Ample Tax Cuts For Business, Wealthy In New GOP Tax Accord

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, ANDREW TAYLOR and MARCY GORDON, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Generous tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans would be delivered in a sweeping overhaul of the tax laws, under a new agreement crafted by Republicans in Congress. Middle- and low-income families would receive smaller tax cuts, though President Donald Trump and…

Missouri Veterans Commission Director Resigns

By SUMMER BALLENTINE, Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The director of the Missouri Veterans Commission resigned Wednesday amid months of complaints about care at the St. Louis Veterans Home and mounting pressure for a change in leadership. New commission chairman Tim Noonan announced Executive Director Larry Kay’s resignation after an hours-long closed meeting that…

New Law Aimed At Combating Fraudulent Opioid Prescriptions

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) — Gov. Bruce Rauner has signed legislation aimed at combating fraudulent opioid prescriptions by requiring drug prescribers to use a database containing patient prescription histories. The measure Rauner signed Wednesday requires prescribers with an Illinois Controlled Substance License to register for and use the Illinois Prescription Monitoring Program. The database…

GOP’s Not All That Sad; Party Grapples With Alabama Fallout

By STEVE PEOPLES and ALAN FRAM, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Weary national Republicans breathed a collective sigh of relief on Wednesday, a day after voters knocked out their own party’s scandal-plagued candidate in deep-red Alabama. Yet all is not well in a party confronted with new rounds of infighting and a suddenly shrinking Senate majority…

Democrat Jones Wins Stunning Red-State Alabama Senate Upset

By KIM CHANDLER and STEVE PEOPLES, Associated Press MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — In a stunning victory aided by scandal, Democrat Doug Jones won Alabama’s special Senate election, beating back history, an embattled Republican opponent and President Donald Trump, who urgently endorsed GOP rebel Roy Moore despite a litany of sexual misconduct allegations. It was the first…

Crews Struggle To Keep Flames From California Neighborhoods

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER, Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — The fifth-largest wildfire in California history expanded Tuesday, ripping through dry brush atop a coastal ridge while crews struggled to keep flames from roaring down into neighborhoods amid fears of renewed winds. Elsewhere, fire officials announced that a cooking fire at a homeless encampment sparked a blaze…