U.S. existing home sales slipped 0.4 percent in May, as the prolonged shortage of properties on the market is deterring home-buying. The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that homes sold at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 5.43 million ...
Read More »Illinois candidate apologies for decade-old blackface photo
A candidate for the Illinois Senate has apologized for a decade-old photo from a Halloween party that depicts him dressed in blackface as a rapper. Edwardsville Mayor Hal Patton told The Belleville News-Democrat that most rappers at the time were ...
Read More »IBM computer proves formidable against 2 human debaters
An argumentative computer proved formidable against two human debaters as IBM gave its first public demonstration of new artificial-intelligence technology it’s been working on for more than five years. The new skills show that computers are getting better at mastering ...
Read More »Judge sets limits on evidence in Greitens Confide case
A St. Louis lawyer suing over the use of a message-deleting app by former Gov. Eric Greitens and his staff is facing roadblocks in gathering evidence. Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem during a Tuesday hearing said the former governor ...
Read More »‘Papa! Papa!’ Audio of children stokes rage about separation
An audio recording that appears to capture the heartbreaking voices of small Spanish-speaking children crying out for their parents at a U.S. immigration facility took center stage in the growing uproar about the Trump administration’s policy of separating immigrant children ...
Read More »Gov. Parson stands by contract for COO’s former employer
New Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is standing by a state contract awarded to a top staffer’s former employer, despite calls from a House Democrat for him to take action. At issue is a roughly $2.7 million contract awarded earlier this ...
Read More »Ad slams Hawley regarding allegations against donor
A Democratic political action committee is targeting Republican Missouri Senate candidate Josh Hawley for not investigating allegations of corruption involving a past top donor to Hawley’s attorney general campaign, although his authority to take action is limited. A Senate Majority ...
Read More »US housing starts jumped 5 pct. in May off Midwest building
A surge of construction in the Midwest drove U.S. housing starts up 5 percent in May from the prior month. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.35 million, the strongest ...
Read More »Lawsuit claims Kansas official exposed private voter data
A civil rights group filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach challenging a multi-state voter-registration database it claims exposed sensitive information including partial Social Security numbers from nearly a thousand state voters. The complaint by ...
Read More »Democrats sue about Kehoe’s Lt. Gov. appointment
The Missouri Democratic Party is suing to block the appointment of Mike Kehoe as lieutenant governor. The suit, announced in a press release Tuesday, reopens a longstanding legal debate about whether the governor has the power to appoint someone to ...
Read More »Democratic attorneys general urge end to border separations
A coalition of Democratic attorneys general demanded Tuesday that the Trump administration end a “zero tolerance” policy that has resulted in children being separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. Led by New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, 21 ...
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