(Missourinet) – A Mizzou survey about campus mood says roughly 40% of freshmen and sophomores have seriously considered leaving the university.

The leading reasons are a lack of belonging and an unwelcoming environment.

The analysis also finds that about one-third of Mizzou students, faculty and staff are uncomfortable on campus. Roughly 19% have reported experiencing hostility on campus.

Sue Rankin of Rankin & Associates, which conducted the survey, says that figure is slightly worse than the national average of 20% to 30%

“In our focus groups when we have other institutions and talk about this nationally is that students of color or other marginalized or underserved students, veterans, international students, African-Americans, Hispanics, LGBT, they all say they are barely surviving the experience,” says Rankin.

Chancellor Alexander Cartwright says the challenges must be addressed immediately.

“We need to make sure that we address that and have everybody understand that we want you here, we want to make sure you’re successful,” says Cartwright.

Last year, Mizzou’s return rate for first-year students was 87%. Rankin says about 30% of all college students nationwide have highly considered leaving their school.

“The interesting part is that most of them don’t leave,” says Rankin. “They’re staying because they might be the first in their family to go to college. They could be that international student that said ‘I have so much pressure to be successful. I can’t go home. I have to stay and finish.’”

Colleges and universities nationwide suffer from a revolving door of faculty members, including at Mizzou. About 52% of Mizzou staff and 60% of faculty say they have also seriously pondered whether to make an exit. Chief among the reasons include feelings of inadequate salary, lacking possible job advancement and believing some workers were valued more than others.

Rankin says the Mizzou findings are also similar to that of national figures.

“People come and they can’t cut it and so they go,” she says.

Rankin says the figure is especially true of faculty of color and women in science, technology, engineering and math fields.

(Missourinet) – St. Louis city circuit attorney Kim Gardner said she believes her team has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that former police officer Jason Stockley is guilty of first-degree murder.

A judge has cleared Stockley in the shooting death of an African-American man. Lamar Anthony Smith, 24, was shot and killed in 2011 while Stockley was chasing him.

Gardner said she wants independent investigations of officer-involved shootings.

“Right now, the police department investigates themselves,” says Gardner. “So if we want to have a fair and unbiased investigation, we need to address that investigation so we can pursue justice fairly, regardless of the outcome.”

She says dashcam video of the Stockley shooting is an example of why there must be change.

“The videotape does not lie,” says Gardner. “There were concerning things that I saw.”

Gardner would not elaborate on the evidence she’s referring to.

Hundreds of protesters are making their voices heard today in St. Louis in response to the verdict.

(Missourinet) – Top Republican leaders in the Missouri Legislature have announced a cooperative effort to try to preserve in-home and nursing care for more than 8,000 disabled Missourians.

Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard, R-Joplin, and House Speaker Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, say they want the two chambers to develop a funding solution to preserve the care.

House Budget Committee Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick, R-Shell Knob, also said he wants to see a solution.

“Listen, I feel optimistic that members of the House and Senate can come to an agreement,” Fitzpatrick tells Missourinet.

Pro Tem Richard and Speaker Richardson say they want to see a plan developed in the next three weeks.

Fitzpatrick addressed the issue on the House floor, during Wednesday’s veto session.

“There’s 197 of us (Missouri lawmakers) on both sides of this building and no one of us can do this by ourselves,” Fitzpatrick says. “So, we’re going to work on it. We’re going to work on a solution.”

Richard and Richardson also want lawmakers to consider restoring provider rate cuts, including cuts to private duty nurses who administer in-home neonatal care.

The Pro Tem says it’s the job of lawmakers, even in tough budget years, to protect “our most vulnerable citizens.”

“I’m hopeful that over the next three weeks as outlined by the Speaker and the Pro Tem that we can work out a compromise that both chambers and both parties can agree that is workable and moving forward,” says Fitzpatrick.

Missouri House Democrats unsuccessfully tried to override Governor Eric Greitens’ (R) veto of the fund sweep bill this week.

State Rep. Deb Lavender, D-Kirkwood, says lawmakers have provided corporate tax breaks, while cutting services for the elderly and disabled.

State Rep. Clem Smith, D-Velda Village Hills, says the cuts will be devastating, adding he thinks the 8,000 figure is low.

