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AP INVESTIGATION FINDS: Roots of CoMo-Boone County property tax

AP INVESTIGATION FINDS: Roots of CoMo-Boone County property tax "scam"

Farming the system rather than the land

COLUMBIA, Mo 12/5/13 (Beat Byte) --  An Associated Press (AP) investigation from nearly a decade ago confirms what this publication has been following since 2008 :  a massive property tax discount many have called a scam that has cost area schools, libraries, road construction, and other public services over $100 million since 2004. 

Developers in Columbia and Boone County pay just a few hundred dollars in property taxes on land worth millions , while homeowners pay an ever-rising share of government expenses.    Property tax bills went out last month, and are due by December 31.   Property taxes will rise again next year, to repay another $50 million in bond debt Columbia Public Schools intends to issue. 

Lawmakers nationwide intended to preserve vanishing farmla...

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MOVE TO AMEND: Mid-Mo group seeks campaign finance reform

MOVE TO AMEND: Mid-Mo group seeks campaign finance reform

The First Amendment protects people -- not money

By Mike Diel
 
COLUMBIA, Mo 12/9/13 (Op Ed) -- Move to Amend MidMO is calling for an amendment to the US Constitution that unequivocally states inalienable rights belong to human beings only , and that money is not a form of protected free speech under the First Amendment.

Like most people, I don't have enough time to take on anything, but this seemed to touch every issue I care about.
 
Amending the Constitution is a hard thing to do -- as it should be. Move to Amend has a ten year plan. It starts off with a grass roots ground swell. Over 320,000 people have signed the petition so far . Kansas City passed a resolution calling for the amendment. Sixteen states have passed similar resolutions.
 
Move to Amend MidMO has approached the Columbia City Council abo...

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REVERSE SEGREGATION: Could Mill Creek redistricting plan create all-white public school?

REVERSE SEGREGATION: Could Mill Creek redistricting plan create all-white public school?

Moving poor and black children from an affluent  elementary


COLUMBIA, Mo 12/8/13 (Beat Byte) -- Fear of creating an all-white school on public dollars will be among issues Columbia School Board members face when they take up plans to redistrict Mill Creek elementary school .

School officials claim Mill Creek -- amidst affluent, mostly white south Columbia subdivisions -- is intolerably overcrowded, at nine students more than its 850 student capacity. 

But that argument sounds hollow to some parents, who see chronic over-crowding at other Columbia schools and worse, a deliberate attempt to remove poor and minority students from Mill Creek's rolls, a kind of reverse segregation.

The redistricting plan would create "an all-white, private school on public dollars," Mill Creek parent Becky Spicer told report...

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CoMo SAFETY COMPANY: Going

CoMo SAFETY COMPANY: Going "off the grid" with new "net zero" solar system

Saving 173 acres of forest -- and $20,000 in yearly power bills

COLUMBIA, Mo 12/7/13 (Beat Byte) -- Forty solar panels atop a sun-friendly roof have helped Columbia Safety/GME Supply to become the city's largest "net zero" electric power building ( left ).  

Designed and installed by EnergyLink , the 35,000 watt system produces as much energy as the building consumes, making it a "net zero" electric power -- and environmentally-friendly -- consumer.  

"By using solar panels to collect energy, Columbia Safety will save the equivalent of 212 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year ," said company representative Alex Giddings .  "That’s equal to 173 acres of forest saved, or 44 passenger cars removed from the roads, each year." 

With an expected 30-year life, the solar power system will not only save trees ov...

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SANTACON: Is Coming to Town

SANTACON: Is Coming to Town

"Don't be THAT Santa" 

 
COLUMBIA, Mo 12/6/13 (Beat ...
COLUMBIA'S WORST LANDLORDS: Topix site tells tenant horror stories

COLUMBIA'S WORST LANDLORDS: Topix site tells tenant horror stories

The good, the bad -- and the downright ugly  


COLUM...
CITY APPROVES: Dinner train sale to new owner

CITY APPROVES: Dinner train sale to new owner

Still no sign of an ADA-accessible dining car

COLUM...

GLASCOCK TO LEAD OLD SW TREE REMOVAL: But will trust issues create roadblocks?

GLASCOCK TO LEAD OLD SW TREE REMOVAL: But will trust issues create roadblocks?

<---  Can you trust this man with your trees?


CO...
CITY TARGETS TREES: Ax to fall on tree-lined streets in Old Southwest

CITY TARGETS TREES: Ax to fall on tree-lined streets in Old Southwest

Online inventory rates tree conditions around CoMo...
HEALTHCARE HOLY GRAIL: Mizzou researchers study ways to lower costs, improve quality

HEALTHCARE HOLY GRAIL: Mizzou researchers study ways to lower costs, improve quality

In the age of Obamacare, cost-reduction and qualit...

AN ALMETA THANKSGIVING: Sixteen years of Everybody Eats, in Crayton's own words

AN ALMETA THANKSGIVING: Sixteen years of Everybody Eats, in Crayton's own words

Nearly two decades of the famous Thanksgiving feas...

HOLIDAY MIRACLE? County Commission promises new budget transparency

HOLIDAY MIRACLE? County Commission promises new budget transparency

Presiding Commissioner wants public-friendly meeti...
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Midkiff: Speaking Truth to Power

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ARTIST OF THE MONTH: Anastasia Pottinger

Anastasia Pottinger Photography

CoMo Cam:  Holiday Parade

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CoMo Cam:  SEC boost

 

 

 

 

 

 

CoMo Cam: Startup Weekend

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CoMo Cam:  Weatherman

 

 

 

 

 

 

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