Newscast for September 13, 2012

MU Extension is implementing a new staffing model and budget structure that would give programs a more geographic focus. 

Mayors from 19 cities and towns are in St. Louis this week to launch a new initiative aimed at bringing greater attention to issues affecting the Mississippi River.

A total of 41 mayors, so far, have formally agreed to the partnership, which is set to begin lobbying congress in March of next year.

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay said mutual interests trump party politics.

Columbia has been named one of the “100 best communities for young people” by a national organization.

Updated 9/13/2012, 4:51 p.m.

A Kansas City-based labor group is seeking to block the new law allowing Missouri employers to deny health insurance coverage for birth control pills and other contraceptive procedures.

The new law took effect after the Missouri General Assembly overrode Governor Jay Nixon’s (D) veto during Wednesday’s veto session.  Attorney E.E. Keenan represents the Greater Kansas City Coalition of Labor Union Women.

Columbia Public Schools are having a difficult time finding enough part-time substitute teachers. So the School District is considering hiring full-time substitutes to help solve the problem. Columbia Public Schools’ spokesperson Michelle Baumstark explains full-time substitutes would have to fill in wherever they were assigned. Part-time substitutes don’t have to.