St. Louis Post-Dispatch

UPDTED, 7 a.m. ST. LOUIS -- High winds have knocked out power to about 4,000 Ameren customers in eastern Missouri. Full Story »

JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri's overburdened public defender system cannot refuse to handle certain categories of crime but can quit taking all new cases if judges and prosecutors refuse to help reduce its workload. Full Story »

Dec. 3, 2009 - A crew member pulls a fish from the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal as they search for Asian carp in Lockport, Ill. A toxic chemical was dumped on a nearly 6-mile stretch of the canal as part of state and federal efforts to keep the voracious and invasive carp from reaching the Great Lakes. Full Story »

ST. LOUIS -- Arlanda McCelleary, 41, has been charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action for allegedly stabbing her ex-boyfriend to death, police said. Full Story »

FARMINGTON, MO. -- A&K Trucking Co. has hired an environmental coordinator to oversee cleanup of five tons of lead concentrate that spilled Monday when a truck overturned near Farmington, an official of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources said Tuesday. Full Story »

JEFFERSON CITY -- Alyssa Bustamante, 15, pleaded not guilty Tuesday of killing Elizabeth Olten, 9, a neighbor in St. Martins, Mo., on Oct. 21. Bustamante is charged as an adult with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. Officials claim she just wanted to know how it felt to kill someone. Full Story »

VINITA PARK -- Police in Vinita Park said they do not suspect foul play in the death of a man, 51, whose body was found about 6 a.m. Tuesday in a park near the 8400 bock of Page Avenue. Identification was withheld pending notification of relatives. Full Story »

O'FALLON, MO. -- Reginald P. Hicks Jr., 23, who was an assistant football coach and hall monitor at Fort Zumwalt West High School, was charged Tuesday with nine counts of statutory sodomy and two counts of statutory rape on allegations that he had sex with a female student, 16, during the past two weeks in her home, his home and his car. Full Story »

December 8, 2009 - Rhea Willis (left) a Northeast Ambulance and Fire Protection District director, talks with board lawyer Anthony Gray (right) during Tuesday night's board meeting in Beverly Hills. Members of the board hired Angelia Elgin as the new fire chief for the district. Full Story »

Dec. 8, 2009 - Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and John McCain, R-Ariz., are seen in an elevator following the tabling of an abortion amendment on Capitol Hill in Washington. Full Story »

ST. CLAIR COUNTY — A female Boy Scout troop leader was charged Tuesday with criminal sexual assault for allegedly having sex with an underage boy. Full Story »

In this Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009 picture, pit bull puppies are seen at an emergency shelter that has been housing hundreds of dogs seized in St. Louis as part of the largest dogfighting raid in U.S. history. Full Story »

December 7, 2009 - Highway 40 Interstate 64 and Hanley Road exchange as seen on the first day of being open to traffic. (David Carson/P-D) Highway 40 is attracting double the traffic and is handling it better than during the days before reconstruction, the project director said Tuesday. Full Story »

December 7, 2009 - Support teacher Kathy Downs plays with Yul Choi, 1, while holding Claudia Richie, 1, at the Together We Can child care center in Richmond Heights. Full Story »

JEFFERSON CITY — A day after he was charged with felony assault in connection with a Nov. 15 incident in Scott County, former Missouri Speaker of the House Rod Jetton on Tuesday closed down his political consulting business, Rod Jetton and Associates. Full Story »

December 8, 2009 - Honor Guard Jeremy Price of the Portland Police Bureau stands next to the casket of Lakewood, Washington police officer Greg Richards prior to the public memorial service for the fallen officers at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington. Full Story »

EDWARDSVILLE - Madison County Board member Michelle Ruppert of Bethalto has resigned from the board to become chief deputy to Madison County Recorder of Deeds Dan Donohoo. Full Story »

A 23-year-old man who was an assistant football coach and hall monitor at Fort Zumwalt West High School was charged today with nine counts of statutory sodomy and two counts of statutory rape. Full Story »

CHICAGO — Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has made his debut as an author. Blagojevich on Tuesday signed copies of his new memoir "The Governor" at the University of Chicago bookstore. Blagojevich drew laughs from the crowd of mostly students by quipping that he believes "in grade inflation." Full Story »

Four Missouri men who admitted their roles in a multi-state dog fighting ring committed “extraordinary cruelty,” a federal judge in St. Louis decided today as she handed out sentences tougher than federal recommendations. Full Story »

UPDATES with girl's plea, court appearance details JEFFERSON CITY, Mo . -- A 15-year-old Missouri girl pleaded not guilty Tuesday to killing a 9-year-old neighbor girl whom authorities say was slain because the teen wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone. Full Story »

UPDATES throughout with NEW INFORMATION: A Wentzville woman who collapsed and died shortly after completing the St. Jude Memphis half-marathon on Saturday was walking the 13.1 mile race with a coach. Full Story »

Vinita Park Police are investigating the discovery of the body of a man in the city's park early Tuesday. Police does not suspect foul play, according to Richard Aites, spokesperson for the police department. Full Story »

BELVIDERE, Ill. — The U.S. Chemical Safety Board says it is sending a team to northern Illinois to investigate a gas line explosion at a technology plant that left one man dead. Full Story »

WARREN COUNTY -- A man from Warrenton was fatally injured in a two-car crash Monday in Warren County. The victim was identified as Albert Zykan, 45, of Warrenton. Full Story »