Associated Press

A new audit says Missouri officials have overstated the economic impact of the state's main job incentive programs.

The report released Monday by Auditor Tom Schweich focuses on the Quality Jobs program, which provides tax breaks to businesses that add jobs with decent wages and health insurance.

Schweich says the projected jobs and investment reported by the Department of Economic Development has significantly overstated the amount of jobs actually created and the amount of money actually invested by businesses to improve facilities and equipment.

Members of the Occupy Missouri movement have wrapped up a three-day gathering in Columbia.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is preparing to sign legislation intended to help more military veterans receive on-the-job training for private-sector employment.

Columbia Police and union officials are looking into claims that topless waitresses participated in a recent union fundraiser.

Fire concerns are widening in southeast Missouri as crews battle a 550-acre blaze in the Mark Twain National Forest.

Gov. Jay Nixon on Friday ordered the Missouri National Guard to get ready to assist with firefighting efforts. The fire broke out Thursday in a section of the 1.5-million-acre forest located in Iron County, and the governor's office says about 2,000 additional acres are at risk.

And it’s time again to get out your frog net -- Missouri frogging season opens at sunset Saturday.

Missouri is among five additional states being granted waivers from the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law. A total of twenty-four states now have been approved for waivers, allowing flexibility in implementing the controversial law.

Top Missouri Republicans say they have no intention of expanding Medicaid eligibility as a result of the Supreme Court's ruling on the federal health care law.

The high court struck down a provision Thursday that threatened states with the loss of existing federal Medicaid dollars if they refuse to expand coverage to adults earning up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. That ruling essentially makes the expansion optional for states.

House Majority Leader Tim Jones says the Republican-led Legislature will not consider the expansion.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the public comment period is ending for the Jameson Island project near Arrow Rock – the project is intended to improve Missouri River wildlife habitat at a site in central Missouri. The public comment period ends Saturday.

Legislators last year approved a tax deduction for small businesses based on each job they add. This year's measure is designed to clarify the types of businesses that can claim the deduction.