The incident, which is being called a “freak accident” by a witness, took place on the Lewis Trail Loop in the Weldon Spring Conservation area in St. Charles County. Officers from the St. Charles County Police say they responded to a call to dispatchers around noon on Saturday and arrived on the scene at the Conservation area on Highway 94 roughly 30 minutes later. Medical first responders used all-terrain vehicles to access the injured hiker, who has just now been identified by police as 47-year-old James Cay of O’Fallon, Missouri, and eventually employed a helicopter to airlift him to a nearby hospital....

Galloway, who is a Democrat, is accused of conducting unusually critical audits against Hawley’s use of public money during his time as state attorney general. The board had been threatening disciplinary action against Galloway for months for her audits, likely resulting in her decision to not run for reelection in June. “Never before in this state’s history has the licensing board for accountants asserted any authority over the powers and functions of the State Auditor,” said Galloway in a September statement....

The court’s order set Ernest Lee Johnson’s execution for October 5 at the state prison in Bonne Terre, the Associated Press reported. Johnson has been on death row since he was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder in the 1994 deaths of Mary Bratcher, Mable Scruggs, and Fred Jones. All three victims, who were employees of a Casey’s convenience store in Columbia, were beaten to death with a hammer....

The state Supreme Court took nine days to come to rule in support of the case, a month after a Cole County judge overturned the constitutional amendment that Republican Governor Mike Parson refused to implement after the GOP-led legislature didn’t provide the funding. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of three women, all newly eligible for Medicaid. Their attorney, Chuck Hatfield, told the state Supreme Court last week that the actions by the state would essentially “overturn the election....

The Missouri defensive end — the co-SEC Defensive Player of the Year — told his teammates in August and recently spoke with The New York Times and ESPN's Outside the Lines. MORE: Top 10 teams for 2014 | Openly gay athletes | NFL players react His teammates did not make the admission public. On Sunday and Monday, many of them took to Twitter to show their support for their former teammate....

It has been more than eight months since the last major COVID-19 relief package, the CARES Act, was signed by the president. A prolonged stalemate in attempting to secure a follow-up continues. A group including Republican and Democrat lawmakers unveiled a $908 billion compromise proposal on Tuesday, in a bid to breach the impasse. Asked about this pitch at a news conference, and the need for the House to pass something as well as the president to sign it, McConnell said: “We just don’t have time to waste time....

In a statement Wednesday, the Kentucky Republican argued that an extension into December would “protect the American people from a near-term Democrat-created crisis.” “Whether through miscalculation or a deliberate effort to bully their own members into wrecking the Senate, top Democrats have risked adding a default crisis to the inflation crisis, border crisis and Afghanistan crisis they have already created,” he wrote. McConnell first floated the idea of a possible compromise during a lunch with GOP senators on Wednesday....

An inspector general overseeing the Transportation Department announced its findings in a 44-page report released on Wednesday. The report accused Chao of a dozen instances of using her office’s staff to conduct personal tasks and work related to promoting the Foremost Group, a New York-based shipping business owned by her father and sister. The business does extensive business within China, according to the Associated Press. If true, the allegations would violate federal ethics rules....

The Manchester United midfielder has become his country’s most famous footballing export by some distance, with only a handful of current members of the national team playing in top European leagues. How Man Utd’s loanees are getting on He has been handed the prize in every year but one since his 20th birthday as a result, but how does his dominance in his homeland compare to other countries and stars?...

Asked how disappointed he is, Pence gave reporters his answer Thursday (via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram) in three short words: “Not at all.” It’s a matter of seeing the big picture, on a couple of levels. First, that he was voted the AL’s starting designated hitter was mind-blowing enough, Pence said, considering the winter he endured as a veteran free agent. “Would I thought I even would have the choice to be disappointed about going to an All-Star Game last year in the offseason when I didn’t even have a job, it’s all perspective,” Pence said (via WFAA-TV)....

