Business

Dozens of Ste. Genevieve County residents met last night (Tuesday) with the company applying to open up a sand mine in their neighborhood. Locals fired questions at Mark Rust, owner of Summit Proppants, for four hours about health concerns, traffic safety and property values.

Dozens of Ste. Genevieve County residents met Tuesday night with the company applying to open up a sand mine in their neighborhood. Locals fired questions at Mark Rust, owner of Summit Proppants, for four hours about the mine’s potential impact on the community.

The biggest points of contention between locals and the company included regulation on air and water quality, the 50 semis traveling in and out of the facility daily, the possible decrease in property value and a guarantee that the company would only operate during the day.

The City of Columbia announced today that no money will come out of the Air Service Revenue Guarantee fund for the month of April. This is the second month in a row which American Airlines did not require a payment from the fund.

With a new farm bill, farmers may have access to fewer dollars for conservation. For 27 years, the popular Conservation Reserve Program has transformed small parcels of land, contributing to cleaner water, more habitat for migrating birds and less soil erosion. But as Harvest Public Media’s Amy Mayer reports from Iowa, the program has been enrolling fewer acres in recent years and it’s not just budget cuts that could make it smaller still.

At a city hall meeting last night, a St. Louis company looking to set up a new housing complex in downtown Columbia addressed several issues it’s facing regarding the construction plans.