(Missourinet) – Southeast Missouri’s Carter County has been awarded a $100,000 grant to freeze-dry and decontaminate records and documents submerged in eight feet of water during flooding in May.

A crew dispatched from the Secretary of State’s office spent 420 hours air drying time sensitive documents immediately after the flood. Secretary Jay Ashcroft says he issued the grant to cover the mass quantity of other important records that are stored at county court houses.

“There’s such a large volume of documents that it was more economical to do the vast majority of them on the commercial side with people that have much larger equipment, that are set up in much greater volume to replicate those documents and that’s what that $100,000 grant is for.”

The allocation marks the first use of a “records emergency grant” since a tornado heavily damaged southwest Missouri’s Pierce City in 2003.

Carter County and the city of Van Buren were especially hard hit by the flooding in late April and early May. Governor Greitens made a special trip to the area after the weather event to personally thank first responders for their work.

The entire first floor of the county court house building was immersed in water for a couple of days from the flooding. Carter County Clerk Leona Stephens says important documents were in danger of being destroyed. “This flood has been a total devastation for our county government and our community, including the loss of our county records” said Clark.

Ashcroft notes his office worked with the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to get special equipment to the courthouse directly following the floods.

“As soon as the water goes down, as soon as those documents are no longer covered by water, it’s like a timer starts. You’ve got about 48 hours to get those frozen and stop the process of decomposition and mold growth, or else it’s going to be too late.”

The funding for records emergency grants comes from a portion of fees counties charge to fulfill requests for documents from the public. Ashcroft says records being preserved through the grant are vital to the local community.

“The title records of who owns the property are very important. The Budget records, contract records, financial for the county are all very important. There are electoral records that are required to be kept.” Ashcroft said it was great to be able to support the effort to protect historical records for the county.

(Missourinet) – Missouri has jumped nine spots to 22nd in CNBC’s “Best States For Business” study.

State Rep. Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston said her Right to Work legislation passed this year has been an economic boost. Right to Work prohibits employers from requiring union fees.

“We have many years of excellent statistics showing how Right to Work has helped other states, so it’s not like we were re-inventing the wheel or doing something dangerous,” Rehder said. “This is something that has proven pro-growth in many states. In these other states, that’s why they have gained membership is because the union surge really started working to keep those members and with a lot of jobs coming in, then they have the opportunity to grow their membership.”

In the economy category, the CNBC study moves Missouri from 34th in 2016 to 18th this year.

“Governor Greitens has really focused on business, which is what we have to have to improve our economy. That’s what our problem is. Our economy. That’s what we must focus on,” Rehder said.

Opponents of Right to Work legislation say it weakens unions and leads to lower worker pay and fewer union members.

CNBC’s study grades the states based on the qualities they deem most important in attracting business. It assigns a weight to each of 10 categories by analyzing every state’s economic development marketing materials. The more the states cite a particular category as a selling point, the more weight that category carries. For example, if more states are talking about their workforce, the Workforce category carries more possible points.

(Missourinet) – Missouri’s Lieutenant Governor is making a pitch to loosen regulations on providers of high speed internet. An epic battle is currently raging over the future of what’s referred to as “net neutrality” rules.

In May, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to do away with 2015 regulations, which classified broadband as a utility under Title II of the Communications Act. Under those rules, internet service providers (ISPs) are prohibited from blocking, throttling and prioritizing traffic.

Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, an appointee of President Donald Trump, contends the regulations are hindering infrastructure investment. He wants a return to framework under Title I, in which broadband would be classified as an information service.

Lieutenant Governor Mike Parson agrees with Pai’s assertion. He thinks loosening regulations on internet service providers would give them motivation to build out broadband infrastructure to under-served areas of Missouri.

“That’s going to allow us to have quicker access to those availabilities for the state of Missouri, rural Missouri, which has always been a problem” said Parson. “I think statistically, there’s still probably well over half, maybe even 70% of the people in this state that still don’t have broadband.”

Critics are skeptical that laxer regulations would stimulate investment to spread broadband access. Under FCC Chairman Pai’s plan, ISPs would be free to charge content providers such as Netflix to deliver data to customers through an “internet fast lane”.

Broadband providers such as AT&T, Verizon and Comcast contend that allowing them to profit through a tiered delivery of content will enable them to invest in infrastructure build out. Parson is convinced the ISPs will follow through on that promise.

“I think they will. I think that there’s a market out there. It’s just like cable television. Cable providers go to rural Missouri. Cable will go out there and they provide that service. Is it more expensive? Yes. But the people of those communities have a choice of whether they purchase that, or whether they don’t. And I think the same thing should be available on broadband.”

Net neutrality requires ISPs to treat all data delivered to customers equally. Its defenders contend it prevents broadband suppliers from blocking or discriminating against any content that rides over their networks. Internet companies in favor of keeping the rules in place include Netflix, Facebook and Twitter.

