Government

Kansas City, MO – It's been 20 years since Jackson County residents first passed the Community Based Anti-Drug Tax to fund drug enforcement, treatment and prevention. The sales tax was an unusual response to the crack epidemic and high homicide rate of the late 1980s. Since that time, drug use and violent crime have decreased and come back up again, leaving some voters wondering if Combat has made a difference. The quarter-cent sales tax is up for a renewal in a special election on Tuesday.

Kansas City, MO – Kansas City Aviation Director Mark VanLoh gave the city council a report on American Airlines' planned closing of its overhaul base at KCI yesterday.

VanLoh said there are no immediately pressing environmental clean-up issues, and that the airline assured city officials it will continue to pay its rent and environmental monitoring costs.

Kansas City, MO – Kansas' governor Mark Parkinson said Wednesday that he's prepared to make additional spending cuts this year to keep the state's budget balanced, and key legislators predicted he'll be forced to further trim aid to public schools.

Parkinson wouldn't speculate during a news conference about what steps he'll take to close any projected deficit for the fiscal year that began July 1. But he said he won't leave the job of closing a shortfall to legislators when they reconvene in January.

Kansas City, Mo – Kansas City's Finance and Audit Committee got a wake up call yesterday, in the form of the latest revenue and expense figures. For one thing, revenue may be starting to lag behind projections by several million dollars. But there was more.

Jefferson City, MO – Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has announced more cuts to the state budget, due to the ongoing decline in state revenues.

Nixon is slashing nearly $204 million out the current budget. He's eliminating nearly 700 state jobs, most of them part-time, and shrinking numerous programs within state agencies.

The governor says the cuts don't include reductions to education funding, scholarships, or to crucial public safety needs.

Kansas City, MO – Missouri Governor Jay Nixon announced an additional $204 million dollars in spending cuts on Wednesday due to declining state revenue. The cuts in the fiscal 2010 state budget include $4.4 million from the Missouri Arts Council and $2.2 million from its cultural partners, including public broadcasting.