The latest local news, weather and high school sports in and around Columbia and Jefferson City

NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says he has "paid taxes every year — and a lot of taxes."

Romney on Friday rejected claims by Harry Reid, the Democratic leader of the Senate, and other Democrats that Romney has used loopholes to avoid paying taxes for a decade on his vast personal wealth.

Campaigning in Reid's home state of Nevada, Romney said those claims are "patently, simply false." He said Reid needs to stop spreading rumors.

But Romney's word is all anyone has to go on.

He has released his 2010 tax return and an estimate of his 2011 taxes, but has refused to information for prior years. He says his political rivals will exploit the information.

In 2010, Romney, a multimillionaire, paid 13.9 percent tax on income of $21.6 million.