Under the amended rules, a baserunner’s slide will be considered legal if: He slides before reaching the base; he is able to and attempts to reach or touch the base; he is able to and attempts to stay on the base; and he does not change his pathway to the base. MORE: Nine players poised to break out | MLB’s most controversial players Runners who follow those four guidelines are allowed to take out the fielder legally in an effort to break up a double play, according to the rule....

This year, the awards could carry some extra significance for a few players in particular. AL MVP finalist Aaron Judge and AL Cy Young finalist Justin Verlander are both free agents, and while an award is unlikely to drastically change the evaluation of teams of the two star talents, it would help to bolster the resumes of the two as they look for new deals. Several of the races this year appear to be well locked up....

Baseball action gets going early Thursday morning with the Seattle Mariners and Baltimore Orioles’ first pitch set for 12:35 p.m. ET. The Orioles are a slight favorite on the money line, at about -110, with the total set at 9. There’s not a whole lot of value on the money line or spread when comparing AccuScore simulations to Vegas odds. We’re only interested when Vegas odds and AccuScore sims differ considerably, indicating hidden value....

Vince Velasquez is giving Philadelphia fans some thrills despite a lineup that scores an MLB-low 2.6 runs per game. The Phillies (6-8) acquired Velasquez from Houston in the offseason and his first two starts have been sensational, including his season debut at Citi Field against the Mets where he won 1-0. He struck out nine in six innings and allowed only three hits. MORE: MLB live odds page In Velasquez’s Citizens Park debut Thursday he threw a 3-0 shutout, allowing only three hits, striking out 16 without a walk....

Under a new Anti-Hazing and Anti-Bullying Policy, MLB now prohibits “requiring, coercing or encouraging” players from “dressing up as women or wearing costumes that may be offensive to individuals based on their race, sex, nationality, age, sexual orientation, gender identify or other characteristic.” The new rules, first revealed by The Associated Press, are expected to be ratified by the MLB Players Association on Tuesday. The annual ritual of forcing newcomers to wear embarrassing costumes as an initiation of sorts has long been popular inside MLB clubhouses, considered a method to build camaraderie....

Well, no. MORE: Every MLB team’s five worst draft misses “It will be beneficial to look at that,” MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said in an interview with the Associated Press last week. “And not look at it in a vacuum but appreciate whatever it is that we attempt to negotiate there or propose there, that it ties into the other moving pieces and doesn’t create an imbalance.” Here are the top players from the first round of each draft since the turn of the century, by wins above replacement, according to baseball-reference....

Players chosen in those sports are expected to contribute immediately, either as starters or in significant reserve roles. In baseball, you’ll only see a handful of picks even make their debuts the following season, much less in the year they’re drafted. For example, not a single player taken in the 2016 MLB Draft has appeared in the majors. MLB DRAFT: Complete results from Rounds 1 and 2 White Sox pitcher Carson Fulmer, the eighth overall pick in the first round of the 2015 MLB Draft, was the first from that class to make his big-league debut, and that happened on July 17, 2016, more than a year after the draft....

This year, with the coronavirus destroying the sports landscape, the draft is going to be shortened to just five rounds, way down from the usual 40-round renditions we’ve seen in years past. This could result in lots of moving parts: high schoolers attending college, juniors in college staying for their senior years and a seemingly endless number of undrafted free agents potentially being signed. Originally, the MLB Draft was in for a major change: pushing the date back a week to allow college players to attend while shifting the event from MLB Network studios in Secaucus, N....

MLB Network insider Jon Heyman said Thursday on WFAN that the Yankees are the team most likely to land Keuchel but will wait some three weeks when draft-pick compensation goes away with the 2019 MLB Draft, which begins June 3. MORE: Watch ‘ChangeUp,’ a new MLB live whiparound show on DAZN Two key factors make the Yankees attractive to Keuchel, according to Heyman: He would prefer a large market and, obviously, a chance to win a World Series....