FCC Chairman Pai’s 75-page proposal to undo the arrangement, which is called “Restoring Internet Freedom,” also asked the public to comment on the plan. Interests representing both sides of the issues responded vigorously before the window for comment ended Monday. There were more than 3.5 million responses filed in the last 30 days, out of a total of roughly 9 million.

Democratic U.S. Senator Al Franken of Minnesota is a fierce proponent of net neutrality, having called it the “First Amendment issue of our time”.

Parson will be attending the National Lieutenant Governors Association annual meeting in Nashville next week, where he notes net neutrality will be on the agenda. He says the lack of broadband access in rural areas is a major concern for stakeholders in the state.

“We’ve been talking broadband a long time” Parson said. “Whether it’s through the Farm Bureau, through ag agencies, through the federal level like talking to our Congressmen or our Senators, I think they’re well aware that we’ve got a problem in Missouri with broadband. And we need to fix it.”

Parson, who was elected in November, received the most votes of any Lieutenant Governor in Missouri history.

Tuesday, a day after the comment period on the FCC’s proposed action ended, the Trump administration acknowledged its support for scrapping net neutrality. Deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said “We support the FCC chair’s efforts to review and consider rolling back these rules”.

(Missourinet) – An October parole hearing has been scheduled for a prisoner who was convicted of the 1987 killing of a southwest Missouri sheriff.

50-year-old Brent Debler is serving a life sentence for second degree murder, and is incarcerated at the maximum-security Jefferson City Correctional Center (JCCC).

Brent Debler and his brother Shelby were convicted of the July 26, 1987 murder of Cedar County Sheriff Charles LaRew.

Current Cedar County Sheriff James “Jim Bob” McCrary tells Missourinet he knew LaRew.

“He and I were friends, talked to him occasionally when I saw him working on the street and he was a good guy and didn’t deserve this, and I don’t think these guys need to be out on the street again,” McCrary says.

LaRew was shot in the head and killed by a .30 caliber rifle that discharged from a booby-trap device. LaRew was investigating a reported burglary near Caplinger Mills, when he was killed.

Shelby Debler was originally sentenced to death, but that death sentence was overturned and he is serving life. Shelby Debler, who is not eligible for parole, is also an inmate at JCCC.

Sheriff McCrary says he’ll attend the fall parole hearing at JCCC. Missourinet asked McCrary what he’d say to Brent Debler or to the Parole Board.

“You know, I’d basically tell them (Parole Board members) that he (Debler) took the life of a good man and he doesn’t deserve to be turned loose,” says McCrary.

McCrary says Debler is “where he needs to be”, adding that Debler is dangerous.

Caplinger Mills is north of Stockton. Cedar County is about 55 miles northwest of Springfield.

Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC) spokesman David Owen says an October parole hearing is scheduled for Brent Debler. Owen says a specific parole hearing date has not been set yet.

Owen notes the Parole Board normally takes four to six weeks to make a decision.

Sheriff McCrary was unaware of the parole hearing, until Missourinet called him for comment. McCrary says he and a Cedar County deputy who worked under LaRew will attend the hearing.

The Missouri Law Enforcement Memorial website says Mr. LaRew served more than 13 years with the Cedar County Sheriff’s Department, starting as a dispatcher and then deputy sheriff. LaRew was elected Cedar County Sheriff in 1984. He died at the age of 35.

That website also notes that Cedar County Deputy Sheriff Matthew Chism was shot to death in the line of duty in 2014 in El Dorado Springs.

(Missourinet) – A former bookkeeper at a central Missouri law firm has been indicted by a federal grand jury in St. Louis for mail fraud, in connection with her alleged embezzlement scheme.

Federal prosecutors in St. Louis say 54-year-old Robyn Smith of Mexico, Missouri has been indicted for one felony count of wire fraud.

The indictment says Smith allegedly embezzled more than $200,000 from the law firm in Audrain County, where she also served as the office manager.

Smith allegedly stole cash fees and created false bank documents. The indictment says the alleged embezzlement occurred between January 2011 and August 2016.

Court documents say Smith “handled all of the incoming mail” at the law firm, including mail from the firm’s bank and from the Internal Revenue Service.

Federal prosecutors say Smith was arrested on Tuesday morning.

(Missourinet) – Mid-Missouri’s Columbia is trying to address racial profiling and lingering bias within its police department by considering a forum on community policing. The city council voted Monday night to postpone a decision on the idea until the Aug. 21 meeting.

Two councilors backed the idea of paying consultants nearly $70,000 for more feedback on issues like how officers should conduct themselves and how many of them should be on the force.

Mayor Brian Treece told one of them, councilor Michael Trapp, that the plan should be pulled back. He said community outreach officers tell him they’re wearing out their boots walking the beat in crime hot spots.

