A Kansas City, Mo., woman was sentenced in federal court Monday for stealing from the government by receiving more than $100,000 in Social Security and other benefits to which she was not entitled.

Glenda Jacobs, 64, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple to two years and six months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Jacobs to pay restitution to the government.

On Sept. 9, 2014, Jacobs pleaded guilty to theft of government property. Jacobs admitted that, from January 2009 to August 2013, she fraudulently obtained $107,604 in Social Security, unemployment and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also known as food stamps) benefits.

Jacobs filed for Supplemental Security Insurance benefits in 1982 and was found disabled. From 1987 forward, Jacobs worked continuously under a second Social Security number while continuing to draw benefits. Jacobs repeatedly failed to report her employment and earnings to the Social Security Administration. Jacobs admitted that she fraudulently received $93,922 in Social Security benefits.

Jacobs admitted that she fraudulently received $8,869 in federal unemployment benefits from August 2011 through September 2012. Jacobs admitted that she fraudulently collected $4,813 in SNAP benefits from January 2011 to August 2013.

By Mike Lear
(Missourinet) – One bill moving in the final four weeks of the session would allow ways to pay for expanding 911 service statewide.

As more and more people drop landline phone service, it has become more difficult for local governments to pay for 911 service. Some counties in Missouri don’t have it at all. Others can’t afford technology that would enable zeroing in on a phone or sending texts to 911 operators.

Representative Jeanie Lauer (R-Blue Springs) is the latest lawmaker to try to solve the issue. Her bill is close to passing out of the House.

“It’s not acceptable to have a wait of 45-minutes for 911 services to come to you when you are in a life-threatening situation. It’s not acceptable not to be able to call in and have someone help you over the phone if there’s a health crisis,” Lauer said during debate Monday.

Her bill would allow funding by a charge on land lines, a sales tax, or a voter-approved charge on any line … including cell phones … that can call 911.

“Of those three options, though, you cannot stack. You can only do one of the three,” said Lauer.

Representative Paul Fitzwater (R-Potosi) urged the chamber to vote for the bill, after telling the story of a father and two sons who froze to death in a part of his district without 911 service.

“When they found the father and they found his phone he had been dialing 911 and he had been texting asking for help, and I assure you that if those services would have been provided in that area they would be here today,” said Fitzwater.

The bill has broad bipartisan support, including from Representative Michael Butler (D-St. Louis).

“If you can imagine living in a very urban area where we’re on the top charts for homicide and you call the police department, you dial 911, you get put on hold, and that’s because it’s just not enough funding to go around,” said Butler.

More than 30 groups testified in favor of the legislation in a House committee while no one spoke in opposition.

Missouri is the only state in the nation that does not have some form of state funding mechanism to support 911.

(Missourinet) – Some of Missouri’s Congressional delegation are fighting to get the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Waters of the U.S.” rule withdrawn. West-central Missouri Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler and East-central Missouri Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer are co-sponsors of a bill targeting rule that backers say protects the nation’s water resources.

According to the EPA’s website, the federal government does not have authority on new types of water such as mud puddles, regulating groundwater or expanding jurisdiction over ditches. Luetkemeyer and Hartzler disagree, and said the rule expands the jurisdiction of the federal government over waters like ditches, flood plains, man-made ponds, and mud puddles.

Hartzler agrees the nation’s water supply must be kept safe, but says, “We need to make sure that we do it in a way that works with states and local governments to ensure this happens and isn’t a federal land grab,” said Hartzler. “This is certainly very, very concerning. This violates the balance of power that has been working for years between federal jurisdiction, state and local jurisdiction to ensure that Americans have a clean water supply.”

Luetkemeyer believes that the rule was implemented illegally. “This was something they bureaucratically just did as a fiat rather than as a worked on rule that allowed everyone to have some input and everyone could live or work with,” said Luetkemeyer.

According to the EPA’s website, input from the agriculture community shaped the proposal.

