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Road to the Convention Rally: O'Fallon, MO on August 31 What: Road to the Convention Rally: O'Fallon, MO on August 31 When: August 31, 2008 2:00PM Where: T.R. Hughes Ballpark 900 T.R. Hughes Blvd O'Fallon, MO63366

McCain plans 3-state VP rollout By JONATHAN MARTIN | 8/26/08 10:45 PM EST Text Size: DENVER — John McCain is planning to rollout his vice-presidential nominee in three battleground states this weekend, with large-scale rallies planned for Ohio, Pennsylvania and Missouri, according to aides and advisers. The GOP nominee-in-waiting will move to immediately change the campaign conversation from Barack Obama’s football stadium acceptance speech Thursday to the new Republican ticket, to be revealed at a noontime Friday rally in a Dayton, Ohio, basketball arena. McCain and his running mate will then travel by bus to Pennsylvania, where they’ll hold an...

DENVER -- John McCain is planning to rollout his vice-presidential nominee in three battleground states this weekend, with large-scale rallies planned for Ohio, Pennsylvania and Missouri, according to aides and advisers. The GOP nominee-in-waiting will move to immediately change the campaign conversation from Barack Obama’s football stadium acceptance speech Thursday to the new Republican ticket, to be revealed at a noontime Friday rally in a Dayton, Ohio, basketball arena. McCain and his running mate will then travel by bus to Pennsylvania, where they’ll hold an outdoor event at a minor league baseball stadium in Washington County, just southwest of Pittsburgh....

Join John and Cindy McCain in O'Fallon Missouri on August 31st for a Road to the Convention Rally. It will be a great opportunity to see the future President as he makes his way to Minnesota to accept the Republican nomination next week. Click here to learn more about the event in Missouri and get your free tickets. Don't forget to register for the other Road to the Convention Rallies by clicking here for the Ohio event on August 29th and clicking here for the Pennsylvania event on August 30th. Also, don't forget to register your Convention Watching Party...

Ask virtually any store manager at the Saint Louis Galleria about shoplifting, and you'll invariably get two responses: One, it's out of control; and two, it's gotten exceedingly worse since August 2006, when MetroLink opened a stop just 500 yards from the high-end shopping center. In the first six months of this year, Richmond Heights police made 345 arrests at the mall. That's nearly double the number of arrests made in all of 2005, before MetroLink opened its Shrewsbury line. This year police are on pace to take 276 juveniles into custody for shoplifting and other offenses — a sevenfold...

Raleigh, N.C. – John McCain has expanded his lead over Barack Obama in Missouri, according to the newest survey from Public Policy Polling. McCain’s advantage is 50-40, a seven point increase from PPP’s July poll, which showed him leading by just three points. Obama’s biggest issue is with white voters, who support McCain by a 56-35 margin. “There aren’t enough black voters in Missouri for Barack Obama to win it if he can’t make things more competitive among white voters,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “That’s going to be his challenge if he wants to have any...

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John McCain leads Barack Obama by seven percentage points in the race for Missouri’s Electoral College votes. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Missouri shows John McCain attracting 48% of the vote while Barack Obama earns 41%. This is the third time in the last four months that McCain’s support has been at 47% or 48%. The one exception came in early June—McCain’s support dipped as Obama was wrapping up the Democratic Presidential nomination.

At least a dozen people have been killed in a bus crash in Sherman, north of Dallas, this morning. Sherman police say the bus was heading north on Highway 75 when it ran off the highway near Park Aveneue a little before 1 a.m. A police department spokesman says they're investigating a report that the bus blew a tire but that has not been confirmed. The bus was apparently on its way from Houston to Missouri. An unknown number of passengers were hurt, some of them critically, and they've taken to area hospitals.

Below is Gov. Matt Blunt’s discussion of his budget policy over four years in the context of a major editorial with a cartoon that appeared on Wednesday, July 30, in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Gov. Blunt’s op-ed was not accepted for publication by the newspaper. Insolvency to Surpluses: The Facts about Missouri’s Budget By Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt The St. Louis Post-Dispatch recently stressed the importance of understanding the state budget. They should follow their own advice. Missourians deserve to know the facts about the state budget. The budget we inherited after years of liberal control in Jefferson City was...

