St. Louis Public Radio

Thank you for joining us for the live broadcast of the President's remarks.

President Obama addressed the nation this afternoon regarding the current economic situation. You can review a live-blog of the President's speech via NPR's "The Two-Way."

Gov. Jay Nixon says he is not including the expansion of a tax credit for assembling and maintaining large swaths of land in his planned call for a special legislative session.

Nixon and lawmakers have been working on an agreement for an economic development package. One part of the lawmakers' proposal would remove the time limit for the tax credit program while offering fewer credits annually.

The tax credits are being used by a developer, Paul McKee, who has promised a multi-billion dollar makeover for north St. Louis.

The U.S. set a record for the most tornadoes in one month in April.

The final report for the month shows 753 twisters across the country, including a super outbreak on April 25-28 that killed more than 300 people in the South and Midwest. The tornado that roared through the St. Louis area on April 22 was part of that outbreak.

The tornado total is down from the preliminary count of 875 that generated widespread publicity. But the federal Storm Prediction Center says it still tops the former monthly record of 543 tornadoes in May 2003.

In March, the Missouri Supreme Court heard a case regarding the constitutionality of a state tax credit which, as we stated then, enabled St. Louis developer Paul McKee to buy up several tracts of land on the city’s north side.

At that time, McKee had received $28 million in tax credits for his NorthSide project and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay signed off on the project in February.

Today, the Missouri Supreme Court said that the tax credit is, indeed, constitutional.

When the case was heard in March, attorney Irene Smith, who represents plaintiffs and North St. Louis residents Barbara Manzara and Keith Marquard,  said that the tax credit violates the state constitution by giving state tax dollars to private business interests.

The Supreme Court cited a couple different reasons for their decision.

President Obama spoke this morning regarding the status of the debt ceiling negotiations.

In case you missed his remarks or would like to review them, see this live-blog of the news conference via NPR's "The Two-Way."