Republicans controlling the Senate are abandoning an effort to use their power over the federal purse strings to block implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The more pragmatic approach came Tuesday on a huge $164 billion spending measure and reflects ...
Read More »Judge in Stanford sex assault case called fair, respected
A judge who sentenced a former Stanford University student to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman used to play lacrosse at the school a few miles down the road from his courtroom, where attorneys said Monday ...
Read More »Missouri expands crimes targeting credit card fraud
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has signed legislation making it a misdemeanor crime to possess fraudulently obtained credit card information. The legislation signed Monday by Nixon expands an existing law that makes it illegal to use someone else’s identity to try ...
Read More »A dog’s value? Court says market value plus medical costs
To its owner, a pet dog may be priceless — and even though Georgia’s highest court didn’t go quite that far Monday, it did say that under some circumstances, an owner whose pet is hurt or dies at the hands ...
Read More »GOP governor hopefuls fault Nixon for Missouri problems
All four Republicans seeking their party’s nod for governor said during a debate Monday night that they would support Donald Trump for president, although only two committed to stumping with him if he campaigns in the state. The GOP race ...
Read More »Illinois judge gives reduced terms to 2 men who got life as juveniles
Two men sentenced as juveniles to life in prison without parole for a Chicago fatal drive-by shooting have reduced sentences because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Darnell Foxx was 15 in 1997 when he fatally shot two people. Foxx’s cousin, ...
Read More »St. Louis police pay $4.7 million for 44 settlements
The city of St. Louis has paid $4.7 million to settle 44 cases involving police filed since 2010 over injuries, wrongful imprisonment or death, according to a newspaper review of payouts that had not previously been publicized. Two of the ...
Read More »St. Louis police officer sues again after winning lawsuit
A white St. Louis police sergeant who won nearly $800,000 in a racial discrimination suit has filed another lawsuit claiming he’s been retaliated against for his earlier win in court. Sgt. David Bonenberger, who has been with the department for ...
Read More »Federal judges decide themselves on conflicts of interest
Donald Trump contends the federal judge presiding over a class lawsuit against Trump University has a conflict of interest and must step aside because of his “Mexican heritage.” Yet nothing in federal law or codes of judicial conduct requires a ...
Read More »Energy bill prospects dim in dispute over drilling, drought
Congressional efforts to approve the first major energy bill in nearly a decade are in jeopardy amid a partisan dispute over oil drilling, water for drought-stricken California and potential rollback of protections for the gray wolf and other wildlife. A ...
Read More »Streetcars en vogue, but study urges use beyond tourists
As Oklahoma City prepares to break ground on its first streetcar line in seven decades, and as other cities adjust to having them again, authors of a federally backed study suggest their routes move people with a purpose — not ...
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