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R E A D B Y 1 . 3 M I L L I O N A D U LT S E A C H W E E K

FRIDAY • 03.19.2010 • $1.00

ACORN’s setbacks force local office to call it quits
Activists for the poor bemoan fate amid scandal, subsequent loss of funding.

Stage is set for vote on health bill
Democrats trumpet report that overhaul would trim budget gap by $138 billion.
BY NOAM N. LEVEY AND JANET HOOK • Tribune Newspapers

WASHINGTON • Buoyed by estimates that their health care overhaul would cut the
deficit by $138 billion over the next decade, congressional Democrats unveiled their
final blueprint Thursday and set the stage for a dramatic House vote Sunday. House
approval of the package, which will include the health care bill passed by the Senate
last year along with a series of changes sought by House Democrats, would allow President
Barack Obama to sign the Senate bill this weekend. “This is history, and this is
progress, House Speaker Nancy ” Pelosi said Thursday, referring to the cost and
savings estimates for the bill that were released Thurs-

day by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. For weeks, the CBO has been evaluating
the evolving versions of the overhaul legislation. “We told (our members) we would
stick with this bill until we had the savings that were necessary. And it took some
time. But we are very pleased, said Pelosi, ” D-Calif. The Senate, using the so-called
budget reconciliation process to avoid a Republican filibuster, could complete action
by the end of next week by approving changes sought by House Democrats, bringing
to a close one of the most intense legislative
See BILL • Page A8

KEY CHANGES
Here are some of the key final changes in the health care bill: • Unpopular new
tax on high-end “Cadillac” health plans is scaled back, putting it off until
2018. • Subsidies to help low- and moderate-income Americans buy health insurance
are boosted. • Additional coverage to seniors on Medicare is provided to close
the gap in drug coverage known as the “doughnut hole.” Q&A on health care bill
• A8

Anne Chilson, the office manager at ACORN’s local headquarters at 4304 Manchester
Avenue, packs records to be shipped to the ACORN national office in Chicago. The
St. Louis office of ACORN is closing.
BY JESSE BOGAN • jbogan@post-dispatch.com > 314-340-8255

EMILY RASINSKI • erasinski@post-dispatch.com

eage of ACORN community organizers stood in the middle of a mess Thursday, about
to close the group’s scrappy but controversial office for good. “Who is going
to go door to door, knocking every day?” asked James Houston, amid voter district
maps hanging on the walls and piles of files on the floor, ready for storage. “Especially
north St. Louis. Who is going to go over there?” An advocate for the poor for more
than 30 years, initially try-

ST. LOUIS • The last in a lin-

ing to diminish sales tax on food and clothing, the local office is following a national
meltdown of ACORN.The group will be out of its headquarters in the 4300 block of
Manchester Avenue by the end of the month. “It was pretty clear that ACORN was
dying and there was no way to save it, said Jeff ” Ordower, the former Midwest
director of ACORN. “In the next couple weeks, there will be no ACORN in St. Louis.
” Ordower, who lives in St. Louis, and the lead local orga-

nizer left in December. “It was time to do new things, Ordower ” said. The Kansas
City office has also closed. ACORN offices nationwide were hit hard by a rash of
negative publicity, said Anne Chilson, who along with Houston will be the last to
leave the St. Louis office. “We need to store stuff until things are clearer, but
it is unlikely that ACORN will reopen, ”
See ACORN • Page A9

SECOND SEASON BEGINS FOR MU
Mizzou gets a fresh start in NCAA Tournament but has a tough task in stopping Clemson’s
Trevor Booker. In Sports • C1 Mizzou vs. Clemson, 1:45 p.m. today, KMOV (Ch. 4)
Get live updates at stltoday.com/sports

Nixon’s plan to cut holidays upsets unions
Labor leaders who supported his campaign decry any reduction in benefits, predict
higher turnover.
BY VIRGINIA YOUNG vyoung@post-dispatch.com > 573-635-6178

And now playing … in concert: Legions of fans with cell phones
BY KEVIN C. JOHNSON • Post-Dispatch Pop Music Critic kjohnson@post-dispatch.com
> 314-340-8191

criticized for giving state employees the day off on some unusual holidays that few
workers in the private sector enjoy, such as the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and
Harry Truman. Now, to help plug a gaping hole in next year’s budget, Gov. Jay Nixon
is asking legislators to pare Missouri’s 13 holidays to 10, the number that federal
workers receive. The move would cut back on overtime pay that state employees receive
for working holidays. It’s a tough pill to swallow for labor unions, which helped
bankroll Nixon’s 2008 gubernatorialcampaign.Unionleaderssay thestate’sworkers
are among the worst-paid in the country, and cutting their benefits will increase
turnover. But even pro-union legislators say the holiday cutback is likely to pass.
“That’s an easy cut” compared with axing 1,000 state jobs, which Nixon also
plans, said former Chrysler worker and Rep. Sam Komo, DHouse Springs. “I don’t
have a problem with it, agreed Dem” ocratic Sen. Tim Green of Spanish Lake, an
electrician and president of the Missouri State
See HOLIDAYS • Page A9

JEFFERSON CITY • Missouri has long been

Forget about flicking your Bic when your favorite band pulls out a power ballad
in concert. Instead pull out your phone. Lighters have been replaced by smart phones
with applications that flash an image of a flickering flame. It’s just one of
the many uses for the modern concertgoers’ must-have accessory and will surely
be in full force at tonight’s Jay-Z concert and Saturday’s John Mayer show at
Scottrade Center. Things are moving so swiftly that staying home and watching concerts
stream live on cell phones may become the norm. “It’s something that goes hand
in hand as a concertgoer — your ticket and then your cell phone, said Justin Stiehr,
Verizon Wireless’ as” sociate director of marketing for Missouri and Kansas.“After
you get patted down, those are the two things you walk into a concert with. ”
See PHONES • Page A9

CHRIS LEE • clee@post-dispatch.com

U.S. wants Thomson prison with or without detainees
Obama administration spells out intent in letter.
BY CHRISTI PARSONS • Tribune Newspapers

Tweet-along

THE KING OF HIP-HOP
Rapper Jay-Z follows his “Blueprint” CDs to the top, scoring with a series of
hits. We pick our favorites. In Go! magazine

rack Obama’s administration plans to purchase a state prison in rural Thomson,
Ill., regardless of whether Congress allows terrorism suspects to be transferred
there, a Justice Department official said Thursday. In a letter to a member of the
Illinois congressional delegation, Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich spelled
out the administration’s intent to go ahead with plans to buy the nearly empty
Thomson prison, even if lawmakers refuse to approve its use as a new home for detainees
at the military-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. At the least, Weich said, the

WASHINGTON • President Ba-

federal Bureau of Prisons intends to use the prison for high-security inmates. The
letter comes in response to questions from Rep. Donald Manzullo, the Republican who
represents the area in Congress. The Justice Department has asked for $237 million
in next year’s budget to buy and begin operating the Thomson prison. It has the
option of requesting money sooner to upgrade security and prepare the prison for
its intended use. Obama has directed the agency tobuythesite“tofulfillbothofthe
goals of reducing federal prison
See PRISON • Page A10

W E ATHER • TO DAY 67 °
Vol. 132, No. 78 ©2010

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