(Missourinet) – The latest in a series of House committee hearings on the Missouri prison scandal took place Thursday morning.

A system wide culture of discrimination, abuse and retaliation at the Department of Corrections was exposed last November.

Among the complaints lodged against the agency by two current employees Thursday; rampant nepotism, vaguely constructed rules and poor procedures for awarding promotions.

Jordon Carpenter, who is a low ranking corrections officer at the state’s prison in Moberly, said leadership at the facility is compromised by unrestrained nepotism.

“Obvious problems with this,” Carpenter said.  “If you have a problem with your sergeant, it’s kind of hard to go to any higher authority when that higher authority happens to be their brother, wife, husband, father, whatever the case may be.”

Carpenter said the Moberly prison has had both husband-wife and father-son captain and sergeant teams, as well as three brothers working the same shift holding the rank of captain, lieutenant and sergeant.

He said he understood the Moberly facility to be the black sheep of the state’s correctional system.

Another low ranking corrections officer at the Moberly prison, Daniel Holtzcraw, claimed the wrong employees often end up getting promotions. He mentioned an episode where a corrections officer was stabbed by an inmate. A higher ranking “functioning unit manager” (FUM) was aware of the incident, but did nothing about it. According to Holtzcraw, that FUM is now a warden.

Rep. Jim Hansen (R-Frankford) chairs the panel that held the hearing – the Subcommittee on Corrections Workforce Environment and Conduct – which was formed after it become widely known that the state doled out millions of dollars to settle employee lawsuits.

He said he was most disturbed Thursday by hearing how policies and procedures persistently change from shift to shift, depending on the leaders in charge.

“The people under the leadership has to constantly change on how they operate because they got a new leader on this shift,” said Hansen.  “That’s got to change. We’ve got to have consistency.  The majors, the captains, lieutenants, sergeants all have to be on the same page, so the employee under them can be on the same page.”

Committee member Kathie Conway (R-St. Charles) said her biggest takeaway from the latest hearing is that the department has a poorly defined chain of command.

“You have to know whose order you obey, because that person is responsible for not only your safety, your other officers’ safety, but the safety of those prisoners,” Conway said.  “They preach chain of command, but they don’t practice chain of command.  Or if they do, it’s very flimsy and very fluid.”

Representative Travis Fitzwater (R-Holts Summit), who formed the committee along with House Speaker Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff), sat in on Thursday’s hearing.  He said the prison system is faced with a “people problem.”

“Time after time, this committee has heard people say, ‘Well, we need to do this, we need to teach them this, we need to do this,’” said Fitzwater.  “But if we don’t have staff who are in charge of them, enforcing what they’re supposed to do, then we’re going to get nowhere.”

The two employees also noted that prison wardens regularly deviate from Department of Corrections policies by establishing their own “standard operating procedures.”

Committee chairman Hansen said he would be recommending guidelines when wardens take such actions.

“For him (the warden) to implement that, he has to have the approval of the director of the department.”

Hansen said the panel will now draft recommendations on how to improve operation within the agency.  It’ll also hold a final hearing with new department director Anne Precythe in the next couple of weeks.

In its nine hearings thus far, the committee has heard testimony from 14 current and former employees.

(Missourinet) – Legislation to establish four adult high schools in Missouri has been approved by a Senate committee in Jefferson City.

State Rep. Travis Fitzwater (R-Holts Summit) is sponsoring the bill.

“The adult high school, would put four adult high schools around the state, a really good bipartisan bill we passed in the House I think 141 to 10,” Fitzwater tells the Senate Economic Development Committee. “Really effective program in Indiana, has expanded and is growing into other states.”

Fitzwater says there are 500,000 Missouri adults without a high school diploma, adding that 375,000 of them are on food stamps and have children. He says the bill will help them build skills and earn a diploma.

Under the legislation, the adult high schools would be created in the St. Louis City, Poplar Bluff, Springfield and Columbia areas.

The bill requires the successful bidder to invest at least $2 million in facility infrastructure.

The Senate Economic Development Committee voted 8-1 to approve Fitzwater’s bill this week. State Sen. Will Kraus (R-Lee’s Summit) cast the lone no vote.

Senate Economic Development Committee Chairman Jay Wasson (R-Nixa) is handling the Senate version of Fitzwater’s bill.

Wasson tells senators the adult high schools will have crucial “life coaches.”

“That life coach is going to get this person not only in high school, but they’re going to start teaching them classes while they’re in school on soft skills such as how to interview for a job, how to keep a job, why it’s important to have a job,” says Wasson.

Missourians would have to be at least 21 to attend the schools, under the bill.

On-site child care would be provided, something MERS Goodwill highlighted during their testimony. MERS Goodwill supports the Fitzwater-Wasson legislation.

The Alliance for Childhood Education (ACE) and the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry also testified for the bill. They note that 60 percent of jobs in Missouri will require a postsecondary credential by 2020.

