News

Columbia voters passed the school bond issue by a margin of 23 percent. This means a twelve cent increase on every 100 dollars a Columbia resident pays in property taxes. School board member Jonathan Sessions says this bond will go towards building a new elementary school and eliminating trailers at the elementary level. School board members attribute the success of the bond issue to the board’s communication with voters.

Columbians elected Michael Trapp as the next Second Ward Councilman. Trapp led with 44 percent of the votes against candidates Bill Pauls and Mike Atkinson who came in second and third respectively.

Supporters of Barbara Hoppe congratulated her for her victory in the 6th ward council race at her watch party in downtown Columbia. After hearing the final results, Hoppe said her victory shows what kind of campaign the citizens want.

Supporters of Barbara Hoppe congratulated her for her victory in the 6th ward council race at her watch party in downtown Columbia. After hearing the final results, Hoppe said her victory shows what kind of campaign the citizens want.

Michael Trapp has won the Second Ward seat on the Columbia City Council, taking 44 percent of the vote to Bill Pauls' 36 percent and Mike Atkinson's 20 percent.

Governor Jay Nixon will travel to Brazil this month on a trade mission. The trip comes on the heels of the news that Missouri saw its strongest year ever for exports in 2011.  The governor will travel with a delegation of business leaders hoping to expand their exports to the South American nation. According to the governor’s office, several Missouri businesses are expected to negotiate contracts with Brazilian customers during the trip.

Novinger, a small town west of Kirksville, is voting Tuesday on a proposition that would implement the town’s first ever sales tax. The proposed tax is a 1% sales tax and is estimated to raise between $10,000 and $15,000 annually.

The President of the United States may not be on the ballot, but there is still an important election in Columbia Tuesday. Voters in Columbia’s second and sixth wards will be electing new City Council members, while the rest of the city will vote on two new school board members and new tax levies. Columbia resident David Harrison said he'll stick to voting on the issues.

“The school bond issues, my ward is not even in the elections this time. I am mostly just voting for the school bonds and the levies,” Harrison said.

Missouri is fertile ground for payday lenders. With some of the loosest regulations in the nation, we are among the states with the most payday lending stores per capita. In this Health & Wealth report, the payday lending industry in Missouri fights for its life, as activists aim for the November ballot to try to rein in these lenders they say trap the working poor in a cycle of debt.