CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A 23-year-old Missouri man charged with raping eight teenage girls has been given 16 consecutive life sentences. Dominic Yocco was sentenced Thursday in St. Louis County for 16 counts, including nine counts of rape. He was subject to a life sentence because jurors in September found him to be a predatory…
O’FALLON, Mo. (AP) — Authorities say a driver who led police on a chase in suburban St. Louis was shot and killed by officers after pointing a gun at them. The shooting happened about 10:45 p.m. Tuesday on Interstate 70 in Wentzville. Police say officers with a task force made up of several St. Charles…
Women who serve in the Missouri House will face a tougher dress code when they return to the floor this week after a debate that Democrats panned as a pointless distraction from the issues facing the state. The new rules require female legislators and staff members to wear a jacket such as a cardigan or…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is proposing an 8.7% pay raise for state workers as a way to offset inflation and discourage employees from leaving for better paying jobs. The governor’s proposal also includes an additional $2 per hour shift differential for workers in some congregate care facilities like prisons, mental…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A multibillionaire Democrat whose actions in the past year have suggested a possible interest in running for president has been sworn in as Illinois governor for the second time. J.B. Pritzker took the oath on Monday, the first Illinois governor to start a second four-year term since 2007. No governor has…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Two years to the day since U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley’s now-famous raised-fist salute to rioters at the U.S. Capitol, a Marine veteran who ran unsuccessfully for Senate in 2022 has announced that he’ll try to unseat Hawley in 2024. Lucas Kunce announced his bid on Friday. He served 13 years in…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers are back to work. The GOP-led Legislature opened its annual session Wednesday. Republican leaders say making it harder to amend Missouri’s Constitution is a top priority in this year’s legislative session. Republicans now must decide whether to make it more challenging for residents to put policies to a…
TROY, Mo. (AP) — A former Missouri deputy who investigated a murder case that became the subject of an NBC show starring Renee Zellweger is now accused of harassing and stalking a detective who was investigating him for potential misconduct. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Mike Merkel was charged Tuesday and accused of photographing…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A Texas man has admitted that he helped steal $1.2 million from a Missouri woman in a romance scam. Federal prosecutors said 37-year-old Rotimi Oladimeji admitted during a plea hearing Monday that in August 2019 he and others began communicating with a St. Louis woman who had created an online dating…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The judge presiding over a hearing to determine if a Missouri man’s murder conviction should be overturned questioned if police and prosecutors “were in a little bit of a rush” to convict Lamar Johnson. St. Louis Circuit Judge David Mason is presiding over a hearing on an effort to vacate Johnson’s…