Tina Eaton

The St. Louis City Board of Election Commissioners held a press conference today to remind voters of important dates and changes in the voting process.

The board is preparing for a special election next week to replace Alderman Gregory Carter, who was killed in a traffic accident Aug. 1. Carter served the 27th ward for 19 years.

The election to find an alderman will take place Oct. 16. Officials couldn’t wait until the Nov. 6 general election because of a rule in the city charter that requires a vote be taken if a seat is vacated over 180 days before the next election.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today clean-up methods it will take on a former mining site in Madison County.

The Madison County Mines Superfund site is part of the Old Lead Belt, where the mining of heavy metals began in the 1700s. The nearly 500-square-mile area is contaminated by lead, a highly-toxic metal that can wreak havoc on organs and tissues in the human body.

State agencies work together to restore trees

The Missouri Department of Transportation plans to buy 250,000 seedlings from a Conservation Department nursery to replace thousands of trees knocked down during highway projects. Conservation officials will then distribute the trees to youth groups and schools for planting.

This is the sixth year of Missouri's Trees for Tomorrow program. Officials say more than 2.5 million trees of roughly 60 varieties have been provided since the program started in 2007.

A collaborative effort among the administration, parents, and teachers of the St. Louis Public Schools toward regaining accreditation earned praise on Tuesday from the president of the a national teachers union.

Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, made St. Louis a stop on her national back-to-school tour. The St. Louis teachers are represented by an AFT local.

Proposed amendment to appear on November ballot

A Missouri appeals court panel has upheld the ballot summary for a proposed constitutional amendment that would change the process for selecting appellate judges.

In its ruling Monday, a three-judge panel of the Western District Court of Appeals certified the summary that voters will see on the November ballot.