State News

Missouri is preparing to launch a $5 million ad campaign to urge residents to get the coronavirus vaccine as appointment times begin to go unfilled in some places even though the state expanded eligibility to everyone age 16 or older. Called Stronger Together, the campaign will begin next month and will provide vaccination information through radio, TV, print and social media messages...

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Police in Indianapolis have identified the shooter who opened fire at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis as a young male in his 20s. Police Chief Randal Taylor also noted that a “significant” number of employees at the facility where the shooting took place Thursday night are members of the Sikh community...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The GOP-led Missouri House on Thursday passed an alternative plan for spending funding initially meant for Medicaid expansion. House lawmakers voted 143-1 to send the proposal to the Senate, where Republican leaders have also voiced support for defunding Medicaid expansion...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The Missouri House on Thursday refused to accept a lawmaker's resignation so the Ethics Committee can fully investigate allegations he physically and sexually abused his children years ago. The GOP-led House voted 153-0 to prevent Republican Rep. Rick Roeber of Lee's Summit from resigning Friday as he had planned...

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- COVID-19 vaccine supply is starting to outpace demand in Missouri, even after the state expanded eligibility, raising worries among some health care providers. Early on, mass vaccination clinics in rural areas sometimes had excess doses, but demand had remained strong in more populous areas until recently. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Several Missouri House members criticized the head of the state's labor department for continuing to try to collect portions of unemployment benefits some people mistakenly received during the coronavirus pandemic. The agency's actions came despite an agreement reached last month the labor department would stop or slow down unemployment collections while lawmakers consider a bill to forgive most of the payments, members of the House Special Committee on Government Oversight said Tuesday.. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri lawmakers are considering setting aside a day each January to honor the late Rush Limbaugh, a proposal that has ignited controversy. The Cape Girardeau native gained national fame before he died in February at age 70 after a battle with cancer...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri colleges and universities would have free rein to hike student tuition under a bill the House passed Tuesday. Lawmakers voted 128-14 in favor of the bill, with 12 avoiding weighing in directly by voting "present." The provision was tacked on another wide-ranging bill dealing with numerous higher education issues...

Missouri joined other states Tuesday and suspended the use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine as federal agencies look into six cases in which women who received the single-dose drug developed blood clots. Dr. Randall Williams, director of the state's Department of Health and Senior Services, said in a news release Missouri was taking the step out of "an abundance of caution." He made the announcement after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration advised pausing the use of the drug while they investigate the six cases.. ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The University of Missouri's marching band has been invited to perform in the 2022 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. Officials surprised band members with the invitation on Saturday. Missouri's band, which has more than 300 members, was one of nine selected to participate in the parade out of hundreds of applicants...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri's Republican-led Senate on Wednesday voted to ban so-called vaccine passports in the state. Senators voted 26-7 in favor of a wide-ranging bill that includes a ban on vaccine passports to travel in the state. Vaccine passports are documentation showing travelers have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or recently tested negative for the virus. Technology companies and travel-related trade groups are developing and testing out vaccine passports to encourage travel...

LA RUSSELL, Mo. -- Local elections in April generally attract few voters but a small southwest Missouri town hit a new low this week when not one of its 70 residents cast a ballot. Jasper County Clerk Charlie Davis said his office checked several times to confirm no votes were cast Tuesday in La Russell in an election to decide whether it should annex itself into the Avilla Fire Protection District...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's top Republican state senator on Thursday said he doesn't want lawmakers to pay for government health care for thousands of newly eligible low-income adults. Missouri voters last year amended the state Constitution to extend eligibility for Medicaid to thousands more low-income adults under former President Barack Obama's national health care law...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri's Republican-led Senate on Tuesday passed a bill to create a statewide prescription drug database, bringing the state one step closer to joining 49 others in adopting the tool to catch possible opioid abuse. Senators voted 20-12 to send the bill to the House...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri's health department Tuesday announced it identified the first case of a new virus variant in the state. Missouri's Department of Health and Senior Services announced a Jackson County resident tested positive for a COVID-19 variant first identified in South Africa...

ST. LOUIS -- After weeks of declining COVID-19 transmissions across Missouri, experts worry the drop has stalled and caseloads could start to rise again. "Every time you think this pandemic is going to keep going down, it throws you a new curve ball," Dr. Alex Garza, the head of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Missouri conservation officials are asking people to save the ticks they come across while tromping through the woods and toss them in the mail. The Missouri Department of Conservation and A.T. Still University in Kirksville have partnered in a two-year research study. It begins this month and will conclude in September 2022, the Springfield News-Leader reported...

ST. LOUIS -- The Saint Louis Zoo announced Friday a nearly 20-year-old Amur tiger named Kalista has died. The zoo said in a statement Kalista had been under treatment for age-related degenerate joint disease for several years. She was euthanized last weekend when medical treatment was not sufficient to keep her comfortable and pain free, the statement said...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The Missouri House on Thursday passed a budget proposal without funding to pay for Medicaid expansion in an attempt to thwart the program. Republican House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith told a colleague, who is a Democrat, on the chamber floor the goal is to prevent thousands of low-income adults who will become eligible for government health care in July from getting the coverage...

ST. LOUIS -- A new company backed by Anheuser-Busch that turns the remnants of barley from brewing into protein and fiber supplements is building a production facility on the brewery's St. Louis campus. The company, EverGrain, announced the project Tuesday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The firm is led by former Anheuser-Busch sustainability chief Gregory Belt...