KANSAS CITY - Congressman Kenny Hulshof defeated state Treasurer Sarah Steelman in Tuesday's Republican primary. Hulshof will take on Attorney General Jay Nixon in November's general election. Hulshof received 49.2 percent of the vote to Steelman's 44.7 percent - a margin of more than 17,000 votes.

KANSAS CITY — A poll completed for two Missouri television stations show John McCain leading in that critical swing state by 49 to 44 percent. The survey, conducted for KCTV-TV Kansas City and KSDK-TV St. Louis by SurveyUSA, shows McCain leading among men by 12 and Obama leading among women by 3. Among voters older than McCain, McCain leads by 19 points. Among voters younger than Obama, the contest is tied. McCain holds 87 percent of Republican voters; Obama holds 83% of Democrats. Independents break 5:3 for McCain. McCain leads by 28 points in southeastern Missouri, by 23 in southwestern...

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In an election for President in Missouri today, 08/01/08, Republican John McCain edges Democrat Barack Obama 49% to 44%, according to this latest SurveyUSA pre-election tracking poll conducted for KCTV-TV Kansas City and KSDK-TV St. Louis. Compared to a SurveyUSA poll released ten weeks ago, when Hillary Clinton was still in the race for the Democratic nomination, McCain is up a statistically insignificant one point; Obama is down a statistically insignificant one point. Among men, McCain today leads by 12. Among women, Obama leads by 3 -- a 15 point gender gap. Among voters older than McCain, McCain leads by...

McCaskill, D-Mo., a close Obama advisor and rumored vice-presidential contender, was campaigning with Obama Wednesday when he said, "Nobody really thinks that Bush or McCain had a real answer for the challenges we face, so what they're going to try to do is make you scared of me," he told a crowd in Springfield, Missouri. "You know, he's not patriotic enough. He's got a funny name. He doesn't look like all those other presidents on those dollar bills," said Obama, D-Ill. McCain campaign manager Rick Davis seized on those comments, accusing Obama of "playing the race card." John McCain later...

In case you One of these things is not like the otherdidn't know this, the presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama, is black. Which makes him just like the old Sesame Street comparison ditty, "one of these things is not like the other." He is unlike any other presumptive nominee that we have ever had in American history. If you are not convinced, just line him up next to every presumptive nominee for any major party in American electoral elections, he is still black and they are all still white.

Rolla, Mo. - After the Townhall meeting Wednesday, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama made his way through the endearing crowd and then whisked his way eastward toward Union where he was to attend an evening barbecue. Requests for a one-on-one interview of the presumptive Democrative Presidential nominee, at first, were positive. However, as Obama’s scheduled tightened, that request eventually led to a telephone conversation from the senator’s motorcade to the Rolla Daily News. At 5:17 p.m. Wednesday, the phone rang, and it was Obama’s press agent. As Obama neared his destination, the reporter answering the telephone was told he would could...

Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign released its latest television ad today entitled "Celeb." The ad takes a swipe at the perception that Sen. Barack Obama is "the biggest celebrity in the world" because of his much covered Middle-East/European tour last week. The ad opens with a huge crowd screaming "O-Bama! O-Bama!" then flashes images of Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Obama -- not together and by the way not very subliminal lining him up with the Britney and Paris celebrity train wrecks) -- hitting the screen with the announcer proclaiming that "Barack Obama is the biggest celebrity in the world."...

GAINESVILLE, Mo. -- A man living in Ozark County is charged with second-degree murder after a shooting during a family outing Sunday near Mammoth. The victim was a man from Mountain Home, Ark. The shooting was next to Lick Creek near Mammoth, south of Gainesville, on private property near Big Rock swimming hole. A family of about 10 from Mountain Home was enjoying their Sunday, swimming and cooking hot dogs, when the owners came down to confront them. “There was an argument, push came to shove, a gun was drawn,” said Sheriff Raymond Pace. Pace says that's when Jesus Sesena-Murrieta,...

