Every day another Republican lawmaker seems to wake up and decide that he — and in at least one case, she — might make a pretty good speaker of the House. The profusion of potential candidates, now approaching double digits, ...
Read More »St. Louis County town likely to contract for police service
A small St. Louis County town with a reputation as a speed trap may soon disband its police department and contract for law enforcement. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Charlack has received many complaints over the years for its ...
Read More »Government: No benefit hike for Social Security next year
There will be no benefit increase next year for millions of Social Security recipients, disabled veterans and federal retirees, the government said Thursday. It’s just the third time in 40 years that payments will remain flat. All three times have ...
Read More »Yahoo’s updated email app aims to kill the password
Yahoo is trying to phase out passwords with an update to its mobile application for its email service. The renovated app released Thursday for iPhones and Android devices will include an option called “Account Key” that allows people to sign ...
Read More »Hastert attorney says former speaker intends to plead guilty
An attorney for Dennis Hastert told a federal judge Thursday that the former House speaker intends to plead guilty in a federal hush-money case. John Gallo said during a brief hearing that he expects to have a written plea agreement ...
Read More »Judge strikes down St. Louis minimum wage law
A Missouri judge on Wednesday struck down a St. Louis ordinance that would have raised the minimum wage a day later. St. Louis Circuit Judge Steven Ohmer declared the ordinance invalid and barred the city from enforcing it. His ruling ...
Read More »Leftover cash? Ex-lawmakers find plenty of use for money
No matter how they exited — a loss, a resignation, a retirement — former members of Congress can pretty much do whatever they want with leftover campaign cash as long as it’s political or charitable. Evan Bayh has kept $10 ...
Read More »Investigation sought on using violent inmates to fight fires
A state lawmaker and a union president are calling for investigations after California’s corrections department revealed that about 1,400 of the state’s 3,700 inmate firefighters have previous convictions for violent offenses. Corrections officials had said for years that only nonviolent ...
Read More »Big 3 airlines flexing their political muscle in Washington
U.S. airlines have ramped up an aggressive lobbying campaign that seeks nothing less than converting the government from industry regulator to business ally. The big three legacy carriers — Delta, American and United — want the Obama administration to protect ...
Read More »Gun shop ordered to pay millions to injured police officers
Jurors ordered a Wisconsin gun store to pay nearly $6 million on Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by two Milwaukee police officers who were shot and seriously wounded by a gun purchased at the store. The ruling came in a ...
Read More »Court reinstates lawsuit over NYPD surveillance of Muslims
A federal appeals court on Tuesday reinstated a lawsuit challenging the New York Police Department’s surveillance of Muslim groups in New Jersey after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, saying any resulting harm came from the city’s tactics, not the media’s ...
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