EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) – A southern Illinois man who advocated sex between children and adults in online posts has been charged with attempting to solicit children into having sex with adults. Forty-year-old James Lopes is accused of giving children cards imprinted with a website that contained his teachings regarding sex between adults and children as…
( KTRS ) Illinois business leaders say they want the state to invest more money in early education to meet the demands of a growing job market centered on math and science. Business leaders says they support Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s plan to increase preschool funding to about $393 million, an increase of $75 million from…
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…
CHICAGO (AP) – Game 7 of the Blackhawks-Blues series drew the largest TV audience for a first-round NHL playoff game on NBCSN. St. Louis’ 3-2 win Monday to eliminate the defending Stanley Cup champions averaged 1.35 million viewers. The telecast on CSN Chicago earned a 19.1 rating, a record for the regional sports network. That…
CHICAGO (AP) – Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert is stepping before a judge to learn his punishment in a hush-money case centered on sex-abuse allegations. At Wednesday’s hearing in Chicago, federal prosecutors intend to focus on accusations that Hastert molested at least four students when he coached wrestling at an Illinois high school. The…
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…
( KTRS ) A bill designed to ease limits on the concealed carry of weapons is advancing in the Missouri Legislature after House members voted 112-37 to send the measure to the Senate. The approved legislation would allow people to carry concealed guns without a permit anywhere they now can carry openly, something that doesn’t…
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…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Missouri Senate has tabled a sales tax proposal after a senator filibustered it by reading a book about 50 Cent. Democratic Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal on Monday read for almost an hour from “The 50th Law,” a self-help book co-authored by 50 Cent and Robert Greene that draws on anecdotes…
( 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…