Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has issued a subpoena for St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones amid his pursuit to remove embattled Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner from office.

In documents obtained by FOX 2 St. Louis, Bailey issued requests for Jones and Green to appear in court on March 13.

Bailey filed a petition quo warranto, a mechanism that allows the attorney general to remove a prosecutor on the basis of neglecting their duties. 

Jones and Green are requested by Bailey to provide documentation of any communication they had with Gardner from 2017 to 2023, including messages from personal devices.

Gardner is accused of negligence in her prosecution case against Daniel Riley, a 21-year-old who was out on bail for a 2020 armed robbery case when he failed to yield while speeding in February.

Riley, who had violated house arrest on dozens of occasions, collided with another vehicle that struck 17-year-old Janae Edmondson. Edmondson, who had her legs amputated as a result, was visiting St. Louis for a volleyball tournament. 

‘I’m committed to moving as expeditiously as possible to remove Circuit Attorney Gardner for her willful neglect of office,’ Bailey’s office told Fox News Digital.

‘Rather than supporting victims, her actions have created them,’ he added.

Gardner has been criticized by opponents for her progressive approach to prosecution. In 2021, she was criticized after three murder cases under her watch were dropped after prosecutors failed to show up to court or were unprepared.

The wife of St. Louis Police Capt. David Dorn, the police officer who was killed during the 2020 Black Lives Matter riots, told Fox News Digital that Gardner was partially responsible for her husband’s murder.

‘I believe with Kim Gardner’s actions of not prosecuting anybody in past riots and the [former] Mayor [Lyda Krewson] giving the stand down order, I think that’s a direct correlation to my husband losing his life, actually,’ Anna Dorn said.

Fox News’ Brianna Herlihy and Hannah Grossman contributed to this report.

Republican U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman said Friday he will run for a sixth term next year representing east-central Wisconsin, despite promising when he first ran not to serve more than a decade in Congress.

Grothman, 67, said in a telephone interview that he is campaigning and raising money for a sixth term.

‘That’s the plan right now,’ Grothman said when asked if he was running again. ‘It’s not something we’ve thought a lot about. … I’ve talked to a lot of people over the past few months. Nobody has told me I shouldn’t run again.’

He made the pledge not to serve more than five terms during the Republican primary in 2014. Grothman said he doesn’t know what the maximum number of terms he would serve now is.

‘I haven’t thought about it, really,’ he said.

Wisconsin Democratic Party spokesperson Joe Oslund said it was ‘no real surprise’ that Grothman was breaking his term limits pledge.

‘Glenn Grothman is seeking another term in Congress explicitly so he can keep up his attacks on folks’ retirement and health care, and it’s shameful,’ Oslund said.

Grothman represents the reliably Republican 6th Congressional District. Grothman has won the district by double digits in every election where he’s faced a challenger.

‘Obviously, a lot of the agenda that I ran on can’t be accomplished until we have a more conservative president and that’s not going to happen for two more years,’ he said Friday.

Grothman is not the first Wisconsin member of Congress to break a term limits pledge. Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson won reelection last year to a third term after he promised not to serve more than two terms.

Attorney General Merrick Garland made an unannounced visit to Ukraine, where he reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to assist Ukrainian officials in pursuing war criminals, Fox News Digital confirmed. 

On Friday, March 3rd, Garland made the surprise to Lviv, Ukraine at the invitation of the Ukrainian prosecutor general to join President Volodymyr Zelensky at the ‘United for Justice Conference,’ Justice Department officials confirmed. Garland’s trip was not disclosed ‘for security reasons.’ 

Garland also made a surprise visit to the country last June, just months after the war began.

Officials added that Garland ‘held several meetings and reaffirmed our determination to hold Russia accountable for crimes committed in its unjust and unprovoked invasion against its sovereign neighbor.’

Garland’s trip comes just two weeks following President Biden’s trip to Kyiv in a surprise visit just ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of the country.

Biden delivered remarks and met with President Volodymyr Zelensky at Mariinsky Palace to announce an additional half-billion dollars in U.S. assistance. The new assistance includes shells for howitzers, anti-tank missiles, air surveillance radars and other aid but no new advanced weaponry.

The trip is the first time Biden has traveled to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion one year ago. 

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs vowed Friday that her administration won’t carry out an execution even though the state Supreme Court scheduled it over the objections of the state’s new attorney general.

