This week: why Boone County leaders are asking for a 3/8 cent sales tax in April. Plus, economists and business owners in Mid-Missouri react to President Barack Obama’s goal of increasing the national minimum wage to 9 dollars an hour.
9-1-1 dispatch centers are facing new challenges to answer calls quickly. This story is happening all over the country: Calls to dispatch centers have skyrocketed now that cell phone usage is common. And in Boone County, Missouri it’s no different. Here, the time it takes to answer a call is falling short of national goals. The same amount of staff and the same technology is being called on for rescue operations in a vastly different world. KBIA’s Meredith Turk tells us, that’s why Boone County leaders are asking voters to approve a sales tax in April to pay for upgrades to the 9-1-1 facilities and staffing.
The minimum wage in Missouri increased 10 cents to $7.35 cents to start the New Year. In the State of the Union address last week, President Barack Obama said he wants to raise the minimum wage to $9 an hour. KBIA’s Tony Nochim looks at what that could mean for local businesses in Columbia.