ST. LOUIS -- A federal lawsuit seeks a return of the 1% St. Louis earnings tax paid by people who normally work in the city but instead worked from their suburban homes during the coronavirus pandemic. The lawsuit filed Monday on behalf of three suburban St. Louis residents seeks class action status, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. If successful, the lawsuit could cost the city millions of dollars...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A bill that would ban police chokeholds in Missouri and allow Kansas City police to live outside the city passed the state Senate on Monday. Senators voted 30-4 to send the measure to the House. The bill's progress follows years of inaction by the GOP-led Legislature on police accountability following Michael Brown's death in Ferguson...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Mike Parson on Tuesday announced he had issued pardons for 17 people and commutated the prison sentence of one person. The governor's office said it would provide information on who was affected by the decisions after their families are notified...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Nearly 25% of Missouri's residents have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot, state health officials said Tuesday. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services' COVID-19 dashboard reported Tuesday 1.5 million Missourians have begun the vaccination process, and 902,026 are fully vaccinated...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri's Republican-led House is on track to block funding for a voter-approved expansion of the state's Medicaid health care program after shooting down Democrats' attempts to pay for it Tuesday. Voters last year amended the state Constitution to offer government health care to thousands more low-income adults, a change that will take effect in July...

ST. LOUIS -- No convictions were returned for three white St. Louis police officers accused of beating a Black undercover colleague so severely during a protest over another officer's acquittal he had to undergo multiple surgeries. A jury Monday acquitted officer Steven Korte of charges of deprivation of rights under color of law and of lying to the FBI in the attack on officer Luther Hall. ...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- As Missouri and Kansas prepare to open up vaccine eligibility to all adults, officials are working to win over skeptics of the COVID-19 shots. Kansas plans to open up vaccine eligibility to all adults today, and Missouri is set to enter Phase 2 of its three-phase vaccination plan today, which extends eligibility to those working in areas accelerating economic recovery, have been disproportionately affected by the virus or are homeless. ...

ST. LOUIS -- Harvard researchers studying how early-life exposures are relevant to lifelong health will examine baby teeth left over from the famous Baby Tooth Survey in St. Louis, a Cold War-era study that measured radioactive fallout in about 320,000 donated teeth...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Jackson County is the latest Missouri jurisdiction to ease COVID-19 protocols as the numbers of new cases, deaths and hospitalizations continue to drop. County Executive Frank White Jr. said Friday as of April 9, all businesses can open at full capacity. That includes gyms, fitness centers and recreation centers...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- An attempt to put checks on local Missouri health officials' powers during emergencies such as the coronavirus pandemic failed in the Legislature Thursday. State senators voted 19-11 against the bill, with nine Republicans joining the 10 Democrats to defeat it...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri lawmakers Thursday voted against funding a voter-approved Medicaid health care expansion that's now enshrined in the state Constitution. House Budget Committee members voted 20-9 against a spending plan to cover thousands of low-income adults under the government health insurance program...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri House on Thursday approved several changes to state election laws, including requiring photo IDs before voting. The measure also prohibits counting absentee ballots until all Election Day ballots are collected and bars making election law changes within six months of a presidential election, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported...

O'FALLON, Mo. -- The eight Republican members of Missouri's congressional delegation are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider listing 40 of the state's waterways as "impaired," a list including the Lake of the Ozarks and Truman Reservoir...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri officials on Wednesday announced a new effort to provide transportation for those who need a ride to COVID-19 vaccination sites. The "Get a Ride" online transportation guide, available at MOStopsCOVID.com/ride, helps connect riders with providers. ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt on Wednesday announced he’s making a bid to replace Roy Blunt in the Senate, setting up a Republican primary against former Gov. Eric Greitens. Schmitt is a strong contender with a record of winning statewide elections and is backed by Missouri mega-donor Rex Sinquefield. In a written release, Schmitt pushed his conservative credentials, tied himself to former President Donald Trump and railed against “the radical left.” ...

KENNETT, Mo. -- Two suspects have been charged with second-degree murder in a shooting that killed one man and injured four others at an American Legion club in Kennett. Tyrese Tate, 20, and Darrion Carter, 26, both of Charleston, Missouri, were arrested this week and are being held without bond in the shooting Feb. 21 at the club, Dunklin County Prosecutor Nicholas Jain announced Tuesday...

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- With COVID-19 cases on the decline and vaccinations on the rise, two mid-sized Missouri cities are easing restrictions. St. Joseph Mayor Bill McMurray on Monday ended the requirement to wear a mask, effective today, the St. Joseph News-Press reported. Meanwhile, in mid-Missouri, the health department for Columbia and Boone County is reducing restrictions on bars, restaurants and other businesses...

ST. LOUIS — Eric Greitens, the former Navy SEAL officer who rose quickly to become governor before scandal forced him out of office just a year and a half into his tenure, announced Monday he will run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by fellow Republican Roy Blunt...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A pilot study released Friday suggests low COVID-19 transmission among students and staff at some Springfield and St. Louis schools, and Missourians now have until mid-May to file state taxes. Gov. Mike Parson on Friday announced his administration pushed the deadline for individuals to file state tax returns from April 15 to May 17, days after the federal government did the same...