“And yet we’re going to pull $33,000 out of a budget surplus for the community outreach unit to pay for a $70,000 conversation that we all agree we want to have?” Treece said.

Citizens spoke for about two hours about the proposed forum. Many were against the proposal.

“I’d like for us to take a step back and try to move forward with the input that we’ve had tonight, and take that and listen to it,” Treece said. “If we don’t, shame on us.”

Councilman Trapp, who supports the forum, says it’s a good way to make the case for a property tax increase for more officers.

“We have an under-resourced police department. I do not believe that under existing funds we’re going to be able to address that in any significant way,” Trapp said.

A study by the state Attorney General’s office showed black drivers were roughly four times as likely as their white counterparts to be stopped in Columbia during 2016. The number reflects an increase in the discrepancy from 2015.

In June, Columbia civil rights activists spoke at a city council meeting about what they considered a lack of progress when it comes to how African-Americans are treated during traffic stops. Tracy Wilson-Kleekamp of Race Matters, Friends said Police Ken Burton needs to be more up-front about the issue.

(Missourinet) – Operators of the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia have taken steps to avoid massive delays entering on site campgrounds prior to the annual event.

During a 2016 legislative oversight committee hearing, State Rep. Jay Houghton (R-Martinsburg) said there was a seven hour wait to gain access into the RV Park. State Fair Director Mark Wolfe said the number of vehicles attempting to enter the facility skyrocketed from 2015 to 2016.

“That has just kind of exploded,” Wolfe said. “It’s grown dramatically. Just two years ago we were at 400. And last year, by the end of the day over 1,200. We just got overrun. Nobody knew that was coming and it just took us a lot longer to get folks in, and of course it was a blistering hot day.”

The day in which delays were so long was well before the actual state fair itself. The RV Park opens a week in advance of the event, and vehicles line up prior to that day in hopes of getting a preferred camping spot.

While in a holding spot, the RVs sit on asphalt pavement on the main side of the fairgrounds campus across the street from the park. Wolfe said procedures have been changed to allow for preregistering before the vehicles enter the park, which he said he thinks will vastly improve the process.

“This year, we’re going to have portable credit card machines and everything out here on the grounds on the main side of the fairground campus, so that where they’re lining up, we can go ahead as soon as they start pulling in for the lineup,” Wolfe said. “We’ll start giving them their paperwork, collect their fees and have them ready to go.”

Wolfe is hopeful the new series of steps will dramatically increase the speed of access to the RV Park. He said he thinks the surge in RV traffic before the park opens is due to the limited number of camp sites available.

“You begin to get this early rush of folks to try to get here and claim a site. I think that probably is what attributes to the increase in number of campers,” Wolfe said. “Folks just know that ‘If I want to get a site at the state fairgrounds, I’m going to have to get there early.’”

A new camping area is in the process of being constructed to increase camping availability, although funding was exhausted before it was completed in time for this year’s fair. It’ll be open for “dry” camping, meaning without utilities. The state fair has roughly 1,100 “full hookup” sites which offer electricity, water and sewer provisions.

The state fair no longer receives General Revenue or Capital Improvement funds from the State Legislature. That source of financing was eliminated after 2011. Wolfe said the fair has an operating budget of $4.5 million.

The average attendance for the annual 11 day event is 350,000, which is not large compared to some other states. Wolfe attributes the lower totals at the Missouri fair to its location in a rural city with limited options for lodging.

“There are certain restrictions to the growth of this fair, just simply because there’s no place for people to stay,” Wolfe said.  “I would say pretty much everything in Marshall, Warrensburg and any other surrounding town that has motels is full. In the month of August you probably can’t get a room right now if you tried. Certainly in Sedalia, that’s the case.”

Total entries in the fair hover around 30,000 every year. Agriculture is the major driver. Wolfe said the livestock exhibitions are the single biggest draw.

“Our participation numbers are huge. We’ll have somewhere around 5,000 4-H and FFA kids exhibiting, and they bring somewhere around 15,000 to 18,000 entries to the fair each year, sheep, cattle, chicken, rabbits, you name it.”  (“FFA” stand for Future Farmers of America while 4-H offers projects for kids to get hands-on training in several fields, notably agriculture).

Wolfe notes Missouri is different from some state fairs around the country which have tended to focus solely on amusements in recent years.

“Some of them are mostly just carnivals anymore. They’re not so much into the agriculture side,” Wolfe said. “Certainly here in Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, around the Midwest they’re still very, very much ag oriented.”

This year will mark the 115th Missouri State Fair, which dates back to 1901. It’s had a continuous run, except for 1943 and 1944 when it was cancelled during World War II.

(Missourinet) – Legislation has been signed into law renaming a section of I-55 in Jefferson County for a southeast Missouri native who died last year in New York, after saving another swimmer caught in a riptide.

