Tim Lloyd

Republican and Democratic candidates running for statewide office in Missouri are making one last push toward election day. 

Many of the down-ballot Republican candidates gathered this morning to thank and encourage volunteers who’ve been calling and knocking on doors.

Republican Candidate for Attorney General, Ed Martin, said Presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s substantial lead in Missouri is a good sign for state-wide GOP candidates.

Activists say it’s a tricky maneuver.

Groups including the ACLU and NAACP have long supported local control of police.  But Chair of the Organization for Black Struggle, Montague Simmons, says Proposition A would undercut transparency and citizen oversight.

“The banner head that they’re using for local control, we built credibility for,” Simmons says.  “People understand it and they identify directly with citizen review.  They identify it with accountability and transparency.  Absent that, people will be buying in to something they can’t live with.”

Local activist groups say they’re planning several protests this week against Peabody Energy.

This morning activists hung a banner on a Peabody Energy and United Way billboard that read, “Dirty Coal = Dirty Money.”   

Later in the day, activists joined student groups to protest at Washington University, saying the school had too cozy of a relationship with Peabody.  In a statement, Washington University says it respects students’ right to express their opinions.   

St. Louis County started construction on a new crime lab this afternoon and police say the facility will speed up processing time.

Department spokesman, Randy Vaughn, says the extra space will also give them the room they need for additional technicians to help take on a backlog of evidence.  

“This is also going to allow a separation of all the different types of forensics, chemistry, biology, our evidence custodians, our firearm custodians,” Vaughn says.  “That is going to make a vast difference in making sure we don’t have any type of contamination issues.”