“So something is going to devastate this 8,000 which I think is a low number,” Smith says. “It’s going to devastate other people. There’s going to be a multiplier effect and I would like to say it’s going to be multiplied by four at least.”

Greitens and Fitzpatrick called the fund sweep proposed by Lavender and other Democrats a “one-time fix.”

The House override vote failed on Wednesday 49-106.

(Missourinet) – Republican Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley says his office has recovered more than $2.6 million in fraudulent Medicaid payments in the first six months of this year.

Hawley’s office has worked with other agencies to reach settlement agreements with six health care providers.

“Medicaid fraud will not be tolerated in Missouri,” Hawley says. “My office is firm in its commitment to protect taxpayer money and ensure that it is used properly.”

Hawley encourages individuals to report suspected Medicaid fraud to his office. State law provides that a whistleblower could be entitled to 10% of any Medicaid fraud money recovered in a civil suit as a result of their tip.

Missourians can report suspected Medicaid provider fraud and abuse through the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Hotline at 800-286-3932 or online.

(Missourinet) – State Senator Maria-Chappelle Nadal, D-University City, has avoided removal from office, at least for now.

By a vote of 28-2, the Senate has passed a resolution censuring her for saying she hopes President Trump is assassinated. The measure essentially reprimands her for her remarks.

Majority floor leader Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, says even though she has one more year left in her term, the chamber could try again next year to remove her from office.

“Where then do you draw the line,” asks Kehoe. “If somebody makes a comment like that and they only have two years left? I think right and wrong is right and wrong.”

Kehoe says it’s the the first time in the state’s history, Senate members have passed a resolution reprimanding a sitting senator.

“We felt like the expulsion matter was a little bit higher than the resolution that we filed and we would have called ourselves in if the governor would have called us in,” says Kehoe. “Neither one of those things happened. The censure was as strong as we felt we could go and stay within the limits of where we were with the Constitution.”

Chappelle-Nadal has apologized for her remarks but says she will not resign. In a statement from Chappelle-Nadal, she says the voters elected her to represent them and she will work tirelessly for the remainder of her term to bring about positive change.

During Wednesday’s annual veto session, the House overwhelmingly fell short of the votes necessary to override Governor Eric Greitens’s veto of a measure that would restore funding cuts to about 8,000 seniors and disabled Missourians.

Republican leadership in the state Legislature is hopeful the governor will call a special session when a funding solution is found for about 8,000 elderly and disabled Missourians. Kehoe says state budget members will work over the next three weeks to develop a financing source that would preserve in-home and nursing home care for those individuals.

“It will be accompanied with an emergency clause,” says Kehoe. “So that way the fix for that crisis, which I believe is a crisis right now in Missouri, will be a little bit more immediate.”

Also under consideration is restoring provider rate cuts, including for private duty nurses who administer in-home neonatal care.

(Missourinet) – The Missouri Supreme Court released a decision Thursday in a case involving Worker’s Compensation benefits for a Missouri Department of Transportation worker.

A three person panel within the state Labor Department had awarded Linda Mantia two-thirds of her salary for 200 weeks after she was diagnosed with multiple disorders from exposure to graphic scenes at fatality accidents while employed as a maintenance supervisor in St. Louis County.

In a unanimous decision written by Judge George W. Draper, the court said the panel didn’t apply proper standards in concluding Mantia’s mental injury was due to extraordinary and unusual work-related stress.

It said the evidence Mantia presented before the high court showed actual work events exposed her to stress, but there was no evidence presented that her work-related stress was extraordinary and unusual.

During arguments before the high bench, attorney Jeffrey Wright had said that Mantia’s experiences weren’t out of the ordinary for the type of work she did. He noted that she admitted as much while testifying before an administrative judge.

Arguing on behalf of Mantia, attorney Jeffery Swaney had offered graphic details of her experience, including one where she’d witnessed a person being beheaded, and while walking, inadvertently kicked the decapitated head.

In its decision, the Supreme Curt said there was confusion about the appropriate test to determine extraordinary and unusual stress, and said it was unclear whether Mantia could have presented evidence to meet the standard.

