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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois lawmakers approved election changes before adjournment last month, but many continue or expand existing practices or those put in place last year to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. They stand in sharp contrast to the restrictions on voting adopted or under consideration in Republican-controlled legislatures such as those in Texas…
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Three senators visiting Taiwan say the U.S. will give the self-ruled island 750,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, part of President Joe Biden’s move to share tens of millions of jabs globally. Taiwan has complained that China is hindering its efforts to secure vaccines as it battles an outbreak. Democratic Sen. Tammy…
PEVELY, Mo. (AP) — Police have taken two suspects into custody for allegedly shooting at a car with a family of six and injuring one in the St. Louis area. Pevely Police Chief Alan Eickhoff told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the shooting occurred Friday as both vehicles traveled north on I-55. Eickhoff says someone…
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Former Vice President Mike Pence says he isn’t sure he and former President Donald Trump will ever see “eye to eye” over what happened on Jan. 6 but he will “always be proud of what we accomplished for the American people over the last four years.” Pence made the comments in…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s first-ever bear hunt is drawing plenty of interest. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Thursday that 6,335 people applied for one of the 400 permits the Missouri Department of Conservation will issue for a harvest of 40 bears. Winners of a random drawing of eligible applicants will be determined by…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week for a fifth straight week to a new pandemic low, the latest evidence that the U.S. job market is regaining its health as the economy further reopens. Jobless claims dropped to 385,000, down 20,000 from the week before. The number of applications…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Get the shot, then relax with a shot, or a beer. That’s the incentive for people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 under legislation Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed Wednesday. The plan was sponsored by Rep. Mike Zalewski of Riverside and Sen. Sara Feigenholtz of Chicago, both Democrats. It intends to draw customers…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has used the 100th anniversary of Tulsa’s race massacre to plea for sweeping legislation in Congress to protect the right to vote. Biden’s message comes as Republican-led state governments pass new restrictions making it tougher to cast ballots. Biden called out lawmakers in Congress — including two senators in…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Supreme Court has struck down a 2018 state law that imposed new requirements on some public sector labor unions. In a 5-2 ruling Tuesday, the Supreme Court said the law violated the constitution’s equal protection rights by exempting public safety unions from the new requirements imposed on other…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is set to mark the 100th anniversary of a massacre that wiped out a thriving Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Biden will grieve Tuesday for the hundreds of Black people killed at the hands of a white mob a century ago. The visit comes amid an ongoing national reckoning…