Month: March 2019
Missouri man charged in shooting death of his brother
KINGSVILLE, Mo. (AP) — A 54-year-old western Missouri has been charged in the shooting death of his brother.
Victor Sanders, of Kingsville, was charged Monday with voluntary manslaughter, armed criminal action and three other felonies in the death of his 57-year-old brother, Michael Sanders, of Odessa.
Michael Sanders was found dead Sunday at his brother’s home in Kingsville.
A probable cause statement says Victor Sanders admitted to shooting his brother several times during an argument over a sibling who is incarcerated. Victor Sanders said he shot Michael when his brother lunged at him.
Court records show Victor Sanders had several convictions for first-degree assault and possession and distribution of a controlled substance.
Online court records don’t list an attorney for Sanders.
China, U.S., Nearing Trade Deal
The U.S. and China are inching closer to an agreement on trade that could be reached this month, according to those close to the talks. Bloomberg reports an agreement could be reached and finalized later this month during a planned summit between China’s President and President Donald Trump. As part of the potential agreement, China would lower tariffs on agricultural products.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue at the 2019 Commodity Classic last week told reporters, a “magnificent conclusion to the U.S.-China negotiations will involve doubling and tripling our farm exports to China.” Perdue also said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the prospects for a final agreement.
President Trump put off a planned round of tariff increases to start the month. However, the U.S. wants to continue to have the threat of tariffs as leverage to ensure China will comply with any agreement.
Griffon baseball moves home series to Northeastern State
ST. JOSEPH – Due to weather and field conditions in St. Joseph, Missouri Western baseball’s scheduled weekend series with Northeastern State has been moved to Tahlequah, Oklahoma.
The weekend forecast in Tahlequah also resulted in the coaches altering dates and game times. Missouri Western will play as the home team at Northeastern State in a doubleheader on Thursday, March 7 that begins at 11 a.m. and a single game on Friday at 1 p.m.
It would have been the Griffons’ fourth home series of the season, instead its the fourth-straight home series the Griffons have had to cancel or move to another site due to weather. Missouri Western canceled a series with St. Cloud State; moved its MIAA opening series with Fort Hays State to Edmond, Oklahoma and canceled a two-game non-conference series with Southern Indiana. The Griffons’ next scheduled home contest is Wednesday, March 13 against Maryville.
Missouri Western is 7-6 overall and tied atop the MIAA standings with a 5-1 conference record after taking two out of three at No. 25 Missouri Southern last week.
— MWSU Athletics —
Three Bears earn Missouri Valley Conference basketball honors
ST. LOUIS – Led by two players on the All-Missouri Valley Conference Team and three on the MVC All-Newcomer Team, Missouri State was well represented Tuesday with the release of the league’s first round of postseason men’s basketball awards.
Earning All-MVC honors are first-team selection Tulio Da Silva (Jr., Formiga, Brazil) and third-team selection Keandre Cook (Jr., Baltimore, Md.). Missouri State also had three selections on the MVC All-Newcomer Team with Da Silva and Cook joining fellow transfer Josh Webster (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) on the five-member team.
Da Silva led the Bears this season with 14.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while converting 56.2 percent of his field goal attempts. He ranks among the league’s top 10 players in four statistical categories and is 40th nationally in field goal percentage. He led the Bears in scoring 10 games this season and in rebounding 18 times. He has also scored in double figures in 22 of 26 games at MSU.
Da Silva, a transfer from South Florida, is just the third Bear (Kyle Weems 2011 and 2012; and Alize Johnson 2017 and 2018) over the last 10 seasons to earn All-MVC first-team distinction. He and Loyola sophomore Cameron Krutwig are the only non-seniors on this year’s MVC first team. He is a two-time MVC Player of the Week (Jan. 14 and Feb. 18) and also won MVC Newcomer of the Week the same two weeks.
Cook is averaging 13.0 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and is second on the club with 48 3-pointers this season. He has also converted 39.2 percent of his 3-point attempts in Valley play. He has been MSU’s top scorer 11 times in 2018-19 with five 20-point efforts.
The transfer from Odessa (Texas) College has scored in double figures 23 times this year and earned MVC Player of the Week honors once (Jan. 28) and MVC Newcomer of the Week distinction twice (Nov. 12 and Jan. 28).
Webster leads the Missouri Valley Conference in assists per game (5.2) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.06). His assist-to-turnover ratio also ranks 12th nationally. The Texas Tech transfer is also averaging 7.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per game with 35 steals.
Webster has been MSU’s top assist man in 26 of 31 games this season while scoring in double figures 10 times.
Joining the three Missouri State players on the 2019 MVC All-Newcomer Team are UNI freshman A.J. Green and Drake senior Brady Ellingson.
Coach Dana Ford and the Bears begin the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Friday afternoon in St. Louis. The No. 4 seeded Bears take on fifth-seeded Bradley at 2:30 p.m. at Enterprise Center (formerly Scottrade Center) in St. Louis.
— MSU Athletics —
Mosaic Life Care names new president for Mosaic Medical Center – Maryville
Mosaic Medical Center-Maryville. Photo courtesy Mosaic.
Mosaic Life Care has named Nate Blackford as its new president for Mosaic Medical Center-Maryville effective April 1, 2019, when Mosaic assumes operations of the hospital in Maryville.
