The Associated Press

The Missouri House has voted to override Governor Jay Nixon's (D) veto on a proposal to redraw the state's congressional districts.

The House overrode the veto today by a vote of 109-44.

Overriding the veto required a two-thirds majority.

Former U.S. Attorney General and Missouri Governor John Ashcroft is joining the security firm once known as Blackwater.

Investment group USTC Holdings, LLC, said Wednesday that Ashcroft is serving as an independent director for Moyock, N.C.-based Xe Services.

The director positions were created in December when USTC purchased Xe. The private company became famous as Blackwater, which provided guards and services to the U.S. government in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

All-night Filibuster Ends in Mo. Senate

An all-night filibuster in the Missouri Senate is over. Tuesday afternoon, four Republicans began blocking a capital improvements bill because their attempt to remove $41 million in federal stimulus funds was voted down. The filibuster ended just before 6 a.m. this morning, after an agreement was reached to send more than $14 million back to Washington. That proposal was offered by fellow Republican Brad Lager from Andrew County.

Illinois senators have rejected a plan to streamline government across the state.

The plan would have established a commission to recommend which units of government to eliminate. Then lawmakers would have voted to accept or reject the recommendation.

Only 14 senators supported the idea Tuesday. Thirty voted "no."

Updated 1:23 p.m. May 3 with information about lawsuit:

Via the Associated Press:

A group of 25 southeast Missouri farmers is suing the federal government over its decision to blow a hole in a levee, causing their farmland and houses to flood.

Cape Girardeau attorney J. Michael Ponder filed the lawsuit Tuesday, less than 24 hours after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers detonated explosives on the Birds Point levee to ease pressure from the swelling Mississippi River.