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Auditor Galloway to investigate questionable government payouts

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Missouri department of conservationMissouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway has directed her staff to begin a review of potentially improper or inappropriate payouts made with public dollars. The review was prompted by reports the former director of the Department of Conservation was still receiving salary payments more than eight months after his employment ended potentially as part of a separation or settlement agreement to resolve claims that may have been levied against the department.

“I am concerned about potential inappropriate payments agreed to by the Missouri Conservation Commission, and will immediately begin a review to determine whether other state agencies are negotiating back-channel settlements with taxpayer dollars,” Auditor Galloway said.

Sen. Kiki Curls has also raised this issue as part of her work on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“It’s important that State departments and agencies are transparent with the public regarding any settlement payouts arising from claims against their department or the State. If settlements are being awarded for any reason, taxpayers and the legislature have a right to be made aware of it,” Sen. Kiki Curls said.

“I thank Senator Curls for bringing this important issue to my attention,” Auditor Galloway said.

The investigation will occur in addition to an ongoing audit of the state’s Legal Expense Fund, which is the fund used to make payments stemming from lawsuits against the state. Additional work will also take place as part of a regularly scheduled audit of the Department of Conservation.

Individuals with information to share or concerns related to payments or other settlements may contact the State Auditor’s Whistleblower Hotline by calling 800-347-8597. Callers may choose to remain anonymous. You may also email the office at moaudit@auditor.mo.gov, or use the new online submission form at auditor.mo.gov/hotline.

SJSD continues community engagement meetings

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wpid-sjsd-logo2.jpgThe St. Joseph School District began another round of community engagement meetings this week. 

According to School Superintendent Dr. Robert Newhart, they’re building off of last fall’s meetings to rebrand the community engagement effort. 

“The new branding is ‘One Vision. Many Voices. Our Future.’ As we’re trying to lay this out, we want this to be ongoing to where we don’t have to recreate the wheel and we can work to come together to set forth one path,” Newhart said. “Ultimately decisions have to be made but we want to listen, we want to gain input. That’s what all these community engagement meetings are designed to be is to gain that input, determine priorities and needs and then ultimately deciding on how to fund that.” 

Newhart said one item the board is working on is getting a November revenue issue on the ballot. He said the public and especially parents are encouraged to get involved with any of the more than 20 meetings which will include two Town Hall meetings and school finance sessions.

“It’s the parents and the kids that really have to take this ownership in the district’s future,” Newhart said. “Just in the last six years, there’s a brand new set of kids that have come up from kindergarten through grade five in the district. That’s roughly 5,000-6,000 kids and families that is always ongoing and a new group is coming in next year as kindergartners. So we’ve got to sit back and listen and take some notes at these meetings and let the parents and the public provide input on what they believe the needs and the priorities are that will help meet these student’s future goals.”

The second of the open house style informational meetings takes place beginning at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Benton High School. 

For a full list of all the upcoming meetings, click here.

Nebraska business owner to serve six months for violations of Clean Air Act

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USDOJ bas relief logoA Nebraska man will serve six months in prison for violating the federal Clean Air Act. Acting U.S. Attorney Robert C. Stuart said Patrick Keough’s company used gel coats and hazardous paints to manufacture fiberglass animals without the required filters and permits in two southeastern Nebraska villages.

U.S. Judge Laurie Smith Camp sentenced Keough to six months’ imprisonment, followed by a one-year term of supervised release.

Keough is the owner of America’s Fiberglass Animals (AFA). AFA uses gel coats and Hazardous Air Pollutant (HAP) paints to manufacture fiberglass animals. The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) determined that AFA required a construction permit and fabric filters in the manufacturing area to operate its business.

Keough continued to operate his business in Shelton, Nebraska, without securing a permit or installing fabric filters. He then moved the business to Minden, Nebraska, without advising NDEQ and without securing the required permit. The business continued to operate without fabric filters.

This case was investigated by United States Environmental Protection Agency Region VII. The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality assisted with the investigation.

