AP

By Shannon Roberts UMass Amherst The Conversation via AP Do you ever use your cellphone while driving? Don’t feel too guilty about saying yes – nearly 60% of drivers admit to using their phone in hands-free mode while driving. But don’t become complacent either. Using your cellphone in hands-free mode while driving is not a

By My Courier-Tribune DEAR DR. ROACH, I have a question about a resting heart rate, specifically when it is considered too slow for one’s health. I am a 67-year-old male who, from an early age to the present time, has always been physically active every day. Now retired, I feel a great sense of accomplishment

By Columbia Missourian via My Courier-Tribune JEFFERSON CITY — Efforts to push forward changes to the state’s initiative petition process succeeded Tuesday, with a Missouri House committee granting initial approval to an amended resolution that would make it more difficult to amend the state constitution. The key change in the resolution would require a majority

By Columbia Missourian via My Courier-Tribune JEFFERSON CITY − The Missouri Senate gave initial approval to a resolution Tuesday that would ban ranked-choice voting in the state. If approved by the House, it would be sent to the ballot for voters to decide on later this year. Senate joint resolution (SJR) 78, introduced by Sen.

By Missouri Independent via My Courier-Tribune The Missouri House spent nine hours Tuesday debating the $50.7 billion state budget, with Republicans voting down most ideas from Democrats to add to the spending plan, even amendments that would restore cuts to Gov. Mike Parson’s proposals. There were fights over higher education funding, child care subsidies and

By Metro Creative Data from the ASPCA indicates that roughly 6.3 million companion animals enter animal shelters in the United States each year. A nearly equal number of dogs (3.1 million) and cats (3.2 million) make up that population, and roughly two-thirds of those shelter animals are eventually adopted each year. But the landscape for

By Metro Creative Hispanic cuisine is among the most beloved across the globe. Whether you trace your ancestry to Mexico or Spain or have no familial connection to Hispanic culture, chances are you enjoy some foods that do trace their origins to one of the world’s many Spanish-speaking countries. Though simple, tacos are a favorite

By Associated Press TOPEKA, Kan. — An audit released Tuesday by Kansas’ attorney general concluded that the state is losing more than $20 million a year because its Insurance Department is lax in overseeing one of its programs. The department said the audit is flawed and should be “discounted nearly in its entirety.” The dispute

By Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The future of the Royals and Chiefs in Kansas City was thrown into question Tuesday night when residents of Jackson County, Missouri, resoundingly voted down a sales tax measure that would helped to fund a new downtown ballpark along with major renovations to Arrowhead Stadium. Royals owner John

By Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran | Iran on Tuesday vowed to respond to an airstrike widely attributed to Israel that destroyed Iran’s Consulate in the Syrian capital of Damascus the previous day and killed 12 people, including two Iranian generals and a member of the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group. Four Syrian citizens were also killed

By Associated Press WASHINGTON | President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed Taiwan, artificial intelligence and security issues Tuesday in a call meant to demonstrate a return to regular leader-to-leader dialogue between the two powers. The call, described by the White House as “candid and constructive,” was the leaders’ first conversation since their

By Associated Press WASHINGTON — NASA wants to come up with an out-of-this-world way to keep track of time, putting the moon on its own souped-up clock. It’s not quite a time zone like those on Earth, but an entire frame of time reference for the moon. Because there’s less gravity on the moon, time

By Associated Press GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Donald Trump accused President Joe Biden of unleashing a “bloodbath” at the U.S.-Mexico border Tuesday, escalating his inflammatory rhetoric as he campaigned in two midwestern swing states likely to be critical to the outcome of the 2024 election. Trump, who has accused migrants of “poisoning the blood of

By Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Some of Israel’s closest allies, including the United States, on Tuesday condemned the deaths of seven aid workers who were killed by airstrikes in Gaza — a loss that prompted multiple charities to suspend food deliveries to Palestinians on the brink of starvation. The deaths of the

By Associated Press BALTIMORE — Crews opened a second temporary channel on Tuesday allowing a limited amount of marine traffic to bypass the mangled wreckage of Baltimore’s collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, which had blocked the vital port’s main shipping channel since its destruction one week ago. Work is ongoing to open a third channel

By Associated Press The largest producer of fresh eggs in the U.S. said Tuesday it had temporarily halted production at a Texas plant after bird flu was found in chickens, and officials said the virus had also been detected at poultry facility in Michigan. In Texas, Ridgeland, Mississippi-based Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. said in a statement

By Associated Press WASHINGTON — U.S. job openings barely changed in February, staying at historically high levels in a sign that the American job market remains strong. The Labor Department reported Tuesday that employers posted 8.76 million job vacancies in February, up modestly from 8.75 million in January and about what economists had forecast. But

By Associated Press NEW YORK — U.S. stocks sank Tuesday as Wall Street hit the brakes on what’s been a nearly unstoppable romp. The S&P 500 fell 37.96 points, or 0.7% to 5,205.81 for its worst day in four weeks. It was its second straight drop after setting an all-time high to close last week.

By Associated Press Major freight railroads will have to maintain two-person crews on most routes under a new federal rule that was finalized Tuesday in a milestone in organized labor’s long fight to preserve the practice. The Transportation Department’s Federal Railroad Administration released the details of the rule Tuesday morning after working on it for

By Associated Press MEREDITH, N.H. — As more than 2 million graduating high school students from across the United States finalize their decisions on what college to attend this fall, many are facing jaw-dropping costs — in some cases, as much as $95,000. A number of private colleges — some considered elite and others middle-of-the-pack

By Associated Press CLEVELAND — The final shows for Caitlin Clark’s tour are booked in an arena just a short drive from the Rock & Roll Hall Fame. Hello, Cleveland. College basketball’s biggest act — men’s or women’s — will close out her magnificent Iowa career this weekend in the Final Four after Clark delivered

By Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs have agreed to one-year deals with quarterback Carson Wentz and running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, two people familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Tuesday, giving them a backup for Patrick Mahomes and some depth in their backfield. The people spoke to the

By M. Dolores Cimini University at Albany, State University of New York The Conversation via AP Whenever March Madness takes place, it’s a sure bet that people will be wagering on the college basketball games leading up to the championship known as the Final Four. From office pools to online betting platforms to taking a

By St. Louis Post Dispatch via My Courier-Tribune JEFFERSON CITY — The woman credited with creating the state flag of Missouri will soon have a bust in Missouri’s Hall of Famous Missourians. Marie Watkins Oliver, known as the “Betsy Ross of Missouri,” designed the state’s flag and saw it adopted as the official version in

By Associated Press Trillions of evolution’s bizarro wonders, red-eyed periodical cicadas that have pumps in their heads and jet-like muscles in their rears, are about to emerge in numbers not seen in decades and possibly centuries. Crawling out from underground every 13 or 17 years, with a collective song as loud as jet engines, the