News

St. Louis County Assessor candidate Jake Zimmerman today announced his plan to help St. Louis homeowners get fair and accurate home assessments.

Zimmerman, a Democratic state representative, says he can't control property taxes, but if elected he will work to control unfair practices like drive-by assessments. 

Reporting from Illinois Public Radio's Luke Runyon used in this report.

School officials say Illinois Governor Pat Quinn's decision to slash school transportation spending could hurt instruction, even though he wants to increase the amount the state spends per pupil.

The budget Quinn unveiled in Springfield yesterday cuts $95 million from the state school busing fund.

In the introduction to his book, The Other Wes Moore, author Wes Moore says:

This is the story of two boys living in Baltimore with similar histories and an identical name: Wes Moore.  One of us is free and has experienced things he never even knew to dream about as a kid.  The other will spend every day until his death behind bars for an armed robbery that left a police officer and father of five dead.  The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine.  The tragedy is that my story could have been his.

The costs of goods and services in the St. Louis region rose 2.5 percent between the last six months of 2009 and the last six months of 2010 - more than double the national rate over that same time.

Though the Bureau of Labor Statistics data show electricity prices going up 13.1 percent and motor fuel going up 10.1 percent, bureau economist Jacqueline Michael Midkiff says they weren't the real drivers of the increase.

St. Louis foodies, this one's for you.

Four local culinary names have been designated James Beard Award semifinalists, the St. Louis Business Journal reports.

For those of you unfamiliar with the James Beard Award, the Journal says Time magazine called it the "Oscars of the food world."