St. Charles County Executive Vetoes Smoking Ban Proposal

St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann has blocked a countywide smoking ban proposal from going on the November 2012 ballot. Ehlmann said Tuesday that he vetoed the bill because it would have unfairly exempted casinos, cigar bars and certain hotel rooms.

The council in the St. Louis-area county voted 4-2 in favor of putting the ban on the ballot, with one opponent absent. It would take five votes to override the veto.

Federal and local officials are worried about the number of law enforcement officers killed so far this year. Yesterday, St. Louis Public Radio’s Julie Bierach looked at the scope of the problem.

Today, she explores what St. Louis area police do to stay safe on the streets and how they’re trying to build better relationships with the people they serve.

The organization that provides air conditioners to seniors and the disabled in St. Louis during summer months says it’s getting some financial help.

Cool Down St. Louis accepted $12,500 today from Hardee’s, Vatterott Educational Centers and the financial services company, Citi. Cool Down board chairwoman Melanie DiLeo says with another hot summer expected, they’ll need more help to prevent heat-related deaths in the region.

Close to 30 representatives of the animal agriculture industry are meeting in St. Louis tomorrow to discuss the challenges of feeding the world’s growing population.

The international roundtable is being hosted by St. Charles-based Novus International. Novus produces animal feed additives and nutritional supplements.

A bill to put the decision about a county-wide smoking ban on the 2012 ballot in St. Charles County was vetoed today by County Executive Steve Ehlmann, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Missouri could soon learn whether it will have to repay the federal government for accidentally inflating the state's food stamp rolls.

State officials acknowledged in December 2009 that a computer programming error led Missouri to over-report the number of food stamp participants to the federal government for six straight years. During that time, Missouri received more than $14 million in federal bonuses because of its high participation rates.

Missouri’s budget for next fiscal year includes $1.1 million more for oversight of dog breeders.

Governor Jay Nixon highlighted the funding at a press conference Tuesday at the Humane Society of Missouri in St. Louis.

The move comes after the governor helped craft a compromise bill this spring that toughened state oversight of dog breeders but scaled back some provisions of the voter-approved initiative Prop B.

Humane Society of Missouri president Kathy Warnick says the group has no regrets about the compromise.  

Arch Coal says it's completed a $14.60 per share tender offer for stock in rival International Coal Group.

The offer closed Tuesday and Arch says it expects to complete the acquisition of Scott Depot-based ICG Wednesday. Arch offered to buy ICG for $3.4 billion in May.

Arch says ICG shareholders tendered nearly 188 million shares in the offer. It intends to purchase additional shares from ICG to push its ownership stake above 90 percent, enabling the deal to close.

A former top executive at Anheuser-Busch who sued the company for gender discrimination will be able to take her case to trial.

The Missouri Court of Appeals ruled today that Francine Katz's discrimination case does not have to be settled by arbitration. 

From a summary of the ruling, prepared by the Court of Appeals: