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Governor Jay Nixon's plan to expand Medicaid in Missouri has encountered a new wrinkle of opposition from some lawmakers. Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee raised concerns Monday that the Medicaid expansion could hurt the state's credit rating.

Missouri currently enjoys a triple-A rating.

But Moody's Investors Service last week assigned a negative outlook to Missouri because of the proportion of the state budget that already comes from the federally and state-funded Medicaid program.

If Missouri expands Medicaid eligibility as called for in the federal Healthcare Reform Act, it would get billions of dollars more from the federal government in coming years.

CARRIER MILLS, Ill. (AP) - Caterpillar Inc. and police say an explosion at one of the company's southern Illinois sites where mining equipment is repaired left one worker hospitalized and heavily damaged a building.

Caterpillar spokesman Rusty Dunn says it's unclear what caused the blast and fire yesterday morning in an unattached paint building. That building was heavily damaged. Saline County Sheriff's Office Lt. Tracy Felty says it happened near the village of Carrier Mills.

Dunn says an unidentified employee sustained burns and was taken to a St. Louis-area hospital. His medical status was not immediately known.

The Carrier Mills site and a related site in nearby Norris City together employ about 70 people. It's not clear how many workers were at the Carrier Mills location when the explosion happened.

Carrier Mills is about 140 miles southeast of St. Louis.

CHICAGO (AP) - Authorities say they've filed murder charges in the death of a 15 year old honor student who was shot last month near the Chicago home of President Barack Obama.

Chicago police spokeswoman Melissa Stratton said Monday that two young men are charged with first-degree murder in connection to the Jan. 29 death of Hadiya Pendleton.

They also are charged with two counts of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm. Their names haven't been released.

Police say Pendleton was talking with friends in a Chicago park when one suspect ran toward the group and opened fire. The gunman then fled in a car.

The shooting made national headlines after it was reported that Pendleton had recently returned from Washington, where she'd performed during inauguration festivities with her high school band.