MDN Menu

MDN Home

Journalist's Creed

Print

MDN Help

  Exit  

MDN.ORG: Missouri Digital News

MDN Menu

MDN Home

Journalist's Creed

Print

MDN Help

  Exit  

MDN.ORG Mo. Digital News Missouri Digital News MDN.ORG: Mo. Digital News MDN.ORG: Missouri Digital News

Help  Close

I was born at Boone Hospital Center and grew up with my mother and brother in a subdivision off of Scott Blvd. I am pleased to hold on to old friends and make new ones at school.

Looking at Columbia with a reporter's eye has forced me to see it in new ways. It has also allowed me to look outward into the world and dream of seeing it all. I am interested in both political reporting and narrative journalism and hope to cover the entire spectrum in my career.

Stories by Thomas Warren include:

• 12/ 8/2003: Newspaper Story - Of the $190 million in No Child Left Behind Title I funds, almost none is going to Missouri high schools. Instead, the money is going to lower grades, where it will better improve students' performance, officials say.
• 12/ 8/2003: Newspaper Story - The Missouri Department of Economic Development reacted immediately to information that one of its tax credit programs was being defrauded, director Joe Driskill said. Allegations that the department reacted slowly are inaccurate, he said.
• 12/ 1/2003: Radio Story - Mobile home landlords would be required to offer one-year leases under legislation filed Monday by Sen. Maida Coleman (D-St.Louis). The bill would also eliminate "no cause" evictions and set safety standards at mobile home parks.
• 11/19/2003: Newspaper Story - Leading Missouri Republicans have criticized a proposal that would require increases in sales tax rates when state revenue falls below a prescribed level. The measure, turned into the Secretary of State's office by a group of lobbyists, ignores needed reforms and simply seeks new sources of tax revenue, Senate Majority Leader Mike Gibbons said.
• 11/17/2003: Newspaper Story - Some Missouri vehicle owners are driving down state revenue because they are not paying sales taxes, Revenue Director Carol Fisher said. Drivers who steal license plates or drive with expired tags have cost the state about $90 million. The Revenue Department has raised the possibility of requiring sales taxes for vehicles be paid at the time of purchase, which would alleviate the debt from those who buy their vehicles from dealerships, Fisher said.
• 11/12/2003: Newspaper Story - The Missouri Attorney General's office announced Wednesday that it is investigating tax credit fraud of a program run by the state Department of Economic Development. The program offers tax credits to businesses for computer equipment. It seeks to attract high-tech businesses to poor areas. "Phantom businesses" have allegedly abused the system. "We were not asleep at the switch," director of economic development Joe Driskill said.
• 11/ 5/2003: Newspaper Story - Missouri taxpayer dollars are not as secure as they should be, a state audit reports. The state accounting system, known as SAM II, is accessible via old user IDs of former employees. The system also lacks proper recovery procedures in case of fire or computer malfunctions. Background checks have also found financially-related criminal histories for some employees who can enter and retrieve information in the system.
• 10/29/2003: Newspaper Story - Missouri's tax laws have not kept up with its economy. While state businesses are increasingly service-oriented, the tax code remains based on manufacturing industry. The result is a service industry that remains largely untaxed.
• 10/27/2003: Newspaper Story - Missouri state agencies are not involving women and minorities as required by a 1998 executive order, a state auditor report states. Businesses owned by women and minorities are supposed to get a certain share of purchases of goods and services of the state and in public works contracts.
• 10/ 6/2003: Newspaper Story - House Budget Committee Chairman Carl Bearden, R-St. Charles, said some of Gov. Bob Holden's withholdings should be released because of increased state revenue. State budget director said the revenue increases are not enough.
• 10/ 1/2003: Newspaper Story - Two Missouri legislators who support the concealed weapons law will not try to keep municipalities from prohibiting guns from busses and other forms of public transit. Rep. Larry Crawford, R-Centertown, and Speaker Pro Tem Rod Jetton, R-Marble Hill, said it is the right of local governments to disallow concealed weapons on public transportation and in city buildings. They did predict that city restrictions will eventually be relaxed.
• 9/24/2003: Newspaper Story - W.B. "Bart" Tichenor, chief hearing officer for the Missouri Tax Commission, has frustrated county assessors throughout the state by ruling against them in 45 straight cases. Tichenor has ruled in favor of businesses that appeal appraisals of their personal property, which they say has been overvalued. Assessors say Tichenor's rulings are costing local governments tax revenue.
• 9/22/2003: Newspaper Story - Missouri general revenue collections are up 6.1 percent in July and August over the same period last year. Officials say this is does not mark the end of state budget woes.
• 9/10/2003: Newspaper Story - While the Missouri State Senate waits for Dolan to return for Cuba, the House voted to override Holden's vetoes on abortion and concealed weapons.
• 9/ 8/2003: Newspaper Story - Both chambers of the Missouri General Assembly convened at noon today in the State Capitol. Only a few bills were introduced.
• 9/ 8/2003: Newspaper Story - Gov. Holden has proposed eliminating the so-called "Geoffrey Loophole," which allows some corporations doing business in Missouri to not pay income taxes. Republicans say Holden will drive away business.
• 9/ 3/2003: Newspaper Story - Republicans condemned Gov. Bob Holden's proposal to close four corporate tax loopholes. The plan would earn more than $40 million in revenue for public schools. However, Republicans oppose such tax increases and question why Holden withdrew $197 million from funds appropriated for education.