JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — More rules on Missouri abortion clinics are set to take effect. Additional regulations on fire drills, pelvic exams, and record keeping at abortion clinics kick in Oct. 13. The regulations also require the health department to refer rule violations to state Medicaid funding auditors. Missouri Republicans have been trying for…
NEW YORK (AP) — Teachers and other school staff members are supposed to be vaccinated against COVID-19 when the bell rings Monday morning for New York City’s sprawling school system. Mayor Bill de Blasio has warned that unvaccinated school staffers will not be allowed to work Monday. De Blasio said 90% of Department of Education…
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Not a single hurricane has hit Puerto Rico this year, but hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. territory feel like they’re living in the aftermath of a major storm: Students do homework by the light of dying cellphones. People who depend on insulin or respiratory therapies struggle…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Former conservative Republican U.S. Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri has died. Akin’s son, Perry, says in a statement that his father died late Sunday at age 74 from cancer. Akin’s comment in 2012 that women’s bodies have a way of avoiding pregnancies in cases of “legitimate rape” sunk his bid for…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The relentless toll of the pandemic has worsened the ongoing nursing shortage at St. Louis area hospitals. Over the past decade, the nation’s nursing shortage has been growing but now with the number of nurses leaving the profession during the pandemic, it’s turning into a crisis, nurses and hospital administrators say.…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Sign-waving, chanting crowds rallied in Illinois Saturday in support of abortion rights just weeks after Texas restrictions all but banned the procedure in that state. Thousands of people gathered in Daley Plaza in Chicago chanting, “Our body, our choice” before marching through the Loop. In Springfield, several hundred people gathered on…
WASHINGTON (AP) — With only hours to spare, President Joe Biden signed legislation to avoid a partial federal shutdown and keep the government funded through Dec. 3. Congress had passed the bill earlier Thursday. The legislation averts one crisis, but efforts to stave off a second crisis seem likely to continue for the next couple…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A lawyer for a former St. Louis police officer who has twice faced trial on charges in the 2017 beating of a Black undercover police officer says a plea deal for his client has been reached. Lawyer Scott Rosenblum tells the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Christopher Myers plans to plead guilty…
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Health care workers who were once saluted for saving lives in the COVID-19 outbreak are now being issued panic buttons and ditching their scrubs before going out in public to avoid harassment. Across the country, doctors and nurses on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic are dealing with hostility, threats…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri law banning most abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy has led to a legal battle over the state’s referendum process that has gone all the way to the state Supreme Court. Judges heard arguments Wednesday on whether the people’s right to overturn laws passed by the Legislature has…