CBT News Review
Columbia city officials and Missouri Department of Transportation representatives will respond to public questions and comments about plans to modify Stadium Boulevard and several intersecting streets at a hearing 4 to 6:30 p.m. May 24 at the Activity and Recreation Center, 1701 W. Ash St. During the next three years, MoDOT plans to widen Stadium Boulevard to six lanes separated by a median, change the intersection of Stadium Boulevard and I-70 into a diverging diamond interchange, widen and add bicycle lanes to Fairview Road and add traffic lights at the intersections of Bernadette Drive and Hutchens Drive and Bernadette Drive and Knipp Street.
The Missouri Department of Transportation has presented a new, five-year construction program to the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission that will cut its average $1.2 billion yearly budget in half. To cope with this funding challenge, MoDOT is cutting internal costs and directing all available resources to taking care of existing roads and bridges. The commission will review public comments and the final transportation program before considering it for approval July 13. (See column on Page 9).
Columbia ranks 23rd among small-sized cities in Newgeography.com’s survey of Best Cities for Job Growth 2011. Rankings are based on recent and long-term job growth all of the metropolitan statistical areas for which the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports monthly employment data. Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, Texas, ranks No. 1 on the list of 243 cities.
The City Council on May 2 approved a continued halt in design work on the proposed Short Street parking garage. Council members are concerned about spending money on the garage design without assurance that a hotel would be built near the site by Regency Hotel redeveloper Dave Parmley, who is pursuing a DoubleTree hotel franchise. Assistant City Manager Tony St. Romaine said it’s likely that DoubleTree will be the franchise and that Parmley should know before the end of the month.
The Council authorized an $80.5 million water and light bond for water and electric system improvements. Wells Fargo won the bid with the lowest average real interest rate of about 4.38 percent, Finance Director John Blattel said. The city has 30 years to pay off the bond, and approximately $49.5 million will be used to purchase the outstanding shares of the Columbia Energy Center, which was approved by voters on April 5.
Increases in student enrollments and decreases in state and federal funding are creating a gap that the Columbia School Board addressed at its May 9 meeting. In his presentation about the future of the school district’s budget, Superintendent Chris Belcher suggested that the board attempt to develop additional revenue sources such as the property tax rather than reorganize existing programs to fit the district’s current budget. The district is growing at a rate of about 1.5 to 2 percent each year, and the state has cut or withheld $5.6 million from the district’s budget in the past two years.
Design Metals was fined $7,000 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration following the death of one of its employees who fell through the roof of the IBM Service Center building on LeMone Industrial Boulevard last May. OSHA manager Barbara Theriot told the Columbia Tribune that the subcontractor was cited for not ensuring workers weren’t having trouble with their safety harnesses during construction work.
Gov. Jay Nixon withdrew Craig Van Matre’s nomination to the University of Missouri Board of Curators. A state senator blocked the nomination, and Nixon could now appoint the Columbia attorney to the open seat after the General Assembly adjourns. Van Matre told the Tribune he had not been told whether Nixon would do so.
The May 9 issue of Forbes features a profile on Stan Kroenke. The magazine said the Columbia resident and owner of THF Realty “may very well be the biggest sports mogul in the world. Stan who? Kroenke, a 63-year-old mustached billionaire (worth $2.6 billion) is as obsessed with sports as he is with staying out of the headlines and ducking reporters.” The magazine reports that Kroenke’s latest purchase is a controlling stake in England’s legendary Arsenal soccer team.
The North Village Arts District plans to hold a farmers market each Sunday beginning in late June, reports the Missourian. The market will feature works from area artists in addition to locally grown fruits and vegetables. Pending City Council approval, the market will be located in the parking lot of the city-owned Wabash Station on 10th Street and will run through November.
Columbia Regional Airport has a brief survey that will help it plan for future additional air service in mid-Missouri. The online survey is available until May 27 at www.surveymonkey.com/s/QHCG9FN.
Ten of the state’s public universities announced they have initiated an eight-week feasibility study to determine the projected benefits of participating in a statewide strategic procurement shared services program led by the University of Missouri System. The program would leverage the contracts the UM System already has in place to other institutions that result in supply and processing cost efficiencies that could ultimately result in significant cost savings.