Harry Thompson with the Missouri Farm Bureau says the rule also effects the nation’s food supply and where children play, among other things.

“Unless you live in a concrete jungle and don’t have any concern about where your food comes from, this is an issue that should concern everyone,” said Thompson.

The legislation would also require the EPA go back to the drawing board with local and state officials to develop a new rule.

(Missourinet) –  An outbreak of dog flu hasn’t reportedly reached Missouri yet, but veterinarians in the state want dog owners to watch for symptoms.

The influenza A viral infection was first recognized in Chicago. Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio have all had several cases of the influenza, but there have been no reported cases in Missouri. The dog flu has infected around 1,000 dogs during the past few weeks and a small number of them have died.

University of Missouri Professor of Veterinary Internal Medicine Leah Cohn said the dog flu is highly contagious and told Missourinet what symptoms to look for.

“It causes dogs that are infected to develop a fever, to feel lousy, to not eat well, and have respiratory signs, so coughing, sneezing, nasal discharged, sometimes ocular discharge, just like a person with an influenza virus,” said Cohn.

Cohn said just like people with influenza, majority of dogs will recover over time.

“Some dogs on the other hand can become extremely sick and just as people with influenza can actually die of the infection, dogs can die too, but that’s the minority, most are going to be ok,” said Cohn.

Veterinarians say dogs with overall good health will be fine even if they are infected, but dogs that are older than seven years and younger than one are most at risk. Cohn suggests keeping dogs up to date on routine vaccinations, heartworm prevention, and making sure they don’t have parasites. Cohn said prevention relies on keeping dogs away from infected dogs.

“Avoid taking them to doggy daycares, or if you can have your animal watched in your home when you go out of town rather than going to a boarding facility or a kennel,” said Cohn. “Perhaps avoiding dog parks in times like these because it is a contagious disease and their only going to catch it if they are exposed to other dogs.”

Cohn suggests contacting a veterinarian by phone about a sick dog before taking it to a hospital.

“You want to avoid exposing other dogs to your dog when it’s sick, so one of the very importing things to do, is try to keep your dog isolated and away from other dogs if it’s showing respiratory signs,” said Cohn.

Cohn said there is a vaccination for canine influenza, but it may not be effective for this particular new strain. Cohn said avoiding the virus might be more effective than vaccination, and it is likely the outbreak will run its course and die down over time.

“I would avoid taking my dog to areas where there likely to be exposed to a number of other dogs right now while this epidemic plays itself out,” said Cohn.

Cohn said the dog flu does not affect humans, but the virus could be transmitted to cats.

TOPEKA, KAN. – A man who owns property in Jackson County, Kan., was sentenced Friday for violating the federal Clean Water Act, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.

Rodney Heinen, 38, Dawson, Neb., was fined $20,000 and ordered to complete restoration of two properties in Jackson County pursuant to a professional restoration plan that estimated the cost at more than $500,000.

Heinen pleaded guilty to one count of discharging pollutants into a stream without a permit. In his plea, he admitted he caused earthen fill and wood debris to be placed in streams flowing through properties he owns in Jackson County.

A regulatory specialist with the Corps of Engineers discovered the violations on one of Heinen’s properties on Feb. 2, 2012. Heinen refused to allow the Corps of Engineers access to the property to make an environmental assessment. The violation affected several unnamed tributaries to Straight Creek, which drains into the Delaware River, which is classified as a Traditionally Navigable Water.

In 2013, the Corps of Engineers found a similar violation on another property in Jackson County owned by Heinen. The violation affected two unnamed tributaries to North Cedar Creek, which drains into the Delaware River.

(Missourinet) – Despite recent developments that don’t look promising, The Missouri Department of Transportation is holding out hope for a gas tax increase proposal this legislative session.

Senate President Tom Dempsey (R-St. Charles) and Senate Floor Leader Ron Richard (R-Joplin) say they don’t think agreement between the House, the Senate and the Governor can be reached this session, and they don’t plan to spend any more time on a bill.

