(Missourinet) – Remains from two Missouri military men unaccounted for since the 1952 crash of an Air Force plane in Alaska have been identified and are coming home for burial.

Air Force Airman 3rd Class Wayne Dean Jackson of Downing and Army Technical Sergeant Leonard George Unger of Gerald were among 52 men who died November 22, 1952, when the C-124 Globemaster crashed into Mount Gannett in Alaska. Not long after the crash the wreckage was lost.

It was rediscovered in 2012 some 16 kilometers from the crash site where it had been carried by the Colony Glacier. Since then military teams have gone to the site to recover any remains and wreckage they could before they are carried into nearby Lake George.

Friday morning the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System contacted members of Unger’s and Jackson’s families and told them remains had been identified has belonging to those men. Those family members talked to Missourinet.

Unger’s son Raymond told Missourinet he was surprised.

“It almost looks like you couldn’t find anything there,” said Unger of the wreckage site. “It feels like I’m going to get a little closure.”

Unger’s sister, Theresa Bowland, emotionally told Missourinet the identification means a great deal to her.

“More than you could ever know, because he was my godfather,” said Bowland.

Vicki Kelso Dodson claims Jackson as a brother and has never forgotten his mother wanting him to be brought home.

“She said to me every day, ‘If I could get his body off of that mountain. He hates snow, he hates cold. If I could bring him home,’” said Dodson just hours after getting the call from the AFMES. “She’s been gone now for 16-years but she said that every day to me, and I’m going to bring him home.”

Unger’s family must still determine where his remains will be laid to rest. Dodson said that’s already been decided by Jackson’s mother, who had a stone placed for Jackson in the Downing City Cemetery.

“It has a picture of a C-124 Globemaster on it,” said Dodson. “There’s a spot between his mom and dad. She saved a spot to bring him back and that’s where I’m bringing him.”

The remains are still in AFMES’ custody in Dover, Delaware, until arrangements can be made to transport them.

With the identifications of Jackson and Unger, remains have now been connected to 30 of the 52 men killed in that crash

(Missourinet) – State Senator Jill Schupp (D-Creve Coeur) and Representative Tracy McCreery (D-St. Louis) want to create a family and medical leave program that would allow up to six weeks of earned leave time annually.

“Whether it’s having a child, adopting a baby, bringing in a foster child to your home, reasons that parents need to stay home with their children,” said Schupp.

“If someone becomes ill. We are living so much longer, and oftentimes we need to help our parents or grandparents during their time of need. So, for good cause and good reason.”

Employees would be required to give annually to the fund – approximately $125 for someone making $50,000 a year.

“We really see this earned leave benefit as something that helps not only the working people of the state of Missouri, but also the employers. We see it as a win-win for everyone,” said Schupp.

A person would have to work for an employer for one year before being able to use the leave time.

(Missourinet) – The state House is considering several bills that would ban texting and other uses of mobile devices while driving.
Missouri law only bans texting while driving for those 21 and younger, and no other laws regarding the use of cell phones while driving.

A state House Committee heard bills that would either ban texting while driving by anyone, ban the use of mobile devices by people paid to drive passengers, or ban the use of mobile devices unless they’re equipped to be used hands free.

Representative and former state highway safety director Nate Walker (R-Kirksville) sponsors a ban on texting while driving.

“I’ve witnessed legislators texting on the road, I’ve witnessed other people texting on the road, and if it wasn’t for the rumble strips that are on the road I think you’d have double or more wrecks,” said Walker.

Representative Michele Kratky (D-St. Louis City) proposes banning all use of cell phones unless they’re equipped to be used hands-free. Some have told her that would be government intrusion on drivers’ freedom.

“The problem is nobody’s worried about person out there that gets hit by one of these persons that are texting while driving, and those are the people we should be concerned about. The people that want to be driving on our roads in a safe manner,” said Kratky.

A bill similar to Kratky’s is sponsored by Representative Cloria Brown (R-St. Louis).

Representative Galen Higdon (R-St. Joseph) is proposing for the second straight year a bill that would ban cell phone use by people who are paid to drive passengers.

“You have a life that’s in your vehicle that you’re responsible for that should require your utmost attention. If it’s that important, pull over,” said Higdon.

No one testified against those bills but several spoke in favor of them, including college student Jamie Palermo, who supports the ban after having a crash herself two months ago when going to class in Fulton.