The Court reversed the Labor Department’s three person panel award and sent the case back to the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission for a “proper” review of Mantia’s claim.

(Missourinet) – Traction on the state level to make a run at trying to bring Amazon to Missouri appears to be building.

After the internet giant announced it was looking to establish a second headquarters last Thursday, elected leaders in Kansas City and St. Louis quickly promised to make strong bids.

Then Governor Greitens announced Friday that Missouri intends to compete for the expansion.

And now, Republican Jay Wasson, who chairs the state Senate Economic Development Committee, says he’s open to special activity such as holding hearings before the legislative session.

“I don’t have any set plan yet,” said Wasson. “I think it’s a little premature. But if there is something that we need to do to spur this, something that we can do to help with it, I think we would jump on it.”

The company says it will employ as many as 50,000 people at its new base, with average employee pay of more than $100,000, and with a capital outlay of more than $5 billion to fully establish the new headquarters.

In its Request for Proposal (RFP), Amazon calls for a “summary of total incentives offered for the Project by the state/province and local community”.

Wasson says the state has a program to waive the employer portion of worker income taxes as long as new jobs are being created, which would be the case with Amazon.

“You’re still getting half of the income tax. It’s a 50% deal. Yes. You’re giving up 50% of that tax, but you’re also gaining 50% of that income tax that you were never getting before.”

Amazon’s RFP specifies that it’s interested in metropolitan areas with more than one million people. In Missouri, that means only St. Louis and Kansas City will even qualify.

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson has said her city has already started putting together a team to make a competitive proposal. Kansas City Mayor Sly James and the Kansas City Area Development Council said they also plan to put together a competitive bid.

Wasson says it’s too early to speculate how the state could offer incentives jointly with the cities. “I think we’re a long way from narrowing that down. I think both cities are interested, obviously. It’s an exciting thing to look for. Certainly we want Missouri and our two cities to be in play here. We want them to have an opportunity.”

Amazon has been criticized for blatantly stating its call for favorable treatment. Its RFP states “Incentives offered by the state/province and local communities to offset initial capital outlay and ongoing operational costs will be significant factors in the decision-making process”.

Senator Wasson says, given what the company is offering in return, the state could afford to be somewhat generous with concessions.

“It has to be reasonable,” Wasson said. “We can’t give away the farm because you’re not gaining anything from it. But at the same time, when you’re getting 50,000 jobs that average $100,000 a year, and a $5 billion investment, I think you can go quite a ways and it would still be reasonable.”

The company’s RFP states the job growth would take place over a ten to fifteen year period.

Numerous publications have speculated which cities would be the right fit for Amazon, based on the preferences and decision drivers listed in its RFP.

The New York Times took 50 cities, including St. Louis and Kansas City, and whittled down the contenders over five steps before settling on Denver. The technology news website Recode offered a group of 25 cities that have the best chance of becoming Amazon’s second headquarters. Its list included both Kansas City and St. Louis.

Cities have until Oct. 19 to apply. Amazon says a final site selection and announcement will be made next year.

In July, Amazon announced it was opening its first Missouri distribution center in the Kansas City area.

(Missourinet) – Miss Missouri Jennifer Davis finished as first runner-up during Sunday night’s Miss America pageant in Atlantic City.

Miss North Dakota, Cara Mund, took the crown.

Davis, of mid-Missouri’s Mexico, has been competing in pageants since she was 11 months old.

“I knew what it was like to learn how to lose, basically. I think that’s a really big skill that you should have, is what it means to work really hard for something but it not being your time just yet,” says Davis.

Her platform is the same topic as a children’s book she has written entitled Diversity Matters.

“It’s all about talking about diversity to younger children, about how we accept other people and embrace other cultures as well,” she says.

Davis says her family has inspired her cause. She is a minority and her brother is gay. In a video posted to her Facebook page, Davis says, “This platform means so much to me because I know what it’s like to be the only one who looks like me in a crowd, and to feel different because of how I was born.”

During the talent competition, Davis performed a high-energy Bollywood dance routine to the song “Naacho Re”.

She is a 2016 St. Louis University graduate majoring in Communications and is working on becoming a physician’s assistant specializing in pediatric oncology.