JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — State education officials say COVID-19 has caused 62 Missouri school districts to temporarily close for one or more days in January. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said that is 12% of the state’s school districts. The Kansas City Star reports the closures come as COVID-19 cases increase because…
CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — St. Louis County has rescinded its mask mandate, weeks after a Missouri judge barred local health departments from issuing them. The county’s decision was announced Thursday during a court hearing in a lawsuit that Republican Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed in July in response to a previous mask mandate. In…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt is warning school districts and local public health departments that he will take legal action if they do not stop enforcing COVID-19 related health orders such as mask mandates and quarantine rules. In letters sent Tuesday, Schmitt cited a Cole County judge’s ruling last month…
SULLIVAN, Mo. (AP) — An eastern Missouri state senator is joining the long list of Republicans running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Roy Blunt. The Springfield News-Leader reports that Dave Schatz, who is from Sullivan and is president pro tem of the state Senate, made the announcement Tuesday. Schatz joins a list…
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A U.S. Senate candidate in Missouri, Republican state Attorney General Eric Schmitt, is flexing the power of his office by filing a slew of lawsuits, including against Democratic cities and schools to stop mask mandates. For state attorneys general hoping to gain greater influence and advance their own political agendas, filing…
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…
Mark McCloskey, a St. Louis personal injury lawyer who gained national attention after he and his wife waved guns at racial injustice protesters who marched near their home last summer, says he will run for the U.S. Senate in 2022. McCloskey made the announcement Tuesday on Tucker Carlson’s show on Fox News. Incumbent Missouri Republican…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Republican Eric Schmitt has been sworn in as Missouri’s state attorney general. Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Zel Fischer gave Schmitt the oath of office Thursday in the Supreme Court building. Schmitt previously served as the state’s elected treasurer. But Gov. Mike Parson appointed him attorney general to replace Josh…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s incoming Attorney General Eric Schmitt is tapping a former assistant U.S. attorney to lead criminal litigation in the office. Schmitt on Thursday announced he’s picking Cristian Stevens to be deputy attorney general for criminal litigation. That means Stevens will lead the office’s criminal divisions. The Missouri attorney general’s office…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Republican Gov. Mike Parson has named state Treasurer Eric Schmitt to replace Senator-elect Josh Hawley as Missouri’s attorney general. Parson appointed the 43-year-old Republican on Tuesday. The attorney general’s seat will be open once Hawley joins the U.S. Senate in January. Hawley unseated Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in last week’s election. Voters…