Local

Know: The St. Louis Board of Aldermen passed two bills that could begin a project to expand St. Louis’ MetroLink and the construction of a Major League Soccer stadium, Feb. 3.

Inform: Mayor Francis Slay signed both bills immediately after the board meeting. Since the board missed a 10-week deadline, the bills were then sent off to the circuit judge to approve putting the proposals on the April 4 ballot. The judge then later approved the bills for the spring ballot, Feb. 9.

The Saint Louis Football Club announced the plans for a new stadium last year. Construction would begin near Union Station about a mile from the Gateway Arch and Busch Stadium after the bills are voted upon by the citizens of St. Louis County. According to MLS Soccer, “The site encompasses over 24 acres of property currently controlled by the Missouri Department of Transportation that will be converted from the current highway entrance and exit ramps to usable land when new interchanges are introduced in several years to accommodate the relocation of the National Geospatial Agency.” Saint Louis Football Club was recently one of the twelve different clubs to put in a bid for one of the four MLS expansion teams.

Care: If voters choose to pass the bill to create a north-south MetroLink line in the city, sales tax would increase by a $.005 to every $1 in St. Louis county. The passing of this bill would generate around $20 million a year, according to Mayor Slay, and with a population of 1,001,000 in St. Louis County, it would take an additional estimate of $20 a year out of each taxpayer’s pocket, depending on how often they purchase sales tax items. The second bill suggests increasing the city’s business-use tax by a half-cent to help partially fund the 22,000 seat soccer stadium. Business-use tax is imposed on the storage, use or consumption of tangible personal property, which is everything that is used in a business or rental property other than real estate. About a $4.00 increase for business-use taxpayers would be added yearly. Make sure to read up on these bills before voting this spring.

National

Know: President Donald Trump acted in his first week in office to suspend American’s refugee program and to halt immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries to the U.S, Jan. 27. The executive order has been temporarily blocked by federal district court judges: Ann Donnelly, Jan. 28, and James Robart, Feb. 4.

Click here to brush up on your United States Federal Court System.

Inform: NPR reported, “In her order, Judge Ann Donnelly cited ‘substantial and irreparable injury to refugees, visa-holders, and other individuals’ from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen, as well as a strong likelihood that deporting these individuals would violate ‘their rights to Due Process and Equal Protection guaranteed by the United States Constitution.’”

According to Trump’s executive order, immigrants from these seven Muslim-majority countries are barred from entering the United States for at least 90 days. The order also bans all refugees for 120 days and Syrian refugees indefinitely. While immigrants are usually driven by job opportunities and to be close to family, a refugee is generally a person who flees a foreign country due to war, persecution from political opinions or religious beliefs.

In the appeal, filed with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, Feb. 4, the Justice Department argued a “basic principle that an alien seeking initial admission to the United States requests a privilege and has no constitutional rights regarding his application.”

Although Trump claims that these seven countries are putting the nation’s security at risk, there are many Muslim-majority countries still allowed to enter the U.S.

Care: Citizens from all over the country have been using their First Amendment rights to express their beliefs about the instated immigration ban. The executive order seemed to have voided the green cards the U.S. government had issued to immigrants who previously went through the process to enter the country legally. The invalidation of the legal green cards caused an uproar amongst citizens as well as disagreements with the ban in general. Thousands of protesters have been gathering around the nation and in St. Louis.

The Statue of Liberty is an iconic representation of the United States. Emma Lazurus’ famous words attached to base of the statue are “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”  President Trumps’ ban seems to be a major departure from America’s historic role as a refuge for the lost.

International

Know: Fox News journalist Bill O’Reilly called Russian President Vladimir Putin “a killer” in an interview with President Donald Trump that aired, Feb. 5.

Inform: O’Reilly spoke to Trump about his relations with Russia stating, “He’s a killer though. Putin’s a killer.” President Trump responded, “We’ve got a lot of killers. What do you think? Our county’s so innocent?”

CBS News reported that Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov lashed out at Fox, stating they would like to receive an apology from “such a respected television network,” but refused to comment on Trump’s reply. O’Reilly told viewers on his Fox News program, Feb. 6, that he is “working on that apology, but it may take a little time. You might want to check in with me around 2023.”

Care: O’Reilly hosts his own TV program on Fox News called, “The O’Reilly Factor.” His show has been airing since 1996, sparking the interests of an average of 4.1 million viewers (in 2016) for his political views. His comments on foreign matters, such as the insult of Putin, are opinions backed by facts. Should Putin really be considered a “killer”?  Make sure to listen carefully to what he is citing as facts. The Hub staff recommends triangulating data by reading news from three independent news sources before developing one’s own opinion.