Marshall Griffin

Most of the Republican nominees for statewide offices in Missouri are touring the state together in a bus Tuesday and Wednesday.

Steven Tilley’s resignation Monday from the Missouri House Speaker’s post has left Speaker Pro Tem Shane Schoeller in charge of the chamber.  But he doesn’t anticipate holding onto the job for long.

Updated 6:07 p.m. with comments from House Maj. Floor Leader Tim Jones.

Updated 2:32 p.m. with letter.

Updated 12:47 p.m. with details from Tilley press release.

Steven Tilley (R, Perryville) is resigning today as both a member of the Missouri House and as Speaker, effective this evening at 11:59 p.m.

Missouri’s two main US Senate hopefuls made pitches Friday to members of the Missouri Farm Bureau in Jefferson City. 

Democratic Missouri Governor Jay Nixon and his Republican challenger Dave Spence spent Friday persuading members of the Missouri Farm Bureau to give them their endorsement.  Nixon told them that he has sought relief for drought-plagued farmers, hawked Missouri farm products around the world, and stood up to his own party’s president over how much work kids can do on family farms.

It took about 18 hours to tally the results, but Shane Schoeller (R, Willard) appears to have won the Republican primary for Missouri Secretary of State.

It was a close race the whole night, with fellow GOP contenders Scott Rupp (R, Wentzville) and Bill Stouffer (R, Napton) occasionally grabbing the lead – but in the end Schoeller came in first with 35.3 percent of the vote.  The Secretary of State's office confirmed the unofficial results shortly after 1:00 p.m. today.

“We sensed that we had the number of votes we needed, but we didn’t want to declare victory until the final results came in and we were confident that they would trend our way, and we’re just grateful that they did," Schoeller said.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has put a freeze on issuing licenses for new plants and 20-year renewals for existing ones following a ruling by a federal Appeals Court.

The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled in June that the practice of allowing nuclear plants to store spent fuel rods on site doesn’t meet federal environmental standards.  The decision in essence bars the awarding of any new licenses until the industry begins addressing the problem of storing nuclear waste.

Missouri transportation officials are considering a proposal to restructure how much MoDOT workers and State Troopers pay for their life and health insurance.

Currently, the cost percentage varies, based on several individual factors.  Rudolph Farber chairs the state Highways and Transportation Commission.  He says the proposal they’re considering would have all employees pay the same percentage.

Robin Carnahan’s decision to not seek a third term as Missouri Secretary of State has opened the door for seven hopefuls from four different political parties.  The contest had been relatively quiet until about two weeks ago, when the three Republican contenders began airing TV ads and stepping up their campaign appearances.  St. Louis Public Radio’s Marshall Griffin takes a look at the three GOP candidates who want to become Missouri’s next Secretary of State:

Voter turnout in Missouri is expected to be around 25 percent for next Tuesday’s party primaries, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

A turnout of 25 percent would be slightly higher than the 23 percent of Missouri voters who cast ballots in the 2010 primaries.  Secretary of State Robin Carnahan (D) says voter turnout is notoriously hard to predict.

“In fact, our office doesn’t even do it," Carnahan said.  "We ask the local election officials, the 116 of them around the state, to give us their predictions, based on what is on those local ballots.”