Julie Bierach

• According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, tax collectors' offices in St. Louis city and St. Louis and St. Charles counties will be closed Dec. 31, making Dec. 30 the last day that residents of those jurisdictions can pay their property taxes for 2010 without paying a penalty. St. Louis and St. Charles counties are taking Dec. 31 off in observance of the holiday. In St. Louis, Dec. 31 is a city government furlough day. Taxpayers can mail payment or pay them online. Payments must be postmarked any time on Dec. 31 to meet the deadline. The collector's office in Jefferson county will be open.
• A medical helicopter crashed landed shortly after takeoff in western Missouri Sunday morning. Three members of the flight crew were injured. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said the Staff for Life helicopter had just taken off from a helipad in La Monte on Sunday morning to respond to a call when it came down at the landing zone, crashing onto the helipad located about ten miles west of Sedalia. The owner of American Paramedical Services, Inc., said the three injured were the pilot, a flight nurse and a paramedic. No patients on board at the time. The Sedalia Democrat reported that all three were in fair condition Sunday at an area hospital. The crash is under investigation.
• Illinois Governor Pat Quinn is encouraging Illinois residents to donate their frequent flyer miles to members of the military. Quinn says the Operation Hero Miles program lets military families visit wounded service members recovering in hospitals around the world. The governor says the program is "especially important" during the holidays. The program also provides airplane tickets to service members so they can travel home on medical leave. The governor's office says the program has provided more than 20,000 donated tickets worth $27 million.

Pharmaceutical giant Express Scripts announced today that it will invest $73 million to expand its St. Louis headquarters. The construction of the company's fourth building in the area is expected to create 150 new jobs.

• St. Louis county will begin it's anti-smoking campaign next week, just as the the countywide smoking ban is about to take effect Jan. 2. The Post-Dispatch says in March the county was awarded a $7.6 million federal stimulus grant to fight smoking. The county's first effort will be a 15 month, $2 million media campaign urging people to stop smoking and to explain the ins and outs of the forthcoming ban. Dr. Delores Gunn, director of the St. Louis County health department says that until now, Missouri has been 48th in the nation on spending for smoking prevention and cessation programs.

"We spend $400 million a year in Medicaid in Missouri to treat illnesses related to smoking and secondhand smoke." -Dr. Delores Gunn in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

• Express Scripts is planning to announce today that it will build a third office building at its headquarters complex in north St. Louis county. The company says the project will increase its economic impact in the region, which was more than $986 million in 2010. Express Scripts says it will also release an independent academic study on its economic impact in Missouri.
• The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that nearly $190 dollars in safeguards have been installed at the Lincoln County jail. This after two federal prisoners escaped last month. Among the new safeguards is a new camera system. The Sheriff's department hopes the changes will allow them to resume housing federal prisoners. John Wesley Jones, a suspect in the multimillion-dollar ATM Solutions robbery in St. Louis, and Corey Durand Cross escaped through a drop ceiling. They were recaptured within days of the jail break.

• If you thought your neighborhood was like a skating rink this morning, you certainly were not alone. Freezing rain coated the St. Louis area with a nasty glaze of ice, causing trouble on the roads. It was worse in rural areas and the Missouri Department of Transportation continues to treat streets with salt, and, believe it or not, beet juice.
• Sheriff's deputies in St. Clair county got some bad news on Tuesday - 13 of the 46 deputies will be losing their jobs effective Jan. 15. The Belleville News-Democrat reports that this comes after the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police union rejected a proposal by the county to increase their wages by 1 percent, a margin deemed too small by the union compared to similar-sized departments in Illinois, including Madison County the paper reports. Also in St. Clair county,  the East St. Louis city council is scheduled to vote on Friday on a proposal to layoff 26 city employees, including 19 police officers effective Jan. 1.  Laying off 19 police officers means that the police department will be left with 43 police officers -- the department had more than 70 officers just a few years ago. With a reduced force it will be tougher to police an area that, so far, has seen 25 homicides this year.
• The U.S. Senate is debating President Obama's top foreign policy priority, a U.S.-Russia nuclear arms treaty. Democrats prevailed in a test vote Wednesday after Republicans threatened to delay work on the pact, known as the START treaty. Missouri Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill emphasized that the treaty with Russia is vital for the success of American troops fighting in Afghanistan:

"It is a very important treaty for our troops in Afghanistan because the supply lines for our troops in Afghanistan go through Russia and our relationship with Russia is very, very important, especially as you look at our plans on missile defense." - Claire McCaskill

The City of St. Louis and Stray Rescue are taking additional measures to encourage responsible pet ownership in the City of St. Louis.

This week, the City's Animal Control Officers will begin issuing tickets for fines from $100 to $500 for those who violate city animal laws and ordinances. The City will also enforce animal abuse violations, including illegal chaining and dogfighting.