Yates
UPDATED: The governor’s office says it’s too late to put the 56th District seat on the Feb. 2 ballot. The final certification date for that ballot was Nov. 24. April 6 is a more likely election date.
JEFFERSON CITY — The…
[...]Yates
UPDATED: The governor’s office says it’s too late to put the 56th District seat on the Feb. 2 ballot. The final certification date for that ballot was Nov. 24. April 6 is a more likely election date.
JEFFERSON CITY — The…
[...]
Arch City Deli enters the City Hall food market
ST. LOUIS — When it comes to purchasing lunch, City Hall employees can be a tough crowd.
For the third time in as many years, yet another food service provider will [...]
Blunt, left, and Carnahan
If you’re looking for info on where Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Robin Carnahan is — or isn’t — these days, you’re in luck: There’s an app for that.
On the same day that Republican rival Roy Blunt continued his assertion…
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Horseracing tracks across Illinois, including Fairmount Park at Collinsville, are offering to bolster state revenue for Illinois’ struggling infrastructure improvement plan by allowing gaming machines at the horse tracks.
Not everyone is lauding their generosity.
State leaders, intent on…
[...]
Clay at a census announcement earlier this year
ST. LOUIS — Thanks to the 2010 census, you can count on a big year for U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay.
When new committee assignments were handed out last year, Clay became chair of [...]
City Hall
ST. LOUIS — The unions representing City Hall workers have formally agreed to a furlough plan, the mayor’s office announced this afternoon.
According to the agreement — which had been in negotiations for months — rank-and-file city workers will take…
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Fred Palmer
On Tuesday, the Missouri Republican Party reported a $25,000 donation from Gayle Palmer of Ladue.
Who is Gayle Palmer? The required disclosure form lists her only as a “housewife.”
Why would a Ladue housewife make a five-figure contribution to the state GOP?…
[...]
Joe Shepard, a.k.a. Mr. Claire McCaskill, at last night's state dinner
You know you’ve made it in Washington when you can rub elbows with the rich and famous at an event like President Obama’s first state dinner [...]
John Nations
A campaign for a half-cent increase in the transit tax for Metro will stress the stake the majority of St. Louis County voters — who don’t travel on buses or MetroLink – have in the region’s transit system.
“We’re going…
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Forsee
UPDATED
WASHINGTON — In the climate change battle in Washington pitting region against region, the often skeptical Midwest has acquired a new ally: University of Missouri System President Gary Forsee.
In a letter written to Missourians in Congress, Forsee declared that the University…
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O'Keefe
ST. LOUIS — Hoping that conservative passion proves stronger than tryptophan, Tea Party activists are planning a post-Turkey Day rally Saturday in Kiener Plaza.
The headline speaker at the noon rally will be James O’ Keefe, whose undercover videos of ACORN led…
[...]JEFFERSON CITY — Hunting with a former state representative yesterday on his Pulaski County farm, Gov. Jay Nixon shot a deer.
The outing with Democrat Bill Ransdall was Nixon’s second try. He spent opening day of deer season hunting in Clark…
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Lamping
Come 2010, local Republicans are hopeful that they can take back the 24th Senate District, a cushy stretch of St. Louis County that includes Creve Coeur, Clayton and Frontenac.
For the past seven years, the district has been represented by University…
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Kate Tansey
The St. Louis County Children’s Services Fund Board will try to establish a system of care for the children it is serving, Kate Tansey, its interim executive director, today told a caucus of the county council.
The board would be…
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Sen. Roland Burris
WASHINGTON — While dodging questions about his ethics rebuke by the Senate on Friday, Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., trumpeted progress in Iraq and reported that “morale is terrific” among American soldiers there during a Monday conference call from…
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Corrigan
Bill Corrigan, the Republican candidate for St. Louis County Executive, released a tax reform plan Monday morning that would limit increases on property values and freeze the county’s tax rate.
“Unfair taxes are crippling the St. Louis County economy, halting growth, limiting prosperity…
[...]
Just in time for the holiday season, New York U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer wants the federal government to examine if customers are getting the most mileage out of airline incentive programs.
Schumer, one of the Senate’s most prominent…
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Calloway was arrested after grabbing a check book at the Northeast fire district
My colleague Elizabethe Holland reports:
Several hours following his arrest Sunday by the Beverly Hills police on a charge of second-degree [...]
Sen. Bond
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats looked to be on the verge of advancing legislation to overhaul the nation’s health insurance system despite spirited protests today by Missouri Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond and a unified Republican Party.
With a a key procedural vote scheduled for…
[...]
While speaking about bipartisan efforts to boost the state and local economy at a luncheon Friday in St. Charles County, Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon and Republican County Executive Steve Ehlmann recalled an across-party-lines effort they took part in two decades ago in Jefferson City.
Nixon
“I got to know the…
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Durbin
WASHINGTON — Chances are that Arkansas Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln won’t be sharing her big secrets with Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., anytime soon.
Durbin, the Senate majority whip, spent Friday afternoon backtracking from comments that appeared to out Lincoln as a supporter…
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Sen. McCaskill
WASHINGTON — Internet scammers beware. Claire McCaskill’s on a tear.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., is “absolutely in a rage” about an Internet scam that bilked her mother while she was online shopping, according to a Senate colleague.
During a committee hearing…
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Bowlin
ST. LOUIS — Mayor Francis Slay has added another member of the Facebook generation to his office staff.
New press secretary Kara Bowlin, 25, began work in Room 200 last week, adding to the crop of 20-somethings that have taken posts…
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Charlie Dooley
St. Louis County plans to retire $5,638,791 in bonds two years early. The move would save the county $400,000 in interest costs, but not give the county much room to propose a “no tax increase” bond issue.
“No tax increase”…
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McCaskill skecthes Missouri
National Geographic had a bit of fun with some members of the U.S. Senate, asking them to draw pictures of their home states from memory. It looks like Claire McCaskill and Dick Durbin both participated; At first glance, I didn’t…
[...]JEFFERSON CITY — Investment staff at the state retirement system would not get bonuses in years when the system’s investments lost money under a plan that tentatively advanced today.
The board of the Missouri State Employees Retirement System voted to develop…
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Sen. McCaskill
WASHINGTON — There was disquieting news for Missouri Democrats along with some welcome news in the second part of a Public Policy Polling survey released this afternoon.
The good news was a generally strong approval rating for Gov. Jay Nixon at a time…
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Freeman, left, and Shannon
Two St. Louis icons have joined the ranks of the state’s civic honor society, the Academy of Missouri Squires.
Gov. Jay Nixon announced today that Cardinals broadcaster and former third baseman Mike Shannon and St. Louis civil rights leader and…
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Sinquefield
ST. LOUIS — As one of the state’s most prolific campaign contributors, Rex Sinquefield is plenty familiar with Missouri campaign finance laws.
So his latest contribution — for $5,001 to new St. Louis State Sen. Joe Keaveny — is more than just a…
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Smith leaves court on Tuesday
ST. LOUIS — Those who heard U.S. District Court Judge Carol E. Jackson sentence Jeff Smith this week may have thought she was sending a message to the former state senator by ordering him to serve a year…
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Baker
Former state Rep. Judy Baker, the unsuccessful Democratic nominee last year for the 9th District Congressional seat in northeast Missouri, is the Obama Administration’s choice to be regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The post is one of…
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Keaveny is sworn-in by Supreme Court Judge Michael Wolff
A day after his successor was sentenced to prison, St. Louis Democrat Joe Keaveny was sworn-in to officially become Missouri’s Fourth District State Senator.
Keaveny, previously a banking executive, won the seat in a special…
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Inmate No. 38699-079
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - The Associated Press, reporting out of Chicago today, is quoting Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn as predicting that the controversial plan to house suspected terrorists in a mostly empty northern Illinois prison will “probably” happen.
