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…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Attorneys general in 20 conservative-led states are warning CVS and Walgreens that they could face legal consequences if they sell abortion pills by mail in those states. A letter Wednesday from Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey to the nation’s largest pharmacy-dispensing companies was co-signed by 19 other attorneys general, warning…
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…