Politics

Since last fall, the St. Louis Police Officers Association has supported a ballot initiative to bring local control of the department back to the city.

But this week the union’s president publicly urged members to vote “no” on Prop A.

Dave Bonenberger said in his "Message from the President" column that local control would lead to political influence in the department and loss of police pensions.

Republican challenger Dave Spence has filed a defamation lawsuit against Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon over a campaign ad.

The lawsuit filed Friday in Cole County claims Nixon maliciously or recklessly broadcast false statements about Spence's role with a bank. The suit seeks unspecified monetary damages.

Nixon's campaign manager, Oren Shur, responded by saying Spence "needs to take a deep breath."

"You see a lot of crazy stunts during the course of a campaign," Shur, said in a statement.  "But this frivolous lawsuit is misguided and desperate.”