News

By AP/KWMU

St. Louis, MO – Two suspects are in custody after a lengthy standoff at a check-cashing business on the south side of St. Louis. Names of the men have not been released. They were taken into custody at around
2 pm.

By B. Raack, KWMU

St. Louis, MO – The Environmental Protection Agency says St. Louis' air quality has improved to the point that the region may be able to federal standards.

The agency is proposing that St. Louis be designated an air quality attainment area for the first time since 1978. EPA spokesman Tony Petruska says the proposal is based on ozone data from 2000, 2001 and 2002.

By AP/KWMU

Jefferson City, MO – An ongoing drought has cost Missouri's economy nearly $500 million in the past year.

State officials say western and northwestern Missouri are in extreme stages of drought; conditions that could soon hit the rest of the state.

Analysts with the Department of Natural Resources say the extreme dry conditions appear to be spreading eastward. Forty-one counties are under either a drought advisory or alert. Another 32 counties are in the conservation phase.

By Tom Weber, KWMU

St. Louis, MO – The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra has cancelled a February 16th concert that was to feature the orchestra's Music Advisor Itzhak Perlman as conductor.

The orchestra says Perlman is going to have rotator cuff surgery just before that and he'll be unable to play or conduct for a few weeks in February.

A second concert with Perlman in April is still on the schedule.

By Bill Raack, KWMU

St. Louis, MO – Telecommunications firm AT&T says it will lay off more than one hundred workers from its call center in downtown St. Louis.

A spokesman for AT&T says the layoffs are due to automation and other technical improvements that reduce the need for manual labor.

Kerry Hibbs says the cutbacks are part of an overall restructuring that will result in about 3,500 employees nationwide losing their jobs. Following the layoffs, AT&T says that 500 workers will remain at the downtown St. Louis location.