CHICAGO (AP) — The Illinois Senate has adjourned without taking up a major overhaul of energy policy aimed at making Illinois a renewable-energy state by 2050. Lawmakers returned to Springfield this week amid negotiations on Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s plan that would offer a bailout to nuclear power plants and close coal-fired plants by 2035. However…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has signed a new law that will limit public health restrictions imposed by local governments. The law takes effect immediately, but most Missouri cities and counties already ended their coronavirus restrictions on businesses and public gatherings. Parson says the law signed Tuesday will primarily affect future…
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s attorney general has closed an open-records complaint filed against Gov. Mike Parson. Records provided to The Associated Press show Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office last week closed the complaint filed by a Missouri news outlet. A Missouri Independent reporter had asked Schmitt’s office to investigate after Parson’s office refused to…
(AP) — Kansas’ largest electric company expects to make its first big investments in solar energy over the next three years and is looking to produce no net carbon emissions as of 2045. Both goals are set by a long-term plan outlined by Evergy for regulators in Kansas and Missouri. Environmentalist don’t think Evergy is…
CHICAGO (AP) — The number of COVID-19 cases in Illinois is continuing to drop with the state’s seven-day positivity rate on all tests remaining under 1%. The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 298 new and confirmed cases on Sunday, along with 11 new deaths. At the same time, more than half of the state’s…
LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s Republican Gov. Mike Parson has signed a bill banning local enforcement of federal gun laws. Parson signed the legislation Saturday at a Kansas City-area gun store and shooting range. The measure allows local police departments to be sued and fined $50,000 for every violation. Republicans argued the measure is…
CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois will hit a milestone Friday. That’s when the state lifts all capacity limits on bars, restaurants, businesses and other venues. It comes nearly 15 months after the first stay-at-home order during the coronavirus pandemic. The Illinois health department says more than 68% of Illinois residents who are 18 or older have…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A woman says a former Missouri police officer campaigning for a state House seat last year repeatedly told her to deny that they had sex years ago while she was drunk and he was on duty. Emily Orf spoke to The Associated Press about her interactions with now-Rep. Chad Perkins.…
LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. (AP) — Republican Rep. Vicky Hartzler, who represents a very conservative and mostly rural area of central and western Missouri in Congress, has officially entered the state’s crowded Senate race. Hartzler announced her bid Thursday in the Kansas City suburb of Lee’s Summit. She’s seeking to replace Republican Roy Blunt, who won’t…
A federal appeals court panel has blocked Missouri from enforcing a sweeping state abortion law that bans the procedures at or after eight weeks of pregnancy. A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis handed down the ruling Wednesday. The panel heard arguments in September in the legal battle…