Kelsey Proud

The U.S. Small Business Administration announced today the availability of low-interest federal disaster loans to victims of the 2010-2011 New Year's Eve tornadoes.

According to an SBA release, the Administration acted under its own authority to declare a disaster following the denial on Jan. 26 of the state’s request for a major disaster declaration.

New Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich plans to rate the entities he audits on a scale of excellent to poor.

Schweich said Friday his grading scale is intended to provide an evaluation that's easy to understand both for the general public and the agency being audited. He hopes the new system will provide some context about the severity of problems that get pointed out in audits.

The best rating will be excellent, followed by good, fair and poor.

He plans to start using the rating scale for audits released in February.

Updated at 3:08 p.m. Jan. 28, 2011 with comment from Erdman and Krawitz.

Reporting from KBIA's Courtney Flatt also used in this report.

Krawitz says 20 percent of the revenue generated form the tuition increase will be put into financial aid.

Tuition at the four University of Missouri campuses will increase for the first time in two years after a vote by the systems' Board of Curators.

St. Louis police are investigating the death of a former St. Louis city prosecutor who was shot at her home.

Jessa Schauman died Thursday, a day after police were called to a home she shared with a former St. Louis police officer. She had been shot in the head. Police say that the initial call indicated a suicide attempt, but a preliminary investigation led officers to classify the death as suspicious.

A Missouri Senate panel has given its approval to a bill changing the state law for dog breeders.

The Senate agriculture committee endorsed legislation Thursday that would modify a ballot measure, known as "Prop. B," approved by voters in November.

The bill would delete the limit of 50 dogs per breeder and give licensed breeders up to 180 days to correct serious violations before they face criminal charges.