The Missouri Catholic Conference has met with representatives of the life science industry and lawmakers to develop an alternative way for the General Assembly to move forward with the funding of life science research projects while ensuring that any such funding respects the interests of pro-life citizens of Missouri. The conference’s proposed addition to the Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act would require the Missouri Technology Corporation to annually report to the Missouri General Assembly whether any funds distributed by the MTC are funding embryonic stem cell research or somatic cell nuclear transfer (human cloning).
The Missouri Department of Transportation has presented a new, five-year construction program to the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission that will cut its average $1.2 billion yearly budget in half. To cope with this funding challenge, MoDOT is cutting internal costs and directing all available resources to taking care of existing roads and bridges. The commission will review public comments and the final transportation program before considering it for approval July 13. (See column on Page 9).
Columbia ranks 23rd among small-sized cities in Newgeography.com’s survey of Best Cities for Job Growth 2011. Rankings are based on recent and long-term job growth all of the metropolitan statistical areas for which the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports monthly employment data. Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, Texas, ranks No. 1 on the list of 243 cities.
The City Council on May 2 approved a continued halt in design work on the proposed Short Street parking garage. Council members are concerned about spending money on the garage design without assurance that a hotel would be built near the site by Regency Hotel redeveloper Dave Parmley, who is pursuing a DoubleTree hotel franchise. Assistant City Manager Tony St. Romaine said it’s likely that DoubleTree will be the franchise and that Parmley should know before the end of the month.
The Council authorized an $80.5 million water and light bond for water and electric system improvements. Wells Fargo won the bid with the lowest average real interest rate of about 4.38 percent, Finance Director John Blattel said. The city has 30 years to pay off the bond, and approximately $49.5 million will be used to purchase the outstanding shares of the Columbia Energy Center, which was approved by voters on April 5.
Increases in student enrollments and decreases in state and federal funding are creating a gap that the Columbia School Board addressed at its May 9 meeting. In his presentation about the future of the school district’s budget, Superintendent Chris Belcher suggested that the board attempt to develop additional revenue sources such as the property tax rather than reorganize existing programs to fit the district’s current budget. The district is growing at a rate of about 1.5 to 2 percent each year, and the state has cut or withheld $5.6 million from the district’s budget in the past two years.
Design Metals was fined $7,000 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration following the death of one of its employees who fell through the roof of the IBM Service Center building on LeMone Industrial Boulevard last May. OSHA manager Barbara Theriot told the Columbia Tribune that the subcontractor was cited for not ensuring workers weren’t having trouble with their safety harnesses during construction work.
Gov. Jay Nixon withdrew Craig Van Matre’s nomination to the University of Missouri Board of Curators. A state senator blocked the nomination, and Nixon could now appoint the Columbia attorney to the open seat after the General Assembly adjourns. Van Matre told the Tribune he had not been told whether Nixon would do so.
The May 9 issue of Forbes features a profile on Stan Kroenke. The magazine said the Columbia resident and owner of THF Realty “may very well be the biggest sports mogul in the world. Stan who? Kroenke, a 63-year-old mustached billionaire (worth $2.6 billion) is as obsessed with sports as he is with staying out of the headlines and ducking reporters.” The magazine reports that Kroenke’s latest purchase is a controlling stake in England’s legendary Arsenal soccer team.
The North Village Arts District plans to hold a farmers market each Sunday beginning in late June, reports the Missourian. The market will feature works from area artists in addition to locally grown fruits and vegetables. Pending City Council approval, the market will be located in the parking lot of the city-owned Wabash Station on 10th Street and will run through November.
Columbia Regional Airport has a brief survey that will help it plan for future additional air service in mid-Missouri. The online survey is available until May 27 at www.surveymonkey.com/s/QHCG9FN.
Ten of the state’s public universities announced they have initiated an eight-week feasibility study to determine the projected benefits of participating in a statewide strategic procurement shared services program led by the University of Missouri System. The program would leverage the contracts the UM System already has in place to other institutions that result in supply and processing cost efficiencies that could ultimately result in significant cost savings.
The Missouri Catholic Conference has met with representatives of the life science industry and lawmakers to develop an alternative way for the General Assembly to move forward with the funding of life science research projects while ensuring that any such funding respects the interests of pro-life citizens of Missouri. The conference’s proposed addition to the Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act would require the Missouri Technology Corporation to annually report to the Missouri General Assembly whether any funds distributed by the MTC are funding embryonic stem cell research or somatic cell nuclear transfer (human cloning).