News

Changes in Missouri's tax code will be near the top of the agenda for Republicans in the state Senate during the 2013 session.

Sen. Tom Dempsey, of St. Charles, is expected to be elected as presiding officer when the Senate convenes in January. He says majority party Republicans want to act quickly on legislation to provide "income tax relief." The specifics remain to be finalized but could include income tax cuts for individuals, small businesses or corporations.

Columbia’s Downtown Community Improvement District is considering adding public restrooms downtown.

There are no public restrooms downtown. Richard King is the owner of the Blue Note and Mojo’s and also a board member of the Downtown Community Improvement District. He said the addition of public restrooms might deter people from urinating on street corners or in parking garages.

“There were issues if you talk to some of the downtown folks, police officers; they made it clear that there were issues like that," King said.

A new report says Missouri's Medicaid costs could rise by 6.6 percent over 10 years if the state fully implements the federal health care law.

But the report also says almost half of that increase will occur even if Missouri does not expand Medicaid eligibility for adults.

The report by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Urban Institute says Missouri can expect to spend an additional $1.2 billion from 2013 to 2022 as more people join the Medicaid rolls because of the federal health care law.

• Ferguson family starts billboard campaign
• Ian Thompson plans for City Council
• Changes to be made to current GED tests
• Army Corps seeks public input on Table Rock Lake
• Columbia to study ci

Ryan Ferguson’s family started a billboard campaign Monday, encouraging the public to provide information about a composite image of a man possibly linked to the 2001 murder of Columbia Tribune editor Kent Heitholt.

Watch the show and join the conversation on the Intersection website.

The Executive Director of PedNet plans to run for City Council in April.

Come the new year, General Education Development tests will be harder and more expensive.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans three meetings this week to hear the public's ideas for the future of Table Rock Lake.

A researcher is testing a geothermal heating system at a turkey farm in central Missouri that could help trim utility costs.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that an engineering professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia is trying out the system, which uses the soil to regulate the temperature of water flowing through buried pipes. The water then transfers the warmth from the ground into the barn.