JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Republican-led Missouri Senate for the first time in years debated a bill to repeal the state’s death penalty, though the measure is unlikely to advance. A bipartisan group of lawmakers to implored their colleagues Monday to end capital punishment. Missouri has executed 18 killers in the last two years. Republican…
(KTRS) – Missouri-American Water company customers could be facing higher bills. The utility is asking the Missouri Public Service Commission to approve a roughly 10-percent rate hike. The company says the need the extra money for water and sewer system improvements. There are a trio of public meetings on the rate hike request–one Monday at…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – The Illinois Department of Natural Resources says it has reached an agreement with the governor’s office to reopen the state museum by charging admission and closing two branches to save money. The announcement Monday comes three days after Gov. Bruce Rauner rejected legislation to reopen the museum. Rauner used his veto…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – A higher-education accrediting agency says the state budget impasse could have “significant” consequences for the public colleges and universities in Illinois. The Champaign News-Gazette reports that the Higher Learning Commission, the regional accrediting agency for 19 states including Illinois, issued a warning to Governor Bruce Rauner and members of the General…
Ferguson was released in 2013 after an appeals court ruling
St. Louis, MO (KTRS) Federal agents say security cameras helped lead to the arrest of an accused serial arsonist in south St. Louis. Forty-seven-year-old Michael Naro is facing four felony counts of second-degree arson. Police say Naro used road flares to set garages and trash bins on fire in his neighborhood. Security cameras set up…
ST. LOUIS (AP) – The owner of two southern Illinois coal mines says it’s cutting more than 200 jobs at those locations as well as additional positions at a Kentucky mine. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (bit.ly/1QlAzzV ) reports that Alliance Resource Partners LP announced the layoffs at its Hamilton and White County coal mines on…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Efforts to overhaul Illinois’ school funding formula again face long odds in the spring legislative session, despite calls to address the matter urgently. Many lawmakers say it will be tough to get support to fix the formula because current proposals call for some districts to lose money. They also point out…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri state Rep. Genise Montecillo is talking about her suicide attempt in hopes of helping others dealing with suicidal thoughts and depression. Montecillo tried to kill herself in June 2015. She said childhood abuse and subsequent depression led to her attempt. The St. Louis Democrat says she hopes her story…
( KTRS ) A St. Louis police officer has been hospitalized after being hit by a car. Rock Hill city administrator, Jennifer Yackley, says that the officer was stable at a hospital, suffering from a head injury after being hit by a car earlier Sunday. Yackley says the officer had been investigating a report of…