The Democratic governor’s promise not to execute Aaron Gunches on April 6 for his murder conviction in a 2002 killing came a day after the state Supreme Court said it must grant an execution warrant if certain appellate proceedings have concluded — and that those requirements were met in Gunches’ case.

Last week, Hobbs appointed retired U.S. Magistrate Judge David Duncan to examine the state’s procurement of lethal injection drugs and other death penalty protocols due to the state’s history of mismanaging executions.

‘Under my administration, an execution will not occur until the people of Arizona can have confidence that the state is not violating the law in carrying out the gravest of penalties,’ Hobbs said in a statement Friday.

Attorney General Kris Mayes’ office has said it won’t seek court orders to carry out executions while Hobbs’ review is underway.

Mayes, a Democrat who took office in January, tried to withdraw a request by her Republican predecessor, Mark Brnovich, for a warrant to Gunches. The court declined to withdraw the request on Thursday.

The court said Hobbs’ review ‘does not constitute good cause for refraining from issuing the warrant.’

Mayes’ office declined to comment on Hobbs’ promise not to carry out the execution next month.

Hobbs maintains that while the court authorized Gunches’ execution, its order doesn’t require the state to carry it out.

Dale Baich, a former federal public defender who teaches death penalty law at Arizona State University, said Hobbs can use her authority as the state’s chief executive when the state believes it cannot carry out an execution in a constitutionally acceptable manner.

‘What the governor did is not unique,’ said Baich, who applauded Hobbs’ move. ‘Governors in Alabama, Ohio and Tennessee recently used their authority to pause executions because they had serious questions about the protocols in their states.’

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted Gunches, issued a statement saying it believes Hobbs ‘has a constitutional and statutory responsibility to carry out all sentences, including the execution of Aaron Gunches.’

Arizona, which has 110 prisoners on death row, carried out three executions last year after a nearly eight-year hiatus following criticism that a 2014 execution was botched and because of difficulties obtaining execution drugs.

Since resuming executions, the state has been criticized for taking too long to insert an IV for lethal injection into a prisoner’s body in early May and for denying the Arizona Republic newspaper’s request to witness the last three executions.

Gunches is scheduled to be executed on April 6 for the 2002 killing of Ted Price, his girlfriend’s ex-husband, in Maricopa County.

Gunches, who isn’t a lawyer, represented himself in November when he asked the Supreme Court to issue his execution warrant so justice could be served and the victims could get closure. In Brnovich’s last month in office, his office asked the court for a warrant to execute Gunches.

But Gunches withdrew his request in early January, and Mayes asked for the execution warrant submitted during Brnovich’s tenure to be withdrawn.

In her statement, Hobbs also said Arizona’s prison system has deep problems that require attention, citing a scathing court ruling that concluded the state had violated the rights of inmates in state-run prisons by providing them with inadequate medical and mental health care. In her first month in office, Hobbs announced the creation of a commission to study a range of problems in Arizona’s prisons, including staffing levels, conditions inside prisons and the health care offered to those behind bars.

New Mexico is extending health orders related to COVID-19 one final time through the end of the month.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham made the announcement Friday that she is renewing an executive order but will let it expire after March 31.

‘While we’re still seeing COVID cases, our preparedness and collaborative work have helped turn a once-in-a-century public health emergency into a manageable situation,’ Lujan Grisham said in a statement.

She also urged people, especially the elderly and immuno-compromised, to get vaccinated.

The New Mexico Department of Health had maintained measures such as a mask mandate for public indoor spaces and a requirement for health care workers and certain other employees to be current on vaccinations.

The public health orders were last extended in January, as the omicron variant was driving up the case count. New Mexico’s hospitals were operating under standards of care that prioritize immediate medical emergencies.

New Mexico was one of five other states — including Texas and Illinois — that still have such declarations.

California’s coronavirus emergency officially ended Feb. 28, nearly three years after Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the nation’s first statewide stay-at-home order.

The lapsing of the orders signals an end to the expanded legal powers of governors to suspend laws in response to the once mysterious disease.

President Joe Biden announced in January that the federal government will end its own version May 11.

A delegation of Republican senators took a tour of the besieged southern border on Friday, declaring the ongoing human and drug trafficking crisis a ‘self-inflicted wound’ — as rhetoric on who to blame for the ongoing crisis continues to escalate.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, led a delegation to the Rio Grande Valley, where senators toured the border with Border Patrol agents, heard from local officials and visited a stash house that had just been raided by law enforcement.

