Sherman A1
Sherman A1's JournalSt. Louis-based Energizer cutting 1,500 employees in attempt to save $200 million
ST. LOUIS (KMOV / AP) -- Energizer plans to cut roughly 10 percent of its workforce as part of a cost-cutting overhaul.
The St. Louis-based company said Thursday that it expects to shed about 1,500 employees. When finished, the restructuring should lead to $200 million in pretax yearly savings, Energizer said. It aims to have most of its restructuring steps finished by the end of September 2014.
The news, released along with the company’s quarterly results after the close of regular trading, helped send Energizer’s stock up nearly 6 percent in after-hours trading.
“These actions represent significant and necessary changes to our overall cost structure and organization,” said Ward Klein, chief executive, according to a statement.
http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Energizer-cutting-around-1500-employees-in-attempt-to-save-200-million-178007511.html
Claire McCaskill won with more than just Todd Akin's comments
ST. LOUIS ?•? On the cusp of a body-blow election loss eight years ago, Claire McCaskill knew exactly what had happened. The Rolla, Mo., native believed she had forgotten her rural roots, focusing her campaign too heavily on St. Louis and Kansas City. Missouri responded that year by electing Republican Matt Blunt as governor instead of her.
McCaskill’s landslide re-election to the U.S. Senate Tuesday came in part from a “rural strategy,” employed from within a roving campaign RV dubbed “Big Blue,” cruising through places such as Rolla, Ozark and Bolivar.
Wresting large swaths of rural Missouri from Republican Todd Akin was part of McCaskill’s path to victory, that and aggressively pushing her centrist record. And her strategy of honing specific issues to specific constituencies — Social Security for seniors, college loans for students, the minimum wage for union workers.
Her margin of victory was partly due to a Libertarian candidate who performed better than expected, at Akin’s expense. It was partly just a good year for Democrats. And McCaskill had the advantage of being a well-financed incumbent.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/cda943da-a942-5b1b-8f31-94f1dd1ea963.html
UFCW Calls for Strike at Raley’s
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Two Northern California locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union have launched a strike against Raley’s Supermarkets here, citing management’s decision last week to unilaterally implement a new contract.
Raley’s said on the first day of the strike nearly half of its union employees were crossing picket lines and coming to work.
It also said it was keeping its stores open and operating “while getting product to the stores.”
Two days’ worth of negotiations between the union and the chain — in the presence of a federal mediator, Greg Lim — broke down over the weekend, prompting UFCW Local 5 and Local 8-Golden State to call for a strike at midnight Nov. 4 at Raley’s and its Nob Hill subsidiary.
The union said the strike has the support of the UFCW International and a variety of other unions.
The main issues in the dispute, according to the union, are “Raley’s insistence to diminish workers’ ability to provide their families with health care; the refusal to fund retiree medical benefits; and the demand that workers give up their right to Sunday and premium pay.
Read More: http://supermarketnews.com/top-75-retailers-amp-wholesalers/ufcw-calls-strike-raley-s#ixzz2Bch38RkZ
St. Louis County voters approving tax hikes for library and special school district
ST. LOUIS COUNTY?•?Tax increases for the county library system and the Special School District passed easily Tuesday.
The 6-cent library tax levy increase will fund $108 million of construction and renovation of the library system. The school district’s 19-cent hike will increase salaries for teachers and staff, expand services and pay for construction and updated technology. Simple majorities were required for passage of both referendums.
Library director Charles Pace said assembling a broad spectrum of support made the difference.
“What put us over the top, I think, was that we were successful in putting together a coalition of business, labor, educational and cultural organizations,” Pace said.
He said work would begin next fall with the demolition and replacement of the Tesson Ferry branch in south St. Louis County.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/st-louis-county-voters-approving-tax-hikes-for-library-and/article_fae169c2-60f5-5a1e-ac58-9e498f67d32b.html
Missouri voters pass Prop E blocking the establishment of online health insurance eschange
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri voters have passed a ballot measure limiting the governor’s ability to implement part of President Barack Obama’s health care law.
