The St. Louis Rams’ lease at the Edward Jones Dome requires that its facility be maintained as a venue that ranks in the top 25 percent of the NFL. If it’s not, the team can break the lease and move.

Our story for the Friday Post-Dispatch says that job may get tougher as newer — and very expensive — stadiums are rolled out around the league.

Bill Coats’ story says, “The NFL stadiums under construction in Indianapolis; Arlington, Texas; and East Rutherford, N.J., are “going to be the cream of the crop, and they’re going to be no more than…

In today’s Post-Dispatch, our Jefferson City reporters write about what we might — or might not — expect from the final week of the Missouri Legislature

Our Springfield correspondent writes about the unhappy marriage between Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn.

We all know that what happens in Jefferson City and Springfield determines much of what happens with our roads, our schools, our taxes and more. But do you pay much attention to what bills are being debated? Or are we so locked in on the national scene that we neglect the state activities that, in many ways, have…

I did my taxes a few months ago, in which I get my annual reminder about the city earnings tax. The 1 percent tax has been a thorn in the side of the business community, some members of whom have long complained that the tax is one of the obstacles to new business and industry locating in the city of St. Louis.

Our story today says, “Missouri Treasurer Sarah Steelman wants to lead an effort to get rid of the earnings tax that brings about $140 million a year to the city of St. Louis’s budget.”

Steelman proposes passing statewide…

Our business section ran its annual tax guide yesterday, with tips for taxpayers on coping with the Alternative Minimum Tax, the “kiddie tax” for parents who put aside money for college and other vagaries of the system.

I was nearly ready to do my taxes this weekend, when I discovered that we’re still missing a 1099 for some of my wife’s income. We’ll track it down, or I’ll proceed without it — but this coming weekend is Tax Day in my household.

How about you? How do you prep for taxes? What’s the toughest challenge you have to face this year?…

Greenburgh, N.Y., is among communities in other states that is pushing a program that would let older people work off some of their property taxes by taking part-time town jobs at about $7 an hour.

Similar programs are considered successes in Colorado, Massachusetts, South Carolina and elsewhere.

“People shouldn’t have to sell their house, move away to a place with less taxes, leave behind their family and friends,” said Town Supervisor Paul Feiner.

In the Associated Press story, Boulder County, Colo., pioneered a tax workoff program in 1986 for residents over 60 and now has about 250 applicants for the fewer…