A lifelong Democrat, Bruce Rauner’s wife Diana campaigned enthusiastically for the Republican multimillionaire businessman during his 2014 bid for Illinois governor. Now the child-advocacy group she leads is among 82 social service providers suing her husband’s administration for payment of ...
Read More »Judge even-handed in black man’s police custody death case
The judge overseeing the emotionally charged case of a young black man who died in police custody is a former federal prosecutor who used to put dirty police officers on trial. Friends and colleagues describe Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams, ...
Read More »Around the US, rosy economic averages bypass many Americans
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is part of Divided America, AP’s ongoing exploration of the economic, social and political divisions in American society Dozens of FedEx jets queue up for takeoff at the airport in Memphis, Tennessee. Beale Street, the heart ...
Read More »Nixon appoints 3 new curators to lead University of Missouri
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has appointed three members to the University of Missouri’s Board of Curators. Nixon said Wednesday the newly filled nine-member board now can select a new president after student protests led to the former president’s ouster last ...
Read More »Southeast Missouri councilmember named in fraud lawsuit
A council member in southeast Missouri’s Poplar Bluff is being sued over claims that he benefited from defrauding a man in a veterans home. The (Poplar Bluff) Daily American Republic (http://bit.ly/1TVwC7u ) reports that David Johnson is being sued along ...
Read More »Man acquitted in foiled Missouri murder-for-hire plot
A southeast Missouri jury has cleared a man of charges that he played a role in a foiled murder-for-hire plot. The (Poplar Bluff) Daily American Republic (http://bit.ly/1Pho20I ) reports a Stoddard County jury on Tuesday acquitted 34-year-old Christopher Hicks of ...
Read More »Stanford put on defensive over efforts to deter sex assault
Stanford University officials say policies to prevent and respond to sexual assault worked as well as expected after bystanders spotted a member of the swimming team sexually assaulting an unconscious woman near a garbage bin. Two graduate students passing by ...
Read More »Ryan clamps down after LGBT rights plan sank energy bill
House Speaker Paul Ryan, who’s in charge of the GOP-run House, is cracking down on Democrats’ ability to win floor votes on hotly contested issues such as LGBT rights. With his move Wednesday, Ryan is turning his back on a ...
Read More »US job openings rise, yet employers cut back on filling them
U.S. employers advertised the most open jobs in nine months in April but pulled back on filling them, a sign of caution that may reflect concerns about tepid economic growth. Job openings rose 2 percent to 5.8 million, the Labor ...
Read More »Circus settles federal complaint over elephant incidents
A circus has agreed to pay a $16,000 fine to settle a federal complaint alleging animal-welfare violations involving Missouri and Pennsylvania shows where elephants were allowed to get loose or too close to circus-goers. Hugo, Oklahoma-based Carson & Barnes Circus ...
Read More »Planned Parenthood seeks to block Medicaid cutoff in Kansas
Planned Parenthood attorneys are asking a federal judge to prevent Kansas from cutting off Medicaid funding for the organization, arguing that the state is attempting to punish its affiliates for providing abortions. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson was having a ...
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