a Better Bubble™

BizJournal 💲📰

Settlement reached in Gateway Pundit defamation case, though details were not disclosed

6 months 2 weeks ago
A settlement has been reached between the Gateway Pundit and two Georgia poll workers who accused the St. Louis-based far-right website of defamation in a civil suit in St. Louis Circuit Court. Notice of the settlement was filed Monday afternoon. The parties to the dispute “provide notice to the court that the parties have reached agreement to settle all claims and counterclaims asserted in the … action, which settlement shall be satisfied on March 29, 2025,” the notice reads. “The parties…
Paul Wagman

Missouri Chamber backs Democrats in 2 swing state Senate districts

6 months 2 weeks ago
Democrats hoping to chip away at the GOP supermajority in the Missouri Senate got a big boost last week when its candidates in two swing districts won the endorsement of the state’s largest business advocacy group.  In a third hotly contested district, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry chose not to weigh in at all.  The Missouri Chamber, an historically Republican-leaning organization, formally endorsed Democrat Robert Sauls in Senate District 11 and Joe Pereles in Senate District…
Jason Hancock

Annual report shows gains in some areas of Illinois gambling may come at others’ expense

6 months 2 weeks ago
Illinois surpassed $2 billion in tax revenue last year from all types of gambling and the state lottery – a record bolstered by continued growth in video gambling, sports betting and the opening of several new casinos. But that growth comes at the expense of Illinois’ traditional riverboat casinos and the horse racing industry, which has been on a downward trajectory for decades. An annual report published last week by the General Assembly’s fiscal forecasting arm laid out the state’s record…
Hannah Meisel

Senators demand another antitrust investigation into pharmacy middlemen like Express Scripts

6 months 2 weeks ago
A federal antitrust watchdog is already conducting an investigation into, and has filed a lawsuit against, huge pharmacy middlemen. Now two U.S. senators want the Federal Trade Commission to open a separate investigation into an emerging practice of their even bigger parent companies. The middlemen are called pharmacy benefit managers or PBMs, and they have long claimed that their size enables them to force drugmakers to lower their prices and create savings for patients. But two of the big-three…
Marty Schladen

Missouri appeals court hears case over local governments stacking sales tax on marijuana

6 months 2 weeks ago
The court debate Tuesday over how Missouri marijuana products get taxed statewide sounded similar to a grammar class on conjunctions and comma placement. The constitutional amendment voters approved in 2022 legalizing recreational marijuana allowed local governments to impose additional sales tax on the products. The big question before the three-judge panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District on Tuesday was: what did voters intend by “local government?” Attorneys for St. Louis…
Rebecca Rivas

Planned Parenthood to close 2 St. Louis-area clinics, expand telehealth services

6 months 2 weeks ago
Three Planned Parenthood clinics in eastern and southern Missouri will shut their doors next month, though the organization’s leaders insist the moves will ultimately expand access to reproductive health care. As part of the consolidation effort, Planned Parenthood Great Rivers will be expanding telehealth services and hours at its remaining St. Louis clinics. The moves come as the state has successfully implemented legislation cutting Planned Parenthood clinics off from Medicaid funding, though…
Anna Spoerre