Bill Raack

A St. Louis man, who was attacked by chimpanzees at a South African refuge, is now recovering at a St. Louis hospital.

Andrew Oberle, Jr., was pulled under a fence and mauled by chimps at the Jane Goodall Institute’s Eden Sanctuary in June. He suffered serious injuries to his head, arms and legs. St. Louis University Hospital chief of plastic surgery Dr. Bruce Kraemer told reporters Thursday that Oberle has a good attitude and is healing well.

Will be updated.

Updated 10:46 p.m. Palin suggests a third party candidate

Sarah Palin, who backed Sarah Steelman during the heated GOP Senate primary, is suggesting a third party candidate to run against Akin.

Speaking to Fox News Palin said: "Bless his heart, I don't want to pile on Todd Akin." 

But, she then said that it's time for Akin to step aside.

"Missouri is a must-win state," Palin said.  "The way we do that is to have someone like Sarah Steelman be able to run, even if it's as a third-party candidate, to be able to run and take this back."

Updated 5:00 p.m. with deadline passing, Akin remaining in the race

Updated 4:36 p.m. with additional reporting. A full list of earlier updates can be found at the end of the post. Original story posted Aug. 21 12.33 p.m.

Despite tremendous pressure on him to act otherwise, Todd Akin will stay in the race against Claire McCaskill for US Senate. 

The deadline for Akin to remove himself from the race was 5 p.m. CT today. He will need a court order by Sept. 25 if he wants to drop out beyond this point.

Candidates debate in Illinois' 12 Congressional District

After nearly twenty years representing Illinois’s 12th Congressional District, Jerry Costello is retiring at the end of his term.  The three candidates looking to fill the open seat debated in Carbondale last night. 

Clay beats Carnahan

In a battle of political dynasties, Congressman William Lacy Clay emerged victorious over fellow incumbent Russ Carnahan Tuesday.

Clay won the Democratic primary to represent the party in the new 1st Congressional District. In a campaign that was often bitter, Clay repeatedly accused Carnahan of going negative with a string of attack ads, but says the strategy didn't work.

Updated 5:36 p.m. with additional details from press conference.

Investigators say they've determined that a suburban St. Louis woman killed her two young children and herself in the family's Glendale home.

Friday's announcement followed autopsies and several days of investigation by the St. Louis Area Major Case Squad.

Lt. Tim Fagan said at a news conference that 42-year-old Catherine Murch had a history of mental health issues.