CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — St. Louis County has promoted its interim police chief to permanently lead the department. Seventy-year-old Kenneth Gregory was named chief on Tuesday. He becomes the first Black police chief in the department’s 66-year-history. Police board chair Brian Ashworth said police commissioners believe the department has stabilized and grown since Gregory became…
CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — Eastern Missouri prosecutors have refiled a felony terrorist threat charge against a man accused of livestreaming threats to bomb and kill people while he was dressed up as the Batman villain known as The Joker. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that prosecutors refiled the charge on Friday against 50-year-old Jeremy Garnier,…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A man who St. Louis police union officials say was released from jail after being diagnosed with COVID-19 is back in jail. Interim Public Safety Director Dan Isom said Monday that the man’s release was a poor decision and that an internal investigation has begun. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson wants to spend $10.4 million to create a new office that would help the state better prepare for floods and drought. Missouri Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Connie Patterson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that creating the new Missouri Hydrology Information Center is part of the…
CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Secretary of State’s offices _ including driver services facilities _ will resume in-person services in the coming days. In a news release, Secretary of State Jesse White says offices that have been closed since Jan. 3 because of the surge in COVID-19 cases across Illinois are opening their doors again. Those…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A U.S. Navy medical team will arrive in Missouri next week to help a St. Louis County hospital staff strained by an increase in COVID-19 cases. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force announced Friday that a 44-person team of medical specialists will arrive next week to…
With abortion access increasingly restricted across much of the South and Midwest, two Illinois clinics near St. Louis on Friday announced a new logistics center to help abortion seekers get to their clinics. Activists on both sides are convinced the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling is imperiled, with nearly two dozen states likely to impose…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — State education officials say COVID-19 has caused 62 Missouri school districts to temporarily close for one or more days in January. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said that is 12% of the state’s school districts. The Kansas City Star reports the closures come as COVID-19 cases increase because…
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II of Missouri says he has tested positive for COVID-19. Cleaver, who represents a Kansas City-area district, announced the breakthrough infection in a statement released Wednesday evening. Cleaver said he is fully vaccinated and also received a booster vaccine, which he credits for keeping his…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s Republican Gov. Mike Parson is calling for higher teacher pay and money to increase access for child care. Parson outlined some of the ways he wants to spend nearly $2.8 billion in federal COVID-19 aid during his State of the State address on Wednesday. Parson is asking the GOP-led…