COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers are heading back to the Capitol for the start of what’s guaranteed to be an unusual session amid the coronavirus pandemic. The roughly five-month annual legislative session begins Wednesday. Some precautions will be in place to avoid spreading COVID-19. House and Senate administrative staff must wear face masks, for…
Protesters who gathered outside the Virginia home of Republican Sen. Josh Hawley Monday evening were peaceful and they left when police explained they were violating local picketing laws, police said Tuesday. The Missouri senator claimed on Twitter that the group had been engaged in “leftwing violence.” Officers were called to the Vienna home after…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has several mobile testing teams that are dispatched to various locations around the state each week to provide COVID-19 testing. Anyone can be tested, regardless of symptoms or immigration status. There is no cost to the individual for testing, but they should bring their insurance card if they…
Former Sen. John Danforth says the effort by Sen. Josh Hawley and others to challenge Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory is a “radical” and “highly destructive attack.” The written statement from the 84-year-old three-term Republican senator was especially stinging since Danforth has long been a supporter of Hawley. Danforth publicly backed Hawley’s successful runs for…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis recorded its worst homicide rate for 50 years in 2020, even though the total number of homicides last year fell just short of the city’s all-time record. Police say 262 people were killed in St. Louis last year — five less than the record of 267 set in 1993.…
CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A St. Louis County man is jailed without bond on allegations that he killed another man on a bus. KMOV-TV reported Thursday that 22-year-old Dion Raney of Spanish Lake is charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. The shooting happened Tuesday on a Metro Bus in Bellefontaine Neighbors. Authorities say…
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican senator says he’ll object when Congress meets next week to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the election. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri says he’ll protest the Electoral College certification because “some states, including notably Pennsylvania” didn’t follow their election laws. A Biden spokeswoman is dismissing Hawley’s move as “antics”…
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart apologized Wednesday for a tweet that called Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley a sore loser for contesting President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the U.S. presidential election. The now deleted tweet, “Go ahead. Get your 2 hour debate. #soreloser,” was mistakenly sent by a member of Walmart’s social media team who…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis County is allowing restaurants and bars to resume limited indoor dining starting Monday after shutting it down last month to limit the spread of the coronavirus. The establishments must close by 10 p.m. and capacity will be limited to 25-percent under the reopening plan that County Executive Sam Page…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Missouri hospitals are beginning to see a glimmer of hope as new cases of COVID-19 decline but the possibility of a post-holiday surge is keeping them on edge. State health officials reported that the rolling seven-day average of cases was 1,816, down from a peak of 4,723 on Nov. 20. Dr.…