JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri lawmakers are blocking a tax increase on the state’s most valuable farmland. The Senate voted 29-2 on Thursday to reject the State Tax Commission’s plan to raise some agricultural tax values for 2017 and 2018. The House passed the same resolution last week on a 133-24 vote. It does…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Missouri Senate could debate a bill that would repeal the state’s death penalty. A Senate panel approved the Republican-sponsored legislation Tuesday. It would end capital punishment in a state that’s executed 18 killers in the last two years. Sen. Paul Wieland, of Imperial, is Catholic and opposes abortion. He…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Motivated by the resignations of two lawmakers, the Missouri Legislature has advanced another round of ethics-related legislation. The Missouri House passed legislation 157-3 Thursday to prohibit most investments of campaign money. Members also voted 157-4 to impose greater reporting requirements for taskforce members appointed by the governor. Legislation to close…
BENTON, Mo. (AP) – A convicted murderer and a woman have been arrested for possessing child pornography in Missouri. The Scott County Sheriff’s Department says deputies found an inappropriate picture of a girl in the 67-year-old man and 58-year-old woman’s Benton home during a search Tuesday. The victim told investigators that the man had taken…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Lawmakers say last fall’s campus turmoil has made them question whether the four-campus University of Missouri System needs annual state audits. System officials told a Senate panel Wednesday they don’t oppose state audits and already conduct at least 50 internal audits a year along with a broad external audit. The…
( KTRS ) The DEA will be holding a press conference, later this morning, to announce a new plan combating the heroin epidemic in St. Louis. The Drug Enforcement Administration says the “360 Strategy” is a “comprehensive law enforcement and prevention strategy” to help cities dealing with heroin, prescription drug abuse, and violent crime. Several…
ROLLA, Mo. (AP) – A Danish food-packaging manufacturer says it plans to build a $30-million factory in central Missouri’s Rolla, creating about 50 jobs. As part of the expansion announced Tuesday by Gov. Jay Nixon, Brodrene Hartmann says the 334,000-square-foot Rolla plant will make molded-fiber egg cartons. The cartons will be made of recycled newspaper…
( KTRS ) Gov. Jay Nixon is traveling to South America next week for a trade mission. Nixon says he’s traveling to Colombia and Peru from Saturday through the following Friday. Like previous trade missions, Nixon says the goal is to increase exports and encourage companies from those countries to invest in Missouri. This is Nixon’s first…
( KTRS ) A Columbia man who robbed six banks and used a bicycle as his getaway vehicle will spend almost five years in federal prison. Shaun Christopher Becker has been sentenced to four years and nine months in prison without parole. He was also ordered to pay $4,490 in restitution. Becker admitted to robbing…
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – An assistant professor at the University of Missouri has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge stemming from a campus run-in with student journalists during protests in November. A spokeswoman for Columbia’s city prosecutor says an attorney for Melissa Click entered the plea on Click’s behalf Tuesday in municipal court.…