Mo. House panel unlikely to close budget shortfall
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri House budget writers have chipped away some spending in the spending plan for next year, but not enough to cover a projected shortfall....

Hill struggles again as Cards lose to Braves 5-3
JUPITER, Fla. (AP) -- St. Louis manager Tony La Russa wanted Rich Hill to throw more than the two innings the left-hander had given him in his first two outings of the spring....

Charter school co. settles pregnancy bias lawsuit
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A national charter school company will pay $570,000 to settle claims of discrimination against two pregnant employees of its schools in Kansas City....

Guild to vote March 27 on newspaper's final offer
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Employees at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch will vote later this month on a proposed 5 1/2-year contract with the newspaper....

Clemson vs. Missouri _ quick, get the oxygen!
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- "The Fastest 40 Minutes in Basketball" are headed for warp speed when Missouri meets Clemson in Friday's first round of the NCAA tournament....

Mo. Senate approves autism coverage requirement
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri senators voted Thursday to require some health insurance plans to cover treatment for autism....

Departing UCM president eyed for New York job
WARRENSBURG, Mo. (AP) -- Departing University of Central Missouri President Aaron Podolefsky appears to have found a new job leading Buffalo State College in New York....

Braves 5, Cardinals 3
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AP Enterprise: NASA, cruise line got flu shots
ATLANTA (AP) -- Last fall, as swine flu cases mounted and parents desperately sought to protect their kids, the hard-to-get vaccine was handed out in some surprising places: the Royal Caribbean cruise line, the headquarters of drug giant Merck, the Johnson Space Center and a Department of Energy office in Idaho....

Gunman kills KC 7-Eleven clerk working final shift
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Gurpreet Singh was working his final shift as a 7-Eleven clerk, before moving on next week to full-time job at a hospital, when he was gunned down during a robbery....

Loken steps down as chief of federal appeals court
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- James Loken is stepping down as chief judge of the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at the end of the month....

Mo. Senate approves ban on texting while driving
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Drivers of all ages would be barred from texting while driving under a bill approved by the Missouri Senate....

Royals looking for setup men
SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) -- The Kansas City Royals are holding spring training auditions to find reliable setup men....

Kansas City cash grain
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Wheat 40,357 bushels: 11 1/4 cents lower to 4 3/4 cents lower; No. 2 hard 4.15-4.32n; No. 3 4.04-4.31n; No. 2 red wheat 4.35-5.52n; No. 3 red wheat 4.24-5.51n....

Nursing home resident struck by train
SIKESTON, Mo. (AP) -- A resident of a Sikeston nursing home has been struck by a train on tracks near the residence....

Woman dies when stolen car goes through stop sign
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A 20-year-old woman was killed and her passenger was critically injured when their car was struck by a stolen vehicle driven by a juvenile in St. Louis....

Boater's body found in SE Missouri
CHARLESTON, Mo. (AP) -- A 65-year-old southeast Missouri man has died after his boat capsized at his favorite fishing spot in a slough off the Mississippi River....

Senate passes K2 bill, measure moves to the House
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Missouri Senate has approved its version of a bill banning synthetic compounds thought to mimic the effects of marijuana....

Baby camel born at the Saint Louis Zoo
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The Saint Louis Zoo has a new baby in the house....

Third Boeing 747-8 Freighter makes first flight
EVERETT, Wash. (AP) -- The third and final Boeing 747-8 Freighter to take part in the new jet's flight test program has flown for the first time....