By JOHN O’CONNOR , AP Political Writer SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois Republicans, led by Gov. Bruce Rauner, rallied the faithful Wednesday by pledging to make the GOP the state’s majority party in the November election. Republicans at the annual Governor’s Day at the Illinois State Fair were buoyed by predicted thunderstorms that failed to…
JEFFERSON CITY, MO (AP) — Missouri’s unemployment has dropped slightly to hit its lowest rate since June 2000. Department of Economic Development data released Wednesday show the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 3.4 percent in July. That’s down from 3.5 percent in June. Missouri unemployment was at 3.6 percent in July 2017 and hovered…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A St. Louis couple has been charged in the drug overdose death of their 8-month-old daughter. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that 52-year-old Robert Hasenfratz and his girlfriend, 27-year-old Samantha Poppleton, were charged Tuesday with child endangerment resulting in a child’s death. Hasenfratz also is charged with illegal gun possession. Bond is…
JEFFERSON CITY, MO (AP) — A former Missouri state trooper who was driving a boat when a handcuffed Iowa man fell out and drowned is suing to get his peace officers’ license back. Anthony Piercy filed a lawsuit this week against the Missouri Department of Public Safety and the agency’s director. The Kansas City Star reports he’s…
JEFFERSON CITY, MO (AP) — A jury has awarded Missouri prison guards compensation for work they performed before and after their shifts.A Cole County jury on Tuesday awarded $113.7 million to 13,000 current corrections officers or those who worked at the Department of Corrections since 2007. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports legal filings in the case say…
SPRINGFIELD, IL (AP) — A trip by former Vice President Joe Biden to Springfield, Illinois, has been called off because of illness. Biden had been scheduled to speak Thursday at the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association brunch at a Springfield hotel, but the group’s leader says Biden is under doctor’s orders not to travel. Rock…
CARBONDALE, IL (AP) — The search for a new president for Southern Illinois University could take a year following the resignation of its previous leader following a contentious dispute over shifting state funding between its campuses. The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan reports Board of Trustees members met in a private session for nearly three hours Tuesday to…
SPRINGFIELD, IL (AP) — The hunt for auctioneers to settle a $9.7 million debt by selling off parts of a valuable collection of Lincoln artifacts, including an iconic stovepipe hat and gloves bloodied the night he was assassinated, began Wednesday, but the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Foundation cautioned a sale isn’t imminent. The foundation voted…
SPRINGFIELD, IL (AP) — The Latest on Illinois Republicans’ political rally at Governor’s Day at the Illinois State Fair (all times local): 4:30 p.m. Gov. Bruce Rauner has rallied Republicans at the Illinois State Fair by bashing Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan and promising to make the GOP the “majority party.” The first-term Republican rounded…
O’Fallon, MO (KTRS) Two students and a bus driver are recovering after a school bus overturned in O’Fallon. This happened at just after 7 a.m. Wednesday when the school bus was headed to North Middle School in the Fort Zumwalt School District crashed and overturned in a ditch along Hickory Hill at Genteman. The bus driver…