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Parents as Teachers received a $7 million grant from MacKenzie Scott to help parents prepare their children for school and ensure they are healthy. CEO Constance Gully said the money will help fund more early childhood development training for parents and caregivers.

As wildfires burn in eastern Canada, smoke and pollutants drift over the heavily impacted Northeast and into the Midwest. Poor air quality levels in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, may be hurting people with more sensitive breathing conditions.

Also in response to the drought, Wentzville issued a voluntary water conservation declaration that takes effect Monday.

Given by the John Philip Sousa Foundation and named after the famed American composer known for marches, the award honors high school band programs for “outstanding musical excellence.”

The latest data from the Missouri attorney general show Black motorists are pulled over, ticketed and arrested at higher rates than white drivers. It’s a trend that has been ongoing for more than 20 years.

“There are people that have applications, there are businesses that have been waiting and counting on the opportunity to be able to get this money to build or revitalize their business,” said the bill’s sponsor.

One bill restricts transgender youth under 18 from accessing certain forms of gender-affirming health care, while the other bill stops transgender athletes from participating in sport teams that align with their gender identity.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has traveled the state this week to tout the budget’s funding of his Smart Start initiative, a focal point of his 2024 budget aimed at improving access to preschool, increasing funding for child care providers and investing in early childhood facilities.

Groundworks Contracting Inc. of Breese, Illinois ignored a city's engineers instruction to use trench cave-in protections, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Proponents of an initiative petition seeking to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution have been unable to begin collecting signatures because of a showdown between the attorney general and state auditor.