Jamilah Nasheed

Over the next several months, the city of St. Louis will spend $276,000 to tear down 26 vacant, crumbling buildings in the Vandeventer neighborhood. 

"We have two goals," said Mayor Francis Slay as he stood Monday at the first two demolition sites in the 4300 block of Evans Ave. "First, we want to reduce crime and improve the quality of life for the people and families who live here. Second, we want to prepare the neighborhood for new private sector development."

A long-simmering feud between Gov. Jay Nixon and some black politicians, going back to his days as Missouri’s attorney general, flared up again in Jefferson City this week, fanned by the debate over school transfer legislation.

But not all African-American officials are taking sides against the governor. Some, especially in the state House, are urging Nixon to veto the student transfer bill, because they consider its changes in the transfer law harmful to black students.

The Missouri Senate has passed the final version of legislation designed to ease the burden of the state's school transfer law. It includes a provision that would end free transportation for transfer students -- a provision that would make it harder for students from failing schools to actually attend other districts.

President Barack Obama sent a message during his State of the Union address to every mayor, governor and state legislator who want to increase the minimum wage: Don't wait on Congress, Americans will support more local government initiatives.

The Missouri Senate has stripped an amendment from the gun-control nullification bill that would have required an individual to report a stolen gun within 72 hours.

The National Rifle Association is taking some heat from two Missouri state senators over legislation to nullify federal gun control laws within the state.

(Updated 11:45 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 22)

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder’s office in the Missouri Capitol is just around the corner from the official quarters of Gov. Jay Nixon.

But they might just as well be in different universes.

At least that’s the view of Kinder, a Republican, who on Wednesday vented about his long-standing lack of communication with Nixon, a Democrat.  Kinder believes their non-relationship has had a negative impact on public policy.

(Updated 4:16 p.m. Friday, Jan. 10)

Missouri state Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis,  has unexpectedly resigned as chairman of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus after touching off some political discord  when she appeared at a recent news conference with Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a Republican.

State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, chair of the Missouri General Assembly’s Black Caucus, is threatening to block Senate action on several of Gov. Jay Nixon’s key appointments because of the governor’s action to delay state tax breaks for several low-income housing projects.

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a Republican, joined Nasheed and several St. Louis officials at a news conference Monday to attack the governor’s participation in a deal to defuse Republican filibuster threats during the recent special legislative session in which tax breaks were approved for Boeing Co.

The Missouri Legislative Black Caucus is seeking a meeting with Gov. Jay Nixon because of the group’s ire over an apparent deal to trim the state’s low-income tax credits that the governor struck in order to win General Assembly approval of a proposed tax-credit package to entice Boeing.

State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, made public late Tuesday a copy of a letter that she sent to Nixon on behalf of the caucus.

A Missouri Senate interim committee examining the state's Medicaid system voted this afternoon to adopt a draft report that recommends using managed care companies to provide health coverage to more of Missouri's working poor.

The report also deliberately excludes recommendations to expand Medicaid.  State Senator and committee chair Gary Romine (R, Farmington) maintained that Medicaid must be reformed first.

The push for a special gun court in St. Louis is likely on its way to Jefferson City.

Law enforcement, prosecutors, and politicians attending the Urban Crime Summit in St. Louis Thursday said they will not let the plan die.

City judges voted Monday 16-11 against adopting an Armed Offender Docket in St. Louis.

But the message during the Urban Crime Summit was clear, judges should either get on board or they can expect a law will be passed requiring them to do so.

A joint Missouri House/Senate committee heard testimony Tuesday on whether the state's teacher tenure system is working.

Among those testifying was Mark Van Zandt, General Counsel for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).  He says tenured teachers can be held accountable under the current system.

A mixture of sadness, resolve and, at times, anger permeated through a non-violent crowd that spilled from the steps in front of the St. Louis Justice Center into Tucker Ave. in front of City Hall.

The mood at the rally held in downtown St. Louis on Sunday night echoed through similar events in cities and towns across America, as people gathered to voice their disappointment over the acquittal of George Zimmerman for all charges in the shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: Tamika Brison had a gut feeling that she wouldn’t be happy with the trial of George Zimmerman, the man who touched off a nationwide controversy when he was put on trial for the death of Trayvon Martin.