Danny Wicentowski

Spotted on and old RFT newspaper box by a South City Aldi's

He posted bail for a traffic violation. St. Charles' jail turned him over to ICE anyway Jose “Julian” Morales Calderon has been living in the United States since he was a baby.

"He was 9 months old when he got here. I mean, he's been here his whole life,” said Barcenas, adding that he has no family in Mexico.

“We're just hoping that we can get him back home.”"

(Via @brianmunoz.bsky.social)

When birds meet glass, the St. Louis Audubon Society is counting For the last six years, the BirdSafe program incubated by the St. Louis Audubon Society has documented a deadly toll in St. Louis: bird collisions. With the Mississippi River flyway bringing flocks of...

The nonprofit’s BirdSafe program aims to raise awareness about bird collisions—and encourage solutions.

AD ASTRA PER ASPERA Kansas Department of Revenue Division of Vehicles Phone: 785-296-3671 Fax: 785-296-0691 www.ksrevenue.gov Laura Kelly, Governor Driver's License 300 SW 29th Street PO Box 2188 Topeka KS 66601-2188 Mark A. Burghart, Secretary February 23, 2026 Dear Kansas Credential Holder: House Substitute for Senate Bill 244, enacted by the Kansas Legislature overriding Governor Kelly's veto, requires Kansas-issued driver's licenses and identification cards to reflect the credential holder's sex at birth and directs the Division of Vehicles to comply with K.S.A. 77-207. What does this mean for you? If you have received this notice, our records indicate that, upon publication of this law in the Kansas Register on Thursday, February 26, 2026, your current Kansas credential will no longer be valid. Additionally, please note that the Legislature did not include a grace period for updating credentials. This means that once the law is officially enacted, your current credential will be invalid immediately, and you may be subject to additional penalties if you are operating a vehicle without a valid credential. What do you need to do? Pursuant to this new law, if the gender/sex indication on the face of your current credential does not match your sex assigned at birth, you are directed to surrender your current credential to the Kansas Division of Vehicles. Upon surrendering the credential, you will be issued a new credential reflecting the gender identification consistent with statutory requirements. If you have any questions regarding procedures for obtaining a legally compliant credential, please contact the Kansas Division of Vehicles or visit your local driver licensing office. Can you appeal this notice? Yes. If you believe you have received this notice in error, you may appeal. Appeal rights are available under K.S.A. 8-259. However, please be advised that the filing of an appeal will not preserve the validity of your current credential and associated driving au…

2. The letter, which has been reported to Erin In The Morning by a Kansas-based activist, states that under House Substitute for Senate Bill 244, Kansas trans people must immediately surrender their licenses.

Kansas Sends Letters To Trans People Demanding The Immediate Surrender Of Drivers Licenses "The legislature did not include a grace period." ERIN REED FEB 25, 2026 88 5 21 Share Kansas Sate Capitol // farzinvousoughian

1. Numerous transgender people in Kansas are reporting that the state has sent them a letter demanding the immediate surrender of drivers licenses.

Those driving could be arrested, charged, and see privileges revoked.

Subscribe to support our journalism.

www.erininthemorning.com/p/kansas-sen...

Kansas informs trans residents their driver’s licenses become invalid on Thursday Some transgender Kansans said they had received the letters from the Department of Revenue. Others hadn’t by Wednesday evening.

Trans Kansans are getting letters on the eve of a new state law going into effect informing them that their driver’s licenses will be considered invalid as of TODAY.

“Please note that the Legislature did not include a grace period for updating credentials," read the letters mailed Monday.

Missouri Botanical Garden is making an AI tool that uses space technology to identify plants An anonymous $14 million grant to the Missouri Botanical Garden is prompting scientists there to look at their herbarium collection in new ways, taking their cues from the stars.

For years, scientists have learned about distant stars by looking at the wavelengths of light bouncing back from space.

Now, scientists at the Missouri Botanical Garden are using the same technology to learn about dried plant specimens in its herbarium.

WashU artists use music to amplify the climate change conversation Musicians will blend creativity and environmental research during “Climate Change in Concert.”

Violinist Clara Kim will echo cicada chirps on stage at Washington University in St. Louis as part of “Climate Change in Concert.”

