(Misourinet) – The Missouri Supreme Court will hear arguments today from a man sentenced to death, who with his girlfriend brutally raped, tortured, and killed two women and videotaped the attacks.

Richard Davis was convicted of first-degree murder and multiple counts of assault, rape, and sodomy, for the May 2006 attack on Marsha Spicer of Independence. His then girlfriend, Dena Riley, is serving life without parole after taking a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. Both also pleaded guilty to a similar attack on Michelle Huff-Ricci of Kansas City. The attacks of both women were videotaped.

Davis claims his attorneys were ineffective to the point of violating his constitutional rights. He says a psychiatrist should have been called to testify about him having bipolar disorder, and having been prescribed a psychotropic medication that should have been taken with a mood stabilizer. He also says a psychologist should have testified about abuse he suffered as a child. He’s asking the court to throw out his death sentence and give him a new trial or penalty phase.

The Court has previously upheld his death sentence. Riley is serving life in the state prison at Chillicothe.

Once the court hears those arguments, it could consider the case for any length of time before issuing a decision.

(Missourinet) – The state Supreme Court is being asked today whether a northeast Missouri doctor is liable in the death of a man due to a terminal brain tumor because he didn’t catch that tumor earlier.

A Hannibal man, Joseph Mickels, died in June 2009 after undergoing brain surgery in February of that year. A Hannibal doctor, Dr. Raman Danrad, didn’t detect Mickels’ brain tumor in a December, 2008 CT scan but did on a scan in February, 2009.

The Court is being asked to consider whether Mickels would have lived any longer if his tumor had been caught earlier. His family argues he would have, and say the doctor was negligent.

Danrad’s attorneys argue that under Missouri legal precedent, the doctor is not liable because the tumor was terminal regardless of how early it was found.

The family is asking the Court to allow a lower court jury trial to proceed. Once the Supreme Court hears today’s arguments, it could issue a decision at any time.

(Missourinet) – More calls to Missouri’s Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline are reporting neglect than any other complaints. Children’s Division Director Tim Decker says thousands of such calls are received each year.

“About 60% of our calls to the hotline are allegations of neglect. Then there’s a percentage of calls that come in around physical and sexual abuse,” said Decker.

He said a growing number of children are in foster care because their parents are dealing with substance abuse.

“When parents are using substances, it can create not only neglectful but also harmful situations for children,” said Decker. “Babies and young children are especially vulnerable but all populations can be vulnerable in their own way. Some of the challenges we’ve had in our communities around substances abuse begin to cause challenges for the child welfare system.

About 13,000 children are in Missouri’s foster care system with less than 6,000 foster families serving them.

(Missourinet) – Republican legislative budget leaders say they don’t know why Governor Nixon is blocking the spending of $46-million in the current budget. They tell Missourinet the state has more than six-times that in surplus.

Nixon says he’s going to block that spending – nearly $16.8-million of it for several health care provider rate increases – because a court ruling means Missouri likely won’t receive $50-million of tobacco settlement money this fiscal year that he and lawmakers both counted on.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kurt Schaefer said budget restrictions are not necessary.

“Particularly because he’s still sitting on $325-million that was a surplus at the end of the last budget year, that we did not spend in this year’s budget,” said Schaefer.

House Budget Committee Vice-Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick said that would mean the restrictions announced Monday by Nixon aren’t constitutional.

“We’re bringing in revenue in excess of what the budget requires, so per the Constitution those budget withholds shouldn’t be occurring,” said Fitzpatrick.

Nixon says the restrictions are necessary to protect the state’s AAA credit rating.

(Missourinet) – The state board of education has endorsed a limit to how much the state will reimburse school districts for pre-school special education program lease agreements. The rule would apply to deals made on or before March 2, 2015 and to those renewed after July 1, 2019.

A state legislative committee is expected to consider the rule on Wednesday.

Ron Lankford with the Department of Education said the proposal was created because the Nixa school district wanted a nearly $900,000 annual reimbursement.

