Ortwerth

Joe Ortwerth, a major local newsmaker during his 12-year tenure as St. Charles County executive which ended in 2006, has been largely out of the media spotlight in his current role as a lobbyist for the Missouri Family Policy Council.

But he popped…

State Sen. Jeff Smith

Update: Sen. Jeff Smith would have taught a new interdisciplinary class this fall at Washington University called “Topics in American Culture Studies: Contemporary Issues in St. Louis Politics, Culture and Society” with a focus on urban education.…

Jay Nixon, left, introduces lawyer Linda Martinez as his new economic development director

Gov.-elect Jay Nixon has tapped a St. Louis lawyer with a long record of working alongside business to lead the state’s Department of Economic Development.

Linda Martinez, will be charged…

What a year — Gov. Matt Blunt decides not to run again, setting off a contentious Republican primary that couldn’t delay the inevitably of Attorney General Jay Nixon ascending to the governor’s office.

Meanwhile, Missouri was a key player in the presidential…

Chu

President-elect Barack Obama is poised to name a Nobel laureate and St. Louis native as his Energy Secretary, the Los Angeles Times and others report.

Steven Chu, 60, is currently head of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, which is operated by…

Veteran TV journalist Dan Rather, who spent more than two decades as anchor for the CBS Evening News, was in St. Louis on Friday to address undergrads and law students at Washington University.

Rather, 77, now is managing…

Fujii

Liz Fujii, a 2004 graduate of Washington University, has been named a member of Barack Obama’s presidential transition team.

Fujii will be on the “agency review working group,” which will coordinate the efforts of other groups preparing the president-elect to take…

Palin at the Chaifetz Arena in her last visit to Missouri

Republican veep nominee Sarah Palinwill make her visit to Missouri since squaring off against her Democratic counterpart Joe Biden in the Oct. 2 debate at Washington University.

The John McCain campaign…

This just in: “Hockey moms” really did tune into to watch one of their own at Thursday’s veep debate at Washington University.

The television ratings service Nielsen says that hockey moms — “defined as women ages 25 to 54 who live in…

Nearly sixty percent of local households tuned into last night’s veep debate at Washington University, according to Nielsen ratings released today.

The media-monitoring service says that 58.3 percent of homes with televisions in the St. Louis area watched the vice-presidential face-off…