Monday, 15 April 2013 01:36
ESL pastors unhappy with Mayor Parks over "church tax"
Some metro-east pastors are upset with the City of East St. Louis for levying what they call a tax on churches.
On January 1st, the city imposed a $100 registration fee on churches and nonprofits. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the annual fee is supposed to offset the city's cost of doing fire and safety inspections.
Local pastors spoke out against the fee at Thursday's City Council meeting. Many blamed Mayor Alvin Parks, who defends the fee. The city council considered the pastors argument and pushed back the fee deadline from June 30th to September 30th.
Houses of worship have generally been exempt from taxes since a 1970 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the issue. Civic fees charged against houses of worship have been struck down as "church taxes" in the past.
Published in
Local News
Friday, 05 April 2013 09:43
ESL Dist. 189 announces teacher lay offs
Cuts in the classroom are coming to the East St. Louis School District. Teachers layoffs were announced during Thursday night's packed school board meeting.
In all, 69 teachers in District 189 will lose their jobs. Five elementary school principals and two middle school principals will also be cut.
East St. Louis is just the latest in a long list of metro-east school districts forced to make the cuts because of state and local budget issues.
Published in
Local News
Latest News
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
WESTBROOK PACES CARDS TO 4-1 VICTORY
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Edwin Jackson believes he knows what ailed him at the start of his tenure with the Chicago Cubs. "Earlier, I felt like I was kind of mechanical, kind of too much...
BLACKHAWKS BEAT BRUINS 6-5 IN OT, TIE SERIES 2-2
BOSTON (AP) -- After struggling for more than 120 minutes to score even once, the Blackhawks beat Boston goalie Tuukka Rask a half-dozen times in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals t...
Express Scripts proposes plan to bring 1500 jobs to St.…
St. Louis-based Express Scripts is looking to add 1,500 jobs over the next five years. The company says the hiring will coincide with work on a $56 million expansion to the North ...
Storm debris pick up in St. Charles ends next week
St. Charles County officials say the last day for storm debris pickup is a week from today. Residents can place fallen tree limbs at the curb in impacted area east of Highway 94, n...
Convicted sex offender charged for another sex crime
A man, already on the sex offender registry, is facing charges for allegedly molesting a 10-year old boy. Douglas Hahn was convicted of sodomizing two girls in St. Louis County in...
Illinois lawmakers plan to form committee to examine pe…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Illinois lawmakers have convened a special session in Springfield, where they're expected to move ahead with plans to form a committee to deal with pension...
Arrest made in Kirkwood murder case
19-year-old Nicholas Lunceford is in custody connected to the murder a murder in the Village of Marlborough. Police believe that Lunceford shot and killed 18-year-old Brandon Rich...
St. Louis group gets grant to provide job training to i…
ST. LOUIS (AP) - A St. Louis organization is getting a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to provide job training for inmates. Federal officials on Wednesday ann...
