Gov. Jay Nixon is announcing his state budget cuts in a Jefferson City press conference. The total: $204 million.

Nixon says he is downsizing the state work force, eliminating 450 part-time jobs and 200 full- time jobs. He is not cutting…

Ohlsen

Milton “Skip” Ohlsen III, a key figure in the political conspiracy charges that felled two Missouri lawmakers, was sentenced today to more than two years in federal prison on unrelated charges.

Ohlsen was sentenced to 30 months in prison for violation of…

Blunt, left, and Carnahan

A Rasmussen poll released this week shows Republican U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt and Democrat state Secretary of State Robin Carnahan tied in the race for the U.S. Senate seat up for grabs in 2010. The survey, highlights of…

El-Amin

Missouri state Rep. T.D. El-Amin today pleaded guilty to a bribery charge in federal court. He faces between 18 and 24 months in prison.

He pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe of $2,100 from the owner of a gas station. After the…

Gephardt

The Huffington Post is reporting that former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt said on Thursday that a public option for insurance coverage was “not essential” to the process of health care reform.

A U.S. House committee is investigating whether Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri violated House rules in connection with testimony in front of another committee, Washington bureau chief Bill Lambrecht reports in this story on the mother ship.

Smith outside federal court

In case you missed it, former Missouri state Sen. Jeff Smith wrote a guest editorial/mea culpa for the Post-Dispatch op-ed page today. Here’s the text:

I once held a position of public trust. I write today as a…

Joe Adams

After serving more than 33 years as a council member and mayor of University City, Joe Adams is moving to a new political arena.

Adams, the city’s mayor since 1996, is running for state senator in the 14th District. He is…

Bond

U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., says the United States should call North Korea’s bluff and stop the cargo ship off China’s coast that is suspected of carrying arms in violation of a recent United Nations resolution.

“I believe we should either…