News

A proposed enhanced enterprise zone in Columbia has generated a lot of discussion for the last few months. Concerns about the designation of blight required for the EEZ have been widely discussed in the news and at city council meetings. On Monday, Columbia City Council voted to throw out the original proposal and possibly start the process over.  In part 1 of her 3 part series on the EEZ program, KBIA’s Sarah Redohl explores whether Columbia is different from other EEZs.

Sen. Claire McCaskill has extra security in place following a comment at a Tea Party rally last week.

A suspected bank robber who was shot following a chase in Columbia confessed to police that he robbed another bank last month.

A final vote awaits on a bill that would include solidifying funding for veteran's homes. Up to $30 million would be shifted within a casino entrance fee fund from early childhood education and put forward to veterans homes. While this awaits a vote in the Senate, one Missouri veteran is on a hunger strike.

The Missouri House and Senate are still at an impasse over next year’s state budget.  The Senate has made no progress on persuading Republican Jason Crowell of Cape Girardeau to stop blocking legislation to fund veterans’ homes.

Rumors swept the Missouri Capitol that the bust of conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh was being delivered Tuesday, along with the bust of former slave Dred Scott.  House Speaker Steven Tilley recently announced that both would be inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians this year.  The sculptor, E. Spencer Schubert, made a post to his website Tuesday indicating he was transporting both busts to the Capitol – but the post was later altered to remove the reference to Limbaugh.

A disagreement over $2 million for a university is contributing to a stalemate on Missouri's $24 billion budget plan.

Republican House Speaker Steven Tilley wants to add the money for his alma mater, Southeast Missouri State University. The Cape Girardeau school has the second lowest funding-to-student ratio among Missouri's public universities.

 Springfield Mayor Jim O'Neal is leaving the job, effective immediately.

O'Neal announced his resignation Monday after a city council meeting. He said business and family pressures had prevented him from concentrating on his duties as mayor. O'Neal owns O & S Trucking.

O'Neal was elected in 2009 and re-elected in April 2011.

Mayor Pro Tem Bob Stephens is taking over.

The council also will begin the process of electing a new mayor pro tem and appointing someone to fill the rest of Stephens' term as council member.

Extra security is in place for Sen. Claire McCaskill following a comment at a Tea Party rally last week.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/J0UzbR ) reports that St. Louis area activist Scott Boston told a Tea Party gathering in Springfield, Mo., on Thursday, "We have to get Claire McCaskill out. We have to kill the Claire Bear ladies and gentlemen."

The City Council passed Resolution 20-12A to declare some parts of Columbia as “blighted” in February. While the blight decree caused a large amount of backlash from Columbia residents, it was the legality of the resolution that caught the council’s attention.