ARNOLD, Mo. (AP) — With the start of the new school year fast approaching, some parents in two suburban St. Louis districts are questioning why most students will not be required to wear face coverings, decisions that conflict with federal and local health guidelines. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that some parents in St. Charles…
Missouri hospitals are filling to the brim with COVID-19 patients, and so are their intensive care units, which are treating a record number of patients. Information posted Friday on the state health department’s coronavirus dashboard shows 2,318 people hospitalized with the virus, 50 more than a day earlier and the highest number in seven months.…
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge is refusing landlords’ request to put the Biden administration’s new eviction moratorium on hold, though she made clear she thinks it’s illegal. U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich on Friday said her “hands are tied” by an appellate ruling the last time courts considered the evictions moratorium in the spring.…
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California will become the first state in the nation to require all teachers and school staff to get vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. The statewide vaccine mandate for K-12 educators comes as schools return from summer break amid growing concerns of the highly contagious delta variant. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom…
Missouri’s death toll from the delta variant of COVID-19 is rising, especially in the hard-hit southwestern corner of the state. The Springfield-Greene County Health Department announced Wednesday that 82 people have died from COVID-19 since July 1. The health department cited 67 deaths in July and 15 in the first nine days of August. The…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging all pregnant women to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The advice comes as hospitals in hot spots around the U.S. see disturbing numbers of unvaccinated mothers-to-be seriously ill with the virus. The CDC recommendation echoes recent guidance from top obstetrician groups. The agency had previously encouraged pregnant…
Earth is getting so hot that temperatures in about a decade will probably blow past a level of warming that world leaders have sought to prevent. That’s according to a report released Monday that the United Nations calls a “code red for humanity.” Report co-author Linda Mearns says she sees nowhere that will be safe…
St. Louis County Executive Sam Page is urging the County Council to adopt a mask requirement amid a huge spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Page last month announced a mask requirement for indoor public places, only to have the County Council vote 5-2 to overturn it. Republican Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt sued to…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hiring surged in July as American employers added 943,000 jobs. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.4% as the U.S. economy continues to bounce back with surprising vigor from last year’s coronavirus shutdown. The July numbers exceeded economists’ forecast for more than 860,000 new jobs. Hotels and restaurants, reopening and doing brisk business,…
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) — Officials say five children all younger than 10 who were left home without an adult died in a fire at an apartment building in southwestern Illinois. Fire crews were called to the building before 3 a.m. Friday and reported finding two children already dead. The three other children were…