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Today's Big Stories
1. Page renews call for online sales tax vote
County Executive Sam Page on Wednesday renewed a call to ask for voter approval of a use tax for online purchases, as the county continues to grapple with a budget deficit that in 2023 hit $47 million. Page made the pitch during his State of the County address at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, where he also unveiled a new logo and branding tagline that county officials hope adds consistency in messaging and marketing.
2. Constitutional amendments among fixes pitched for Missouri senior property tax freeze
Conceding that there may be more than 100 different interpretations of a property tax freeze for seniors that became law in Missouri last year, House Speaker Dean Plocher expects the General Assembly to look at legislative fixes now that lawmakers are back in session.
3. Gypsy Rose Blanchard finds freedom and fame less than two weeks after prison release
Out of prison for less than two weeks, Gypsy Rose Blanchard has found freedom and fame. The Missouri woman who spent eight and a half years behind bars for plotting to murder her mother released a new book Tuesday, a new Lifetime series documenting her story debuted over the weekend and her social media accounts have gained millions of followers.
4. Merger between Kansas City and St. Louis hospital systems could mean bigger medical bills
In the medical industry, the goal is increasingly straightforward: Get bigger. Or else. Consider, for example, the merger of Kansas City’s St. Luke’s Health System with St. Louis-based BJC Health System. When the deal closed Jan. 2, the cross-state neighbors had created one of the country’s largest nonprofit health care systems, with 24 hospitals, 44,000 employees and $10 billion a year in revenue.
5. Hunter Biden makes surprise appearance at House GOP contempt hearing
Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, made a surprise appearance at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to attend a House Oversight Committee hearing to consider a resolution to hold him in contempt of Congress for failing to appear before a scheduled deposition.
6. More adults sought help for ADHD during pandemic, contributing to drug shortages
New prescriptions for stimulants used to treat the condition jumped for young adults and women during a two-year window after the pandemic hit in March 2020, according to a study published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry. Prescriptions also soared for nonstimulant treatments for adults of all ages, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration researchers found.
A Time To Bloom
Orchid Show returns to Missouri Botanical Garden Jan. 27
Thousands of vibrant orchids are returning to the Missouri Botanical Garden this winter for the Orchid Show that begins Jan. 27 through Feb. 25. The garden’s orchid collection includes more than 5,000 individual plants that represent nearly 700 unique kinds of orchids, according to a press release.