News

African American and Hispanic Missourians trail behind whites when it comes to health indicators. The nonprofit Missouri Foundation for Health published reports Tuesday on the health disparities of the two minority groups. 

Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones has created an interim committee to study the state's election process.

Gov. Jay Nixon appointed Cape Girardeau attorney J. Michael Ponder to the University of Missouri Board of Curators for the second time on Monday.

Farmers in a dozen Missouri counties could be eligible for emergency loans through the U.S. Agriculture Department for damage from severe spring weather.

Although the Missouri legislative session has ended, the discussion on what to do with the state’s Medicaid program continues. The Affordable Care Act asks states to expand their Medicaid eligibility to cover those who earn up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. That’s about $30,000 for a family of four. Missouri’s Republican-majority legislature has refused to expand Medicaid, calling it a broken system. Now, both the state House and Senate have established interim committees to study ways to reform Medicaid.

The Columbia City Council approved a plan Monday to improve traffic flow along Providence Road near Stadium Boulevard in the city’s Grasslands neighborhood.

In cooperation with the Missouri Department of Transportation, the city will remove the traffic signal at Providence and Rollins Street and will add new traffic signals on Providence at Turner Avenue and at Burnam Road. 

At 7:45 a.m. Monday, Battle High, Columbia’s newest public school, opened its doors for the first day of summer school. Principal Kim Presko says despite minor issues with the school bell system, students and faculty were enthusiastic about the first day.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources temporarily shut down the beaches at three state parks this week. Samples showed elevated levels of bacteria in the water. The affected beaches are located at Finger Lakes Park in Columbia, Harry S. Truman Park in Warsaw and Wakonda Park in La Grange.

Thousand Hills Park in Kirksville was closed because of flooding.

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill says she continues to support a cautious approach to modifying how the military justice system and the armed forces handle the sexual assault of women.

A recent Pentagon report estimates nearly 26,000 people in the armed forces experienced unwanted sexual contact last year. McCaskill, a Democrat  sitting on the Armed Services Committee, says the military can fix its problem while supporting the victims. 

For the second time in two years, Lambert Airport in St. Louis is cleaning up after a storm caused significant damage to Missouri's largest airport.

Strong storms, including tornadoes, ripped through the St. Louis region Friday night. The store caused extensive damage to two aircraft hangars, three buildings and a parking lot. Repair costs have not been determined.

On April 22, 2011, a strong tornado hit Lambert, significantly damaging a terminal and knocking out dozens of windows. Total damage was $25 million.