News

Legislation that’s designed to stem a potential flood of students from unaccredited schools in St. Louis and Kansas City to nearby suburban schools was heard Tuesday before a Missouri Senate committee.

The UM system recommends curators approve an average tuition increase of 6.5 percent, with prices at the University of Missouri in Columbia spiking at as much as 7.5 percent.

State Rep. Chris Kelly (D - Columbia) says the decision is inevitable if the system wants to pay its expenses.

"The Governor's office left the Curators no choice but to go to tuition for money. The state's failing in its obligation, so we're transferring the cost of our education from students and their parents," Kelly said.

Following up on President Obama's State of the Union address last week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is touring the country, touting his boss's job-creation efforts in rural America -- Missouri was his latest stop. In this week's Health & Wealth update, a conversation with Secretary Vilsack: we talk rural jobs, USDA office closures, and the fate of the farmer's safety net in the face of natural disasters and shrinking budgets. 

Opening arguments were held Tuesday for the congressional redistricting lawsuit.  The suit is being held in lower court because the Missouri Supreme Court ordered a review of the redrawn map.

Columbia attorney Craig Van Matre’s spot on the University of Missouri Board of Curators must go up for a vote by the end of the week. But his confirmation faces opposition from Republicans in the Senate. Republican State Senator Kevin Engle, among others, tells KBIA he plans to filibuster Governor Jay Nixon’s choice to fill the seat that was vacated in June.

Republican Dave Spence is casting himself as a "job creator" as he launches the first ads of Missouri's governor's race.

Spence, a businessman from St. Louis, is making his first run for public office while seeking to challenge Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon in this year's elections.

Governor Jay Nixon is endorsing plans for new oil pipeline that would cut across Missouri.

This week on Talking Politics two Jefferson City lawmakers (both from Columbia) delve into the future of higher education in the state of Missouri as potentially massive budget cuts in 2013 loom large.

The Legislative Black Caucus is vowing to fight attempts in both the Missouri House and Senate to pass Republican-sponsored workplace discrimination bills. As St. Louis Public Radio's Marshall Griffin tells us, both Senate and House bills would redefine discrimination as a motivating factor in actions taken against an employee: