Missouri has crowned its first openly gay pageant contestant, 23-year-old Erin O’Flaherty.

Last year, Sophia Vergara’s former fiancé, Nick Loeb, garnered media attention (including a controversial opinion piece in the New York Times) when he sued the actress over two embryos the couple had fertilized during their relationship. The lawsuit, which was not particularly unusual, but notable because it involved…

Welcome to Big Time Small-Time Dicks, a regular column on The Slot that explores local politicians, small-town scandals, and everything else making life miserable on a local level. Know a small time person who is a big time dick we should feature? Email us.

Earlier this month, state senators in Missouri tried to hold the CEO of the state Planned Parenthood affiliate in contempt of court, and threatened her with jail time for refusing to turn over confidential medical information on patients. The Senate announced Thursday they won’t do that, probably because the action…

State senators in Missouri are trying to hold St. Louis-area Planned Parenthood president Mary Kogut in contempt of court, with the threat of jail time, for refusing to turn over private medical documents, many of which include information protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Drivers in East Louis failed to stop and help and 11-year-old child as he lay fatally wounded in the street after being struck by a car. Local news stations are reporting that it took “several minutes” for anyone to aid Maurice Richards after he was struck; the driver that hit him also fled the scene.

On Monday afternoon at 4 p.m., eight Missouri Democrats began what would turn into the longest filibuster in state history in an attempt to block legislation that would make it constitutionally permissible to discriminate against the LGBT population. Early Wednesday morning, after 39 hours, state Republicans turned to…

And they aren’t showing any signs of stopping.

A new bill would require Missouri lawmakers to disclose any lobbyists they might be having sex with on ethics forms. Unlike non-sexual gifts, lawmakers wouldn’t have to estimate how much the sex is worth monetarily. Which is really too bad.

Missouri State Representative Stacey Newman is deeply concerned about the state’s gun violence, and figures perhaps it might help matters to make guns a little harder to buy. Luckily, she’s got a perfect model right in front of her: Missouri’s abortion restrictions, some of the most onerous in the country.

The unrest at University of Missouri continues: A professor named Dale Brigham offered his resignation, after an email response to a student brushing off her safety fears went viral online.

Amy Hagstrom Miller is used to fielding frantic phone calls. She’s been working in abortion care since 1989; in 2003 she founded Whole Woman’s Health, a group of clinics in five states that provide gynecological care and abortions. In Texas, Whole Woman’s hotline is getting one particular call in particular, over and…

On Friday, Missouri’s House Speaker Todd Richardson (R) recommended that members and staff of the chamber have mandatory sexual harassment training. Though a surprisingly progressive action, Richardson’s decision was in response to two sexual harassment scandals in the chamber this year, both involving interns. “While…

Fred Berry, 69, is the president of the Columbia Pachyderm Club, a Republican group based in Missouri. He is also, apparently, a very confident misogynist.

Ferguson, Missouri’s newly appointed municipal judge announced sweeping changes to the city’s court system on Monday, including the withdrawal of every arrest warrant issued in Ferguson prior to December 31, 2014, Reuters reports.

Welcome to Big Time Small-Time Dicks, a new regular column on The Slot that explores local politicians, small-town scandals and everything else making life miserable on a local level. Know a small time person who is a big time dick we should feature? Email us.

After a predictably huge amount of public outrage, the Missouri House is dropping the idea of proposing a dress code for interns to cut down on all the sexual harassment by lawmakers. St. Louis Public Radio reports that House Speaker Todd Richardson nixed the idea, saying that although several Republican lawmakers…

In the embarrassing wake of two scandals involving two different Missouri lawmakers who have both been forced to quit after accusations that they sexually harassed their interns, the Missouri House is discussing instituting a new dress code. For the interns. That’s it. That’ll do it.

The Guardian reports that St. Louis County police are investigating Officer Todd J. Bakula after he made a Facebook post bragging about his “annual Michael Brown bonus,” an apparent reference to extra income earned while working during protests in Ferguson this week.

An 18-year-old man, tentatively identified as Tyrone Harris Jr., remains in “critical, unstable” condition after being shot by police during a demonstration in Ferguson, Missouri last night. St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said Harris wasn’t a demonstrator but a “criminal” who fired on officers first. Harris…