According to a news release from Mosaic, Blackford was most recently the vice president and chief operating officer of MPact Health in Parkville, where he played a key leadership role in the creation and development of a multi-state clinically integrated network of physicians, clinics and hospitals. Before that, Blackford was the vice president and chief operating officer of Northwest Medical Center in Albany, Mo., where he directed a broad range of clinical departments and administrative services.
“Nate is a great fit for our medical center in Maryville, and we are excited for this new chapter to begin,” says Mark Laney, MD, Mosaic CEO. “Nate is well-known in the Maryville community and has strong ties there. We look for him to build on the great foundation currently in place, and his background and expertise fit perfectly for this important leadership role.”
In his new role as president, Blackford is responsible for the growth and management of Mosaic Medical Center – Maryville and its affiliated medical group and outpatient services.
Ex-White House counsel, Kansas native calls Robert Mueller ‘American hero’
Attorney Ty Cobb says he does not share President Donald Trump’s opinion that Mueller’s probe into Russian meddling in the election is “a witch hunt” during an ABC News’ podcast “The Investigation” aired Tuesday
Cobb, a Georgetown University law school alumnus and native of Great Bend, Kansas, says Mueller is a “very justice-oriented person.”
Cobb does not believe Mueller’s report will harm the president politically. Cobb says there’s no link to Trump or the campaign in an indictment against Russian hackers and says there’s “no reference to collusion” in a sentencing memo for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Cobb joined the Trump’s White House legal team in July 2017 and left after ten months.
He says Trump should brace himself for upcoming congressional investigations.
KBI investigating Kansas City, Kansas, police chief over lake house
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is investigating the Kansas City, Kansas, police chief’s use of a county-owned lake house.
The investigation centers on whether Chief Terry Ziegler “double dipped” when he took paid time off work while also charging the county government for work he did on the lake house.
The Unified Government allowed Ziegler to pay little rent on the house on Wyandotte Lake Park if he made repairs on the property. Officials put the lease in writing after a citizen inquired about it.
— Terry Zeigler (@KCKPDChief) March 4, 2019
Ziegler sent an email to police department employees on Monday confirming the investigation. He will continue working during the investigation.
In December, Mayor David Alvey said he thought the arrangement with Zeigler was in the county’s best interests.
Windy today with temps near 20
Temperatures will begin to be moderate today but values are expected to remain well below normal through the end of the week. Snow chances return to portions of northern Missouri on Thursday before widespread rains impact much of the region on Saturday. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:
Today: Sunny, with a high near 20. Wind chill values between -3 and 7. Northwest wind 9 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 4. Wind chill values between -5 and zero. West northwest wind 5 to 9 mph becoming light and variable.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 36. Wind chill values between -3 and 7. South southwest wind 5 to 9 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon.
Wednesday Night: A slight chance of snow after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 22. East wind 5 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Thursday: A chance of rain and snow before 4 p.m., then a chance of rain between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., then a chance of rain and snow after 5 p.m. Cloudy, with a high near 35. East wind 9 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Thursday Night: A slight chance of rain before 7 p.m., then a slight chance of freezing drizzle between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 24. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Friday: Partly sunny, with a high near 42.
Friday Night: Snow likely after midnight, mixing with rain after 3 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 34. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Saturday: Rain. High near 50. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
Saturday Night: A chance of rain before midnight, then a chance of rain and snow between midnight and 1am, then a chance of snow after 1 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 30. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 41.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 24.
Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 42.
Missouri GOP lawmaker pitches alternative road repair plan
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A member of the Missouri Senate’s Conservative Caucus is breaking from Republican Gov. Mike Parson and pitching a new plan to pay for road and bridge repairs.
At issue is Parson’s proposal to borrow $350 million to pay to fix 250 bridges across the state , which received a mixed response from fellow Republicans and some Democrats.
Opponents have criticized the estimated $100-million in interest the state would have to pay over 15 years and complained that not enough bridges in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas are on the project list.
So Sen. Bill Eigel, a St. Louis-area Republican and member of the newly founded Conservative Caucus, is instead proposing legislation that would ask Missouri voters to amend the state Constitution to block dedicated road funds from being spent on the Highway Patrol and administrative costs.
He also filed a similar bill that wouldn’t require voter approval.
Eigel said shifting Highway Patrol and administrative costs would free up as much as $300 million each year to put toward infrastructure, but it would also mean the state would instead have to shoulder those expenses with undesignated general revenue.
That pot of money also funds K-12 public education, health care and other state services.
Eigel said the shift in funding sources would “require the Legislature to take an even harder look at where our other general revenue priorities are.”
“I’ve always said the problem with transportation is not a problem with revenue; it’s a problem with prioritization,” Eigel said. “We’re not willing to make the sacrifices in a record-setting, $30-billion budget so that we can address something that all our constituents say is important, which is our roads and bridges.”
A spokesman for the governor’s office said Parson is still focused on his funding plan, and Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, who is sponsoring legislation to enact Parson’s plan, said Eigel’s legislation is “dead on arrival.”
Schatz said while dedicated road funding includes gas-tax revenue from out-of-state drivers, using general revenue would put the financial burden only on Missouri taxpayers.
“I don’t think you can get a consensus majority to accept this proposal,” Schatz said.
Eigel’s proposal would also earmark half of leftover funds at the end of the year for road and bridge projects.
What’s left on the state’s bottom line varies from year to year, but the state had about $166 million leftover at the end of last fiscal year. Under Eigel’s legislation, that would have meant close to $83 million budgeted for infrastructure.