Quinn, like most…
[...]WASHINGTON — That new poll reported here yesterday showing a neck-and-neck contest between Secretary of State Robin Carnahan and U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt points to a campaign in which both aspirants will be running against Congress next year even as they run for…
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An Airbus jet
WASHINGTON — As Boeing Co. jockeys for an Air Force contract worth an estimated $35 billion, several members of Congress lobbied Wednesday for France-based Airbus to be ruled out of the competition.
The bipartisan group representing areas heavily invested in the aerospace…
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Kelly, left, and Martin
Should lawmakers be given an open ended ticket to Jefferson City? Or should their stay be capped at a set number of years?
Those are the questions that will be argued tonight by a pair of politicians from…
[...]JEFFERSON CITY — An obituary of former Jefferson County Sheriff Buck Buerger in today’s paper omitted the name of the young lawyer who beat Buerger in 1986, launching a lengthy political career.
Jay Nixon was the upstart contender for the state…
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ST. LOUIS– Maxwell D. Marker, assistant special agent in charge for the FBI in St. Louis, reacts to the verdicts against former state lawmakers Jeff Smith and Steve Brown.
[...]This from reporter Elizabethe Holland:
Tonight at 7, State Auditor Susan Montee will announce the findings of a state audit of the Northeast Ambulance and Fire Protection District.
Montee will deliver the report and answer questions about it at the University of…
[...]UPDATED
WASHINGTON — According to the federal government’s stimulus tracking Web site, recovery.gov, nearly $1.9 million in stimulus funding will help buoy the economy of Illinois’ 22nd congressional district.
Only the Illinois 22nd congressional district doesn’t have an economy. The district doesn’t…
[...]County Citizens for Cleaner Air, the campaign committee that helped persuade St. Louis County voters on Nov. 3 to impose a ban on smoking in almost all indoor public places, has closed.
The group recently filed a report with the Missouri…
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Blunt, left, and Carnahan
WASHINGTON — A poll to be released tomorrow affirms what most political observers already know — that Missouri’s Senate race shaping up between Secretary of State Robin Carnahan and U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt is about as close as…
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Former state Sen. Jeff Smith, left, arrives at court this morning. By Elie Gardner, P-D.
Former state Sen. Jeff Smith received one year plus a day in federal prison while former Rep. Steve [...]
Sentencing of former Missouri state Sen. Jeff Smith and former state Rep. Steve Brown has begun in front of U.S. District Judge Carol E. Jackson. Smith was greeted at the courthouse by Democratic state Rep. Jake Zimmerman, D-Olivette.
Post-Dispatch reporters Jake Wagman…
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Smith after pleading guilty in August
ST. LOUIS — Former state lawmakers Jeff Smith and Steve Brown will be sentenced today for lying to federal officials in an effort to cover-up their involvement in an anonymous political attack.
Smith, who represented St. Louis [...]
Ever since he let loose on Congressman Russ Carnahan, Lemay baker Dave McArthur has not been content keeping his focus solely on cookies and confections.
McArthur, whose family runs McArthur’s Bakery, has become active in the Tea Party…
[...]UPDATE: Auditor Susan Montee issued the following statement regarding the ruling:
LAGERS and PACARS are operating under a veil of secrecy. My office is required by state statute to examine these entities every three years. We attempted to evaluate these systems, as…
[...]UPDATE (3 p.m.)
We’ve gotten an emailed response from Rep. Kirk’s office. It doesn’t directly answer Sen. Durbin’s criticisms about Kirk’s comments, but here it is:
“By moving the Al Qaeda core to Thomson [Correctional Center] along with 1,500 U.S. troops,…
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Luetkemeyer
Updated 12:41 p.m. with a response from Luetkemeyer.
Missouri U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer was one of several members of Congress to submit a statement on the health care bill using the exact language submitted by biotech lobbyists, the New York…
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Whitehead
ST. LOUIS — Before she clinched the nomination to fill a vacancy in the State House on Saturday, St. Louis Democrat Hope Whitehead paid a visit to City Hall a day earlier.
