(Missourinet) – Marijuana wax is a new, stronger version of cannabis that is gaining popularity in Missouri.

Macon interim police chief Adam Dawdy tells Missourinet Moberly affiliate KWIX that the new form is becoming an increasing concern for law enforcement in northern Missouri.

“It’s actually a marijuana concentrate,” says Dawdy. “It’s a very potent form of marijuana.”

A typical marijuana joint’s purity level is about 20 to 25%. Marijuana wax has a much more intense.

“We’re actually seeing purity levels anywhere from 30-99%,” says Dawdy.

He says butane is used to get the potency out of the leaves – making the process very dangerous.

“You have a lot of explosion issues similar to a methamphetamine lab that people don’t realize when they’re doing this that butane is coming out and is getting to floor level,” says Dawdy.

Marijuana wax is referred to as butane hash oil, honey oil, butter wax. It’s coming here from states such as Colorado.

(Missourinet) – State Auditor Nicole Galloway, D, says an audit of lawsuits and settlements involving the state have cost Missourians more than $115 million during a six year period.

It also found installments out of a fund used to make lawsuit payments against the state were consistently higher than budgeted amounts.

In fiscal year 2017, for example, the actual amount spent was more than $17 million higher than what was budgeted. These payments are funded by general revenue, which also funds services such as K-12 and higher education. Over a six year period, expenses from the fund totaled more than $79 million.

“The legislature is essentially budgeting by guesswork, often using the same figure year after year, ignoring a history of high legal expenses,” Galloway says. “Because schools and other state services compete for the same scarce state dollars, we must bring more integrity to the budgeting process.”

Galloway’s office also examined settlements and payments outside of the state settlement fund. In less than three years, these payments totaled another $36 million by 13 entities including state universities, the Department of Transportation and Department of Conservation.

Galloway says the Office of Administration, which administers the fund in partnership with the Attorney General’s Office, relies on an outdated system that lacks the ability to produce basic electronic reports. She says this makes it difficult to monitor the nature of the cases and identify if an agency is experiencing a high volume of a particular type of claim.

“A culture of workplace discrimination does not pop up overnight, but the current system makes it hard to track and then address these types of problems,” says Galloway. “With proper tools in place, the state would have the ability to identify and intervene, instead of blindly shelling out millions in taxpayer dollars and allowing inappropriate conduct to continue.”

Last winter, media reports surfaced involving a series of sexual harassment and discrimination claims about Missouri Department of Corrections employees. Reporting at the time showed a significant increase in payments and judgments related to employee discrimination between 2012 and 2016. The audit examined $4.2 million in Corrections Department legal expenses, 75% of which involved claims of employment discrimination.

The complete report is available here. Additional information about settlements outside of the Legal Expense Fund can be found here.

(Missourinet) – Peaceful protesters were highly critical of violence and vandalism taking place in St. Louis following a controversial court decision Friday.

Police arrested more than 80 people Sunday night after violence erupted following hours of peaceful protesting. It was the third straight night of violence after Friday’s court decision clearing former St. Louis Police officer Jason Stockley of murder charges against a black drug suspect.

Many storefront windows have been smashed and various other acts of vandalism have taken place since Friday’s acquittal of Stockley, who killed Anthony Lamar Smith after a high speed chase in 2011.

By Friday night, three dozen people had been arrested and at least ten officers injured in the violence that included several windows being broken at the house of Mayor Lyda Krewson.

Latasha Bell, who says she came out to peacefully march, was frustrated with people who confronted police officers that were blocking a street after an incident of vandalism Friday afternoon.

“They’re not doing it right in my opinion, no one that’s standing in the middle of the street” said Bell.  “If the police are blocking the street, how are citizens supposed to act?  If people understood how to protest, and if you’re protesting for the right reasons, there’s a way that you protest. Go to the sidewalk.”

During all three nights, destruction came after protest organizers dismissed crowds, asking them to go home until the next scheduled event.

Following various acts of violence Friday night in University City, Pastor Doug Hollis of Clergy United called for those who were not interested in peaceful protests to stay away.

“We don’t want you coming out here tearing up, busting out windows,” Hollis told the St. Louis Post Dispatch.  “If you’re not coming to protest, please don’t come out here.”

At one point Friday afternoon, a protester climbed on top of a police SUV and smashed its windshield.  At around 5:30, law enforcement declared the downtown protests to no longer be peaceful, and asked people to leave.

Bell, who said she was at the protests after the Michael Brown shooting, thought the incident with the police vehicle ruined an otherwise peaceful march.

“I was there peacefully trying to protest,” said Bell.  “I’m not a looter.  Everybody don’t loot.  But when you start doing things like this, it rages people.”

Saturday night, a protester who identified himself as T.K. told the Post-Dispatch that peaceful demonstrators had marched through an area before windows at several businesses were smashed. He said he feared the violence from “outside people” would be associated with his group that had gathered peacefully. He apologized to a business owner who was sweeping up broken glass.

Bell said Friday afternoon’s march included many people who had different motives than those protesting what they considered a bad court decision.

“Everybody isn’t here to protest.  Some people are here for the likes and the shares and the fame, the social media fame. That’s what a lot of people are here for.”

Around 1 a.m. Monday, Mayor Krewson and Interim Police Chief Lawrence O’Toole held a brief press conference, where Krewson noted daytime protests were calm while nighttime activity was destructive.  She called the violence “unacceptable”.  O’Toole said criminals were in jail and the city was safe.

