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Cards Pitcher Hancock Killed in Crash

April 30, 2007 By

The St. Louis Cardinals and Cardinal Nation are mourning the death of relief pitcher Josh Hancock, who was killed in a car crash early Sunday morning.

The 29-year-old reliever was driving a Ford Explorer that rear-ended a stopped flatbed toe truck in the fast lane of Highway 40 in St. Louis.

The investigation continues. St. Louis Police Chief Joe Mokwa says it does not appear as though Hancock was traveling at an extremely excessive speed. He adds there were no alcohol containers found in the vehicle.

The toe truck’s driver was inside the cab when the crash occurred.  Police believe Hancock died on impact.  Police will formally recreate the last twelve hours of Hancock’s life to try to learn what happened.

Hancock’s funeral is scheduled for Thursday in Tupelo, Mississippi.  The team is chartering plane to take players to the funeral.

Download/Listen: Chris Pilcic report (:40 MP3)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With:

Cardinals Pitcher Dies in Car Crash

April 30, 2007 By

The St. Louis Cardinals and Cardinal Nation are mourning the death of relief pitcher Josh Hancock, who was killed in a car crash early Sunday morning.

The 29-year-old reliever was driving a Ford Explorer that rear-ended a stopped flatbed tow truck in the fast lane of Highway 40 in St. Louis.

The investigation continues. St. Louis Police Chief Joe Mokwa says it does not appear as though Hancock was traveling at an extremely excessive speed. He adds there were no alcohol containers found in the vehicle.

The tow truck’s driver was inside the cab when the crash occurred.  Police believe Hancock died on impact.  Police will formally recreate the last twelve hours of Hancock’s life to try to learn what happened.

Hancock’s funeral is scheduled for Thursday in Tupelo, Mississippi.  The team is chartering plane to take players to the funeral. 

Download/Listen: Chris Pilcic report (:40 MP3)

Filed Under: Human Interest Tagged With:

Senate’s Political Courage Questioned

April 29, 2007 By

A state senator who says the state is turning its back on research that could cure human diseases sees a climate of political fear at the Capitol and suggests people will die before lawmakers overcome it.

Senator Chuck Graham of Columbia wonders what happened to a governor and lawmakers who stood up to anti-stem cell interests just two years ago and wonders how the governor’s suggestion in January that the state’s Life Sciences Research board get money for for human medical research could become an appropriation only for plant and animal research.

Graham’s effort to include human disease research in the authorization has been strongly voted down. He thinks too many lawmakers are influenced too heavily by pressure from anti-stem cell interests. He says political fear must be dealt with by state lawmakers.

Graham says the governor supported amendment two last year…and advocated life science research in his State of the State message and even included it in his original Lewis and Clark initiative proposal. Graham wonders why everything seems to have changed. He says passage of the spending bill for the Life Sciences Research Board shows the state places a greater value on pigs than on people.

 

Download Bob priddy’s story (mp3 :61)

Filed Under: Health & Medicine Tagged With:

MODOT Official Insists a Few Changes Could Make Amtrak More Popular

April 29, 2007 By

Senate and House budget negotiators will have to decide the fate of Amtrak in Missouri. But one state transportation official believes a few change will make the rail passenger service much more popular here.

Missouri Department of Transportation Multimodal Operations Director, Brian Weiler, deals with transportation issues other than highways. Weiler acknowledges Amtrak becomes an easy political target, because its performance has suffered over the years. That is in contrast with other states, which have experienced an increase in passenger train rider ship. Weiler points out that Illinois has seen an increase in Amtrak’s popularity.

Part of that Illinois rider ship comes from the Anne Rutledge, which travels from Kansas City through St. Louis, onto Chicago. The Missouri Mule travels back-and-forth between Kansas City and St. Louis on Union Pacific tracks. That is the big problem. Union Pacific controls the rails and can disrupt passenger service. Amtrak trains were delayed numerous times last year, not only by freight trains, but by rail construction. MODOT actually loaded Amtrak passengers in buses to transport them around construction projects. Weiler says that didn’t prove very popular and MODOT has ended the practice.

Weiler says Missouri has about 175,000 Amtrak riders annually. He speculates that could increase to 250,000 if on-time performance and reliability could be improved. Weiler says MODOT is waiting on a University of Missouri study on how best to relieve congestion. Consideration has even been given to extending Amtrak between St. Louis and Springfield.

Members of the House stripped Amtrak of all its state subsidy, except for the $1.1 million dollars in designated funding. The Senate has restored the funding. House and Senate negotiators will consider its budget next week prior to approval of the final budget, which must be approved by the legislature by Friday, May 11 th . The total state subsidy for Amtrak, including the designated funding, is around $7.5 million. 

Download/listen Brent Martin reports (:60 MP3)

Filed Under: Politics & Government, Transportation Tagged With: , , , ,

IRS Reaching Out to Taxpayers who missed Filing Deadline

April 29, 2007 By

The income tax filing deadline has come and gone and most Missourians took care of business prior to the April 17th deadline, which was almost two weeks ago. But some of us – for one reason or another – failed to file.

Michael Devine with the Internal Revenue Service in St. Louis says the requirement to file doesn’t go away just because the deadline was missed – and taxpayers who failed to file must do so as soon as possible.

Devine points out anyone who filed for an extension has bought some time, but those who didn’t file anything are required to get moving. Devine says those who owe money will have to pay interest and late fees, but those receiving money get a break and will not be charged for filing late.

Download/Listen: Steve Walsh report (:60 MP3)

Filed Under: Taxes Tagged With:
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