Not to mobilize supporters, but to pay hundreds of dollars…
[...]JEFFERSON CITY — The brouhaha over Katie Steele Danner’s two roles — and two salaries — in state government appears to be subsiding.
The Missouri Tourism Commission chose Danner on Tuesday as its new executive director, at a salary of $75,000. Then on Friday,…
[...]WASHINGTON — The announcement today that the self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and four co-defendants will be tried in New York City drew praise from civil rights groups and from New Yorkers who believe the terrorists should be brought to…
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Joachimstaler
Roy Joachimstaler, a retired high-ranking officer in the St. Louis Police Department, is slated to become police chief in O’Fallon, Mo., the metro area’s second largest city.
O’Fallon officials confirmed Friday that Mayor Bill Hennessy had selected Joachimstaler for the chief’s job and had…
[...]UPDATED: Gov. Jay Nixon defended the tourism chief’s dual roles. “We think she’ll be able to do both jobs well and taxpayers will get their money’s worth,” said Jack Cardetti, Nixon’s spokesman. He said the time frame for her to…
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In Poplar Bluff, Slay finds church founded by his uncle
Mayor Francis Slay hit the road this week to lobby southeast Missouri legislators on bringing control of the St. Louis police department back to City Hall.
Along the way, [...]
JEFFERSON CITY — State Rep. Allen Icet, R-Wildwood, took advantage of a bit of a strange interview given by Thomas Schweich yesterday and announced today that he would serve out a full term as auditor if he were elected.
Schweich and Icet…
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Nodler
UPDATE: Sen. Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, the president pro tem of the Senate, is expected to name a replacement for Nodler as Senate budget chairman sometime today. The odds on favorite is budget vice chairman, Sen. Rob Mayer, R-Dexter. In…
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Whitehead, left, and May
ST. LOUIS — Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: City Democrats will gather this weekend to pick a nominee to replace a lawmaker who left office after pleading guilty to corruption charges.
This time, party leaders…
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                               UPDATED     WASHINGTON — Since the Wall Street Journal reported last month that a Chinese company would supply the turbines at a huge new wind farm in Texas, an alliance of Steelworkers and U.S. steel companies has protested mightily about taxpayers helping…
[...]JEFFERSON CITY — A group seeking to change Missouri law so that employees can only form unions on secret ballots have survived a legal challenge to their proposed ballot initiative.
Cole County Circuit Court Judge Richard Callahan ruled today against a union-backed…
[...]SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Three of the four top spots in Illinois’ Feb. 2 primary ballots will go to political unknowns, following a lottery a little while ago to determine ballot position.
In the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, the top…
[...]Sessions
CLAYTON — Texas Congressman Pete Sessions, head of the committee charged with electing Republicans to the U.S. House, is in town tonight, hosting a high-dollar fundraising dinner for Capitol Hill hopeful Ed Martin.
Sessions, head of the National Republican Congressional Committee,…
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(NOTE: The ballot positions of candidates in Illinois’ Feb. 2 primaries will be determined by a lottery being conducted in Springfield this afternoon. We’ll report the results here.)Â
Meister
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Jacob Meister, trying to stand out…
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Watch out, deer: The governor's got a gun
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is planning on making a dent in the state’s deer population.
A note attached to a news advisory sent out by the governor’s office says the shooter-in-chief will mark the opening…
[...]WASHINGTON — When New Jersey and Virginia voters elected non-incumbent Republicans in last week’s gubernatorial races, the GOP trumpeted the results as a turning tide.
A new poll by the Pew Research Center — a non-partisan, Washington-based think tank — suggests that Republicans might…
[...]
WASHINGTON — Transportation Security Administration screeners at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport probably wish that the fellow they chose to grill last March about a box of cash wasn’t a Ron Paul devotee who runs a committee devoted to individual rights and constitutional government.
But grill Steven…
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JEFFERSON CITY — U.S. Senate candidate Robin Carnahan, a Democrat, continued her campaign strategy of avoiding direct positions on legislation under debate in Congress yesterday.
Carnahan, the Secretary of State, was asked at a news conference…
[...]JEFFERSON CITY — A relatively eventful meeting of the Missouri Veterans Commission ended up escaping media scrutiny yesterday because of the hostage situation that turned out to be a hoax in the building next door.
Shortly after the commission meeting started,…
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St. Louis Police headquarters
Former State Rep. T.D. El-Amin is certainly in no position to win lawmaker of the year, but — back before he got in trouble with the feds — he offered an intriguing solution to one of the…
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Durbin
WASHINGTON — As the No. 2 Democratic leader in the Senate, Illinois’ Dick Durbin has the task of marshaling votes for the health insurance overhaul championed by his party and his president.
Sounds like he might not see success any time soon.
“We’re…
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Danner
JEFFERSON CITY — A shakeup at the Missouri Tourism Commission has put an ally of Gov. Jay Nixon in charge and left Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder on the outs.
The commission voted today to hire Katie Steele Danner as the new…
[...]JEFFERSON CITY — In anticipation of an important election year in Missouri, the state Republican Party has hired a political director to coordinate efforts across the state.
Chris Roepe most recently worked as the chief of staff for Senate President Pro Tem…
[...]
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Republican Party has posted on its website the video of last Thursday’s first debate between the seven GOP gubernatorial candidates. You can watch it here.
The downfall of Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich this year should give Republicans…
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Bond with Daily Show host Jon Stewart
WASHINGTON — Jon Stewart is the often-combative, liberal-leaning host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.”
Christopher “Kit” Bond is the senior senator and strong conservative from Missouri.
Put them in the ring (OK, the television studio) together and…
[...]
A Jefferson City SWAT officer prepares to enter the Governor's Office Building
UPDATE 2:00 p.m.:
It’s officially over.
The office building that was the site of an extraordinary law enforcement response has been cleared. Officials said whatever [...]
Nasheed, far right, in India/Photo by The New Indian Express
Who’s that appearing in a photograph across the world in the New Indian Express newspaper?
Missouri State Rep. Jamilah Nasheed, part of a bi-partisan delegation of young political leaders [...]
Lowery
Florissant Mayor Robert Lowery and city council members on Monday faced about 60 city police officers whose pay they may cut by 3 percent by the end of the month.
The blue-uniformed officers sat in the back rows of the council chamber.…
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Callahan
WASHINGTON — Throughout the months of health care debate, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., has told stories of constituents fighting insurance companies.
On Monday, Durbin shared the story of Southern Illinois University baseball coach Dan Callahan.
Speaking on the Senate floor, Durbin implored colleagues…
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On the week of Veteran’s Day, a veteran’s organization is airing an ad in Missouri seeking to convince the state’s U.S. Senate delegation that energy independence is a key component of national security.
According to the…
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Skelton
The region’s Congressional delegation voted mostly on party lines in this weekend’s House vote approving a health care reform package.
The exception: Missouri Democrat Ike Skelton, who was one of 39 members of his party to vote against the plan pushed…
[...]West St. Louis County townships provided more votes last Tuesday in St. Louis County for banning smoking in indoor public places, but the strongest sentiment for the ban came from townships in the central part of the county.
The St. Louis…
[...]JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri’s plan to cut about 100 state parks workers has been scaled back, according to the Springfield News-Leader’s Chad Livengood. After various workers exercised seniority rights and jobs were moved around, only 48 jobs were cut, according…
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Roddy
ST. LOUIS — Alderman Joe Roddy is known around City Hall for a wry sense of humor, using his perch as one of the board’s senior members to take lighthearted cracks at his fellow lawmakers.
But, recently, even Roddy admits that he…
[...]JEFFERSON CITY — The day after Secretary of State Robin Carnahan announced that her office has made past state Blue Books available online, Sen. Kevin Engler, R-Farmington, has issued a news release repeating his past call to do away with the…
[...]