The goal: move the climate conversation from data to emotion.

How a St. Louis scientist is decoding the ‘invisible language’ between plants and pollinators Missouri Botanical Garden scientist Mónica Carlsen will study anthuriums in the wild this summer.

Scientists have a broad idea of the chemical compounds that make up the scent of flowers, but they can't identify what it is about those chemicals that attracts pollinators.

Missouri Botanical Garden scientist Mónica Carlsen is taking that investigation to Colombia to gather data on anthuriums.

Messenger: St. Louis saw unity in winter homeless outreach. But storm clouds are forming. Extra funding, strong organization, helped save lives during cold snap. But federal funding cuts loom large.

Extra funding, strong organization, helped save lives during cold snap. But federal funding cuts loom large.

“The lessons of Ramadan are most relevant this year because of the fear and despair,” Imam Abdisalam Adam said. “So definitely, people are tapping into their faith for grounding.”

Plan to move St. Louis County HQ involves names from a former scandal A proposal to temporarily move St. Louis County government employees out of their Clayton office building and into a former St. Ann shopping mall is the debate du jour at the County Council. It’s a dr...

The Glarner brothers are pushing their building, Jeff Rainford is lobbying, and it feels like 2019 again.

Screenshot of text of the story. Text begins: López Delara’s fiancée spoke to St. Louis Public Radio on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from ICE. STLPR was able to confirm her identity. She said he was pulled over for not having a front license plate. The fiancée said police detained López Delara after he wasn’t able to provide a driver’s license. An O’Fallon Police Department spokesperson confirmed that an officer discovered López Delara had an active ICE detainer, which is a request by immigration officials to transfer an individual in custody to ICE, during a traffic stop. The spokesperson said charges in O’Fallon are limited to municipal traffic violations and recommended reaching out to ICE regarding López Delara’s custody and transfer status. A spokesperson said ICE would look into the request.

López Delara, 29, has been in the U.S. for 26 years. He and his fiancée met when they were 15 years old and have two children together, saying "He is no criminal, not a threat to anybody.”"

www.stlpr.org/law-order/20...

Traffic stop lands St. Louis County man in ICE custody. Next stop: rural jail Victor López Delara was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after police stopped him for driving without a front license plate. His fiancée says she's worried that López Delara, who h...

A STL county woman describes talking to her fiancé as he was detained by ICE:

“He was terrified, he was trying to be positive, and he was hoping that, you know, [he’d] just get a ticket and like everybody else, [they’d] let him go,” she said. “But unfortunately, they escalated, and they took him.”

St. Louis settles federal lawsuit over poor conditions at Workhouse jail for $4M More than 16,000 people who were detained at the jail between 2012 and 2022 are eligible to receive payment after a federal court recently issued preliminary approval.

JUST IN: Thousands of people detained at the former Workhouse jail in St. Louis are now eligible to claim money after the city settled a yearslong federal lawsuit for $4 million that called out inhumane conditions at the facility.

St. Louis program to fix tornado-damaged homes is about to go broke Tornado recovery officials say, without intervention, St. Louis will need to slow down the repair of damaged homes in North City due to a lack of funding for the repair programs.

NEW: After announcing plans to ramp up repairs to 40-100 homes a month in North City, St. Louis officials in charge of tornado recovery say the city may run out of funds to repair those homes by April or May.

www.stlpr.org/government-p...

"The rancor reached its peak after the GOP chair of the committee initiated a discussion of “a trend of furries” in public schools, sparking Democratic state Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern of Kansas City to slam the committee’s priorities as “a joke.”"

I mention this because it may have been first disaster relief/welfare by US Govt. Most of the paperwork was on the govt's end. Each deed required an Act of Congress. Most assuredly fraud occured. But making people whole after a disaster was viewed as appropriate govt response in early 19th Century.

“My hands and feet was hurting so bad. When I got in my cousin's truck, I knew it, I knew it, I knew it,” [Toriano Rice] said. "I knew immediately there was too much pain.”

Rice recently had surgery to remove a toe. A surgery on his finger is scheduled for this week.

For some St. Louisans living on the street, frostbite can cause lasting harm People without a stable place to live are more likely to suffer from frostbite, a potentially debilitating condition for those in precarious housing situations.

