News

The company that runs the St. Louis-based cable provider Suddenlink Communications has agreed to sell itself to its management and other investors who will invest about $2 billion in the company.

Investors BC Partners and the Canada pension plan's CPP Investment Board are joining with Suddenlink managers including Chairman and CEO Jerry Kent in the deal to buy Cequel Communications Holdings L.L.C.

Cequel's previous ownership group included Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Quadrangle and Oaktree Capital Management. The deal values the company at $6.6 billion, including debt.

Crime is on the decline in St. Louis County.

County police on Wednesday announced that the overall crime rate is down 12.5 percent for the first six months of 2012, compared with the same period in 2011. Violent crime is down 7.2 percent.

The county had 12 homicides in the first half of 2011, compared to two through June of this year. Forcible rapes are down 25 percent, arson 22.2 percent, burglary 28.1 percent, robbery 11.5 percent and aggravated assault 1.1 percent.

Another fire has been reported at a former city landfill north of Columbia.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that firefighters have been battling another grass fire Wednesday at the former site of the Columbia municipal landfill, which is south of Finger Lakes State Park. The site has burned several times over the past week.

Boone County Fire Protection District Chief Scott Olsen says buried trash at the former landfill has been smoldering and continues to start fires. He says the fires will likely continue until the weather cools.

Crops are not the only things wilting in the sweltering summer of 2012; cattle, the largest animals, on the farm are also under stress.

The backlash continues over the so-called “new model” for the University of Missouri Press. one of the Press’ authors wrote a letter to UM System President Tim Wolfe, who closed the old press as a cost-cutting measure.

Author Don Spivey notified Wolfe of his desire to remove his biography of baseball legend Satchel Paige from the University of Missouri Press. It was published in May, and Spivey’s worried about the future of his book.

The MU Thompson Center for Autism is one of the nation's leading autism centers, combining treatment, training and research. Starting in September, the center will have a new director. I spoke with Stephen Kanne about the challenges and opportunities ahead for autism research, treatment and accessibility of treatment.

The death of an 89-year-old St. Louis County man is blamed on the heat, bringing the number of heat-related deaths in Missouri to 24 since June.

Farmers suffering from this summer's dry, hot weather could get some help through the state treasurer's office.

Treasurer Clint Zweifel says he is offering emergency 24-hour approvals of low-interest loans through the Missouri Linked Deposit Program because of the drought conditions.

Under the program, the state deposits money at low rates in banks, which in turn can supply low-interest loans to farmers or businesses. Zweifel says it normally takes about 10 days to approve a deposit for a loan, but that can be speeded up in emergencies.