( KTRS ) Gov. Jay Nixon has signed a higher education budget that will result in a tuition freeze at public universities. Nixon approved the $1.3 billion spending plan Wednesday without vetoing any individual items. Public universities and colleges will see a $37 million boost to core funding. That amounts to a 4 percent increase.…
PINE LAWN, Mo. (AP) – A former Pine Lawn police officer has been charged with assaulting a clerk at a gas station. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1VVXHMW ) reports that 36-year-old Nicholas Stone was charged Monday with third-degree assault following an investigation by the Missouri Highway Patrol. Court documents say that while Stone was on…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – The state Senate has approved exempting some types of farm data from Missouri’s open-records laws. Senators voted 25-6 Tuesday on a bill requiring state agencies to keep confidential the information collected for voluntary agricultural programs, including registration data for animal disease tracking programs. Anyone who improperly releases that information could…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – A bill moving through the Missouri Legislature would limit public access to police body camera footage. Senators voted 30-0 on Tuesday to seal body camera footage until police investigations become inactive. The bill would also exempt footage from body cameras and dashboard cameras from open records laws if they depict…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri beef producers have soundly rejected an effort to establish a $1 per head beef checkoff fee. The Department of Agriculture announced Monday the proposal lost with nearly 75 percent of the beef producers who voted opposed and just over 25 percent in favor. The department said ballots were mailed…
( KTRS ) Missouri lawmakers are advancing a measure that would limit fees to carry a concealed firearm and expand the state’s castle doctrine law. Under the bill, concealed carry applicants could not be charged additional fees beyond $100 for fingerprinting or background checks. The measure also expands the castle doctrine law, which gives people…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Missouri Senate has passed a five-year extension to a package of tax incentives for small businesses. Senators voted 27-4 Monday to pass the legislation, known as the Big Government Get Off My Back Act. The House passed a version of the bill earlier this year. Businesses with fewer than…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri senators say they have reached an agreement with a regional Planned Parenthood executive to avoid contempt proceedings. Sen. Kurt Schaefer said Thursday that Planned Parenthood’s attorney has agreed to release documents on fetal tissue disposal that a Senate committee subpoenaed in November. The Senate voted last week to summon…
( KTRS ) The Missouri Legislature has passed a budget that boosts education funding and cuts off state money for Planned Parenthood. The approved $27 billion spending plan approved now goes to Gov. Jay Nixon. It would take effect July 1. It adds $71 million to the nearly $3.3 billion of existing basic aid for…
( KTRS ) The Missouri House has rejected a proposal to legalize medical marijuana. The legislation failed on a 66-87 vote Thursday after lawmakers scaled it back to only permit cancer patients in hospice to use the drug. Some supporters of expanding access to marijuana said they could not support such a limited measure. Other…