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Next Tuesday, St. Louis City voters will vote on Proposition E.  If the proposition passes, the city will retain its 1 percent earnings tax.  If the proposition fails, the tax will be phased out over the next ten years.  Supporters and critics of the earnings tax disagree on many things, including how the tax affects the economic vitality of the city and how prominently the tax figures into people’s decisions to live or work in St. Louis.  But many agree on this: no replacement for the earnings tax is in place and a transition to any combination of alternatives could prove painful.

NPR's Tamara Keith continues her year-long occasional series on unemployment, entitled "The Road Back to Work" tracking six St. Louis residents.

Here's the latest from the series:

Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter took the mound earlier today against the San Diego Padres for Opening Day of the Cardinals' season.

Chris Novak from Maryland Heights is attending his ninth-straight opening day.

Like many Redbirds fans, Novak says he's hoping the Cardinals find a way to re-sign their MVP first-baseman Albert Pujols when his contract expires at the end of the season.

Updated 3:20 p.m. with Illinois Public Radio story including more detail and comment from Rutherford.

Reporting from Illinois Public Radio's Amanda Vinicky used in this report. 

Illinois' treasurer invests the state's money. The Comptroller pays the bills. A measure approved by the Senate today would merge the two constitutional offices.

Supporters say it makes "sense" - literally and metaphorically. According to projections, the consolidation would result in a savings of $12 million.

Updated 2:43 p.m. March 31, 2011 with information that state attorney general's office will appeal the ruling.

A state judge has struck down a Missouri law that imposed new ethics and campaign finance requirements.

But the state attorney general's office said it will appeal Thursday's decision by Cole County Circuit Judge Dan Green and urged people to continue following the ethics law in the meantime.