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ST. LOUIS NEWS TODAY - Saturday, July 22, 2006
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JULY 22 - Electrical and telephone lines, which were hanging across the north and south lanes of Broadway near Park Avenue after massive storms moved through downtown St. Louis around 7 p.m. Wednesday evening, were hit by a southbound boxtruck at 9 p.m., ripping off the top of the truck and snapping both poles in front of the Broadway Truck Centers complex. On Saturday, Broadway and 7th Streets remain blocked off just north of Soulard Market.
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St. Louis Area Slammed by Storms and Widespread Power Outages
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), July 21, 2006 - Ameren companies have restored more than 160,000 customers of more than 500,000 customers affected by the devastating July 19 storm. The storm hit around 7 p.m. Wednesday night, with about 400,000 customers remaining without service as of 4 p.m., Thursday, July 20.
In a statement, AmerenUE said that more than 3,800 contractors and employees are working to restore power. These workers are not only from across Missouri and Illinois, but also from Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee to help restore power.
Ameren officials are estimating that restoration will take at least 72 hours for most customers and could be longer than that given the nature of the damage. The company will make more customer-specific restoration times available as soon as possible. However, calls into the contact center have broken all records with more than 40,000 calls per hour recorded the first day after the storm. Ameren officials are asking customers to call only once a day to allow the companies to deal with all the many restoration demands resulting from storm's unprecedented damage.
Company officials also urge customers to avoid downed power lines. Customers who see a fallen or sagging wire should assume that it is still energized and dangerous. Electric power lines can carry power even after being knocked to the ground. Citizens should stay away from these lines and warn others to do the same.
For those who can access it, Ameren's Web site - www.ameren.com - offers a range of information on our restoration process, preparation for outages, ways to keep cool and techniques for conserving energy use.
That Web site also provides information on the number of outages in each ZIP code and across Ameren companies service area. However, customers have been asked to exit that site as soon as they have retrieved their information so that others can visit the site. The site has at times been overloaded with the enormous number of visitors attempting to access outage information over the past few days.
"We have called out all Ameren company crews, available contractor crews and are requesting assistance from utility companies across a nine-state area. We do appreciate our customers' patience during this critical time," said Richard Mark, senior vice president, AmerenUE Missouri Energy Delivery. "We are working closely with city and state officials and emergency response personnel to coordinate restoration efforts and ensure customer safety. Work will be continuing around the clock."
In Missouri, to find a cooling center, call 1-800-427-4626 or go to:
Marquette Recreation Center, 4025 Minnesota Avenue or the Wohl Recreation Center, 1515 North Kingshighway. To find a cooling center in Illinois, call 1-800-843-6154.
Call 314 231-1212 for downed trees & power lines.
State Tax Credits to Remediate the St. Louis Army Ammunition Plant
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), July 16, 2006 - Gov. Matt Blunt has announced the approval of state remediation tax credits that will help launch a $22.67 million redevelopment effort of the St. Louis Army Ammunition Plant used historically as an ammunition plant from 1941 to 1989. The redevelopment will support at least 179 new jobs and turn the property into a mixed-use facility including retail, restaurant and commercial space.
The Missouri Department of Economic Development approved up to $3,499,176 in Brownfield Redevelopment Program remediation tax credits for the vacant property located at 4800 Goodfellow Blvd., St. Louis. The tax credits will help offset costs involved in the cleanup of asbestos and lead-based paint at the site.
"Through the Brownfield Redevelopment Program, many facilities from St. Louis's industrial past are being modernized to bring in an important mix of businesses, housing and parking that is drawing investments, people and jobs back to the downtown area," Blunt said in an announcement. "I am pleased the state is able to provide resources that will kick off the redevelopment of the St. Louis Army Ammunition Plant so that this site can continue to contribute to the local economy."
Goodfellow Acquisitions, Inc. will completely demolish and rehabilitate the area which consists of 18 acres of various buildings built between 1941 and 1944. The redevelopment of the project meets the under-utilization requirements of the Brownfield Redevelopment Program and was accepted into the Department of Natural Resources' Voluntary Cleanup Program in March.
Bill Expands Access to Affordable Health Insurance
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), July 16, 2006 - A new law will make it easier for Missouri's small employers to join with larger employers to form association health plans. Association health plans allow separate employers to join together to purchase group health care as a single employer.
House Bill 1827, sponsored by Rep. Jay Wasson, will increase access to healthcare. The bill expands eligibility for association health plans by decreasing the requirement for the number of members in an association from 100 to 50.
The legislation also provides an exemption to the Small Employer Health Insurance Availability Act by waiving the requirement that rates for similar small businesses be within 20 percent of one another. Waiving the requirement builds the foundation for more insurers to write association health plan policies. The plans offer cost savings for employers and lower rates through the ability to spread risk and administrative costs over a larger pool of employees.
The legislation is modeled after a pilot project approved by Gov. Blunt's Missouri Department of Insurance that involved the Southwest Area Manufacturers Association's (SAMA) I Health Care Consortium. The SAMA I Health Care Consortium is made up of 32 companies representing 1,300 employees and a total of 2,000 covered lives. Six of the 32 companies had never been able to afford group health care for their employees before. The initial premium savings for the members in the pilot project ranged from 18 percent for the largest employer to as much as 40 to 50 percent for small employers.
The effective date for House Bill 1827, and all other bills without an emergency clause, is August 28.
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