Noranda slashing over half of smelter workforce

NEW MADRID, Mo. (AP) – More than half of the 850 employees at a southeast Missouri aluminum plant are being laid off. And the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (bit.ly/1Psqilb) reports that Noranda Aluminum plans to shut down the New Madrid smelter altogether unless its electricity rate is lowered further. The Franklin, Tennessee, company had already seen…

Suspected gang leader gets 25 yr prison sentence.

( KTRS ) A man suspected East St. Louis gang leader has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for multiple drug and weapons offenses. James L. Porter, Acting United States Attorney for Southern Illinois, reports that 40-year-old Ayiko Paulette of Cahokia, was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute narcotics, running a…

Blunt touts $5M for Senate race; Kander at $2M

( KTRS ) Republican U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt says he raised nearly $1.25 million during the past three months for his expected re-election campaign. Blunt’s campaign says it had more than $5 million in cash on hand at the end of the most recent fundraising quarter. Likely Democratic opponent Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander…