Sunday, May 12, 2013
The Marketplace Fairness Act was approved in the U.S. Senate, and is headed for the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives. The bill would require merchants to collect sales taxes on online purchases.
It's called the "Marketplace Fairness Act" and supporters say it levels the playing field between online retailers and brick-and-mortar stores by requiring online merchants to pay sales taxes to the states, counties and localities where they have done business. Opponents include anti-tax activists and retailers who say it will be overly burdensome—in fact, nearly impossible, they say, to keep track of the tax rates and tax requirements for the myriad of taxing agencies where they may be doing business. The Marketplace Fairness Act passed the U.S. Senate 69-27 on Monday. Next up, the legislation goes to the GOP-led House. President Barack Obama has previously said he supports the bill. Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, voted for …
Sunday, May 5, 2013
A couple of readers debate whether victims bear any responsibility for crime. What do you think?
In Des Peres last week, a handful of cars and homes were burglarized in a residential neighborhood—a serious enough "spree" that the city blasted an email and text alert to the neighborhoods. As it happens, the burglar got into some unlocked cars, used the garage door opener and walked into a pair of houses in which the inside door was not locked. The report brought on this comment from a reader: "A person would not lock their car outside overnight (or anytime) because? And with a home garage door opener and valuables inside? Is this laziness or stupidity?" Another reader who said she was was one of the victims took offense: "I hope you are never a victim. You are acting like it was our fault." What do you think? Do we bear any …
Sunday, April 28, 2013
How much is too much to spend on high school prom festivities?
If $1,139 fell into your lap, how would you spend it? When asked, Patch editors said they'd put their money toward new furniture, house payments, student loans, a vacation to South America or, "Diapers. Lots and lots of diapers." But for average families with kids planning for prom season, that amount of money will be spent on limos, dresses and other prom-related expenses. That's according to a Visa survey reported by CNN and other media outlets on Thursday. Let that number sink in: $1,139 per family for prom. It's a slight increase over last year, and is a 40 percent jump from 2011. CNN spoke with Sarah Hoffer, a senior at Webster Groves High School, to look at where all of the money was going: "Her biggest expense was a $259 vintage-…
Sunday, April 21, 2013
We'll make sure to get your notes into the hands of city officials there.
This has been a gruesome, unsettling, crushing week in the United States. If you're like me, you've been equally riveted to and rendered despondent by Monday's bomb attack on the Boston Marathon, followed by the enormous explosion late Wednesday of a fertilizer plant that flattened communities near Waco, TX. And once again, we've seen first-responders run toward the danger instead of away from it. We've seen and heard of acts of heroism and bravery in the face of terrifying circumstances. And the death of firefighters who were just doing their jobs. No long dissertation here. A simple question: If you had the address of a Boston cop or a Waco firefighter, or could send a text to a frightened man or woman who stood on the street awaiting a …
Sunday, April 14, 2013
The Missouri Highway Patrol admitted releasing the names of concealed weapon permit holders to the Social Security Administration in what the government said was a law enforcement investigation. Do you agree?
The Missouri Highway Patrol admitted last week that it released the names of at least 163,000 concealed weapon permit holders to a federal agent investigating disability fraud, according to a report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and a variety of other media outlets. The news has people buzzing on every side of the gun control debate. Locally, Republican Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones of Eureka told the newspaper he was "very concerned that this may be a back-door attempt to create the Eric Holder gun registry." The concealed weapon registry is not open to the public and Missouri law says it's a misdemeanor to disclose information about the people who hold permits. Missouri State Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, was cited on Wednesday in …
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Twenty year later: What do you remember about the flood? Did you take photos that you'd share with us?
The worst of it hit the St. Louis area in the summer of 1993, but the Great Flood of that year, the flood that overspilled the banks and levies of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, had its genesis in the rains up river in Iowa months earlier. I moved to Chesterfield nine years after the flood, when development was just beginning in the Valley, before Lowe's and Walmart and the movie theater. I often tell people as I drive west on Highway 40, passing the Dierbergs headquarters, that the highway vanished into the flood waters at about that point and everything beyond was under water. Of course, I don't have any first-hand memories of the event. Perhaps you do? Can you share your story or recollection in the comments below? Or upload a …
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Missouri has a law that stop teens from texting and driving, but not adults. An AT&T survey says nearly of all adults admit to texting while driving. Do you?
It's been my experience after writing these kinds of articles for awhile that when it comes to technology issues, many commenters claim they aren't that savvy. They'll often claim they use the basic phones, never text, never watch TV—all of which I find hard to believe since they're obviously savvy enough to log onto a website, register and post a comment. I'm starting with a confession, and we'll see if anyone else is willing to 'fess up. I have texted in the car. When I've done it, it's been at stop lights and parking lots. And I'm not proud of it. I'm moved by the public service ads that have advocated against it. I remember the terrible accident on Highway 40 a few years ago when a tractor-trailer plowed into some cars because the …
Sunday, March 24, 2013
The program launched last week would train medical professionals and educators to identify seniors whose medical conditions may unknowingly pose safety threats.
The Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety unveiled a campaign last week designed to encourage medical professionals, educators and drivers themselves to look for and identify signs that an older driver is no longer equipped to get behind the wheel. The program hasn't come to the St. Louis area yet. It's being piloted in Columbia and Springfield. After evaluation, it may roll out statewide. The Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety’s (kick-off event in Columbia) featured two state residents who lost a family member in traffic fatalities caused by older drivers. The program aims to train doctors, nurses and peer educators to identify vulnerable seniors whose medical conditions may unknowingly pose safety threats. It seems to be a recurring …
Sunday, March 17, 2013
The head of the Missouri Republican Party, Ed Martin, said the "old guard of the GOP missed the significance" of Rand Paul's fillibuster over the use of drones. John Danforth responded in kind.
A sharply worded note to GOP supporters from the party's Missouri chairman—and a response in-kind from an elder statesman of Missouri's Republican Party—has observers wondering if a rift in the party has widened even further, according to a front page article in Friday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Ed Martin, chairman of the state GOP, wrote an email last week to thousands (which we presume is the same as this message on Martin's blog) in which he hailed Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, for his 13-hour fillibuster over the Obama administration's policy on the use of drone aircraft. He further chastised members of "the old guard of the GOP" — naming Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina in particular — for what Martin …
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Now Best Buy has joined Yahoo! in banning employees from working from home.
Here at Patch, there is no "here." We all work from home. Or from coffee shops, public libraries, patios, porches and dining rooms—anywhere we can get a wi-fi signal. It keeps us nimble, keeps costs down and let's us work out in the world with the people in the communities we cover. It's a great gig. And not to gloat...but I was in the warmth of my home office working while some of you were fighting traffic during the recent snowstorms. But it's obviously not for everyone. Some people prefer the office environment, the regular interaction face-to-face with coworkers. And in the case of Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo!, she wasn't having it anymore. She insisted several weeks ago that the company employees could no longer work from home. But …
PaulRevere
12:20 am on Monday, May 20, 2013
Let me commend you on your typing abilities. In 1986 the US congress passed "new laws" for immigration. Even though we had hundreds of laws stating exactly how to deport those breaking the laws. None were followed. The Govt just did not follow the laws. Amnesty took place with maybe under 6mill illegals kept in this country. So now we have over 14mill new illegals. So now in 2013 congress wants … more ›