MAPLEWOOD -- A rookie firefighter was killed and two police officers were wounded when a gunman opened fire in Maplewood early today. The ambush led to a standoff that lasted several hours. It was unclear Monday afternoon what happened to the gunman, as the house he was holed up in was burned to the ground. At 2:40 p.m., police sharpshooters continued to swarm the neighborhood near South Big Bend Boulevard and Zephyr Place. Closed all day, Big Bend Boulevard was reopened at 4:30 p.m. today. The slain firefighter has been identified as Ryan Hummert, 22, the son of a former...

This was posted on a local forum in my hometown. I am really interested in your comments. "Babe, just like you believe now, several years ago I also thought FOX was fair and balanced when they were rightfully slamming the Clinton's. I now don't think any "news" stations are fair and balanced and probably have never been. CNN, FOX or any of them. They all work for the same corporate masters. Since the huge corporations own them, they are told to obey and report the news slant they are told to do. Once again the people at the top who...

Three area women who took part in Million Mom Marches (MMM) against gun violence are putting their convictions to the test in this year's races for the state legislature. All of them have a respect for the Second Amendment, although they put the emphasis on "well-regulated" in the Constitutional wording. All are unhappy with the 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision in June, which they contend promotes the availability of weapons over the safety of people.These state candidates said they're confident voters also are unhappy — even angry – that the pendulum has swung too far in a direction of unregulated...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Legal Newsline)-A Missouri candidate for the state Legislature says he has returned a $300 contribution from fellow Democrat state Sen. Chris Koster, who's running for attorney general. Dr. Vernon (Doc) Harlan of St. Louis is running for the 71st District state House seat in the Aug. 5 primary. Harlan said he returned the contributions amid recent revelations that Koster's campaign may have "been connected to laundering of political funds."

Click on the link for a great video report on the attempt by Democrat Rep. James Oberstar and unions to shut down the 1926 passenger steamboat Delta Queen, which sails America's inland rivers.

The 11th commandment of politics is that elected officials shall not take sides in their party primaries. Then again, Missouri Republicans are burdened with so many sins, what's one more? For an insight as to why the GOP is down and out in Washington, take a look at Jefferson City. That's where Sarah Steelman, the state treasurer, is running in an Aug. 5 primary for the Missouri governorship. And it's where her reform campaign against earmarks and self-dealing is threatening the entrenched status quo, causing her own party to rise against her.

Please Freep this poll. Of the 12 candidates listed for County Commissioner, only the first is a Republican. Help by voting for Bob Ott. ottforcommissioner.com

State of the Race: July 15th, 2008. Safely McCain (36 EVs): Alabama (9) Idaho (4) Kentucky (8) Oklahoma (7) Utah (5) Wyoming (3) Likely McCain (132): Alaska (3) Arkansas (6) Arizona (10) Georgia (15) Indiana (11) Kansas (6) Louisiana (9) Mississippi (6) Nebraska (5) South Carolina (8) South Dakota (3) Tennessee (11) Texas (34) West Virginia (5) Leans McCain (59): Florida (27) Missouri (11) Montana (3) North Carolina (15) North Dakota (3) This gives a total of 227 EVs, leaving McCain 43 EVs shy of the Presidency. Key States for McCain: 1.) Ohio (20 EVs) - Always a key battleground....

BREAKING NEWS: Anheuser-Busch and InBev have completed a deal at $70 per share, which will create a new company to be named Anheuser-Busch InBev. Anheuser will get two seats on the combined board.

In trying to reconcile Obama's flip flop about Iraq (first saying he'd listen to commanders on the ground, followed by saying he'd give the Joint Chiefs a new mission to get us out in 16 months [which is strange wording and reflects his lack of understanding about their role]), Sen. Claire McCaskill has this exact quote: "it would be irresponsible for a Commander in Chief to set in stone a date." Holy bjesus. THAT WAS THE DEMOCRATS' POLICY FOR OVER A YEAR!!!!! They tried to include that language in funding bills! Obama had a firm withdrawal deadline!!!!! On the night...

The verbal gymnastics of Barack Obama and his surrogates on Iraq is just mind-numbing! Today on Meet the Press, Tom Brokaw zeroed in on Obama surrogate Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, and clearly demonstrated how contorted Obama's shifting positions on an Iraq Withdrawal have become. Listen to this exchange . . . (see video) You can tell that Brokaw is disbelieving of the fact that Obama is actually continuing to say pompously that he will "call in the Joint Chiefs of Staff on his first day in office" and "give them a new mission." That mission being - Get our...

