(L - R) Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, Saint Charles Mayor Patti York, St. Louis cyclist Dan Schmatz, and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay discussed race course details of Tour of Missouri, America's newest elite porfessional cycling event, in a press conference held at Union Station, where Stage Six of the inaugural race will start and finish on September 16, 2007.
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Six-Day, 600-Mile Tour of Missouri Event Will Take Professional Cycling Race River to River
by Betty Moore, SLFP.com
ST. LOUIS, MO (SLFP.com), August 2, 2007 - Stage Six of the six-day, 600-mile Tour of Missouri, America's newest elite professional cycling race, will bring 120 top racers from some of the world's best cycling teams, representing more than 20 countries, through the City of St. Louis, September 16, 2007.
Patterned after the famous Tour de France, the inaugural Missouri race will feature point-to-point racing in six stages, beginning September 11, in Kansas City. Race and route details for Stage Six of the 80-mile circuit race around St. Louis were unveiled at a press conference held at Union Station.
Stage Six kicks off at 1 pm in Aloe Plaza in front of historic St. Louis Union Station and heads west on Market Street, an east-west thoroughfare in the heart of St. Louis. Continuing west on Forest Park Parkway, riders will go through Forest Park and past the Missouri History Museum turning onto DeBalievere at the Museum. The race continues south on Euclid Avenue through the Central West End, then heads east on Lindell Boulevard through the City of St. Louis, meeting Olive just east of Grand. Riders will take Olive east to 15th Street, then south on 15th Street back to Market Street, heading west on Market to the finish at Aloe Plaza.
Racers will complete a total of seven 10.6-mile (17.1-kilometer) laps around St. Louis, giving spectators an up-close view of team tactics and any last-minute attacks before the race finish, which could see speeds upwards of 50 miles per hour.
Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder stated that "This race will capture the imagination of the entire State of Missouri," during a press conference at Union Station.
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The idea for Tour of Missouri began two years ago by avid cyclist Cary Sommers of Springfield, MO, who suggested that his friend, Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, take a look at bringing a statewide professional race to Missouri. Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, who serves as the Chairman of the Missouri Tourism Commission, became the point man for the project.
Following the press conference Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder spoke with St. Louis Front Page about the potential economic impact of the free spectator event on Missouri.
As a self-proclaimed amateur, Sunday afternoon cyclist, Lt. Gov. Kinder stated, "It's opened my eyes to the incredible world of professional competitive cycling." He noted that until Lance Armstrong came on the scene in the late nineties, many Americans were unaware of the sport. "His team is coming to our race, putting this race on the map and making it an International event."
Kinder compared cycling and its enthusiastic fans in the community to Civil War buffs who travel to various events and spend money. "It may not be on your radar screen, but they are everywhere and they are excited about coming to Missouri and spending money in our state for these six days," he said.
"We know that the Tour of Georgia yielded $26 to every $1 spent promoting it. We hope to reach that level as many thousands of visitors, including European visitors, will be coming to Missouri. This is the number two sport worldwide after soccer. This sport is huge in continental Europe and we're taping into that market," stated Kinder.
He continued enthusiastically, "With the exposure on Versus Network, formerly the Outdoor Life Network, this is the best opportunity to brand Missouri hospitality and tourism in the whole state that we've ever had.
As part of the race festivities, St. Louis Union Station, which is hosting the day's Start/Finish area, will be holding activities on the South Plaza and also the Lake Stage.
The City of St. Louis will be hosting a fun-filled Health and Wellness Expo in the Aloe Plaza and the parks across the street from St. Louis Union Station, featuring vendors, bicycle stunt teams and a large movie screen showing all of the action out on the course.
UPDATE: For coverage of Stage One, see Tour of Missouri - Kansas City, for Stage Five, see St. Charles News, and for Stage Six, see Tour of Missouri - St. Louis.
Missouri Arts Council Awards Millions to the Arts Statewide
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), July 29, 2007 - The Missouri Arts Council (MAC) recently awarded $3,830,238 in annual grants to 246 nonprofit organizations throughout Missouri in the first phase of its granting for the fiscal year that began July 1. With an increase in funding recommended by Governor Blunt, and approved by the legislature, MAC funded approved applications at an average of 54% of requests. The total allocation represents a 70% increase over 2007.
The Missouri Arts Council continues to accept applications for monthly mini-grants, arts education, technical assistance, and minority arts through June 30, 2008. Organizations interested in applying for a grant for their art projects are encouraged to contact the Missouri Arts Council toll free at
(866) 407-4752 or visit the MAC website at www.missouriartscouncil.org. In all, $5.7 million will be invested in the arts by the State of Missouri this year. Grants and operating expenses are funded by the Missouri Cultural Trust, National Endowment for the Arts, and an appropriation from the Missouri
General Assembly.
Funds were granted to support programs in arts education, arts services, community arts, dance, electronic media, festivals, literature, multidiscipline, music, theater, visual arts, folk arts, minority arts, and touring arts.