The delegation, which also included Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.; Deb Fischer, R-Neb.; Pete Ricketts, R-Neb.; Katie Britt, R-Ala.; and Roger Wicker, R-Miss., was clear that it believes the blame for the crisis lies with the Biden administration, noting the massive increase in encounters under its watch.

‘The Biden administration could not have created a more serious border crisis than we have if they had tried. The signal was absolutely sent out to anyone who wanted to hear that people should come to the border,’ Wicker said. ‘It’s not only folks from our neighboring Mexico and Central and South America, but from all over the world. We saw a number of Asians today. So a worldwide signal has been heard, and the world is responding.’

Wicker went on to say that the border was being policed by the cartels, and made note of the continued trafficking of fatal drugs like fentanyl across the U.S. border.

‘Everything from gun running to drugs — the most poisonous, fatal drugs — to human trafficking and prostitution. It is a shame and a crisis and an avoidable self-inflicted wound on this country,’ he said.

There were more than 2.3 million migrant encounters in FY 2022, and FY 2023 has been on pace to top those record numbers.

Republicans have blamed the administration for rolling back Trump-era policies such as the Remain-in-Mexico policy, ending wall construction and narrowing interior ICE enforcement as reasons for the crisis. The administration has pushed back repeatedly, accusing Republicans of failing to vote for more border funding and for not supporting a sweeping immigration reform proposal introduced on day one of the administration. 

In his State of the Union address, President Biden again appealed for Republicans to pass parts of the bill, but lawmakers have balked at the inclusion of a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, which Democrats have indicated is a must.

‘Let’s also come together on immigration and make it a bipartisan issue once again,’ Biden said.

‘America’s border problems won’t be fixed until Congress acts. If we won’t pass my comprehensive immigration reform, at least pass my plan to provide the equipment and officers to secure the border. And a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, those on temporary status, farmworkers, and essential workers,’ he said, an appeal which was met by cries of ‘secure the border’ from Republicans.

The lawmakers on Friday indicated that they are open to a bipartisan solution, but said the Biden administration needs to work with them.

‘This is a dangerous situation This is a chaotic situation. And it’s time to at least get some kind of recognition from the Biden administration that they have an understanding of that and that they are willing to reach out to Republicans to find some solutions,’ Fischer said.

Cornyn, meanwhile, acknowledged recent moves by the administration to make migrants ineligible for asylum if they have crossed illegally and failed to claim asylum in another country. But he was equally dismissive, and said the solution lies in enforcing laws he believes are not already being enforced.

‘We don’t necessarily need any more laws or any more rules. What we need is the Biden administration’s will to enforce the laws that are already on the books,’ he said.

The tour comes amid a number of border visits by both Republicans and Democrats. Republicans in the House have started holding hearings at the border itself in what they say is an effort to draw more attention to the crisis. Democrats have pushed back on those hearings, calling them stunts.

Washington and Oregon will soon drop mask requirements in health care settings, state health officials said Friday, moving to lift the last major masking requirements meant to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Mandates in both states will end on April 3, meaning health care workers, patients and visitors will no longer be required to wear a mask in facilities including hospitals, urgent care centers and dental and doctors’ offices. Washington’s mask requirements in correctional facilities will also end April 3.

The decision came as data in recent weeks has shown decreases in circulation of COVID-19, RSV and the flu, the three respiratory viruses that triggered a surge in visits to hospitals last fall, state epidemiologist Dean Sidelinger said in a news release from the Oregon Health Authority.

The Washington Department of Health also said disease rates and hospitalizations have continued to decline since the end of last year.

‘Masks have been – and will continue to be – an important tool, along with vaccinations, to keep people healthy and safe,’ Umair A. Shah, MD, MPH, Secretary of Health, said in a news release. ‘We are thankful for our health and long-term care providers, staff members, patients, and all Washingtonians, for following the important public health measures put in place during the pandemic to protect one another.’

Health care facilities and local public health agencies will have a month to prepare for the change and adjust their safety policies accordingly.

Some health care settings may decide to continue requiring masks even after the statewide requirements are lifted, officials said.

A bill introduced in the Arkansas state legislature this week would mandate a breastfeeding curriculum in state schools. 

The bill, whose lead sponsors are state Rep. Mary Bentley and state Sen. Breanne Davis, both Republicans, noted that breastfeeding reduces Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, infant mortality overall, obesity and Type 2 Diabetes.

The risk of all types of breast cancer is reduced for mothers who breastfeed for more than a year, it added. 

