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Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the St. Louis brewery Anheuser-Busch is under a federal anti-trust investigation.
The brewery is the nation's largest and one of the biggest businesses in Missouri.
An Insurance Department task force has held its third meeting to discuss placing limits on how far patients have to travel to get medical care. Officials are considering letting patients drive no more than 200 miles round trip to receive rehabilitation care and a maximum of 60 miles to and from the hospital for emergency care.
Task force members are also defining what a primary care physician is. Under the proposal it could be a nurse practitioner or a gynecologist.
See our two radio stories on maximum distances allowed for services and on primary care provider regulations.
Missouri's methamphetamine problems have prompted state officials to propose changes in the way cold pills are sold in drug stores.
On October 6, 1997, Governor Carnahan will hold a conference on the issue in Jefferson City.
State officials will also discuss prevention and treatment techniques as well as how to train police officers to cut down on the problem.
See our radio story for more information.
The new sales tax cut law only lets stores that sell the four major food groups apply the tax cut to groceries. So, the next time you buy a candy bar at a gas station or a convenient store, don't expect to get a tax cut.
You'll have to pay the full four percent tax rate.
House Speaker Steve Gaw is the sponsor of the bill. Gaw says the bill was not intended to limit what kind of stores can apply the tax cut.
See our radio story for details.
This week, the state tax cut went into effect, but it only applies to certain items. Meat, eggs, fruits, vegetables and dairy products are all eligible for a one percent sales tax...so are bloody mary mix and mint snuff.
According to the federal food stamp program, that stuff is considered food. A spokesperson from the U-S Agriculture Department says it's up to Congress to decide what is food and what is not.
Meanwhile, you'll have to pay the full four percent sales tax on items such as vitamins, cough drops and even hot coffee.
Student transfers between St. Louis and St. Louis County schools might continue, despite the desegregation ruling. A legislative committee could negotiate a plan that would get the federal court out of monitoring the schools, and still allow children to attend schools in districts other than their own.
"I hope we allow any student who has begun in the program to finish," said Sen. Ted House, D-St. Charles. "That might mean a twelve year phase out."
House said the $304 million settlement propsed by Attorney General Jay Nixon does not conflict with the efforts of the committee. The committee will continue to visit schools in both Kansas City and St. Louis, and plan to have a resolution to propose to the General Assembly by December.
In a unanimous decision, Missouri's Supreme Court held that the legislature does not have authority to audit state agencies -- including the State Auditor who had filed suit to block legislative demands for work papers.
The court explained its decision in unusually blunt langauge that could have far-reaching effects in other areas where the legislature has been seeking to expand its power -- such as recent efforts to claim veto power over administrative rules.
The state high court wrote in its decision, "it is apparent that the constitution intends for the legislature's power to cease when a bill becomes law and the executive branch begins to expercise its power to administer and enforce the law," the court wrote.
A record tax cut for Missouri begins on Wednesday, Oct.1. It lowers the current food sales tax from 4.2 percent to a little over one percent. The tax cut only applies to groceries that can be purchased under the federal food stamp program.
Most groceries are covered under the tax cut. Even items like bloody mary mix and mint snuff are covered. However, prepared foods, cough drops, pills, and paper products will remain taxed at the higher rate.
For information on what will be taxed, consumers and businesses alike can call the Missouri Revenue Department. A Revenue Department spokesperson says that they have been receiving calls continuously over the last eight hours.
For more information, see:
Missourians Against Cockfighting has begun a petition to send a ban against animal fighting to a statewide vote in November 1998. Opponents of cockfighting have tried for 11 years to convince lawmakers to outlaw the fighting, without success.
"We're tired of the political process, so we are going to take the issue to the people," Sandy Mickelson, a St. Louis resident and co-founder of the group, said according to a Jefferson City newspaper.
Cockfighting was illegal in Missouri from 1873 to 1985, when the state Supreme Court struck down the law as "unconstitutionally vague." Missouri is one of five states that allow the practice.
Missourians Against Cockfighting must collect about 139,000 signatures to put the proposed ban on the ballot.