The largest grants for St. Louis organizations were awarded to:
St. Louis Symphony - $187,579
St. Louis Art Museum - $154,110
Opera Theatre of St. Louis - $90,375
Repertory Theatre of St. Louis - $80,850
St. Louis Black Repertory Co. - $32,137
Sheldon Arts Foundation - $30,856
The largest grants for Kansas City organizations were awarded to:
Nelson Gallery Foundation - $146,081
Kansas City Symphony - $132,296
Kansas City Repertory Theatre - $64,557
Mid-America Art Alliance - $61,400
Kansas City Ballet Association - $43,019
Lyric Opera of Kansas City - $39,391
Missouri arts professionals and community representatives serve on advisory panels to assist with the granting process. The advisory panels reviewed and scored the applications and a formula was applied to each application's score creating a funding recommendation. This was presented to and approved by the Missouri Arts Council board. Review criteria include artistic quality, community
involvement, and management ability.
Missouri House Committee Will Look into Improving 9-1-1 System
JEFFERSON CITY, (SLFP.com), July 29, 2007 - A team of legislators with expertise in emergency response, fire protection, and law enforcement has been assembled to determine what needs to be done to bring the state's emergency response system 9-1-1-up to speed. Their challenge - one House Speaker Rod Jetton (R-Marble Hill) is confident they can handle - is an issue of public safety.
"The '9-1-1' system has proven effective, but not everyone in Missouri has complete access to the program," said Speaker Jetton. "The work of this committee will be an important step toward assuring all Missourians get the help they need, when they need it."
According to a report prepared for the National Emergency Number Association, Missouri's 9-1-1 system lags behind the rest of the nation. The report found that nearly twenty percent of Missouri counties do not provide any 9-1-1 service, and while the Federal Communications Commission requires all cell phones to be able to dial into a 9-1-1 dispatcher, the report indicated not even a third of Missouri's counties can track a cell phone caller's location. The result: many wireless 9-1-1 callers have been left stranded without help, sometimes resulting in death, because they didn't know their location and the system lacked the ability to track the caller down.
"The situation right now is simply unacceptable. It's dangerous," said Rep. Mark Bruns (R-Jefferson City), who will chair the House Interim Committee to Evaluate the 9-1-1 System.
Rep. Bruns envisions the committee making an intensive evaluation of 9-1-1 coverage availability in rural areas as well as urban areas where old systems are quickly becoming obsolete. He also feels part of the committee's role will include determining how to bring the system up to speed, how much it will cost, and who will pay. Missourians have voted down two previous attempts to raise taxes to pay for wireless 9-1-1 service, most recently in 2002.
"No one wants to pay more taxes," said Rep. Bruns. "I simply think we need to have an honest discussion and evaluation of the need for emergency response services and how we can make them available to all Missourians."
The committee will hold its first meetings on August 6 and 7. Dates and times of future meetings will be determined then.
Anheuser-Busch's 2006 Environmental, Health and Safety Report Shows Improvement
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), July 29, 2007 - In 2006 alone, the nation's largest brewer generated enough renewable fuel to heat more than 25,000 homes, recycled more than 27 billion cans, cut its employee injury rate by nearly half in the last five years and helped its employees lose 5,000 pounds -- an amount equal to the weight of two-and-a-half Clydesdales.
These are just a few of the accomplishments noted in Anheuser-Busch's 2006 Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) report, released Thursday. The annual EHS report focuses on the company's overall progress in promoting excellence in environmental, health and safety performance for its brewing, packaging, agricultural, entertainment and brewing-related operations.
This year's report highlights a significant decline in workplace injuries, savings in water and fuel use, a decrease in solid waste disposal through waste prevention and recycling, and a strategic plan to address climate change issues.
Among the highlights of the report:
- Total injury rate down 43 percent since 2002 due to a continued focus
on aggressive safety performance goals and heightened employee
awareness.
- Solid waste disposal per net sales declined by 11 percent since 2001.
- Water use per net sales reduced by 3 percent since 2002. Brewery water
use per barrel of beer has declined more than 20 percent since 1990.
- Recycled approximately 364,000 metric tons of used aluminum beverage
containers -- 27 billion cans -- through its Anheuser-Busch Recycling
Corporation subsidiary in 2006 -- more cans than Anheuser-Busch
breweries use to package their products.
Last year, Anheuser-Busch established a goal of reducing absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 5 percent from its 2005 baseline by 2010. The company also set a goal to increase its use of renewable fuels from 8 to 15 percent in the same time period.
One of the most successful examples of Anheuser-Busch's environmental leadership is its position as the world's largest operator of Bio-Energy Recovery Systems (BERS), a method of pre-treating excess water from the brewing process and capturing biogas. This process converts waste nutrients into renewable fuel and reduces the energy demands that would otherwise be imposed on local sewer treatment systems. BERS-generated fuel used by the breweries equals the fuel needed to heat 25,000 homes for a year.
Anheuser-Busch's employee safety programs are also a key element in the company's commitment to excellence. "Providing a safe workplace is a fundamental business responsibility, and one that Anheuser-Busch takes very seriously," said John Fletcher, senior director, Corporate Safety and Risk Management. "We have developed a strong company culture focused on injury and illness prevention. The injury rate reduction we have achieved is a tremendous accomplishment and reflects the safety efforts of our subsidiaries and their employees."
As part of its holistic employee safety and wellness program called "Ability for Life," the company continued to emphasize with brewery employees and their families the importance of health-conscious decisions in all actions, such as good nutrition, exercise, regular health exams and the use of seat belts and bicycle helmets.
In 2006, Anheuser-Busch facilities introduced Weight Watchers and WellQuit tobacco cessation programs where employees received 100 percent reimbursement of costs upon achieving specific weight milestones and goals. Total weight loss reported last year was more than 5,000 pounds, equivalent to two-and-a-half adult Clydesdales!
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