SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Don’t toss the grammar-school composition paper yet. The Illinois House approved legislation 67-48 Wednesday requiring elementary and high schools to teach cursive writing. The sponsor is Chicago Democratic Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch. He says it’s important that tech-savvy children to retain cursive writing to read historical documents, write personal notes and…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri representatives have approved that the state pay an extra $241 million in unexpected expenses for this fiscal year. House members voted 143-7 in favor of the supplemental budget Wednesday. It soon will go to the governor’s desk. Most of the money comes from federal funds, and most of it…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dismissing concerns about ballooning federal deficits, President Donald Trump on Wednesday proposed dramatic tax cuts for U.S. businesses and individuals — outlining an overhaul his administration promises will spur economic growth and simplify America’s tangle of tax code rules. His proposal, a one-page sketch short on detail, would reduce the top corporate…
JEFFERSON CITY (AP) The city of St. Louis’s minimum wage could rise to $10 an hour starting next week and to $11 next year, now that the state’s highest court won’t reconsider its ruling upholding it. The Missouri Supreme Court in February rejected claims by business groups that setting a wage higher than the state’s $7.65 one…
ST. LOUIS (AP)Â An execution date is set for this summer for a man convicted in the 1998 fatal stabbing of former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Lisha Gayle during a burglary. The Missouri Supreme Court has set August 22 for the execution by injection of Marcellus Williams for the slaying of Gayle. Williams was burglarizing Gayle’s…
ST. LOUIS (KTRS)Â St. Louis County police are asking the public for help in identifying the body of an infant a fisherman found in a north county lake. The remains were found April 15th in the 20th block of Behlman Lake Court, in Florissant. Police have been unable to confirm the age and sex of the…
ST. LOUIS (AP) – An audit launched in the wake of unrest following the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson found the city’s court system “in disarray” and disorganized. Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway released details of the audit Wednesday. The report gives the St. Louis suburb’s court system a “poor” rating, the…
ST. LOUIS  (AP) Fire officials in St. Louis continue their investigation after a vacant home exploded, sending glass, wood and other rubble flying into the air. The explosion in the city’s Baden neighborhood happened about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. Fire Capt. Garon Mosby says it’s a miracle that no one was hurt. The brick bungalow-style home was completely destroyed,…
St. Louis County, MO  (KTRS)  Police have released the identity of the elderly woman who died in a fire at a north county retirement community. The victim has been identified as 85-year-old Pearl Turner. Firefighters responded to a fire at the Bethseda Village North Retirment Community at just after 6 p.m. Tuesday.  Firefighters discovered Turner’s body…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Illinois officials are poised to consider the status of the pension Dennis Hastert receives for the time he served in the state’s General Assembly. The Illinois General Assembly Retirement System’s board of trustees is scheduled to consider the former U.S. House Speaker’s $28,000 annual pension on Wednesday morning during a meeting…