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   The BJC Hospital group is laying off 160 employees from it's 13 hospitals.  

   BJC officals say the lay-offs necessary because of a decline in in-patient care.  The problem, they say, is that people are delaying treatments, some for lack of insurance, others because of high co-pays.

   Layoff notifications started going out Wednesday.  

   Most of those affected work in administrative and management positions.  BJC says those laid off will receive severance pay based on years of service.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Arch Coal Incorporated says it will scale back operations at two coal mining complexes in Kentucky and Virginia, trimming the work force by more than 100.

The St. Louis-based company said Friday the cutbacks will affect the Cumberland River and Hazard mining complexes.

Company spokeswoman Kim Link says the decision was due on "ongoing coal market challenges."

She says the curtailed operations will cost about 110 jobs — about 65 of them company positions and the rest contractor jobs not controlled by Arch.

The Cumberland River mining complex is in Letcher County in Kentucky and Wise County in Virginia. The Hazard Mining complex is in Perry County, Kentucky.

Link says those eligible workers who are laid off will be offered severance packages.

She says the two complexes still employ nearly 500 workers.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is warning of employee layoffs and cuts to services if legislators pass a budget that reduces funding for the states' motor vehicle division.

Nixon said Wednesday that lawmakers were acting irresponsibly to put forward a budget that would fund the division for only the first two-thirds of the fiscal year that starts July 1.

Republican lawmakers said Tuesday that the partial funding was intended as an incentive for Nixon's administration to stop making electronic copies of personal documents of people applying for driver's licenses. They said lawmakers could provide the rest of the money when they return to the Capitol next January.

But Nixon called the partial-year funding unprecedented. The Democratic governor said he would treat it as an annual appropriation and cut accordingly.

 

Two more districts have joined the growing list of metro-east school districts that plan to lay off teachers and other staff. Belleville District 118 and Highland Community Unit District 5 both announced staff layoffs Tuesday due to the state's budget shortfall.

District 118 will lay off six teachers and 20 staff members. The state of Illinois owes the district nearly two-million dollars.

In Highland, several teachers are being let go, but the specifics haven't been released.

Earlier this week, officials with Belleville District 201 and the Collinsville School District announced layoffs.