Anheuser-Busch's (BUD) stock closed up over $5 at $66.50 on Friday and is trading at $67.00 after-hours. This price suggests the market is nearly certain that InBev will buy BUD at the rumored $70/share, and it may even incorporate the expectation of an additional price increase: given the political scrutiny this deal will receive, a 5% gap between the trading price and deal price is small. In other news, InBev's potential purchase of BUD is reverberating through St. Louis and the country...and folks aren't happy about it: Jordan Moore took the news that his beloved Budweiser could soon fall into...

Missouri Governor Matt Blunt signed into law today legislation that will make it harder for illegal aliens living in the state to receive benefits and harder to find jobs. The new legislations requires all public employers to use the E-Verify system to verify the legality of a potential employee and requires and individual to prove their citizenship status before receiving state benefits such as food stamps and housing. The bill also punishes those localities that adopt policies to not cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Missouri joins Arizona, Oklahoma, and Georgia in instituting state-wide anti-illegal immigration laws. So far, the laws...

President Bush has often spoken about education reform as a civil rights issue. So we're not entirely surprised to see civil rights groups now defending the No Child Left Behind law against attempts to gut its most effective provisions. Last month, Representative Sam Graves, a Missouri Republican, introduced the NCLB Recess Until Reauthorization Act, which would essentially suspend the law's accountability provisions but not the funding. Under Mr. Graves's bill, schools would no longer have to file progress reports that expose achievement gaps between kids of different races, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds. Since NCLB passed in 2002, minority parents in...

SPRINGFIELD -- The Greene County sheriff fired a correctional officer who was charged this week with misusing his position for personal gain. A detective says Steven Donovan used a computer system that he didn't have clearance to use -- to clear his name. Donovan is charged with misuse of official information by a public servant. That’s a misdemeanor that could get him up to a year in a county jail if he’s convicted or pleads guilty. The detective says Donovan admits he cleared a warrant for his own arrest from Phelps County on a statewide computer system known as MULES...

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Missouri shows John McCain attracting 47% of the vote while Barack Obama earns 42%. A month ago, the candidates were essentially even. That survey was conducted the night that Obama clinched the Democratic Presidential nomination. McCain had the advantage in earlier surveys. When leaners are included in the current survey, McCain leads Obama 50% to 45%. Leaners are survey participants who initially indicate no preference for either major candidate but indicate that they are leaning towards either McCain or Obama. Including leaners, McCain is supported by 93% of Missouri Republicans and enjoys a...

Drawing the sharpest distinctions yet between himself and the man he hopes to replace, Sen. John McCain said Tuesday his presidency would focus on climate change issues, reducing federal spending, closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center and eliminating torture by the U.S. government. In a meeting with the Tribune-Review's editorial board, McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, said "spending got out of control" under the Bush administration. He blamed Congress for pushing spending and the administration for failing to halt it.

Christian groups are appealing a federal judge's ruling that bars the Gideons from distributing Bibles to students of the South Iron Missouri School District. The South Iron School District allows off-campus organizations to distribute literature to students before and after school, and during other non-instructional times such as lunch breaks. But the American Civil Liberties Union sued, saying the Gideons should not be allowed to hand out Bibles because of their religious nature. U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry agreed. "In fact, the federal judge said...the ACLU must be able to have the say-so over whether religious literature can be distributed...

U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof, one of two Republicans running for governor, sent out an e-release this morning challenging rival “Sarah Steelman’s newfound commitment to repeal the state’s renewable fuel directive…� Hulshof’s campaign contended that Steelman’s call to eliminate Missouri’s ethanol mandate could hike gas prices at a time when Missouri’s are the cheapest in the nation. (Many experts tie Missouri’s low price, in part, to our lower gas taxes.)