ARKANSAS BILL WOULD REQUIRE TRANSGENDER STUDENTS TO USE RESTROOM ACCORDING TO BIOLOGICAL SEX 

‘The provision of information surrounding the number of benefits that breastfeeding results in for both infants and lactating mothers helps to raise awareness about the importance of breastfeeding,’ the bill says. 

‘Each health and safety course offered by a public school district or open-enrollment public charter school shall include information regarding breastfeeding, including without limitation the benefits of breastfeeding: As healthy nutrition for all infants; and for lactating mothers.’ 

If passed, the bill would apply to all public and open enrollment charter schools in the state. 

‘I have been working for years in the legislature to do what we can to reduce maternal and infant mortality in our state,’ Bentley told Fox News Digital. ‘My end goal for this bill is to do exactly that. Increasing the rate of breastfeeding in our state will decrease SIDS dramatically which will decrease infant mortality. Increasing the rate of breastfeeding will decrease hypertension one of the major causes of maternal mortality.’

Seh added, ‘My hope with this bill is that by understanding the lifelong health  benefits of breastfeeding for Moms and infants future spouses, co workers and employers will support them and we will see an increased rate of breastfeeding.’

Aside from Bentley and Davis, the bill has 12 additional sponsors. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to Davis for comment. 

After years of trying to pass a bill to allow people to carry concealed guns in Nebraska without a permit, conservative lawmakers are on the cusp of doing so, thanks in part to the defection of two Democratic Omaha senators — the only Black lawmakers in the body — who cited racial disparity in enforcing gun laws in their districts.

After three days of debate, lawmakers voted 36-12 Friday to advance the bill. It must survive two more rounds of debate to pass.

While the bill would not usurp the federal requirement for a background check to buy a gun, it would allow people to carry guns hidden in their clothing or vehicle without having to pay for a government permit or take a now-required gun safety course. It also would override stricter gun laws in the state’s cities, including in the state’s largest city of Omaha, which requires a conceal carry license for anyone carrying a gun in a car — even if the gun is in open view.

It’s that Omaha law that spurred Omaha Sens. Justin Wayne and Terrell McKinney to break party ranks and support the bill.

‘How many young African American and Latino kinds are affected by Omaha’s gun laws?’ asked Wayne on the Senate floor. Young Black people in Omaha are often charged with gun possession violations when a gun that’s not theirs is found in a car they’re riding in, Wayne said.

The practice, known in law enforcement circles as ‘bumping up,’ disproportionally affects people of color, he said.

‘When they’re talking about bumping up kids in Omaha, they’re not talking about kids in Bennington,’ Wayne said, referring to the overwhelmingly white bedroom community north of Omaha. ‘They’re not talking about kids in western Nebraska.’

McKinney said the creation of early gun control laws in the U.S. ‘was out of fear of Black people.’

‘I’m not going to sit here and not try to fight for my community,’ he said. ‘The police don’t care about Black people.’

Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon — the bill’s conservative sponsor who has tried since 2017 to pass it — backed McKinney’s comments, citing colonial American laws that criminalized arming Native Americans. Brewer is an Oglala Lakota Tribe member and Nebraska’s only Native American lawmaker.

Currently, 25 other states have so-called constitutional carry laws that allow people to carry concealed guns without a permit. Last month, the Republican-controlled South Carolina House voted to pass that state’s own constitutional carry bill.

The Nebraska bill is opposed by the cities of Omaha and Lincoln, where the majority of gun violence occurs, and their police chiefs, who have said the measure will make their cities less safe.

Nebraska already allows gun owners to carry firearms in public view, as long as they don’t have a criminal record that bars them from possessing one and aren’t in a place — including churches, courthouses and private businesses — where guns are prohibited. To legally conceal the gun, Nebraskans are required to submit to a Nebraska State Patrol background check, get fingerprinted and take a gun safety course at their own expense.

Most bills need 33 votes to pass in Nebraska’s unique one-house Legislature. There are currently 17 Democratic lawmakers in the officially nonpartisan body — enough to successfully filibuster most bills if they all vote together.

But two other Democrats joined Wayne and McKinney in voting for the permitless conceal carry bill, including Omaha Sen. Mike McDonnell, a former Omaha firefighter union president who switched to support the measure after the Omaha police union pulled its objection to the bill. Democratic Sen. Lynne Walz, of Fremont, abstained from voting.

A spokesperson for Republican Gov. Jim Pillen’s office said Friday that the governor supports the bill and would sign it into law if it passes.