West Point Cadet Thomas Surdyke grew up in Festus and graduated from St. Pius X.

Governor Eric Greitens (R), who signed the bill at St. Pius, described Surdyke as a “man of tremendous courage, tremendous compassion and great patriotism.”

“Who demonstrated that at every step of his life. As an Eagle Scout, as a student here at St. Pius and someone who dedicated himself to serving all of us at West Point, and then of course someone who gave his life saving the life of another,” Greitens said.

State Sen. Gary Romine, R-Farmington, said Surdyke saved another swimmer’s life in June 2016 on Long Island, after both men were caught in a riptide. Surdyke was overcome by exhaustion and died a few days later at a hospital.

The legislation designates a portion of I-55 as the “USMA Cadet Thomas Surdyke Memorial Highway.”

State Sen. Paul Wieland, R-Imperial, described Surdyke as a hero. Wieland said Surdyke made a lasting impact on St. Pius and on the entire community.

“Today’s world we need role models, we need heroes. We need people for the other kids here at St. Pius to be able to look up to and say ‘this is the right way to do things.’ And Tom Surdyke, by his sacrifice and his courage, just exemplifies what we want to see in all of our children,” Wieland said.

During the incident, Surdyke and the civilian, a man he’d only met that day, were pulled out to sea.

Wieland said Surdyke kept the civilian’s head above water until help could arrive, without regard for his own safety.

State Rep. Elaine Gannon, R-DeSoto, filed the bill’s House version. Gannon said Thomas Surdyke’s “nature was to put others first.”

KJFF Radio reports Surdyke played football at St. Pius and had just completed his first year at West Point. St. Pius has named its newly-remodeled library as the “Thomas Surdyke Memorial Library.”

(Missourinet) – A legislative task force is nearing completion of recommendations it’s formulating to address dyslexia in elementary schools in Missouri.

The committee’s findings will be sent to Governor Eric Greitens.

A bill passed last year requires public schools to screen students for dyslexia and calls for teachers to go through two hours of training on handling the disorder.

The measure also created the task force, which is charged with making recommendations for a statewide plan to identify students with dyslexia, and developing a system to assist those kids in the classroom.

Republican House member Kathy Swan of Cape Girardeau chairs the task force, which gathered at the state capitol Thursday.

She said the group is considering whether to include further dyslexia assessments in its recommendations. As far as providing classroom accommodations, Swan said the committee came up with simple procedures for teachers to follow.

“We’re talking about giving an oral test instead of a written test to a child, moving a child a little bit closer to the board in a classroom, not making a child participate in verbal reading round robin exercises, but maybe just a one-on-one with the teacher,” Swan said.

The 21 member task force includes educators, therapists and citizens with dyslexic relatives as well as a bipartisan group of four lawmakers.  It conducted a survey of 30 colleges and universities, and found that many of them provide little or no training for handling dyslexic students in their teacher preparation programs.

Swan said the task force is recommending the institutions take on a more comprehensive approach toward the disorder.

“We are wanting the classroom instruction at the college level for a college student who plans to become a teacher, to have further instruction on what dyslexia is,” Swan said.

Only about half of the task force was assembled for its meeting Thursday. Swan, who also chairs the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee, was the only lawmaker in attendance.

Still, she said she’s been pleased the level of insight provided by the people involved.

“We could not do this without the quality and the level of knowledge of the people who’ve been appointed to this task force,” Swan said.

Democratic Senator Scott Sifton of Affton, who was instrumental in drafting the legislation to create the task force, was at the capitol, but at a different committee hearing Thursday. Earlier, he stressed the need to lend a helping hand to students with dyslexia.

“As a state, we have been failing these children,” Sifton said. “We’ve got to help these kids.”

According to the Dyslexia Center of Utah, one in five students, or 15-20% of the population, has a language based learning disability. Dyslexia is the most common of the language based learning disabilities. Swan said she thinks it’s essential to treat the condition, which can’t be outgrown, in the early stages of education.

“The earlier we identify that possibility and begin to take some simple steps, or additional steps depending on the degree of that reading failure, the better off we’re going to be as a society,” Swan said.

A study by the University of Texas and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows 48% of prison inmates have dyslexia. Swan contends the figure is higher, and claims 70% of individuals treated for substance abuse have dyslexia.

She said she thinks the high rates of prison populations and people in substance abuse programs with dyslexia demonstrates the need to confront the disorder early.

“When we look at the substance abuse problem, we look at the prison population, that is such an overwhelming factor,” Swan said. “We’re overdue in taking action, and it starts with identification early and taking action.”

The task force recommendations will be sent to Governor Greitens by September 18th. Those that are adopted must be in place at the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year, except for the two hour teacher training requirement, which goes in effect in the upcoming school year.

The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) will be heavily involved in developing guidelines and procedures to address dyslexic students.