(Missourinet) – Missouri will offer a tax amnesty period from September 1 to November 30. Tax amnesty provides individuals and businesses with a one-time opportunity to pay back taxes that were due prior to December 31, 2014 without having to pay interest or penalties.

Michelle Gleba with the Department of Revenue said eligible Missourians will be notified.

“We’re planning to send out direct mailings to taxpayers and businesses in mid-August,” said Gleba. “They can complete the amnesty-eligible notice, which will show them the amount they owe, as well as the amount they would save in interest and penalties.”

“If you participate in tax amnesty, you must also agree to comply with state tax laws for the next eight years and agree to be excluded from future amnesty programs,” said Gleba.

Approximately $60 million in Missouri taxes have not been collected and Gleba the state’s goal is to collect what’s owed. House bill 384 says the money collected will go toward a tax amnesty fund that will be administered by the State Treasurer.

Tax types eligible include individual or corporate income tax, corporate franchise tax, employer withholding tax, sales tax, consumer’s or vendor’s use tax and fiduciary tax.

WICHITA, KAN. – A Wichita man who was arrested after putting a gun to his girlfriend’s head pleaded guilty Monday to a federal firearm charge, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.

Teagan C. Gulley, 35, Wichita, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm following a felony conviction. In his plea, he admitted that Wichita police officers responding to a report of domestic violence saw him pointing a gun at his girlfriend. He was arrested and officers seized a .45 caliber handgun. He was a previously convicted felon at the time and he was prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm.

Sentencing is set for Nov. 9. Both parties have agreed to recommend a sentence of 77 months in federal prison.

A former Springfield, Mo., man who was a fugitive from justice in Mexico for nearly seven years pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to tax evasion.

Scott Christopher Lucas, also known as Scott C. Bogan, 57, formerly of Springfield, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to the charge contained in a Dec. 17, 2008, federal indictment. Lucas was arrested in Colorado in April 2015 and remains in federal custody without bond.

Lucas was employed by Wyndham Vacation Ownership, Inc. (doing business as Fairfield Resorts) as a time-share salesman in Branson, Mo., from 2002 to 2005. During those four years, according to today’s plea agreement, Lucas earned a gross income of $811,367 in wages and a total taxable income of $719,505, for a total tax due and owing of $142,418.

According to court documents, Lucas fled to Mexico when he learned of the federal grand jury investigation. The United States obtained a “Red Notice” – an international wanted persons alert – by the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL). For several years, efforts to locate Lucas within Mexico or obtain the active assistance of the Mexican authorities remained unsuccessful. A U.S. Marshal’s Service task force officer traced Lucas’s whereabouts to Playa del Carman, Mexico, in February 2015.

On April 29, 2015, Lucas was arrested at the Denver International Airport, in Denver, Colo., when he returned to the United States to seek medical treatment. Because of Lucas’s health concerns, his appearance in federal court was delayed.

By pleading guilty today, Lucas admitted that he failed to file income tax returns from 2002 through 2005. Throughout his employment with Wyndham, Lucas used the name Scott Christopher Lucas, when his legal surname, and the surname he used in his dealings with the IRS, was Bogan. To avoid having income taxes withheld from his pay, Lucas filed IRS forms in which he claimed exemption from the withholding of income taxes.

Lucas also admitted that he titled a 1998 Hummer H-1 vehicle, purchased in 2003, in another person’s name, in an attempt to conceal his ownership of the vehicle from the IRS. Lucas also left the title and registration to a houseboat he purchased in February 2006 in the name of the previous owner, instead of registering the houseboat in his own name as required by law, in an attempt to conceal his ownership of the houseboat from the IRS.

Lucas used a false Social Security number throughout the application and loan documents in connection with his purchase of a $275,000 Springfield residence in February 2004. This represented an attempt by Lucas to conceal his ownership of the residence from the IRS.

In pleading guilty to Count One of the indictment, charging him with income tax evasion for the 2002 tax year, Lucas admitted that he received a total income of approximately $244,974 in 2002, of which approximately $233,274 was taxable income. Lucas also admitted that he owed an income tax of approximately $65,701.

