St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney targeted President Barack Obama for attacking economic, religious and individual freedoms as he wooed gun owners Friday.

The Mega Millions mystery dragged on Thursday with no one yet coming forward for a share of a world-record $656 million jackpot, even after a Baltimore woman claimed she had a winning ticket.

Teacher Al Fischer married his partner Charlie Robin in New York City on Friday, despite losing two jobs over the nuptials. ?Teacher Al Fischer married his partner Charlie Robin in New York City on Friday, despite losing two jobs over the nuptials, The New York Times reported. Fischer and Robin were married in Central Park before a crowd of about 40 friends and strangers. Fischer was let go of his job as music teacher at St. Ann Catholic School outside of St. Louis on February 17, two days after an official from the Archdiocese of St. Louis learned of his plans to marry his partner of 19 years. Two weeks later, he was fired from his part-time job as music director for the Roman Catholic church which he and Robin attended. ?I didn't expect any of this,? Fischer told the Times. ?I didn't understand it wold be, 'click, you're done,' but it was.? ?There's nothing that's been hidden about our relationship at any point,? Robin told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. ?I go to the staff parties. I s

The World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals has signed catcher Yadier Molina to a five-year $75 million contract extension.

The World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals has signed catcher Yadier Molina to a five-year $75 million contract extension.

Al Fischer, a music teacher at St. Ann Catholic School outside St. Louis, recently was fired over his plans to marry his partner in New York. Al Fischer, a music teacher at St. Ann Catholic School outside St. Louis, recently was fired over his plans to marry his partner in New York, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Fischer told the paper that he was let go from his job of four years on February 17. Fischer and Charlie Robin planned to marry on the day of their 20th anniversary, March 9, in New York, which legalized gay marriage last summer. Shortly after a St. Louis Archdiocese representative overheard Robin talking to co-workers about his wedding plans, Fischer learned that he would be fired on his wedding day. The firing was moved up after Robin posted the news on his Facebook page on February 16, Robin told the paper. St. Ann's pastor, the Rev. Bill Kempf, acknowledged in an email that Fischer was relieved of his duties because of his plans to marry. The parish was ?recently in

(Reuters) - Former Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher has agreed to become the new coach of the St. Louis Rams, he said on Friday.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles Times editor Russ Stanton will step down this month and be replaced by the managing editor for news, the newspaper said on Tuesday.

Lee Enterprises, one of the largest newspaper chains in the United States, filed for bankruptcy on Monday, the latest victim of the crisis gripping the US newspaper industry.

(Reuters) - Lee Enterprises Inc <LEE.N>, which publishes 48 daily newspapers including St. Louis Post-Dispatch, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to refinance nearly $1 billion in debt, as newspapers struggle with falling advertisement dollars and dwindling readership.

From an editorial in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - America's toughest immigration crackdown was meant to drive illegal workers from Alabama.

Late Monday afternoon, less than 48 hours after the incident, league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan followed up a hearing with Lucic by declaring that the incident required no further discipline. On the night of the play, Lucic was tagged with a two-minute charging minor, and as far as Shanahan was concerned, that ended that.

BASEBALL

He never collected a regular wage and insisted that his many occupations - sculptor, artist, businessman, landlord, real estate mogul, and museum director - did not define him.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A contract worker died after falling from the top of an asphalt storage tank on Tuesday at the ConocoPhillips refinery in Wood River, Illinois, the company said on Wednesday.

Mental contortions are mind-boggling. Monday is July Fourth, Independence Day.

Pittsburgh placed shortstop Ronny Cedeno on the seven-day concussion disabled list before yesterday's first game of a doubleheader with the Nationals. Cedeno was hit on the back of his head while attempting to break up a double play in the fourth inning of Friday's loss to Washington. ``He had limited symptoms initially, but got worse as the night progressed - even after leaving the ballpark,'' Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said. Cedeno was replaced on the roster by infielder Pedro Ciriaco, who was recalled from Triple A Indianapolis . . . Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols has shown ``significant improvement'' in recovering from a broken left wrist and could return as early as the All-Star break, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. ``He got the [CT] test and he's working,'' St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said. ``I'm just really pleased with a lot of good news on that front.'' The Cardinals had said that Pujols wasn't expected back until late July. Pujols was hurt June 19 try

Perhaps we can call Nakamura the James Dean of chess, for his career has been one of unalloyed acceptance of risk and participation in the game to its very boundaries of enjoyment. No one thinks of him as an intellectual, but rather as a pragmatic player who will slug it out with any opponent. He appeared on the Internet early playing blitz and bullet chess, destroying most comers with enthusiasm. He even adopted bizarre moves such as an early queen move in the opening, a no-no in chess theory. Garry Kasparov said his shenanigans at fast chess and questionable openings were a waste of time. It turned out that Nakamura got burned a couple of times with his early queen move. It became apparent that if he were to invade the European redoubts of Grandmaster chess, he would have to feather his sails and he has recently played more sober chess and worked on his end game.

A congressional junket shows the foolishness of plans for nuke waste dump. As part of his "investigation" into President Barack Obama's decision to shut down the Yucca Mountain project, Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., led a congressional delegation to Nevada on Tuesday to tour the site.Shimkus, chairman of a House subcommittee that oversees nuclear waste, said the administration has "illegally closed Yucca Mountain." He points to a law that pushed the nation toward building a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The administration is trying to withdraw an application before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency tasked with determining whether a nuclear waste dump is built there.