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WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—Chair of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation (CST) Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations and Innovation—today issued the following statement after the Senate passed a short-term extension of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) authorization. “As Chair of the Aviation Safety subcommittee, I’m encouraged that Senate negotiators are close to finalizing a strong, full FAA Reauthorization bill that builds on the existing post-Colgan safety system—including leaving the 1,500 hour rule as-is—supercharges air traffic controller hiring, improves on the technology and equipment needed to prevent near-misses and ensures the FAA has the tools it needs to strengthen pilot training and safety margins. Today’s vote will give us the time we need to do just that.”

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Laphonza Butler (D-CA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Peter Welch (D-VT) to send a letter to Wellpath—the nation’s largest private provider of prison health care—raising concern over reports of inadequate care at federal, state, and local prisons and jails. “Since its creation, Wellpath has been the target of multiple federal investigations and lawsuits, and the company has faced growing public scrutiny,” wrote the lawmakers. “A host of federal investigations, press reports, and reports by incarcerated people have revealed apparent deficiencies in Wellpath’s care.” Wellpath is a private equity-owned, for-profit company and currently operates

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) today introduced bipartisan legislation to support military and foreign service spouses and their families by creating more job flexibility when a servicemember is deployed or transferred. The READINESS Act , which was developed by current and former federally employed military spouses, aims to encourage the retainment of military spouses across the federal government and lower high employee turnover. U.S. Representatives Don Bacon (R-NE-02) and Jasmine Crockett (D-TX-30) introduced the House version of the bill in November. “When the brave members of our military and Foreign Service are relocated or transferred to a new duty station, we should be doing everything we can to support their families who sacrifice so much to go with them—including sometimes having to leave their jobs,” said Duckworth. “I’m proud to join Senator

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SPRINGFIELD – The State Treasurer’s Office has made more than $1.2 billion in investment earnings from the state investment portfolio in 2023, Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs announced today. That amount includes the $115 million earned in November. Another $891 million in gross investment earnings was earned for cities, villages, school districts, counties and other units of government that take part in the highly rated Illinois Funds local government investment pool operated by the State Treasurer’s Office. That amount includes $86.6 million earned in November. “Every dollar we make through smart, safe investing is a dollar that does not need to be raised in taxes,” Treasurer Frerichs said. “The Treasurer’s Office is part of the solution in Illinois.” Treasurer Frerichs is the state’s Chief Investment and Banking Officer. He is responsible for the state investment portfolio and an investment pool for units of local government

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Firefighters are still determining the cause of the fire but believe it started near a Christmas tree.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Cory Booker (D-NJ) and 42 of their Senate colleagues in sending a letter to Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) and Vice Chair Susan Collins (R-ME), urging them to reject any new poison pill policy riders in the fiscal year (FY) 2024 appropriations bills, including the anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion policy provisions that House Republicans inserted into their appropriations bills. “The Senate has had tremendous success both passing bipartisan bills in committee and on the Senate floor because these bills are free of new poison pill riders,” the Senators wrote. “Unfortunately, the House appropriations bills are filled with new highly partisan provisions, including anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ riders, that should be removed from any final appropriations bills.” These extreme, poison pil

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Chef-owner Logan Ely converts a successful Sunday night pasta menu into everyday offerings.

Billy Joel got into the holiday spirit at his Tuesday, December 19, concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden, the 97th show of his residency at the venue. Billy performed several holiday tunes…

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) spoke on the Senate floor on the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, and called for leadership to address the immediate suffering and longer term needs for a two-state solution. During his speech, Durbin also remembered the victims of the October 7 th horrific Hamas terrorist attack and called for all remaining hostages to be released—including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who has ties to Illinois. Durbin repeated his warning that Israel not make the same mistakes in a cloud of rage that the U.S. did after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. He also called on the Israeli government to alleviate the mounting humanitarian toll inflicted on the people of Gaza, a distressing number of them children. “This Hamas attack was a reminder that there are still those who do not recognize Israel’s right to exist and their right to self-defense. But it also raised larger questions about how Israel should defend itself

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The book has 1,000 questions and is in the traditional St. Louis trivia-night format: Each category has 10 questions; some are easy, some are hard.

ALTON - The Alton Community Unit School District #11 (ACUSD11) Board of Education voted unanimously to approve Dr. Brian Saenz as the new Alton Middle School principal during the Board’s regular meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023. Saenz will replace Dr. Cindy Inman, the current middle school principal, effective July 1, 2024. “It seems like it’s full circle because I started in the middle school and I’m coming back to the middle school, so a lot of the parents I had in middle school, now I have their kids in elementary,” Saenz said during the meeting. “So it’s exciting for me to continue all the initiatives that Dr. Inman has been working on at the middle school. It’s even more exciting for me to see some of the kids that I have coming up through elementary and kids I’ve had in the past, to see them through middle school into high school. So I thank you for the opportunity and appreciate it.” Saenz has worked with

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A man who spent decades as a Kirkwood dentist was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison after threatening three judges who involved in his divorce trial.

In 2024, former President Donald Trump will face some of his greatest challenges: Criminal court cases, primary opponents and constitutional challenges to his eligibility to hold the office of president again. The Colorado Supreme Court has pushed that latter piece to the forefront, ruling on Dec. 19, 2023, that Trump cannot appear on Colorado’s 2024 […]

The post Does 14th Amendment bar Trump from office? A constitutional scholar explains Colorado ruling appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Hush-a-Phone, Scissor Phones, One of the First Rotary Dial Phones – these are some of the telephones you’ll see at the Jefferson Barracks Telephone Museum. Housed in a restored 1896 […]

The post Candlestick Telephone Exhibit appeared first on Explore St. Louis.

On Thursday, December 14th, St. Louis native Leland “Metro Boomin” Wayne received the city’s highest honor, being presented with the key to the city. In our newspaper for the week of December 14th-20th, it was brought to our attention immediately…

Experts say Northview was dealing with the staffing issues and low Medicaid payment rates that all nursing homes contend with, and because of its patient mix, was particularly exposed.

Police are investigating a morning homicide in Country Club Hills.

The Midwest saw a moderate population gain in 2023, according to Census data.

CHICAGO – Illinois Lottery players have a chance to become a multi-millionaire this holiday as the Powerball jackpot jumps to $572 million for tonight’s drawing. This is the fourth Powerball jackpot to surpass the half-a-billion-dollar mark in 2023. No one has hit the jackpot since October 11, 2023, when a lucky ticket holder in Frazier Park, California claimed the second-biggest jackpot in lottery history - a mouth-watering $1.765 billion. You could be next! With over 7,000 Illinois Lottery retailers across the State, lottery players can conveniently pick up a ticket at their local store - or they can login to the Illinois Lottery website or app and purchase a ticket online. Powerball tickets are $2 each, and players have the option to add the Powerplay for an additional $1 for the chance to multiply non-jackpot prizes. Powerball drawings are held every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 9:59 p.m. (CT).

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Hackers have managed to obtain the personal data of 36 million Comcast customers. In a notice sent to customers on Monday, Comcast announced that hackers had exploited the “CitrixBleed” vulnerability in Citrix networking devices that’s been a problem since at least August. Hackers gained access to a significant portion of Comcast systems between October 16 […]