State News

Sixteen beaches will open, including one at Finger Lakes, about a half-hour north of Columbia off Highway 63 N.

Capital punishment opponents say the state's lengthy death penalty procedure is costing taxpayers millions of dollars in legal fees and other expenses without significantly improving public safety.

If Gov. Jay Nixon signs bills covering motorcyclists, the riders won't be singled out in police checkpoints, and May will be motorcycle awareness month. However, a longstanding effort to change the state's motorcycle helmet law stalled again this year.

Rep. Tim Jones will use the upcoming tours to discuss legislation approved in the just-completed session and the items that will need work next year.

Conservation Department officials had expected to bring only 39 elk from Kentucky this week, but a male calf was born on the way.

More than 4,000 damaged homes have been repaired. Nearly 1,100 are completely rebuilt. City officials estimate population losses at just 5 percent from the 2010 Census.

Unlike several other schools in the Oklahoma City area, Plaza Towers had no "safe room" in which students and teachers could seek protection from a twister.

The engineers found the most faults with the state's dams and energy, giving them both D-minus grades.

Museum officials say the idea for the facility came out of the popularity of tours of the penitentiary in Jefferson City.

The high court said states had to consider an offender's upbringing and role in the crime before sentencing a juvenile to life without parole.

Gov. Jay Nixon sent a letter Tuesday to supporters of Medicaid expansion calling this year's defeat a "temporary setback."

The bill would require the Joint Committee on Legislative Research to do an actuarial analysis of the costs associated with the potential coverage mandate.

A bill restoring the commission's authority cleared the legislature before it adjourned last week.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says 71 percent of the corn crop in key grain states is sowed.

Missouri Task Force 1 is the fourth-closest team to Moore, Okla., and has been put on alert. The task force has readied a team of 80 people, which can deploy in a few hours should it be asked to respond to the situation in Moore.

Fueled partly by rebuilding from a 2012 tornado that damaged some businesses on the city's main entertainment strip, new construction in 2012 was valued at $69.8 million and has reached $23.5 million through April of this year.

Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey said he is considering appointing at least three committees to study issues before the 2014 session.

Republican leaders declared the session "historic" and "monumental," but the success depends on decisions of Gov. Jay Nixon.