FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Millions of students in Florida, Texas and Arizona are being required to wear masks in class as school boards in mostly Democratic locales are imposing anti-COVID mandates in defiance of their Republican governors. The three states are all hot spots in the nation’s recent COVID-19 surge and defiant boards in…
SEDALIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson says he won’t call lawmakers back to work this year to redraw the state’s congressional districts. Parson told reporters gathered at the Missouri State Fair on Thursday that he doesn’t plan on calling a special legislative session this year. That means state lawmakers won’t be able to…
GULF SHORES, Ala. (AP) — The U.S. Gulf Coast is glowing like a bad sunburn on maps that show COVID-19 trouble spots in red. Alabama’s coastal counties lead the state in new cases, and some events have been canceled in Florida and Louisiana because of the latest surge. Health officials believe the spike is due…
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (AP) — St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones is ordering city employees to be vaccinated or to get weekly COVID-19 testing. Jones said in a statement Wednesday that the requirement will help keep the area’s hospitals running, protect children and save lives. About 6,000 employees will be required to get the vaccine by…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan says the Taliban have agreed to allow safe passage for civilians trying to leave Afghanistan. Sullivan says a timetable for completing the evacuation of Americans, Afghan allies and others has yet to be worked out with the country’s new rulers. Pentagon officials say that…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Police say an O’Fallon man has been charged in a fatal hit-and-run crash last October that left a woman dead. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that 39-year-old John Springer has been charged with leaving the scene of a deadly crash on Oct. 16. Investigators say Springer was going at least 30…
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health experts are expected to recommend COVID-19 vaccine boosters for all Americans, regardless of age, eight months after they received their second dose of the shot. The goal is to ensure lasting protection against the coronavirus as the delta variant spreads across the country. That’s according to two people familiar with…
FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Police say two women killed over the weekend in a suburban St. Louis home break-in were likely the victims of a domestic violence dispute. Police say the killings happened around 7 p.m. Saturday, when two people forced their way into a house in Ferguson. Investigators say the break-in led to a…
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say the evacuation of the American Embassy in Kabul has been completed and the U.S. flag lowered at the facility in Afghanistan’s capital. President Joe Biden and other top U.S. officials have been stunned by the Taliban’s nearly complete takeover of Afghanistan as the planned withdrawal of American forces urgently…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Almost all of the nearly 100,000 utility customers who lost power in St. Louis and surrounding communities after strong storms swept through the area Thursday had regained electricity by Sunday morning. Power provider Ameren Missouri said roughly 600 households and businesses remained without power Sunday morning. At the peak of the…