Associated Press

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  • Deadly Shooting-Jefferson City

    JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Authorities are investigating a deadly shooting in Jefferson City. KOMU-TV reports that the shooting happened late Wednesday. Police say one man was found dead and another wounded. Police say the shooting isn’t connected to the killing Tuesday of Lincoln University student D’Angelo Bratton-Bland. No other details were immediately released about the latest crime, including the names of the victims or the motive.

  • Boy, 13, charged in October shooting death of 15-year-old

    CAHOKIA, Ill. – Authorities say a 13-year-old boy has been charged with involuntary manslaughter following the shooting death of a 15-year-old boy in southern Illinois. The Belleville News-Democrat reports the 13-year-old was arrested this month following the October shooting in the St. Clair County community of Cahokia. The boy also faces a charge of unlawful use of a weapon. The St. Clair County coroner earlier identified the teen who died as Darris Williams of Florissant, Missouri. St. Clair County State’s […]

  • Missouri man admits to killing daughter’s ex-boyfriend

    MOUNT VERNON, Mo. – A southwest Missouri man has pleaded guilty to fatally shooting his daughter’s ex-boyfriend after a squabble about an outdoor patio table and grill. The Joplin Globe reports that 53-year-old Robert Waite Jr., of Carthage, accepted a plea offer Tuesday in which he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the August 2015 killing of 32-year-old Kevin Stafford. Waite initially was charged with first-degree murder, which would have carried a life sentence. Investigators believe Waite was upset that […]

  • Man charged in death of man whose body was found in trunk

    ST. LOUIS – Authorities say a suburban St. Louis man fatally shot a man whom he suspected of stealing and then stuffed his body in a trunk. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that 22-year-old Matthew Mancini, of St. Charles, was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of 29-year-old Mark Burnett Jr. He is jailed on $400,000 cash only bail. No attorney is listed for him in online court records. Police found Burnett’s body on […]

  • Kansas City man charged with shooting zTrip taxi driver

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. –  A Kansas City man has been charged with shooting a zTrip taxi driver about 20 times, leaving her critically wounded. Eighteen-year-old Derron “Ronnie” Nevels was charged Wednesday with federal counts of robbery and using a firearm in a crime of violence. His attorney didn’t immediately respond to a phone message from The Associated Press. An FBI agent wrote in charging documents that the driver transported Nevels on Dec. 4. Another suspect joined Nevels when he arrived […]

  • SIU board to vote on Carbondale campus interim chancellor

    CARBONDALE, Ill. – A former administrator may serve as interim chancellor of Southern Illinois University Carbondale while the university conducts a search for the campus’ next permanent leader. The Southern Illinoisan reports the SIU board of trustees will vote Thursday to name John M. Dunn interim chancellor, a role he previously held from 2006 to 2007. SIU Interim President J. Kevin Dorsey says he sought an experienced administrator who can serve for 18 to 24 months. SIUC Chancellor Carlo Montemagno […]

  • Student guide to Illinois Governor’s Mansion released

    SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) _ Illinois first lady Diana Rauner is releasing an online student and curriculum guide for learning about the newly renovated Governor’s Mansion . The guide was released Wednesday. It has activities for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. It links lessons in math, science, art, music, reading and writing to the 1855 mansion’s occupants and history from the Civil War through the mid-1900s. Rauner spearheaded private fundraising of $15 million to renovate the nation’s oldest consecutively inhabited […]

  • Saline County clerk dies just days after taking office

    CARBONDALE, Ill. –  A county clerk in Southern Illinois who took office less than two weeks ago has died. The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan reports that Saline County Clerk Roger Craig died Wednesday morning. The 57-year-old Craig ran in March and defeated incumbent Kim Buchanan in the Republican Primary Election. During the race he vowed to restore two people in the county clerk’s office who had been fired by Buchanan last April and he restored them to their jobs during his […]

  • Texas man pleads guilty to cocaine ring in St. Louis

    ST. LOUIS (AP) _ A 56-year-old Texas man pleaded guilty to being part of a group that distributed more than 450 kilograms (992.07 pounds) of cocaine in the St. Louis area over four years. Jose Alfredo Velazquez pleaded Wednesday to a federal cocaine distribution charge. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports Velazquez coordinated the shipment of drugs from Mexico and also shipped cash back to Texas and Mexico. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Granger said Velazquez supplied Adrian Lemons, who distributed the […]

  • Missouri infrastructure projects get $90M in federal grants

    JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) _ Missouri infrastructure improvement projects are getting more than $90 million in federal grants. Gov. Mike Parson on Wednesday praised U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt and the state’s other federal legislators for helping to secure the money. The Buck O’Neil Bridge over the Missouri River in Kansas City and Bella Vista Bypass in southwestern McDonald County are slated to get $25 million each. Other projects that were awarded grants include the Sedalia Railroad Spur, which is set […]

  • Missouri GOP calls on lawyer to step aside in Hawley review

    JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) _ The Missouri GOP is calling on an attorney for the secretary of state to recuse herself from investigating outgoing Republican Attorney General Josh Hawley. Missouri GOP spokesman Chris Nuelle on Wednesday said Secretary of State Deputy General Counsel Khristine Heisinger has a conflict because she donated to Hawley’s former rival, Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, and other Democrats. Hawley unseated McCaskill in November. Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s office is investigating Hawley following allegations […]

  • Congress moves to ban cockfighting in US territories

    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) _ Congress has given final passage to legislation that would shut down legal cockfights in U.S. territories including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, ending an institution dating from the colonial era that generates millions of dollars each year. Opponents of the measure approved Wednesday by the House say it will have a devastating effect on the islands’ economies, noting that in Puerto Rico alone the cockfighting industry generates some $18 million a year […]