The two-person office that helped directors find locations, talent and equipment when they shot movies in Missouri is closing its doors Thursday, the victim of ongoing tight budgets.

This Sunday, June 26, is the First Annual Sustainable Backyard Tour--a free, self-guided tour from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Homes on the tour showcase renewable energy, beekeeping, composting, vegetable gardens, native plants, backyard chickens, rainwater harvesting, keeping goats, using permeable surfaces, and more.

Updated 2:47 p.m. July 5 with name finalized:

The St. Louis Zoo announced that a name has been chosen for the baby elephant, Kenzi, which won with 69,406 (53.88%) votes. Runner up June received 40,683 votes (31.58%), Zoe received 12,249 votes (9.51%) and Mya received 6,438 votes (5%). Write-ins received .03% of the vote.

Updated 10:27 a.m. June 28 with naming contest information

It's a girl: The latest addition to the St. Louis Zoo is a bouncing baby elephant.

EMS billing will be outsourced, and overtime for firefighters and jail guards has been cut under a budget approved Friday by the St. Louis Board of Aldermen.

The money the city hopes to save by outsourcing helped aldermen restore funds for bulk trash pick-up, crime prevention and building demolition.

But it was $500,000 that wasn't restored to the Affordable Housing Commission that drew the lone no vote from Alderwoman Kacie Starr Triplett.

The Missouri Department of Economic Development will use $50 million in bond money to help Joplin-area manufacturers recover from the May 22 tornado.

Gov. Jay Nixon was in Joplin Friday to announce $75 million in awards and modifications of existing programs aimed at helping business and industry in the Joplin area. Two-thirds of that funding comes from Private Activity Tax Exempt Bond capacity that has been set aside to aid the region.

Updated at 3:41 p.m. with information about pledged lawsuit from Republicans.

The Illinois Republican congressional delegation is deriding Gov. Pat Quinn's decision to approve a new map for U.S. House districts.

The 10 GOP congressmen Illinois Republican congressional delegation in the  pledged a lawsuit in a statement Friday over what they say is a "highly partisan map that tears apart communities."

A 28-year-old man is in critical condition after an exchange of gunfire with a suburban St. Louis police officer.

Meanwhile, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday that the suspect, Carlos Johnson of Ferguson, is charged with first-degree assault on a law enforcement officer. Johnson did not yet have an attorney.

MoDOT to Lengthen Time at Yellow Lights

Drivers who hurry through yellow lights will soon have a little more time to do so at roughly 2,000 traffic signals on Missouri-controlled roads and highways.

Water samples taken this week from 12 coves at the Lake of the Ozarks did not contain elevated E. Coli levels, but two Missouri beaches will remain closed because of elevated average amounts of the bacteria.

All 12 samples are from coves in the lake's upper region, from the Highway 65 bridge to the Brown Bend area 30 miles down-lake.  Renee Bungart with the Department of Natural Resources says the upper-lake testing is part of a 5-year study to examine the Lake of the Ozark's ecological health.