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Obama Signs Law Naming 'Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge'

(UPI/Bill Greenblatt) (Image has been cropped)

President Barack Obama has signed legislation designating the new Interstate 70 bridgeconnecting St. Louis and southwestern Illinois over the Mississippi River as the "Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge."

The name is a compromise between Missouri lawmakers who wanted to honor the late St. Louis Cardinals great and Illinois lawmakers who wanted to name the bridge in honor of military veterans.

Obama signed the measure Friday, two days after Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon signed legislation dubbing Missouri's side of the bridge the "Stan Musial Memorial Bridge."

Musial died in January at age 92. He was a three-time MVP and seven-time batting champion who spent his 22-year career with the Cardinals. He also was a Navy veteran of World War II and a 2011 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.