The Associated Press

A former state senator from St. Louis has been fined more than $270,000 by the Missouri Ethics Commission for violating numerous campaign finance laws.

A decision released Wednesday by the commission found that former Democratic Sen. Robin Wright-Jones used campaign money for personal expenses such as food and clothing. She also received vehicle mileage reimbursements both from the state and her campaign committee. The commission also found numerous instances where the campaign failed to report contributions and expenditures by deadlines.

The director of Missouri's Medicaid health care program is out of a job.

Ian McCaslin confirmed to The Associated Press that as of Tuesday, he is no longer the director of the MoHealthNet Division of the Department of Social Services.

McCaslin declined to say whether he resigned or was dismissed by Gov. Jay Nixon's administration.

A Nixon spokesman had not responded Tuesday to questions about McCaslin's departure. A department spokeswoman also had no immediate response. 

It appears that Democrats in the Missouri Senate have successfully stopped legislation that would have redefined what constitutes a maintenance project and exempted those being done on public property from the state's prevailing wage requirement.

The Supreme Court has sustained Monsanto Co.'s claim that an Indiana farmer violated the company's patents on soybean seeds that are resistant to its weed-killer.

The justices, in a unanimous vote Monday, rejected the farmer's argument that cheap soybeans he bought from a grain elevator are not covered by the Monsanto patents, even though most of them also were genetically modified to resist the company's Roundup herbicide.

The Transportation Departments says 149 control towers at small airports that were slated for closure will remain - open at least through Sept. 30.

The department sent out a brief statement Friday. It says Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has determined there is enough extra money, under a bill passed by Congress last month, to keep the towers open through the end of the budget year.