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Illinois Route 3 is currently closed in Sauget due to a train derailment, with crews working to clear the scene.

So you may have seen that Elon Musk’s long-hyped Robotaxis have finally “launched” in Austin. And it’s going just about how you’d expect if you’re familiar with the fit and finish of Elon Musk promises. There are about a dozen Robotaxis now operating; Model Ys with a human observer in the front seat to try […]

Policymakers and health advocates said Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” could be “devastating” to thousands of Missourians who rely on Medicaid and live in rural communities. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the changes could cause nearly 9 million Americans to lose health care coverage. That includes approximately 130,000 to […]

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s request to claw back $9.4 billion in previously approved spending on foreign aid and public media ran into significant opposition Wednesday, potentially dooming its path forward in the Senate. Numerous GOP lawmakers on the Appropriations Committee, including Chairwoman Susan Collins, expressed concern at how the proposed rescissions would affect American […]

Kansas City regional business leaders don’t care whether the Chiefs or the Royals play in Missouri or Kansas as long as they don’t leave the metropolitan area. That was the main message Wednesday for an online presentation featuring top executives from four organizations that have membership straddling the border. The presentation came just days before […]

Salt + Smoke, a popular St. Louis-based barbecue restaurant, is set to open its first Illinois location in Edwardsville later this year.

An insulting offer for a rural hospital fund is panned by Senate Republican holdouts. But the leadership is betting they’ll give in soon enough.

ST. CLAIR COUNTY, Ill. - Two mobile homes were destroyed and another was left damaged after an overnight fire in Cahokia Heights Thursday morning. The fire took place around 3 a.m. on Jarvis Place. Several fire departments in the Metro East assisted in putting the fire out. No injuries were reported in the fire. The [...]

The IRS has extended the deadline for filing tax returns and making payments for individuals and businesses impacted by the tornado that struck on May 16 to November 3.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans appeared deeply divided Wednesday over how to establish a fund for rural hospitals to offset the budget impacts of Medicaid cuts in the “big, beautiful bill.” The hospitals, which are generally already hurting financially, rely heavily on Medicaid, a state-federal partnership that provides health insurance for low-income households and for some people […]

Missouri stands to lose $23 billion in federal Medicaid funds over the next 10 years if proposed changes become law, the Missouri Foundation for Health says.

"Although we hope and pray that there are no additional victims, we know it's possible." St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Melissa Price Smith said.

The company notified the state of the layoffs in a letter this week and said that certain employees will have the opportunity to transfer to other Nordstrom locations.

Sheriff Alfred Montgomery hired a half-brother, Malik Taylor, as a deputy, according to the suit Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed to oust Montgomery.

"This prosecution achieves a measure of justice for a murdered child and hopefully brings some sense of solace to the child's family," Gabe Gore said.

by Eric Umansky and Vernal Coleman

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.

What Happened

Senators this week called for a federal investigation into the Trump administration’s killing of hundreds of contracts for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Democrat Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Angus King, a Maine independent, wrote to the agency’s inspector general on Monday asking for an investigation into the administration’s cancellation of the contracts and the consequences for veterans.

The senators highlighted “damning reporting from ProPublica” on the cancellations, including how the Department of Government Efficiency used an artificial intelligence tool that marked contracts as “MUNCHABLE.”

The senators wrote that DOGE’s use of AI to scrutinize contracts “adds an entire new level of unease connected to the decision-making, security, governance, and quality control of the entire process.”

VA officials have said they’ve killed nearly 600 contracts after DOGE’s review but have declined requests by lawmakers and ProPublica for details.

“Despite repeated requests in letters to the Secretary, questions at hearings, and dozens of emails to VA officials,” the senators wrote, “the Department has not provided a single briefing or a complete and accurate list of the contracts it has cancelled.”

Blumenthal and King wrote that the VA shared a list of contracts in May, but it was “riddled with errors and inaccuracies.”

What They Said

Amid the administration’s “stonewalling,” Blumenthal said in a statement, “ProPublica’s reporting revealed these cancelled contracts were delivering essential services to veterans and exposed the cruel and dumb AI formulas DOGE bros used to cancel contracts.”

Blumenthal added, “Veterans and all Americans deserve transparency around decisions being made at VA.”

Background

As ProPublica detailed, a DOGE staffer with no background in government or health care created the AI tool used to mark contracts as “munchable.” Among the contracts that were tagged and later killed was one to maintain a gene sequencing device for improving cancer treatment. Another was for blood sample analysis in support of a VA research project. And a third was to help measure and improve nursing care.

In another story, we reported how VA doctors and other staffers across the country have raised alarms about how the killing of contracts could threaten veterans’ care. In internal emails, hospital staffers warned about canceled contracts to maintain cancer registries, where information on the treatment of patients is collected and analyzed. DOGE had marked one such contract “for immediate termination.”

Why it Matters

The VA is one of the nation’s largest health care providers, charged with the care of more than 9 million veterans. President Donald Trump has long promised to prioritize former service members. “We love our veterans,” he said in February. “We are going to take good care of them.”

The administration has reiterated that stance even as the VA has been shedding employees and contracts. Amid the cutbacks, Trump’s pick to run the agency, Secretary Doug Collins, said earlier this year, “Veterans are going to notice a change for the better.”

Response

The VA has not responded to our request for comment about the senators’ letter. Previously, press secretary Pete Kasperowicz said that decisions to cancel or reduce the size of contracts are made after multiple reviews by VA employees, including agency contracting experts and senior staff.

He also said the VA has not canceled contracts that provide services to veterans or work that the agency cannot do itself without a contingency plan in place.

The life-or-death decision was in Judge Kelly Wayne Parker’s hands. Twelve jurors had found Marvin Rice guilty of murdering his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend. But they could not unanimously agree on whether he should live or die. Missouri is one of two states where a judge gets the final say when jurors can’t agree on […]

Get rid of states? Legal scholar Stephen Legomsky, who taught for 34 years at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, has just published a book, “Reimagining the American Union,” that proposes a radical idea: Abolish state government. The Conversation’s politics and democracy editor, Naomi Schalit – a former statehouse reporter herself – […]

Commonwealth Fund estimates that Illinois and Missouri could lose 58,000 jobs due to funding reductions included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.