Sign-ups underway for Citizen’s Law Enforcement Academy

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Citizen's Academy enrollment information
Citizen’s Academy enrollment information

Law enforcement officials are touting an upcoming course for the public to gain hands-on experience on how the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office and the St. Joseph Police Department operate.

Each year the departments team-up for a Joint Citizens Law Enforcement Academy.  Around 3o community members can participate in the eight-week course.

Police Chief Chris Connally said there’s no charge to attend.  However, participants have to be 18 or older and pass a background check.

“You get into things like crime scene investigations and some of the tools that we have and some of the realities that may not coincide with what you see on TV. Things like on TV they get DNA back immediately, we don’t get it back immediately.  Even if it’s a homicide, it’s months,” Connally said. “It’s a great opportunity to interact, it’s two-way communication.”

The academy starts April 11 and runs through May 30.  Classes meet on Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.  Anyone wanting to sign-up should contact Sgt. Roy Hoskins at (816) 236-1473 or Evidence Specialist Valerie Pasley at (816) 236-8894.

Kansas A.G. sues three in lottery-rigging scandal

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kansas lotteryThe Kansas Attorney General is suing three people accusing them of submitting false claims for lottery winnings. In the lawsuit, Attorney General Derek Schmidt asked the Shawnee County District Court to order Eddie Raymond Tipton, Amy Demoney and Christopher McCoulskey to repay a total of about $44,000.

Schmidt says that’s the amount they received from redeeming lottery tickets that “won” as the result of Tipton’s manipulation of number-generating software through the multi-state lottery.

Tipton, a former computer-security official with the Multi-State Lottery Association, also faces criminal charges in Iowa related to his alleged manipulation of multi-state lottery software. The Kansas lawsuit was served on the defendants last week.

In the lawsuit, Schmidt alleges that in December 2010, Tipton purchased two lottery tickets from gas stations in Overland Park and Emporia, which he then gave to Demoney and McCoulskey to present for payment. Those tickets, the lawsuit alleges, had been rigged to win by Tipton’s software manipulation at the multi-state lottery. In February and June of 2011, Demoney and McCoulskey submitted the tickets to the Kansas Lottery, and were paid a total of $44,008 for the “winning” tickets. They then gave a portion of the proceeds to Tipton.

In addition to seeking repayment of the moneys paid for the rigged winning tickets, the lawsuit asks the court to impose civil penalties for violations of the Kansas False Claims Act.

Neither Tipton nor the Multi-State Lottery Association had direct access to the Kansas Lottery’s internal gaming system. The Kansas Lottery has conducted an internal analysis and investigation into whether Tipton’s activities otherwise affected the Kansas Lottery or its players. Those investigations revealed no indications that Tipton affected the Lottery’s internal systems, security of its games, or manipulated any internal drawings performed by the Kansas Lottery.

In 2009, the Kansas Legislature enacted the Kansas False Claims Act, giving the attorney general authority to file suit against individuals or entities that submit false or fraudulent claims for payment to a state agency or local government. As a member of the Kansas Senate at the time, Schmidt was one of the original proponents of creating a false claims act in Kansas.

Warmer weather on the way

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weather-3-15After a cold start to the day, temperatures will only warm in the lower 40s. But rest assured, spring will reestablish itself later in the week and into the weekend. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:

Today: Partly sunny, with a high near 41. South wind 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 32. South southeast wind 6 to 8 mph.

Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 64. South wind 8 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.

Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 49. South wind 9 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.

Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 66. North northwest wind 8 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.

Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 35.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 58.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 37.

Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 68.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 52.

Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 71.

Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 41.

Tuesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 57.

 

Bald Eagle dies after Smithville tornado

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This bald eagle was found with a broken wing March 9 on private land near Smithville Lake and it died on March 12. Conservation agents later found nearby an eagle nest downed by a tornado that passed through the area on March 6. The eagle had been placed in the care of licensed wildlife rehabilitators. This photo was taken as an agent prepared to transport it to a rehabilitator. Photo courtesy MDC
This bald eagle was found with a broken wing March 9 on private land near Smithville Lake and it died on March 12.  This photo was taken as an agent prepared to transport it to a rehabilitator. Photo courtesy MDC

A bald eagle found with a damage wing last week at a Smithville Lake has died due to injuries according to the Missouri Department of Conservation.

