Thursday, May 17, 2012
State Senator Jane Cunningham was hospitalized overnight in Jefferson City after feeling light-headed Wednesday at the state capitol.
Missouri State Senator Jane Cunningham (R-Chesterfield) should be back at the State Capitol following a brief hospitalization overnight Wednesday. Senator Cunningham's Chief of Staff, Kit Crancer told Patch Thursday morning that "the Senator is doing well and will be released later today." According to the Twitter account for the Missouri State Senate, members in the chamber were updated on her health this morning and learned that she would return to the Capitol Thursday. Cunningham, who is not running for re-election after state legislative redistricting essentially left her without a race to run, became light headed Wednesday during debate on an education bill. The legislative session ends at 5 p.m. Friday.
The St. Louis Rams have outlined a renovation plan for the Edward Jones Dome that is estimated to cost $700 million.
The Rams want us to buy them a new house. Just fixing up its current home—the Edward Jones Dome—won't do. Instead, the St. Louis football franchise expects an extreme makeover, to the tune of $700 million, as it is estimated by a company hired by the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission (CVC) to analyze the team's counter proposal to a the CVC's own plan to upgrade the Edward Jones Dome with a $124 million facelift. If someone doesn't cough up the $700 mil to redo the Dome, it is feared the team will take its football and go home to Los Angeles, where it came from before it was the St. Louis franchise. All of this wrangling was set in motion in 1995 when the team negotiated a 30-year lease with the CVC. It was stipulated that the …
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
The Creve Coeur-area State Senator was reportedly feeling light-headed Wednesday.
The Associated Press is reporting that State Senator Jane Cunningham, (R-Chesterfield) was taken by her Chief of Staff to a Jefferson City hospital Wednesday after feeling light-headed during a debate on education. The AP says Cunningham was undergoing tests Wednesday night. Her Chief of Staff, Kit Crancer, told Patch late Wednesday that Cunningham had been admitted to Saint Mary's Hospital. "I expect that she'll be fine," he said via email. The state legislative session ends Friday. Sign up for the Patch Newsletter, including Breaking News Alerts.
Rush Limbaugh was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians this week. An honor well deserved? Or a mistake on the part of Missouri lawmakers?
Rush Limbaugh, the controversial conservative commentator, was enshrined into the Hall of Famous Missourians this week, sparking controversy across the state and country on whether Limbaugh should be worth of such an honor. Limbaugh's name now sits amongst such famous Missourians as Mark Twain, Dred Scott, Jack Buck and Stan Musial. According to the St. Louis Beacon, Missouri House Speaker Steve Tilley gave reporters less than a half-hour’s notice of the ceremony. From the Beacon: Tilley’s decision to honor Limbaugh, a Cape Girardeau native, has sparked opposition from Democrats and progressives because of Limbaugh’s often strong words when he talks about people with whom he disagrees. Limbaugh’s bust will be placed in the Capitol’s Hall …
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Florissant City Councilman wants to see a more thorough process for animal requests.
The Florissant City Council approved three requests, two featuring four chickens at each residence and the other to allow for a coop in a residential area, Monday night but that didn’t sit well with one councilor. Ward 6 Councilman Pat Stinnett before the approvals said that he’s not happy with the process for the requests. “We need to develop some criteria on how we’re going to handle this,” he said. “Rest assured, we’re going to have other folks wanting other animals.” In a council work session a couple of months ago, councilors agreed that they would see a standard criteria system for requesting for exotic animals. During that session, Ward 8 Councilman Mark Schmidt said he would like to see photos, disease and immunization information …
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Former Rep. Gina Walsh is aiming for a spot in the State Senate.
Former state Rep. Gina Walsh (D-Bellefontaine Neighbors) continues to rack up endorsements in her bid for the 13th District Senate seat. Walsh this week said that she had been officially endorsed by St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, not a surprising development since the Democratic official attended her kick-off party earlier this year. She also received backing from St. Louis County Councilman Mike O’Mara (D-Florissant), Councilwoman Kathleen Burkett (D-Overland) and Councilman Pat Dolan (D-Richmond Heights). Walsh was also endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents thousands of police officers across the state. “As the largest law enforcement organization in Missouri, representing over 5,000 sworn law …
Saturday, May 12, 2012
A June 5 vote is planned in St. Louis county and city on Proposition Y, along with eight charter amendments aimed at increasing the efficiency and transparency of the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District.
People living in the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) can't change the fact that their sewer bills are going to rise incrementally throughout the next several years, Ed Rhode said. What they can control is the rate at which that change happens. That's why Rhode and Mike Kelley—members of the pro-Proposition Y committee Clean Water STL—are encouraging residents of St. Louis County and St. Louis city to vote yes on the $945 million bond issue June 5. If St. Louisans vote yes, sewer rates for the average single-family MSD user would rise from roughly $29 for the average single family to roughly $44 by mid-2015. The new rate effective July 1 of this year would be about $31. By contrast, a rejection of the measure would raise that …
Area state senate and general assembly races are still changing after the filing deadline.
There’s one less Democratic candidate in the race for the 1st Senatorial District, which encompasses a sizable portion of south St. Louis County. Michael Vogt, an Affton resident who served four terms in the Missouri House, withdrew his candidacy earlier this week. Vogt, an attorney, raised only $100 during the past fundraising quarter, a far cry from either Rep. Scott Sifton (D-Affton) or former state Rep. Sue Schoemehl (D-Oakville). Whoever wins the primary between Sifton and Schoemehl will face incumbent state Sen. Jim Lembke (R-Lemay). While the redistricted 1stDistrict is more Democratic, Lembke does have a sizable campaign war chest. That could come in handy, especially since his first bid for the state Senate was one of the more …
Friday, May 11, 2012
"Florissant Patch" rounds up expert tips and advice and valuable resources for aspiring local business owners.
Welcome back to our series on how to start a small business in Florissant. This week, we're offering tips and resources for understanding your responsibilities as an employer. Last week’s experts, Richard Shoaf and Chris Coleman, are back with more tips for potential small business owners. Bob Russell, the City of Florissant’s economic developer, also weighs in. Advice from the Experts “As an employer, you have responsibilities to yourself, your employees, and their families,” Coleman said. “There is a reason why few ever take on the role of employer—because there are so many responsibilities.” He said that among the most important responsibilities an employer has is taking good care of employees. “This includes everything from …
This edition of Political Potpourri has campaign machinations on both sides of the race to be Missouri's next U.S. Senator.
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) made an appearance this week on The Colbert Report, a popular satirical news show on Comedy Central. The first-term senator spent time on the show talking about her latest ad, which hones on third-party organizations that have been running ads against her. “Stephen, as he always does, used his character to point out the absurd loopholes in federal election law that allow corporations and special interests to anonymously influence the political system. I applaud the work he and his show do to educate America about 501(c)(4) organizations and secret money,” McCaskill said in a letter to supporters. “But, until the system is fixed, secret money will continue to flow into Missouri and attack me. As I said, if…
Elizabeth O'Fallon
8:56 pm on Thursday, May 17, 2012
Glad to hear the Senator is on the mend! more ›