5 million through bond scams

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:15:50 GMT

A Westwood man was sentenced to prison for stealing over $5 million from victims in a surety bond scam, officials announced Friday.Tommy Lester Watts, 64, was sentenced to 110 months in prison for stealing over $5 million from victims by “purporting to sell bonds for large-scale construction and other projects, and for evading the payment of more than $1.2 million in taxes.”He also was ordered to pay $8,995,879 in restitution.Watts pleaded guilty on Feb. 16 to one count of transactional money laundering and one count of tax evasion, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Watts also went by the names “Michael Nesbeth,” “Michael Kent,” and “Alex Mason.”From Sept. 2016 to Sept. 2019, officials said Watts falsely claimed to be experienced in providing surety bonds and other financial guarantees for large-scale projects. He told victims he would assist them in obtaining financing for their projects through his various companies, including the Sherman Oaks-based Source One Surety LLC.&n...

Warriors win thriller against Thunder on controversial last-second call

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:15:50 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY — An overturned call that turned Draymond Green’s called basket interference into a make in the game’s final second secured the Warriors’ dramatic 141-139 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder (3-3) in the first In-Season Tournament game on Friday night at Paycom Center. The Warriors move to 5-1.Green had been arguing with referees all game over calls, but got the call in his favor at a crucial time. After 23 lead changes, Steph Curry had the ball in his hands at half court to try for one final lead. Curry waited the clock out and drove to the basket to bank a shot in with Green’s hand up near the rim for a perceived interference. A long review went in the Warriors’ favor.Curry finished with a game-high 30 points on 5-of-10 shooting from 3 and 9-of-15 from the field. Green had 15 points, five rebounds and five fouls. Chris Paul had 13 assists as he and Dario Saric led the second unit to keep pace with a Thunder team that couldn’t ...

‘I hate Black people’: San Jose officer in controversial police shooting resigns over racist texts

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:15:50 GMT

SAN JOSE — A San Jose officer involved in a controversial police shooting at a downtown taqueria last year — in which the wounded man broke up a fight and had disarmed a gunman before he was shot — has resigned over the discovery of racist text messages he wrote, including some making light of the shooting and one that said “I hate Black people.”Mark McNamara, who joined the San Jose Police Department in 2017, resigned earlier this week in after being notified of a probe into his offensive messages, Police Chief Anthony Mata told this news organization Friday.Mata said McNamara was being investigated by the department’s internal affairs unit for an unrelated criminal matter, which led to the revelation that the now-former officer “had sent disgusting text messages that demonstrated racial bias.”“I don’t stand for this. It’s disgusting and horrible that we have an officer that thinks that way,” Mata said. “...

Turner, Haliburton help Pacers beat Cavaliers 121-116 in In-Season Tournament opener

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:15:50 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Myles Turner scored 27 points, Tyrese Haliburton had 18 points and 13 assists and the Indiana Pacers held off the Cleveland Cavaliers 121-116 on Friday night to open the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament.Donavan Mitchell had 38 points, nine assists and five rebounds for Cleveland. The Cavaliers overcame an 18-point deficit to lead by four in the fourth quarter.Each team shot 52% from the field, but Indiana went 15 of 31 on 3-pointers while limiting the Cavs to 8 of 28. Former Pacer Caris LeVert, who had 13 points, missed a 3 from the left wing that would have tied it with 10 seconds left.Mitchell made two free throws to bring the Cavs to 119-116 with 2.6 seconds to go, but Haliburton sealed the win with two of his own. Indiana snapped a two-game skid that followed a 2-0 start.Bruce Brown added 19 points and seven rebounds for Indiana. Evan Mobley had 14 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four blocks for Cleveland.The Pacers battered Cleveland from beyond th...