The eagle died Sunday.

A passerby found the injured eagle at a roadside near the lake. The bird was taken by a Conservation Agent to a wildlife rehabilitation expert, and it was later taken to the University of Missouri Veterinary Health Center in Columbia, where it died, said Conservation Agent Brian Bartlett. As tornados touched down in the area March 6, one passing through the Smithville Lake area knocked down a bald eagle nest on private land. The eagle suffered a badly fractured wing during the storm. A passerby found the eagle standing near the roadside on March 9 in the vicinity of Route F and Southwest King Road. That location is south of Trimble and just north of the Smithville, on the west side of the lake. Clay County Parks and Recreation rangers picked the eagle up and turned it over to Bartlett.

Smithville Lake usually has three or four active eagle nests, so eagles will still be in the area this spring. The return of nesting bald eagles to Missouri has been touted as a conservation success.

SJSD fills several leadership positions

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The St. Joseph School District has filled several leadership positions.

Leah Richardson has been selected as Humboldt Elementary School’s principal for the 2017‐18 school year. She will take over for Jaimee Lawrence who recently accepted the principal job at Hyde Elementary School. Richardson has been with the district since 2006. She started as a teacher, then worked toward a leadership position. During this school year, Richardson has shared time between Oak Grove Elementary where she is the assistant principal and Webster Learning Center where she was the acting principal.   

Richardson holds a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from William Woods University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Missouri Western State University. She is currently taking courses to complete her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Nebraska‐Lincoln.

John Wachtel will join the team at Carden Park Elementary School as assistant principal for the 2017‐18 school year. Wachtel started his career with the district in 2006. He is currently working as a physical education teacher at Coleman Elementary School.   

He holds a Master’s Degree in Administration from William Woods University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education from Missouri Western State University. He is currently working toward the Missouri Administration/Principal Certification.

Lynn Davis has been selected to fill the open assistant principal role at Benton High School. Davis filled the role in the interim after Michele Thomason accepted the principal position at Webster Learning Center. Davis started her career as a para at Truman Middle School before spending the last 10 years teaching art at Benton where she was also the Fine Arts chair.

Davis has a specialist degree in K‐12 administration from Northwest Missouri State University, a Master’s Degree in Education Teacher Leadership from NWMSU and a Bachelor’s Degree in Studio Art from Missouri Western State University. 

The St. Joseph School District Board of Education approved these hires during executive session on Monday.

No foul play suspected in woman’s shooting death in Daviess County

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(Update Tuesday 9:30 a.m.) – After being missing for nearly a month a Liberty woman has been identified as the woman found dead Sunday in Daviess County of a gunshot wound.

According to Capt. Andy Hedrick with the Liberty Police Department, Antwanette Michelle Delagarza was found dead in her car in rural Daviess County on Sunday. Delagarza was reported as a missing person since February 21. No foul play is suspected. The case is under investigation by the Daviess County Sheriff’s Department as an apparent suicide.

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Daviess County Sheriff's Badge(Monday) – The Daviess County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after a woman was found dead from a gunshot wound Sunday afternoon.

According to a news release, officers responded around 3:30 p.m. to a residence on the northwest part of Daviess County to investigate a death. After arriving, authorities found  a women dead from an apparent gunshot wound.  Sgt. Larry Adams with the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office said the identity of the woman as well as the cause and manner of death will be released at a later time as authorities continue to investigate the incident.

Little other information was released.

Snow contributes to crash near Maryville

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MSHP purpleTraffic investigators say snow contributed to a crash east of Maryville that send a 75-year-old woman to the hospital with serious injuries.

A crash report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol says Gertrude Degase of Maryville was driving along U.S. Highway 136 near Liberty Road when she lost control of her pickup on the snow-covered roadway.

The truck struck a metal culvert, an embankment and a fence before coming to rest on its wheels.

Degase was transported to SSM Health St. Francis in Maryville for treatment of serious injuries.

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