Surveillance cameras caught an unmarked car backing through a crowd of protesters at a rapid pace Sunday afternoon.  No injuries were reported from the incident.

After numerous arrests Saturday night, Governor Eric Greitens released a statement:

“In the past, our leaders let people break windows, loot, start fires,” said Greitens. “They let them do it. Not this time. Tonight, the police arrested the vandals. At this moment, they’re all sitting in a jail cell. They’re gonna wake up and face felony charges. These aren’t protesters, these are criminals.”

(Missourinet) – At least ten law enforcement officers were injured and nearly three dozen people were arrested in connection with protests that turned violent on Friday in St. Louis.

Circuit Judge Timothy Wilson’s decision on Friday to clear former St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley of first-degree murder sparked demonstrations that are expected to continue through at least Monday evening.

The popular music group U2 cancelled its show scheduled for Saturday evening at the dome. Activists threatened to shut down the St. Louis concert. The group cited lack of security for cancelling the show.

The crowd swelled from about 250 demonstrators during the day to about 1,000 at night. A television reporter was surrounded by demonstrators during the day. Some got in his face, yelled at him to leave and threw water bottles at the man. Two protesters peacefully escorted the reporter to safety.

At one point, demonstrators marched up a ramp in an attempt to close Interstate 40/64. They were met by dozens of police officers at the top of the ramp, preventing them from entering the highway. At that point, the protestors turned around and headed back down the ramp.

Video that circulated on Twitter showed a couple of protesters who showed up openly carrying rifles and other firearms because Missouri laws allow law-abiding citizens to do so.

Protesting during the daylight hours on Friday was mostly peaceful. When night fell, however, it was a different story. In some cases, tear gas and mace were used by police to try and restore control.

Protesters threw rocks and bricks at officers. Most of the officers’ injuries are minor. However, one is suffering from a dislocated shoulder and another could have a broken jaw.

About 1,000 demonstrators converged on St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson’s house Friday night, throwing bricks at it, breaking at least two windows and throwing paint at her house.

Protesters tried to enter the Forest Park balloon race Friday night but police blocked them from going in.

Stockley was on trial for the shooting death of 24-year-old Anthony Lamar Smith. Stockley, 36, fatally shot Smith following a police chase in north St. Louis back in 2011.

“This court, in conscience, cannot say that the State has proven every element of murder beyond a reasonable doubt or that the State has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in self-defense,” Wilson wrote in his decision.

This ruling came down more than a month after Stockley’s bench trial ended.

Race is at the center of this civil unrest. The outcry is over Stockley being white a police officer who killed Smith, a black suspect.

Zaki Baruti, a prominent activist during the Ferguson protests, said he was outraged by the ruling, but not surprised.

“You have white police officers shooting black men down, they always exonerate them, so that’s not only reflective of the KKK mentality of many of the police officers in this city as well as this country, it’s also reflective of the judicial system.” Baruti said.

Mike Brown, Sr., the father of the Ferguson teen killed in a police shooting in 2014 was also at Friday afternoon’s protests. Brown said this has triggered the pain of losing own son.

“It’s a repeat of what I went through. I’m reliving what this family is going through.” Brown said.

Brown also offered words of encouragement to Smith’s family, “I would definitely tell them never give up. Stay in the faith and hopefully something else could change.”

Baruti said there will be more civil unrest. He claims some will be “planned, while others spontaneous. Stay tuned.”

(Missourinet) – Green jobs are on the rise in the Show-Me state.

A new analysis shows there are now more than 55,000 people working in clean energy throughout Missouri, a more than 5% increase since 2015.

The Clean Jobs Midwest report shows the state leads the Midwest region in number of energy storage and smart grid jobs.

The study shows Missouri’s biggest job growth in the segment occurred in the renewable energy sector. Jobs in wind, solar, geothermal, bio-energy, and low-impact hydroelectric power grew by 14.5% in the past year.

According to the study, Missouri employs 2,663 workers in solar energy generation and 931 in wind energy generation. The analysis is compiled by Clean Energy Trust (CET) and the national nonpartisan business group Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2).

Job growth across five different clean energy sectors tracked by the report is occurring more than three times faster than overall job growth in the state. The study shows almost 50% of all clean jobs in Missouri are in construction – 27,514, while 22% of the segment’s jobs – 12,490 – are in manufacturing.

The Clean Jobs Midwest report examines the segment’s employment in 12 states – Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Missouri’s share of clean jobs in the workforce among those states is slightly below average, ranking seventh at 1.78%. It’s tied for sixth in clean job growth at 5.3% between 2015 and 2016. By comparison, neighboring Iowa experienced 6.9% clean job growth rate over the same time period.

There’s evidence clean job growth in Missouri is being matched by usage of green energy. Late last year, the Kansas City Star reported that Missouri installed enough solar power to provide approximately 15,000 homes with electricity. Approximately $50 million was invested in the state’s solar energy market last year as well.

Currently, the state derives approximately 1% of its power from solar energy.  Sun drenched states such as California, Nevada and Arizona have much higher solar penetration, ranging from 54% to 60%.

Tony Wyche, who is Environmental Entrepreneurs’ Missouri-based consultant, said government needs to help ensure the state continues to make progress in clean energy.

“Missouri and other states are leading the clean energy revolution in America,” says Wyche. “Missouri has quickly become a clean energy job hub, with clean energy job growth outpacing most other industries. But we need policymakers in Jefferson City and Washington, D.C. to promote clean energy development to ensure that America doesn’t fall behind global competitors.”