Hoyer
WASHINGTON — House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said this morning that Democrats are closing in on the votes needed for the U.S. House to pass a bill with historic changes in health insurance.
But lacking 218 votes, Hoyer said Democrats were continuing to persuade members in his party nervous about…
[...]
After our Washington bureau chief Bill Lambrecht noted that U.S. Rep. Todd Akin missed a word in the Pledge of Allegiance — “indivisible” — the miscue at the Tea Party rally Thursday continued to draw attention.
The sharp-tongued Wonkette was…
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Matthew Bass
Our crime blog, STL Crime Beat, has a story about a Lincoln County commissioner who was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of drug possession after police say he bought prescription pain killers in the parking lot of a Troy, Mo.,… [...]
Lee
CLAYTON — State Sen. Timothy P. Green, D-north St. Louis County, has asked the Missouri Gaming Commission to investigate a casino executive who interrupted the St. Louis County Council meeting Tuesday to protest a council member’s vote.
At the meeting, Daniel…
[...]The Greater St. Louis Bowling Proprietors Association, which campaigned against the ban on smoking in indoor public places that St. Louis County voters approved on Tuesday, has conceded defeat. It hopes non-smokers will come to their bowling centers when the…
[...]
Rep. Todd Akin greets Capitol protesters today.
WASHINGTON — Chanting “Kill the Bill, Kill the Bill,” thousands of people are rallying this afternoon at the U.S. Capitol, protesting Democrats’ health-care legislation and blaming Washington for a host of perceived ills from [...]
Zweifel
If you get an e-mail from the Missouri Treasurer’s Office seeking personal information to collect unclaimed property, watch out — it’s bogus, the treasurer’s office says.
State Treasurer Clint Zweifel issued a warning this week about an e-mail purporting to be from an…
[...]
Election Day 2009
Although their causes came up short on Tuesday, Republican and Libertarian leaders in St. Louis County claimed some progress in defeat.
In Clayton, county GOP Chair Rich Magee liked what he saw — even though Republican Dan O’Sullivan lost…
[...]
Brown
JEFFERSON CITY — In a motion filed in federal court yesterday, former state Rep. Steve Brown of Clayton argues that he should receive a lighter sentence than the 15-to-21 months called for in sentencing guidelines.
Why? Because the Democrat cooperated in the…
[...]JEFFERSON CITY — The state’s tax collections continued their steep decline in October, raising the possibility of more budget cuts.
Budget Director Linda Luebbering reported today that general revenue receipts plummeted 14 percent last month compared to October 2008. The state…
[...]UPDATE: 4:50 p.m. : The Cook County judge has issue the restraining order. The law is suspended once again.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - The story out of Chicago today — that the state’s 1995 parental notification law on abortion will start…
[...]
Rep. Ike Skelton
WASHINGTON — While the public option has dominated much of the health care debate, language in the House health-care bill about paying for abortion procedures is becoming a hot issue.
Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., and other anti-abortion rights House…
[...]
The governor has called a summit to discuss DWI
JEFFERSON CITY — Gov. Jay Nixon’s DWI summit is underway.
The governor, moved by our investigative series that found widespread failures to punish drunken drivers, has assembled a team of 34 people [...]
Virgina Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell
WASHINGTON — Wednesday mornings after off-year elections always bring over-generalizations.
But the results of Tuesday’s elections — in which the GOP won governors’ races in Virginia and New Jersey and Democrats captured a House seat in New York — appeared to…
[...]Wrapping up our election night coverage with a few more winners:
Voters in Kirkwood approved a municipal smoking ban that is stricter than the county version also approved tonight. County voters approved a tenth-of-a-cent sales tax to fund new emergency radio equipment. St.… [...]Tony Messenger, Jake Wagman, Virginia Young, Kevin McDermott, Jacob Carpenter, Phil Sutin, Bill Lambrecht, Margaret Gillerman, Mark Schlinkmann, Jeremy Kohler, Paul Hampel, Christopher Ave