The Department’s Chief Financial Officer and next Director, Roberta Broeker, says she’s still hopeful.

“I think years and years of public debate about better transportation funding for the State of Missouri has taught us that there are multiple solutions, there are multiple ways to approach this,” Broeker told Missourinet. “Certainly I realize that time in session is growing short, but I don’t want to count ourselves out until May [15th] at 6 o’clock when everything else is done.”

The Senate spent several hours last week debating a bill that would have raised the gas tax two cents per gallon, but a lengthy filibuster led to that proposal being shelved. That would have raised enough for Missouri to keep from losing about $167-million in federal matching transportation funds.

(Missourinet) – A program that lets Missouri inmates prepare abandoned or unwanted dogs for adoption has reached a milestone.

The Missouri Department of Corrections’ Puppies for Parole program has celebrated its’ 3,000th adoption since it began in 2010. A ceremony was held Thursday at the Eastern Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne, Terre. Jan, the 3,000th dog to be adopted from the program, was adopted by Amelia Blanton of St. Louis.

Corrections Director George Lombardi was there.

“We had no idea when we started this obviously that we would reach such a tremendous number of dogs that we’ve basically saved from either being euthanized or living their life out in a cage,” said Lombardi.

Lombardi said the program primarily receives dogs that are unadoptable.

“We get dogs that have to be carried in because they are so scared of anything and everybody, dogs that are on three limbs, dogs that are blind, dogs that are deaf … and the guys and the ladies have turned them into wonderful pets,” said Lombardi.

The program is funded solely by donations and is in 19 of the 20 state prisons in Missouri. Lombardi said it’s the largest corrections dog program in the country.
Lombardi said there are multiple benefits to the program.

“It saves the dogs, helps the shelters, makes a transformative process for offenders, makes our prisons just a little bit safer and a little less tense,” said Lombardi. “The dogs have an enormous impact, not only on the handlers, but they walk around the yard and everybody gets a smile on their face, everybody is a little bit happier.”

Lombardi said not only do the dogs become great pets, but the offenders are changed as well.

“They learn responsibility, they learn compassion, which is a quality often missing in offenders, they learn cooperation between and among themselves,” said Lombardi. “So, these are really important qualities that when they are released will serve them well.”

Two offenders work with each dog to train them to pass the AKC’s Canine Good Citizenship test. Lombardi said the dogs are put up for adoption generally after 8 weeks of training or once they are ready to become pets. Lombardi said those who have been found guilty of animal abuse are not eligible for the program, but all other offenders including those with a death sentence have the opportunity to participate

“The thing about dogs is, they don’t care who you are or what you did, they’re going to love you anyway as long as you’re good to them,” said Lombardi. “As long as their behavior is appropriate in the prison over time, so that the case worker can make an assessment of that, and an accurate one, then they are allowed to participate.”

Those looking to adopt a dog from the Puppies for Parole program can view available dogs on the Missouri Department of Corrections’ website or Facebook page.

COLUMBIA, Mo.—The Missouri Department of conservation has opened up its boat rentals for visitors at the Little Dixie Lake Conservation Area.

Row boats are now available to rent for use in the 205-acre Little Dixie Lake. Boats cost $5 for the day and payments are made via an honor system at the boat ramp. Only boats and oars are provided; all other boating equipment must be supplied by the user. Rental row boats are available until October 15.

“Whether you want to enjoy a lazy day on the lake or you want to wet a line, it’s an opportunity to help people discover nature and enjoy their local Conservation Area,” said MDC Wildlife Biologist Tim James. “Fish found in Little Dixie Lake include bass, crappie, catfish and sunfish.”

The lake is part of Little Dixie Lake CA, a 733-acre area that offers hunting, fishing, hiking, birding, and other outdoor opportunities.

Little Dixie Lake CA is located in Callaway County. The main parking area is off Route RA near the junction with Route J in Millersburg.