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The release of a controversial film about racial division in St. Louis is being criticized over images used to advertise it, as well as it's timing. An advertisement flyer for the documentary film "Bootlicker" contains images of St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay standing over a black man on his knees.

Filmmaker Terry Artis told Fox2 News that the black man depicted is supposed to represent Slay's supporters. "I'm trying to shock people into the reality of what this is," Artis said. "We live in a city that's run like one big slave plantation."

Artis is also being criticized for releasing “Bootlicker” on February 20th, less than two weeks before the Mayoral primary.

Mayor Slay released a statement critical of the film: "It's an appalling contradiction to the Reed campaign's theme of ‘One St. Louis’ when they and their supporters demean, in the worst possible way, African Americans who support Mayor Slay."

In response, Reed's Campaign released the following statement: "We condemn the overtones in this material. Francis Slay's record is enough for us to criticize without stoking the fire of racial politics."

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.