News

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed the first-ever national standards for air pollution from power plants.

The new rules would require many power plants to install technologies to control mercury, arsenic and other toxic air pollutants.

Environment Missouri's Ted Mathys says the new standards would help protect the health of Missourians.

St. Louis police chief Dan Isom is apologizing for a leaked  photo from a south St. Louis crime scene that shows the body of 35-year-old Carlos Boles.

"It's completely inappropriate for that to have occurred," Isom said after today's meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners. "And we apologize certainly in advance  if it's anything that our officers have done. As soon as we learned about it, we started an internal investigation."

An Illinois Senate committee has voted to raise cigarette taxes by $1 a pack and use the money for construction projects around the state.

Senators split along party lines Wednesday, with nine Democrats supporting the increase and six Republicans opposing it. The measure now goes to the full Senate.

Democrats say the cigarette tax could replace other sources of construction money that are tied up in a legal dispute. They also say it would cut state health costs by discouraging smoking.

Republicans argue the increase would disproportionately fall on the poor.

Visitors attending this year’s Ancient Order of the Hibernians' St. Patrick’s Day parade in Dogtown might need some luck of the Irish to find parking this year.

Changes in traffic restrictions at this year’s parade will close down more residential streets around the parade route, cutting off all parking within the Dogtown neighborhood. Only residents with passes will be allowed into the area.

Reporting from Illinois Public Radio's Luke Runyon used in this report.

Illinois State Republican lawmakers continue to push for a rollback of the recently passed income tax increase, but still haven't given their list of cuts to make up the difference. Senate Democrats are calling their bluff.