“Literally I was looking down to say, ‘No, I’m not going to call you,’ and I looked down, looked back up, and there were brake lights. I was in the fast lane, I was going about 70.”

No votes have been taken on those bills. They are HB 1423 (Walker), HB 2126 (Higdon), HB 1544 (Brown), and HB 1671 (Kratky).

(Missourinet) – More than 59-million federal dollars have come to individual Missourians in response to flooding in that happened between December 23 and January 9. Missourians have until March 21 to register for assistance.

Spokesman John Mills says of $10.9-million in disaster assistance grants, about $8-million went to people in the St. Louis region.

“Based on that you would call that the hardest hit area in the state, but we’ve also seen hard-hit areas in Cape Girardeau, in the Jefferson City area, south of Jefferson City to Rolla, also in the Springfield/Branson areas and also in the Joplin area and counties to the south of the City of Joplin,” saids Mills. “Of the more than 2000 households statewide that have received assistance, about 1400 of them are in the St. Louis metro area.”

“That is not to say that other parts of the state weren’t hard hit,” said Mills. “If you were hit by this flooding and your life is turned upside-down, you’re going to be able to get the same level of assistance no matter what part of the state you live in.”

More than $40-million dollars in National Flood Insurance payments have been made to Missourians and $7.6-million in low-interestloans to small businesses. That doesn’t count help for governments.

“We’re going to be helping local governments with roads and other public assistance projects in addition to all the assistance that’s been provided to individuals,” said Mills.

Mills says even after the 21, those still needing flood relief assistance should still contact FEMA.

“If FEMA can’t provide the help directly, we may be able to refer you to another organization or agency that could provide some additional assistance to families in need,” said Mills.

He encourages people to contact the Agency at disasterassistance.gov or by calling (800) 621-3362.

(Missourinet) – Governor Jay Nixon’s nominee for military advocate says knowing what national defense budget cuts are possible for Missouri is critical. Joe Driskill says lobbying for the state’s military personnel and needs makes a difference in addressing future budget issues.

“We all know that budgets are being cut and we’re approaching a time when there’s a base realignment and closure commission,” said Driskill. “We need to be very critical in the way we approach the factors that will be considered when those really difficult decisions are made.

If confirmed by the Missouri Senate, Driskill would advocate for things like military personnel, bases and troop levels.

Driskill said the next military base realignment is expected to be announced within the next two years. He said Missouri can’t afford to lose the assets of Fort Leonard Wood and Whiteman Air Force Base.

“Every base and every military asset is in danger when there’s a base realignment and closure commission round,” said Driskill.

He said lobbying must begin, in order to protect both installations.

Missouri ranks 12th in the country in national defense spending. Driskill said Missouri has one of the largest National Guards in the country, with about 12,000 personnel.

“The Department of Defense spending in Missouri was about $33 billion during the last year that it was estimated,” said Driskill. “It supported about 162,000 direct and indirect jobs in Missouri. That’s a huge number and it’s an extremely important part of our economy in Missouri.”

Driskill is the executive director of the non-profit Leonard Wood Institute, which partners with governments and organizations through projects at Fort Leonard Wood. He is also the director of the Sustainable Ozarks Partnership at Fort Leonard Wood. The Partnership aims to implement sustainability strategies for the Fort Leonard Wood region.

In addition to his work with the Institute and the Partnership, Driskill also serves on the board of directors of the Association of Defense Communities (ADC). The ADC is a national organization that unites the diverse interests of communities, state governments, the private sector and all services of the military on issues of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), community-military partnerships, mission growth and sustainment, and support for military families and veterans.

The Mayors of Kansas City and St. Louis have gone on the offensive with legislators who want to eliminate their cities’ earnings taxes.

They told a House Committee the loss of the 1-percent taxes paid by people who work in their cities would result in deep cuts to their police and fire departments.

Some lawmakers like Representative Kirk Mathews (R-Pacific) argue fewer than half the people who pay those taxes get to vote on them, people from outside those cities that pay the taxes benefit less from the services they pay for, and say in some cases they violate the constitutional prohibition on double-taxation.

“We have more than 900 cities across this state and 15,000 local governments across the country who operate safe communities without such a tax on income,” said Mathews.

Kansas City Mayor Sly James said losing the earnings tax would mean his city would have to replace the $230-million it generates but the state’s tax structure limits how it can do that.