Lucas will be required to pay $125,241 in restitution for the total remaining balance of unpaid taxes, plus interest, from 2002 through 2005. Lucas also will be required to pay $41,368 in restitution to the state of Missouri for state taxes evaded.

Under federal statutes, Lucas is subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

(Missourinet) – The University of Missouri is experiencing its highest enrollment on record. The student population has increased slightly from a year ago, surpassing 35,000 students for the first time.

The number of minority and international students on campus increased, with each group growing by about 100 students this fall.

The student body includes 27,589 undergraduates, 6,266 graduate students and 1,195 professional students. This year’s freshman class of 6,211 is the fourth-largest in school history.
Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin says recruiting is important, but so is retention.

“It’s a combination of many things, it’s financial, academic and social. So you have a variety of factors in here,” says Loftin. “We try to tackle all of those as best as we can.”

A record retention rate is credited as one of the factors in the growth. Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin says retention is a major focus.

“We need to be better. We’re getting about 80%, on the average, of our freshmen returning for their sophomore year. It should be over 90,” says Loftin.

Fall classes at Mizzou started Monday.

(Missourinet) – Most of the GOP candidates seeking the Republican nomination for governor were at the Governor’s Ham Breakfast at the Missouri State Fair. That’s four who have officially declared their candidacy, and one who has all but.

Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder has been polling high since he entered the race. He thinks he keeps that momentum by doing what he’s done in winning three statewide campaigns.

“And that is just trying to show up all over the state as often as you can, in as many diverse and different places as you can, and in my case that includes going into the urban core to compete for minority votes who usually don’t vote Republican,” Kinder told Missourinet.

Kinder said it’s more important to him that a Republican become governor than that he become governor, but he thinks his record of winning statewide elections makes him the most likely Republican to win.

“It’s time for Republicans to go with and line up behind a proven winner,” said Kinder.

Former House Speaker and U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway has been in the race the longest, and thinks her time out of office sets her apart from Kinder.

“Living in the real world, raising our kids, working for a living, not being a career politician is a vastly different experience, but it’s not as though I’m without experience in government,” said Hanaway.

Springfield state senator Bob Dixon has been in the race for just more than a month, but said he declined requests that he run for more than a year. He doesn’t think that delay has cost him backers.

“Support has been quietly there over the year and I didn’t realize how much they were very supportive and their on board and really pushing very hard in support of our effort,” said Dixon.
2012 Senate candidate and businessman John Brunner told Missourinet his formal announcement will come within a month.

“People are all hung up on these stages here, but we’re full in, all the way, doing everything we can,” said Brunner, who noted that no one is officially a candidate until filing begins in the spring.
Brunner thinks voters want someone whose background isn’t political.

“Whether it’s doctor Ben Carson on the national level or Donald Trump on the national level, people are fed up, and they want people who have done things to get in there and get the job done,” said Brunner.

Former state representative and deputy director of agriculture Randy Asbury is confident he is building name recognition, “Getting out and speaking wherever we can, and we take every opportunity to do that. People are seeing that we’re legitimate, that we’re serious, and that we’re a contender.”

Three of the GOP gubernatorial hopefuls commented on the allegations that Planned Parenthood has broken laws against selling fetal tissue. Hanaway thinks Governor Jay Nixon (D) should call a special session to increase the penalty for such a crime.

“It’s only a misdemeanor in Missouri and we need to at least get it up to a felony. It’s a serious crime,” said Hanaway. “That way if somebody is caught doing it, if it proves to be true that is happening in Planned Parenthood, we can seriously penalize the people doing it.”

Asbury hopes the videos raising those allegations have an impact even on people who are pro-choice.

“I think if Planned Parenthood disappeared there are plenty of services out there through local opportunities that women can partake of without problems, so as far as I’m concerned Planned Parenthood can disappear,” said Asbury. “Because what they do is not a benefit to our state and certainly not a benefit to our children.”

On the day after the first of those videos was released Kinder called for legislative hearings into Planned Parenthood’s operations in Missouri – hearings that continue this week.
The candidates also participated in a forum at the Missouri Farm Bureau building about the federal clean water rule, better known as the Waters of the U.S.

Dixon said such regulations are threatening Missourians, particularly in the agriculture industry.