Voters approved a law Tuesday prohibiting the governor or his administration from taking any steps toward establishing an online health insurance exchange unless specifically authorized to do so by a state law or vote of the people.
http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Missouri-voters-pass-Prop-E-177600621.html
Some helpful Missouri Voting Links
http://beyondnovember.org/BeyondNovember.org is:
A collaboration of trusted public media organizations: Nine Network of Public Media, the St. Louis Beacon and St. Louis Public Radio.
A resource that shines a light on politics and public policy issues that matter to voters in our region.
A platform to engage citizens in an ongoing conversation about issues that concern them.
A project to hold public officials and candidates accountable for their words and deeds during the election season and beyond.
And
The Bar Association Recommendations on Retention of Judges http://www.ShowMeCourts.org/
Army determines health risk from secret St. Louis testing
ST. LOUIS -- An Army investigation into secret chemical testing in impoverished areas of St. Louis during the Cold War era has corroborated three previous studies that the testing posed no health risk to those who lived in the areas, according to a letter from a top Army official.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Army used motorized blowers atop a low-income housing high-rise, on schools and in other locations to spray zinc cadmium sulfide, a fine fluorescent powder, into the air. The testing was part of a biological weapons program and St. Louis was chosen because it bore some resemblance to Russian cities that the U.S. might attack.
Both of Missouri’s U.S. senators, Republican Roy Blunt and Democrat Claire McCaskill, wrote to the Army after learning of St. Louis professor Lisa Martino-Taylor’s research about the program.
Katherine Hammack, assistant secretary of the Army, said in a letter received by Blunt’s office on Friday that Army investigators reviewed several assessments and studies compiled over the past nearly two decades and found no health risk from the zinc cadmium sulfide (ZnCdS) sprayed in St. Louis.
http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Army-No-health-risk-from-secret-St-Louis-testing-177003511.html
Well, we should all feel better now......
Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival
Now in its 21st year, the Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) is one of the largest international film festivals in the Midwest.
This year’s SLIFF will be held Nov. 8-18, 2012. SLIFF’s main venues are the Hi-Pointe Theatre, Tivoli Theatre, Plaza Frontenac Cinema, Webster University’s Winifred Moore Auditorium, Washington University's Brown Hall Auditorium and the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville, IL. SLIFF showcases the best in cutting-edge features and shorts from around the globe. The majority of the more than 400 films screened – many of them critically lauded award-winners – will receive their only St. Louis exposure at the festival. The schedule of films, events and guests are now posted to this site
http://www.cinemastlouis.org/sliff-2012
Power Outages Delay Some Store Openings
NEW YORK — Widespread power outages in the Northeast kept some supermarkets closed Tuesday, while others gradually reopened throughout the day in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
Karen Meleta, a spokeswoman for Keasbey, N.J.-based Wakefern, told SN Tuesday that many ShopRite stores throughout the region were without electricity, as was the company's Edison, N.J., distribution center, which was running on generator power.
"We're slowly coming back online," she said. "Today our focus is on reovery, getting [refrigerated trucks] to where they are needed, and getting supplies to the areas that need them."
She said several Wakefern facilities were running with "skeleton crews."
"The safety of our workers is our main concern," Meleta said.
Tracy Pawelski, a Carlisle, Pa.-based spokeswoman for Ahold USA, told SN that as of Tuesday afternoon "under 20" Stop & Shop stores in New York and New Jersey were closed due to damage, flooding or road closures as a result of the powerful storm, which caused what some estimated as tens of billions of dollars in damages.
Read More:http://supermarketnews.com/retail-amp-financial/power-outages-delay-some-store-openings
Arrow Rock State Historic Site First Saturday Lecture Series
Saturday, November 3, 2012 - 10:00am - 12:00pm
Area historians will tell the story of the Civil War as it affected the "Boonslick Country" of central Missouri.
Arrow Rock State Historic Site
39521 Visitor Center Drive
Arrow Rock, MO
http://mocivilwar150.com/event/728
http://mostateparks.com/event/59214/first-saturday-lecture-series
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