“So I’ve been down here and I’ve talked to senators, I’ve talked to representatives, I’ve talked to people, and not a single person has offered a single solution for this,” said James.

James, who testified after Stephanie Lewis with the “Vote No on the E-tax” campaign said the repeal proposal are based on a political agenda.

“Why are you jacking with us when you don’t need to?” James asked lawmakers.

The mayors also took issue with lawmakers who suggested their interest in repealing the taxes is that they hurt the working poor.

“We tried to actually put more money in their pockets by raising their minimum wage per hour over a period of time and you guys told us we couldn’t,” said James.

A Senate bill has been changed to only eliminate St. Louis’ earnings tax. No votes have been taken in the House on the issue.

(Missourinet) – The state legislature has sent Governor Jay Nixon (D) a bill supporters call “paycheck protection” and opponents call “paycheck deception.” The bill would block deduction of union dues from public employees’ pay without their annual permission.

The House voted Thursday 109-49, which sent the legislation to Nixon. If the House and Senate votes stand, there is enough support in both chambers to override a veto by Nixon, which is expected. He vetoed a similar bill in 2013.
The bill has passed early enough for the legislature to attempt a veto override before the session ends in mid-May.

Those who oppose the bill, like Representative Jon Carpenter (R-Kansas City), say the bill wouldn’t just affect public employee unions.

“This is a new mandate for virtually every union that operates in the State of Missouri who currently does not have to do this. They will have to create a new, dual system – one for their private employees and one for their public employees,” said Carpenter.

House Speaker Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff) disputes Democrats’ arguments that the bill isn’t clear.

“There’s no way that you can read sections one and two (of the bill) as applying to private members of labor organizations,” said Richardson.

Carpenter repeats his argument that the bill is another step toward making Missouri a right-to-work state.

“The former speaker of this body has said publicly that this is, quote, ‘A way to get to the ultimate goal of right-to-work.’ That was the stated purpose of this piece of legislation,” said Carpenter, referring to a comment by former Speaker Tim Jones.

Richardson said that’s not true.

“I’m going to tell you what the current speaker says about this bill. This bill has nothing to do with right-to-work,” said Richardson. “It’s never going to be used by a court to get a foothold to getting right-to-work. Right-to-work is a separate and distinct policy discussion.”

Nixon in his veto message on the 2013 bill said it targeted a single group of employees and imposed on them an “unnecessary and cumbersome process.”

He noted that there are other things about which employees can make a one-time decisions whether those would be deducted from pay – money for college savings accounts; deferred compensation; and 401(k) plans. He wrote, “In each of these instances the withholdings are based on one-time authorizations that the employee clearly has the authority to revoke at any time. Employees are not required to take additional steps to cause such withholdings to continue in subsequent years … the bill places unnecessary burdens on public employees for the purpose of weakening labor organizations.”

(Missourinet) – Money cut from the University of Missouri equaling the salary of now-fired Professor Melissa Click and two other administrators would be restored under a budget plan to be debated today, and some lawmakers will fight to restore more money proposed to be cut from MU.

Last week Budget Committee Chairman Tom Flanigan (R-Carthage) released his budget recommendations that would reduce MU’s administration by $7.6-million. It also reduced the Columbia campus budget by more than $402-thousand, an amount equaling the salaries of Click, the Department of Communications Chair, and the Dean of the College of Arts and Science, and proposed breaking the University’s budget out by campus rather than money for all campuses, MU Extension, administration, and multi-campus projects being combined into one budget line.

Flanigan is offering today an amendment to that budget that would restore the money equaling the salaries of Click and the other two positions. Representative Caleb Rowden (R-Columbia) said the firing of Click last week was a step in the right direction.

“I think it speaks to the fact that when things happen positively at Mizzou it has a reflection here in the budget,” said Rowden.

Rowden wants to restore part or all of the $7.6-million as well. He’s proposed taking it from the cost-share program for transportation infrastructure projects being developed by House Republican leadership including the House Speaker.

“We still have a narrative that we have to work to push forward that basically says that when you think you’re cutting administration, you may actually be harming someone else or other groups of people – I.E. students and staff,” said Rowden.

Rowden will also attempt to have the lines for the various MU campuses and funds consolidated back into one line.
The House Budget Committee will consider changes to the $27.1-billion budget today and tomorrow before sending it to the full House. From the House it would go to the Senate.