“That is a clear example of the federal government run amok. It doesn’t make any sense, and in Missouri we are common sense people,” said Dixon.

Brunner would make 5 GOP candidates, and a likely 6th would be former Navy SEAL and author Eric Greitens.

They’re vying for the chance to challenge Democrat Chris Koster for the governor’s office in 2016.

(Missourinet) – The first meeting will be held this week of a task force to discuss human trafficking in Missouri. Gayle Reynoso with the Missouri Coalition against Domestic and Sexual Violence is a member of the panel and says finding the resources to assist human trafficking victims will be a priority.

“Many people who have experienced human trafficking have also experienced domestic and sexual violence,” says Reynoso. “Our domestic and sexual violence programs are already so taxed. Last year for example, more than 23,000 people were turned away from shelters.”

Reynoso says Missouri doesn’t have tools in place to keep people from becoming victims.

“The thing is, prevention really has to focus on addressing demand and the societal reasons that the purchase of sex is acceptable. So I hope that’s something as well the task force looks at,” says Reynoso.

A resolution to establish the task force was unanimously passed by the Missouri Legislature this year. The task force will be responsible for raising awareness, providing organizations and agencies that enforce human trafficking laws a central place to share information, and making recommendations for legislation to the General Assembly.

Proponents of trafficking legislation say the human trafficking industry generates $150 billion a year in profits worldwide, with an estimated 21 million victims, 5.5 million of those being children.

(Missourinet) – The development of renewable energy sources is bringing three Missouri companies together. Ameren is teaming up with technology company Enginuity and an agri-business called ECAP to try and add biomass fuel, which is developed from organic materials such as wood and crops, into its fuel mix.

State Agriculture Director Richard Fordyce says the effort is good for agriculture and good for Missouri.

“I think it’s an opportunity for Missouri farmers to have an additional revenue opportunity,” says Fordyce. “It’s an opportunity for us to do the right thing from an environmental perspective.”

Fordyce says Ameren also wants to increase the amount of biomass fuel used to generate electricity, which could reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“It is critically important that we find new technologies to continue to protect coal-fired power plants, because that’s where we get our power. This is an awesome opportunity,” says Fordyce.

Nancy Heimann with Enginuity says Missouri has a variety of resources that can be used.

“We’ve got farm communities with some that focus on crops and some focus on forestry. We have to be able to use all of that to really bridge our way to a different way of bio power,” says Heimann.

Approximately 180 jobs and a $40-million annual impact in the rural economy are projected to result from the initiative.

(Missourinet) – Missouri’s House Speaker says there was never an intention to create a separate dress code for House interns in response to recent scandals.

Earlier this week an e-mail discussion among some House Republicans of a new dress code being part of an updated House intern policy was denounced by critics as “victim blaming,” in relation to recent scandals involving the sexual harassment of interns.

House Speaker Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff) says the dress code idea was never on the table.

“The task force that I appointed did not include any type of dress code as part of their recommendation,” said Richardson. “As we do with a lot of big, important policy issues, we threw the recommendations out to the entire House of Representatives for input and comment. Any time you do that you’re going to get some well thought out ideas and some that probably aren’t so well thought out.”

“We have a professional dress code that covers everybody who works in the House, whether it be members, staff, or interns,” said Richardson. “I feel very confident that dress code is sufficient and we won’t be doing anything further.”

A House Democrat, John Rizzo (D-Kansas City) has asked Richardson to turn that task force into a committee, to allow its work to be done in public and to make sure those affected will have a chance to speak about it.

Richardson says the policy will already have to be considered by the Administration and Accounts committee.

“At some point there will be a public hearing and a vote on whatever policy we have,” said Richardson. “We’re continuing to collect a lot of input from a lot of places, not just from inside the building but from outside the building. I feel very confident that our process has been right to get us to the best policy we could have.”

The effort to update the intern policy began in the wake of the resignation of former House Speaker John Diehl, Junior, after it came to light he was exchanging sexually suggestive texts with an intern. Since then a state Senator, Paul LeVota, resigned effective Sunday amid charges he sexually harassed interns, though LeVota has denied the accusations.