Heartbreaking reporting on amputations and frostbite this winter in St. Louis by STLPR's Sarah Fentem:

“Sitting at these bus stops, waiting, I'm wearing two packs of warmers, three pairs of gloves, just trying to save my fingers...I think they’re unsavable now because I've lost the feeling.”

"Instead, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement snatched him at 6:50 a.m. on his way to work that day.

"Alejandro Perez has no criminal record. He had a Social Security number and a valid work permit. He and his wife (who can trace her family’s ..." 2/X

Opinion: Cruelty on display as ICE deports a devoted St. Louis father Forty pounds of marinated pork sits in Janie Perez’s freezer.

"Her husband, Alejandro, was supposed to cook it on Oct. 23 for a men’s dinner at Covenant Presbyterian Church — the church Janie has attended since she was 2. Alejandro is a professional chef who’d been looking forward to preparing an al pastor taco feast for weeks." 1/X

More legal services, mental health and food support are available for May tornado survivors To help provide more relief for people affected by the May tornado, the City of St. Louis has allocated $1.45 million to the United Way for mental health, legal support and food assistance.

More on the St. Louis tornado beat today from STLPR, this from Andrea Henderson @drebjournalist.bsky.social.

She breaks down how aid is being disbursed for mental health support (Better Family Life) legal support (Legal Services of Easter Missouri) and food assistance (HOSCO Shift Inc.)

The report notes:
"Many of the [tornado recover programs] struggled to take applications and, up until now, have denied hundreds of applicants. Others launched so long after the tornado hit that many residents STLPR interviewed said they had turned elsewhere for aid or given up entirely."

Tornado victims lose hope as St. Louis programs deny relief to hundreds Nearly nine months later, St. Louis programs aimed to help people impacted by the May 16 tornado are only getting started. City officials say they struggled to get the aid programs running.

Important reporting out today from @kavahnmansouri.bsky.social:

One tornado-impacted St. Louis resident told him, “I'm not spending my precious time and my precious energy holding out hope for the city … I'm going to reserve that for my neighbors.”

Pinned lizzie johnson @lizziejohnsonnn · Aug 19, 2021 Almost three years ago, my editor called me early one November morning. A wildfire had sparked near a town called Paradise, he said. Could I go? (1/13) 0:02 / 0:10 lizzie johnson @lizziejohnsonnn · 47m I was just laid off by The Washington Post in the middle of a warzone. I have no words. I'm devastated. Quote lizzie johnson @lizziejohnsonnn · Jan 25 Waking up without power, heat, or running water. (Again.) But the work here in Kyiv continues. Warming up in the car, writing in pencil — pen ink freezes — by headlamp.

A publisher who lays off a reporter whose pen is freezing because she's covering a frigid war zone while dodging missiles is not an editor you want to work for, in a more perfect world

INBOX: Robert McCartney, who worked for 39 years at The Washington Post, including as a Metro columnist and editor, before retiring in 2021, claims on X that he has heard the Post has laid off *all* its photojournalists.

Schmitt: "Your words that don’t mean anything aren't going to stop what’s coming, and I want you to take that back to Soros and all these ridiculous funders you have. Because justice is coming. And by the way, if I have it my way, we will be denaturalize all these fraudsters and send them home."

A Muslim-owned thrift shop blends modest fashion, faith and sustainability NEW YORK (RNS) — Modify Thrift, which opened last May, aims to offer modest, stylish outfits while debunking stereotypes about Muslim women.

I went to a thrift store in Harlem that sold modest clothes. The owner told me she offers street wear and cultural pieces that debunk stereotypes about Muslim women.

“Muslim women are some of the most fashionable people out there,” Kadjahtou Balde said.

MORE: religionnews.com/2026/02/02/a...

Missouri secretary of state wants chance to rewrite biased ballot language for referendum • Missouri Independent Secretary of State Denny Hoskins wants another chance to write ballot language for a vote on Missouri’s gerrymandered redistricting map.

In a court filing this week that surprised advocates for a statewide vote on the new map, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins’ attorney wrote that accusations the original ballot language was “argumentative and likely to create prejudice” were true. #moleg #mogov