(AP) The Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a low level Wednesday amid an economy that looks solid but faces potential global threats. The Fed sketched a mostly positive picture of the U.S. economy in the statement it released after its latest policy meeting. It also repeated its pledge to “monitor” the…
(AP) Authorities say former Springfield, Illinois, Mayor Frank Edwards and his wife, Sangamon County Coroner Cinda Edwards, were two of the three people killed when a small plane crashed in a central Illinois field. Jim Allmon, chief deputy coroner for Sangamon County, says the crash Tuesday also killed 69-year-old John Evans of Glenarm,. The 69-year-old…
(AP) Opioid prescriptions are down significantly in Missouri’s Medicaid health care program. New figures show that the number of Medicaid participants receiving opioid prescriptions fell to fewer than 110,000 in 2019 — the second straight year with a 12% decline. Meanwhile, the number of pills prescribed to those people fell by 25% last year. State…
Springfield, IL (AP) Three people were killed when a small plane crashed in a field southeast of Springfield, Illinois. The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department says the pilot of the twin-engine Piper Aerostar reported having trouble with the plane’s instruments prior to the crash. Springfield Airport Authority executive director Mark Hanna says the plane went down…
Jefferson City, MO (AP) Missouri officials say parents who no longer qualify for government health care but do not then sign up their children separately are partly to blame for the drop in children’s Medicaid coverage. Roughly 100,000 children lost coverage through the program between January 2018 and December 2019. Rep. David Wood says families…
Jerusalem, Israel (AP) Israel appears to be heading for a showdown with the international community over its half-century-old settlement enterprise in the West Bank. Emboldened by a supportive White House, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced plans to move ahead with the potentially explosive annexation of large parts of the occupied West Bank, including its…
New York, NY (AP) Two one-time aspiring actresses are next up as witnesses at the New York City sex assault trial of Harvey Weinstein. One says he raped her after she failed to write him off as a “dirty old man.” The other claims he offered her movie roles in exchange for joining in a…
(AP) The U.S. Geological Survey says a powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake has struck south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica. It was centered 139 kilometers (86 miles) northwest of Montego Bay, Jamaica, and 140 kilometers (87 miles) west-southwest of Niquero, Cuba. It hit at 2:10 p.m. (1910 GMT) and the epicenter was a relatively shallow…
(AP) President Donald Trump’s legal team is making a forceful case against the relevance of possible testimony from former national security adviser John Bolton. The lawyers are nearing the end of their defense, and the Senate is braced for debate on whether to allow Bolton and other witnesses into the impeachment trial. Attorney Jay Sekulow…
Calabasas, CA (AP) Authorities say the veteran pilot of a helicopter that crashed near Los Angeles, killing Kobe Bryant and eight others, tried to avoid fog so heavy it grounded police choppers. The helicopter was ferrying Bryant from Orange County to Ventura County on Sunday when it smashed into a Calabasas hillside at nearly 200…