ST. LOUIS Sen. Barack Obama declared Saturday to a roaring crowd of religious African-Americans at the America's Center that they should have no doubt of his commitment to his Christian faith, his nation or his political principles. In an address filled with religious and patriotic imagery, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president told delegates attending a national conference here of the African Methodist Episcopal Church that his career and his life revolved around his belief that "I won't be fulfilling the Lord's Will unless I'm doing the Lord's work.'' That commitment would continue to influence his performance and his politics...

Veteran radio talker Darla Jaye, who just celebrated her third anniversary as the host of "The Darla Jaye Show show weekdays from 9-11 a.m. on KMBZ-980, will be moving her show to the evenings. SHE WILL REPLACE SYNDICATED TALKER MARK LEVIN. Jaye's new show, "980 Live With Darla Jaye," will be expanded to three hours and run from 7-10 p.m. Her current producer, Brian Mallicoat, will move with her to the new time slot. Jaye will be on vacation until her show commences July 14. Syndicated talk show host Glenn Beck will be inserted into the 9-11 a.m. slot vacated...

Chicago, IL (AHN) - Eight deaths in Illinois and Missouri are being linked to a 28-year old man sighted near the border of the two states. The Illinois State Police called Nicholas Sheley of Sterling "a person of interest". Sheley is armed, dangerous and has a $25,000 prize money on his head. He has been linked to at least five of the homicides, including four people whose corpse were discovered in an apartment at Rock Falls.

Sen. Barack Obama did patriotism yesterday, today it is faith and by the end of the day both speeches will have been done in back-to-back states that swing: Missouri and Ohio. The Obama campaign said the Illinois senator plans to go to Zanesville, located in eastern Ohio, to visit a church program that provides food and clothing assistance to those in need.

A brief has been filed in a federal appeals court asking the justices to overturn a judge who ordered a school district specifically to ban the Bible in its policy regarding the distribution of literature to students. WND reported just a week ago when a federal judge declared unconstitutional a Florida law that was used to prevent Gideons from handing out Bibles to students on public property near schools.Now comes another dispute, this one in Missouri and pursued by Liberty Counsel in its request to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis. It wants the court to...

Archbishop Raymond Burke St. Louis, Jun 27, 2008 / 10:50 am (CNA).- Today the Holy Father appointed Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke as prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.  The archbishop, one of the leading experts of Canon law in the United States will leave the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Missouri to take up his new post in Rome near the end of August. The appointment came on the same day that Pope Benedict named Cardinal Agostino Vallini, current prefect of the Supreme Tribunal, as the vicar general for the Diocese of Rome - the highest diocesan...

A new SurveyUSA poll shows John McCain taking a decent lead in one battleground state: Missouri. The numbers: McCain 50%, Obama 43%, with a ±4.3% margin of error. Three weeks ago, Obama had a statistically insignificant lead of 45%-43%. The race here has a very stark gender gap: Men go for McCain 60%-36%, and women for Obama 50%-41%. This state has 11 electoral votes, and has voted for the winner in every presidential election over the last 100 years except for 1956.

A new SurveyUSA poll shows John McCain taking a lead in the battleground state of Missouri. The numbers: McCain 50%, Obama 43%, with a ±4.3% margin of error. Three weeks ago, Obama had a statistically insignificant lead of 45%-43%. The race here has a very stark gender gap: Men go for McCain 60%-36%, and women for Obama 50%-41%. This state has 11 electoral votes, and has voted for the winner in every presidential election over the last 100 years except for 1956.

Legislation moving toward House debate would slash six judges from the St. Louis Circuit Court, while adding new judges to courts in the St. Louis County, Kansas City and Springfield areas.Rep. Bryan Stevenson, R-Webb City and a lawyer, said state resources must be allocated efficiently, and some courts desperately need more judges. He pointed to a special legislative committee report along with a state report conducted by the National Center of State Courts that found St. Louis has more judges than it needs. Stevenson said the studies and other judges have indicated St. Louis has more than it needs and...

What residents were hoping they could avoid has happened in St. Charles. As feared, part of the Elm Point Levee has burst and water is rushing through right now at a rapid pace. Authorities say that the levee burst in two spots around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday. One of those holes is reportedly the size of a football field. Several homes and businesses in the area are now flooded. Officials say that residents in that area voluntarily evacuated before the breach.    Google map link