It was a mixed week for education reform in the Missouri legislature, with historic success in one chamber and gridlock in the other. An education savings accounts program managed to…
Category: The SouthSider
Krewson moves city toward all-electric vehicle fleet
ST. LOUIS – Mayor Lyda Krewson took major steps toward shifting to an all-electric city fleet when she showed off four new electric vehicles and signed an order requiring…
Missouri must pay Planned Parenthood $140,000 in legal fees
JEFFERSON CITY (AP) — A failed bid to shut down Missouri’s lone abortion provider will cost the state $140,000. Administration Hearing Commissioner Sreenivasa Rao Dandamudi granted on Friday the request…
J&J’s vaccine is cleared, giving U.S. third COVID-19 weapon
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is getting a third vaccine to prevent COVID-19, as the Food and Drug Administration cleared on Saturday a Johnson & Johnson shot that works with…
Gardner seeks to take back McCloskey case
ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has asked the Missouri Supreme Court to restore her authority to prosecute a couple accused of wielding guns at racial…
Missouri House advances private school funding bill
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Poor Missouri families could get money to pay for their children to go to private schools through a tax credit program given initial approval Wednesday in…
Honduran immigrant finally leaves church sanctuary to rejoin family
MAPLEWOOD • Honduran immigrant, husband and father of five Alex Garcia entered a church in Maplewood in 2017 to avoid immediate removal by immigration authorities. For three and a half years…
Some Missourians successfully appeal jobless repayments
ST. LOUIS (AP) — About 46,000 Missourians were mistakenly overpaid unemployment benefits as part of the stimulus during the coronavirus pandemic, and while the state wants the money back, some…
Coalition wants independent commission to redraw wards
CITY HALL – Members of a wide coalition of citizens groups announced on Tuesday plans to put a City Charter question on the ballot to reform the way ward boundaries…
At least 160 Confederate symbols taken down in 2020
NEW YORK (AP) — When rioters tore through the U.S. Capitol last month, some of them gripping Confederate battle flags, they didn’t encounter a statue of the most famous rebel…
During 2021 Lenten fast, some fish fries carry on with carry-out
DOGTOWN – The women in charge of the annual Lenten fish fries at St. James the Greater Catholic Church said it couldn’t be done. A carryout fish fry in the…
Some elderly, sick St. Louisans travel for vaccine
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Some elderly and sick residents of the St. Louis area, fed up with waiting to get the call for a COVID-19 vaccine close to home, are…
No plan to move Missouri teachers up in vaccine line
(AP) — Missouri has no plans to move teachers higher on the list for COVID-19 vaccinations, instead focusing on getting shots to older people and those with serious illnesses, the…
Mayoral candidate Andrew Jones cites 'point of no return'
ST. LOUIS – Andrew Jones may not have experience in government, but he thinks he’s got something better. “Thank goodness I’m not involved with government, because for the last 60…
Batteries powering Mars Rover Perseverance made in Missouri
CLAYTON • St. Louis has a long history connected to the United States Space Program. It was here where the Gemini and Mercury capsules were built and some of the…
Pandemic could bolster school choice legislation
Missouri’s legislative leaders have spent the last decade vowing to pass significant school-choice legislation. Yet despite massive GOP majorities in both the House and the Senate, they often fall short.…
Rush Limbaugh dies; ‘voice of American conservatism’
Rush Limbaugh, the Missouri-born talk radio host who ripped into liberals and laid waste to political correctness with a merry brand of malice that made him one of the most…
As gun deaths climb, Missouri lawmakers push to loosen laws
While Missouri continues to struggle with one of the highest rates of gun deaths in the country, Republican lawmakers are advancing a litany of bills aimed at further loosening the…
Average new U.S. virus cases drop below 100,000
ATLANTA (AP) — Average daily new coronavirus cases in the United States dipped below 100,000 in recent days for the first time in months, but experts cautioned Sunday that infections…
Church, coffeehouse coexist in Gate District building
GATE DISTRICT – Around here, you can buy a bike in a coffeehouse, and you can watch an aspiring folk singer in a coffeehouse. You can read a book in…
On Parkland anniversary, Biden calls for tougher gun laws
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Sorrow reverberated across the country Sunday as Americans, including President Joe Biden, joined a Florida city in remembering the 17 lives lost three years ago in…
Valentine's fail: Everyday talk reveals coming breakup
When doubts about a relationship start to creep in, people don’t just blurt them out. They might not want to worry their partner and figure they’ll ride out what could…
Census won't have redistricting data until end of September
The U.S. Census Bureau said Friday that it wouldn’t be delivering data used for redrawing congressional and state legislative districts until the end of September, causing headaches for state lawmakers…
State eyes federal funds to cover mistakenly paid unemployment
A legislative committee may have found a way to relieve all the debt of Missourians who were mistakenly paid too much from federal and state unemployment programs after COVID-19 crashed the economy.…
Vaccine rollout will expand soon, Missouri says
LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — Despite complaints about Missouri’s vaccination efforts, state health officials offered an optimistic outlook Wednesday, saying significantly more vaccines are expected soon and more sites will be…
Corrections task force will scrutinize jail concerns
CITY HALL – A new corrections task force will examine conditions and operations at the City Justice Center and will assess complaints or concerns. The move, announced Monday by Mayor…
With Obamacare in danger, Missouri GOP push pre-existing conditions shield
It’s been nearly three months since Missouri Rep. Brenda Shields was diagnosed with COVID-19, but her lung issues persist. Shields said she felt her condition improving every day, but she…
Charter school founder gets prison, must repay $2.4 million
PEABODY-DARST-WEBBE (AP) — The founder of a defunct St. Louis charter school has been sentenced to 366 days in prison and ordered to repay $2.4 million in state money he…
Parson remains adamant on unemployment repayments
Gov. Mike Parson is showing no indication he is changing his mind about forgiving any part of the approximately $150 million in unemployment benefits paid erroneously by the state in 2020.…
Mix of hope, dismay as religious leaders assess Biden
Donald Trump’s departure from the White House and the start of Joe Biden’s presidency have stirred new hope among many religious leaders in the United States, while causing dismay among…