In the same state that gave the world Mark Twain, T.S. Eliot, Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes, Missouri is one of a handful that does not have a poet laureate. Apparently Gov. Matt Blunt is ready to change that.

According to today’s story, the Missouri governor is seeking applications for the first laureate. Almost anyone is qualified to apply — as long as the person is a Missouri resident.

Those applying must supply writing samples, and eventually will be called upon to write an original poem in honor of Missouri.

Gov. Blunt probably doesn’t read this blog. But if he did, what would…

Well, we had so darned much fun talking about health insurance on Monday night and Tuesday, I thought we’d do it again! Why? Well, you can thank the 2005 Medicaid cuts in Missouri — and today’s announcement by Gov. Matt Blunt! Let’s hear more:

Gov. Matt Blunt said the number of uninsured Missourians could be reduced by nearly one-third under a plan he outlined today to provide government-subsidized health care to lower-income families.

That’s the top of our first story on the subject. There’ll be more on STLtoday.com later. Read more here.

You may remember the day in April 2005, when Blunt signed…

Reporters Jo Mannies and Derek Kravitz write in today’s Post-Dispatch about how many politicians and candidates in Missouri are reaping huge benefits since the state dropped its contributions limits.

In the story, Blunt, Nixon main beneficiaries of unlimited contributions, Gov. Matt Blunt and his Democratic rival, Attorney General Jay Nixon, are collecting waves of campaign money, much of it in the form of record-size checks, while the rest of the state’s top office holders were mostly “left with the scraps.”

“The governor’s race is sucking up most of the cash,” said local Republican consultant Paul Zemitzsch.

Democratic party officials, for one, would like…

When voters approved a hike in Missouri’s minimum wage, waiters, valets and busboys didn’t see a change. The state’s earlier position: If you depend on tips for part of your income, then your base pay should stay the same — $2.13 an hour minimum.

A new order by Gov. Matt Blunt overrules his administration’s Labor Department and declared that tipped employees must be paid a minimum of $3.25 an hour. The state’s new minimum wage of $6.50 an hour went into effect Jan. 1.

The Missouri Restaurant Association has made it clear that it does not support Blunt’s decision and says this will be…

A study by a prominent researcher, Frederick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute, argues that the St. Louis Public Schools at some point should be placed under mayoral control.

In Tuesday’s story by Post-Dispatch reporter Steve Giegerich, Hess explained that mayoral control of the city schools will provide a more likely path to school improvement than would continued school board governance.

But St. Louis school Superintendent Diana Bourisaw questioned the findings, saying that there is no research behind the study.

Hess defended his report as “peer-reviewed,” and does not address the possibility of state intervention that has unfolded since the Show-Me Institute’s report…