ST. LOUIS (AP) — A federal lawsuit accuses automakers Kia and Hyundai of failing to install industry-standard anti-theft technology, resulting in thousands of thefts of vehicles in St. Louis. The Missouri city filed the lawsuit Monday seeking damages in excess of $75,000 plus punitive damages. Several other cities that have filed similar lawsuits, including Cleveland,…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The elected prosecutor in St. Louis is accusing Missouri’s attorney general of seeking her ouster for political gain. Democratic Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner is under intense scrutiny after a visiting teenage athlete lost her legs in a crash blamed on a man who remained free from jail despite multiple bond violations.…
HERMANN, Mo. (AP) — The search for the man suspected of killing one small-town Missouri police officer and badly injuring another ended Monday when the man came out of a home that had been surrounded by police. The shooting happened about 9:30 p.m. Sunday in Hermann, which is about 80 miles west of St. Louis.…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Election officials in Florida, Missouri and West Virginia say they are withdrawing from a bipartisan, multistate effort aimed at ensuring the accuracy of voter rolls that has found itself in the crosshairs of conspiracy theories fueled by Donald Trump’s false claims about the 2020 presidential election. The system to thwart voter…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois’ governor is planning to outline an expansive attack on what experts say is a mental health crisis among children. Gov. J.B. Pritzker will unveil a plan Friday that coordinates six separate state agencies in streamlining and easing access to necessary treatment. The report on child behavioral health was obtained by…
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Legislation by a Missouri Republican would strengthen the state’s abortion ban. A GOP-led Senate committee on Wednesday debated an amendment that would say abortion rights are not protected in Missouri’s Constitution. Missouri law already bans abortions except in medical emergencies. The ban kicked in after the U.S. Supreme Court last year…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is calling for making preschool available to every 3- and 4-year-old in the state within four years, starting with a $440 million investment to bring 5,000 additional children into the program this fall. Details about the “Smart Start Illinois” program dominated the fifth annual State of the…
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and the state’s Republican attorney general are investigating whistleblower complaints against a transgender health center for children. Hawley and Attorney General Andrew Bailey on Thursday announced their investigations of Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. The whistleblower claims minors are put on puberty blockers…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The president of the national NAACP is urging Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to halt the execution of Raheem Taylor, who is scheduled to die by injection Tuesday for the deaths of his girlfriend and her three children. Separately, nearly three dozen civil rights and religious groups are asking St. Louis County’s…
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Adults ages 21 and older now can legally buy marijuana for recreational use in Missouri. The state health department issued marijuana dispensary licenses unexpectedly early Friday. Recreational weed became legal in Missouri in December. But the health department had until Friday to issue business licenses. Missouri voters amended the state constitution…