Tagged: local control

A ballot measure that would return oversight of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department back to city officials picked up endorsements from lawmakers across Missouri today.

The 40 or so new endorsements bring the total number of legislators on board with the effort to 87. More than two-thirds of them are Republicans. (See all the elected officials who support the measure here).

A Missouri appeals court has ruled that language used to summarize a ballot proposal giving St. Louis city  control of its police department is fair.

Missouri voters will be asked in November to raise the state's tobacco tax and let St. Louis run its own police department.

Secretary of State Robin Carnahan announced Tuesday that supporters of those proposals had submitted enough signatures from voters to put the questions on the statewide ballot.

Two other initiatives failed to make the ballot. One would raise Missouri's minimum wage, while the other would place new restrictions on payday loans.

Proponents of those measures immediately said they would challenge their exclusions in court.

Tests near steam pipe rupture show no asbestos

The St. Louis city health department says tests from buildings around the site of a ruptured steam pipe have come back negative for asbestos.

The 20-inch pipe ruptured last Thursday morning, sending a plume of steam into the downtown air, along with possible asbestos.