“It was a relatively low number of students that were being served,” said Lankford. “That particular cost was what really got our attention. We needed to get this under control because it simply could not be sustained as any kind of a model to go statewide.”

Lankford said a limit has to be set.

“We’re seeking to get a situation of where if the Department finds that a reimbursement through a lease is a reasonable cost, that we can set parameters that really gives it a rational or logical basis,” said Lankford.

He said there are 23 early childhood lease agreements that would be affected by the change.

(Missourinet) – About 13,000 children are in foster care in Missouri, and the state Children’s Division says the need for more foster homes is growing.

The state’s Children’s Division says Missouri needs more homes for foster children.

“We had a steady decrease in the number of foster children in the state’s care from around 2004 or 2005 to 2009.” said Tim Decker with the Division. “Ever since 2009, it’s been climbing by three to five percent a year.”

He said fewer than 6,000 Missouri homes are providing care for foster children.

“They may not all have children right now but they may be available to take children because they’ve met their requirements and they’re ready to go,” said Decker. “Others may have done it for a while and maybe aren’t taking children right now. So, that’s kind of a moving number in terms of how many are available and what age groups [homes] are available for. One of our most substantial struggles is having foster homes for older youth.”

Decker said though there aren’t enough foster homes, if a child is required to be removed from the home, a place will be found for that child.

He said respite care is also an option for foster parents who need short term care for a foster child. Respite care gives foster parents a break from childcare, for a weekend, for example.

The requirements to become a foster parent include a background check, home inspection, training, health screening, and financial assessment, among other things. To adopt or become a foster parent, contact a local Children’s Division office.

(Missourinet) – Governor Jay Nixon (D) has announced he is restricting the spending of more than $46-million across more than 40 programs in the state budget.

A state appeals court has overturned a lower court ruling, and that would allow tobacco companies to forgo paying Missouri $50-million under the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. The Attorney General’s Office is appealing, but a decision is not likely before the end of the fiscal year.

So, says Nixon, his office must withhold money to keep Missouri from going over budget. He says he targeted restrictions on programs that have not begun and on new spending increases.

More than $35-million of those restrictions from programs in the Departments of Mental Health; Health and Senior Services; and Social Services.

The restrictions mean Medicaid providers will see a 1-percent increase rather than the 3-percent that was budgeted, with the 1-percent coming from money anticipated to be generated by Missourians paying back taxes under the tax amnesty program that runs through November 1.

Republicans budget leaders are questioning the timing of the restrictions, coming in the second quarter of the fiscal year.

(Missourinet) – Today is Walt Disney Day in Missouri. The global icon for kids spent part of his childhood in the Show-Me State. Walt Disney lived from age six to ten on a farm in the small town of Marceline in northern Missouri.

Peter Whitehead from the Walt Disney Hometown Museum in Marceline said Disney spent formative boyhood years in the small Linn County town.

“Literally an icon, a worldwide-known figure called your little community his home. It’s incredibly important,” said Whitehead.

Although Disney’s family only lived in Marceline for four years, Disney’s ties to the town are pronounced, with the elementary school and post office named for him as well. “Main Street U.S.A” in Disney World is based off Marceline’s Main Street.

The town also provided inspiration for the film Lady and the Tramp.

(Missourinet) – Friday marks World Food Day, which aims to raise awareness about hunger. There are more than 1200 food pantries statewide. Feeding Missouri Spokesperson Monica Palmer said one in five Missourians seek assistance from a food pantry program or shelter.

“The demand is getting greater, but the food banks are working hard to make sure that all the pantries and soup kitchens have enough food to get into the hands of clients,” said Palmer. “With that said, there have been times in this past year that our pantries have had to turn away people.”

Palmer said hunger exists everywhere, regardless of urban or rural settings, but said many people in rural areas suffer from hunger due to lack of money and access to food.

Palmer hopes more people will give food to assistance programs instead of wasting it.

“Food is a limited natural resource. There’s a limit to the amount of food and right now 40% of the food that is manufactured is actually being thrown into landfills,” said Palmer.

USDA says Missouri has the second highest percentage in the nation of households without enough food to eat.