Mark Maxwell

Two education-related bills are now heading to the governor. One would raise the fine for passing a stopped school bus from $130 to $500 — taking effect at the start of next school year if signed. The other would allow Missouri school districts to hire armed volunteer or paid guards called "Missouri Rangers," who would complete at least 160 hours of training before working alongside existing school resource officers. Governor Mike Kehoe has until mid-July to act on both.

The St. Charles City Council voted last night to effectively ban data centers, approving zoning changes that block those facilities in the city. The vote came after significant public pushback against a proposal known as Project Cumulus. Under the new rules, any developer looking to build a data center in St. Charles would now face major regulatory hurdles.

The St. Louis police board is in court today arguing it deserves tens of millions more in funding. Here's the context they're not providing.

Under local control, the police budget grew 48% — from $137 million to $204 million — far outpacing inflation every single year from 2020 to 2026. Last year the city gave the department $13.8 million more than it even asked for.

Now the board is suing to claim a cut of Rams money (earmarked for tornado relief) and emergency reserves the city spent decades building.

The aldermen this city actually elected have had enough. They issued a subpoena. The board must show up and explain itself at City Hall on May 27th.

The "defund the police" argument was used to justify the state takeover. The budget documents tell a very different story.

A Missouri appeals court unanimously upheld Christopher Dunn's exoneration today. He spent 33 years in prison. The only evidence against him: two eyewitnesses who later admitted they lied. One said he named Dunn because of a gang rivalry. The other said police pressured him. Both said it was too dark to see the shooter. No forensics. No fingerprints. Just their word. Christopher Dunn remains free.

I asked South City Alderman Shane Cohn a blunt question on behalf of his constituents: what's in the $230 million Rams settlement bill for South Side residents? Is it really just a slightly less broke water department?

His answer was more urgent than that.

Cohn says the St. Louis Water Division has burned through all of its reserves. It cannot issue bonds without a cash infusion. Water rate increases are already being discussed to fund infrastructure repairs that have been deferred for decades.

The Rams bill puts $30 million toward water infrastructure, structured as an interest-free loan the Water Division has to repay by 2036. Cohn says that's not a consolation prize. It's a lifeline.

He also wants more than the $5 million currently in the bill for vacancy enforcement, a problem he says hits Southeast City neighborhoods just as hard as North City.

Public hearings on Board Bill 22 begin Tuesday at City Hall.

I asked South City Alderman Shane Cohn a blunt question on behalf of his constituents: what's in the $230 million Rams settlement bill for South Side residents? Is it really just a slightly less broke water department?
His answer was more urgent than that.

Cohn says the St. Louis Water Division has burned through all of its reserves. It cannot issue bonds without a cash infusion. Water rate increases are already being discussed to fund infrastructure repairs that have been deferred for decades.

The Rams bill puts $30 million toward water infrastructure, structured as an interest-free loan the Water Division has to repay by 2036. Cohn says that's not a consolation prize. It's a lifeline.

He also wants more than the $5 million currently in the bill for vacancy enforcement, a problem he says hits Southeast City neighborhoods just as hard as North City.

Public hearings on Board Bill 22 begin Tuesday at City Hall.

The St. Louis tornado didn't just damage North City. It's now reshaping how every alderman in St. Louis thinks about $230 million in Rams settlement money.

Board Bill 22 was filed at City Hall on Friday. Public hearings begin Tuesday. And the political pressure is already showing — even on aldermen whose constituents weren't in the tornado zone.

Alderman Shane Cohn represents Dutchtown in South City. But when we asked him about the Rams bill and the federal response to the tornado, he was direct.

"Even Joplin had a larger response than what we've seen here in the city of St. Louis."

Here's the political reality: the federal government has sent $0 in HUD housing recovery funds to St. Louis after the tornado. That gap is now falling on the city to fill with Rams money. And that means less for everything else, including the $5 million vacancy fund Cohn fought to include for neighborhoods like Dutchtown.

The debate over who gets what opens to the public Tuesday at City Hall.

One year after the tornado, here's a question nobody in Washington seems to want to answer.

New Orleans got $5.2 billion in federal housing recovery money after Katrina. Houston got $5.7 billion after Harvey. Joplin, Missouri got $110 million after their tornado.

St. Louis got zero.

And here's what makes it harder to explain: Missouri has received this money before. Four times. Congress remembered every one of those storms.

Do you remember the storms that hit Missouri in 2017? In 2019? Or 2022?
Because Congress did. And they sent money every time.

So what's different about St. Louis?

That's what we're checking the record on this week. Watch the full segment and decide for yourself. And if someone in Washington is hoping you just forget about it, will you let them?

A Democrat is running for Congress in a district Missouri Republicans drew specifically to bury him. He says the map gave Ann Wagner maybe two or three extra points. He says the tariffs, the farm losses, and the gas prices give those points right back. Whether he's right is what November is for.