Kelsey Proud

The Missouri state budget is already due for more cuts this year, and that's the reason Republican Sen. Jim Lembke, of St. Louis, cites for filing a resolution to block a recommended pay raise for judges.

The Associated Press reports that "Judges have argued for several years that higher salaries are needed to persuade qualified people to serve as judges instead of working as private-sector attorneys where they might earn more money."

An Alton, Ill. soldier was awarded the Army's Silver Star, the third-highest military award for valor while on his fourth tour of duty.

Army Sgt. 1st Class John P. Fleming, 32, received the honor after tending to wounded soldiers and directing aircraft fending off enemy gunfire so the injured could be evacuated, the News Democrat reports. The incident is described in more detail: 

The case of three southwestern Illinois counties suing to block the U.S. government from declaring the region's levees functionally useless could be headed for trial in a federal court this spring.

A judge has scheduled the trial to begin April 16 in Benton on the lawsuit the counties filed in November over the mapping change that Madison, St. Clair and Monroe counties say could saddle thousands of property owners with higher, unaffordable insurance rates.

With the departure of Kit Bond, Missouri has both a new senior senator, Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill, and a new junior senator, Republican Roy Blunt. 

Blunt took his oath with vice president Joe Biden today to make it official.