Tim Lloyd

Members of the barge shipping industry are on Capitol Hill today, asking Congress to raise the taxes they pay for fuel.  

Shippers support a plan that would increase the fuel tax they pay from 20 cents per-gallon to 29 cents per-gallon of diesel fuel. The extra money would be used to fund improvements to locks and dams, some of which are more than 70 years old.

During its annual update to the public, the CityArchRiver foundation and its partners said they’re on track to complete improvements to the Gateway Arch grounds by 2015.

Ed Hassinger, district engineer for The Missouri Department of Transportation, confirmed that work toward a pedestrian bridge connecting downtown to the Arch is starting this summer.

CityArchRiver Chairman Walter Metcalfe said the bridge, along with a slew of other upgrades, could result in keeping visitors an extra half day.  

The St. Louis County Police Department hosted a community meeting in Jennings tonight that was geared toward helping curb a rash of deadly domestic violence.

Police say over the past five months, the small north St. Louis County municipality of around 15,000 people has seen four homicides tied to violence in the home. 

Superintendent of the Jennings School District, Tiffany Anderson, says the attacks have sent ripples through her classrooms.  With that in mind, she says schools are uniquely positioned to be part of the solution.

This evening the East-West Gateway Council of Governments will host the beginning of a series of community meetings to gather feedback on plans to spur development near MetroLink Stops.

Britt Palmberg is with the consulting group that put a study on the issue, which focused on five stations.

He says the hope is to develop a framework that local stakeholders can use to kick start economic development.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is unsure whether there are enough Democratic votes to pass a bipartisan plan to expand background checks before guns sales.  The Senate Majority Whip said he has yet to conduct a count. 

But as a guest on Fox News Sunday, he said moving the plan through the Senate would be a step in the right direction.