Under the bill, at least 75 percent of the school’s students must graduate each year, or continue working toward a high school diploma or an industry certification.

No one testified against the bill in the Senate committee hearing.

(Missourinet) – Union and non-union contractors are voicing their opposition to a Missouri House proposal to eliminate a minimum wage requirement for public works projects.

The Coalition of Construction Contractor Associations, representing around 100,000 Missouri workers, told reporters in Jefferson City Wednesday what a proposed repeal of the prevailing wage could mean for workers.

Currently, local government organizations must pay workers more than the state’s $7.70-an-hour minimum wage for construction projects. Prevailing wage is determined by the Department of Labor and is based on the number of hours worked and the wages paid to contractors. Wages are unique for each county. A general road construction laborer would be paid $31 an hour in St. Louis, but $25 in the northwestern corner of the state.

The main concern construction contractors have is that repealing prevailing wage will encourage companies to hire cheap, out-of-state labor, taking away jobs that would normally go to local contractors. Government construction contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, and without a prevailing wage requirement, out-of-state contractors could potentially bid much lower than those in Missouri. St. Louis Electrical Contractors Association President Emily Martin says opening the state up to more outside competition could encourage further cost cutting and shoddy workmanship.

“I might bring in a whole bunch of people who might have been doing some unskilled labor previously, perhaps in this country, and perhaps not, to wire a school in Springfield,” she said, Martin later pointed to different safety standards in different states. “We’ll see contractors coming from Texas, from Arkansas, from other places that probably don’t have the same standards and qualifications.”

Martin said it isn’t just a matter of safety, but a matter of money leaving the state, potentially sapping tax revenues. Head of Jefferson City-based Meyer Electric, Leon Keller, said he has seen that happen first hand.

“I have watched projects where they bring in migrant workers,” he said. “If you follow those people to where they cash their checks, they’re going places where they could buy money orders to send them back to wherever they’re living.”

Keller said his stance against a repeal of prevailing wage is based on his 50 years of experience in the construction industry more so than data or examples of issues in other states.

Missouri Associated General Contractors President Leonard Toenjes says the 2015 repeal of a prevailing wage law in Wisconsin has already been hurting local contractors.

“They are seeing significant erosion in their local contractor base,” he said. “They’ve basically quit bidding on certain types of projects because folks are coming in.”

So far, evidence for and against repealing prevailing wage has been largely anecdotal.

Proponents say removing prevailing wage provisions on public works projects will help reduce costs for the state, though it is unclear by how much. The Department of Transportation and the Department of Conservation assume repeal of prevailing wage may cut expenses of construction projects, but have not provided exact figures.

The bill’s sponsors and supporters also say that it would reduce the number of construction projects cancelled due to expenses and reduce project cost burden on small municipalities that have limited tax funds available.

After passing in the House last week, a proposed repeal of the policy is now starting its move through the Senate, where Republican leadership has expressed support. At a Senate General Laws Committee hearing for the bill Wednesday, Chair Bob Onder (R-Lake St. Louis) said he was behind the move. Republican Gov. Eric Greitens would likely sign legislation repealing prevailing wage.

(Missourinet) – The University of Missouri-Columbia is laying off 20 employees.

MU spokesman Christian Basi tells Missourinet 20 administrative employees in MU’s Division of Operations will be laid off, effective July 1.

Basi says the 20 employees’ responsibilities include Mizzou’s physical plant in Columbia and the safety of campus.

“This is the toughest decision that managers and directors at the university have to make, and it is very, very difficult for us to tell individuals that we do not have the resources to continue to employ them,” Basi says.

Basi emphasizes that the layoffs will not compromise the University’s safety.

He says the layoffs are due to a decline in state funding and an enrollment drop.

“We are under increasingly difficult budget stress and have to make these decisions,” says Basi. “We’re at a point now where our budget shortfalls are cutting into the core of our operations.”

Basi says total enrollment in the fall of 2016 was 33,266, with 4,772 freshmen. In the fall of 2015, total enrollment was 35,448, with 6,191 freshmen.

The “Columbia Daily Tribune” reports Gov. Eric Greitens restricted $31.4 million from the state’s current fiscal year budget for UM.

The 20 laid-off employees will receive transitional benefits.

“Which include some additional pay as well as benefits, and assistance in finding another place of employment or another position on campus,” Basi says.

Outplacement services that will be offered include resume-writing assistance.

He says the laid-off employees will receive at least four weeks of pay and a maximum of 26 weeks, depending on years of service.

Basi says the layoffs are expected to save the university $1.7 million in salary and benefits.

Basi also tells Missourinet that five administrative employees in the Mizzou Operations Division will retire.

The University of Missouri website notes Mizzou is a $2.2 billion enterprise.

The website says MU students “represent every Missouri county, all 50 states and 120 countries.” It says there are 305,000 alumni.

(Missourinet) – St. Louis will remain a two-team sport town.

City voters defeated the measure to help pay for a Major League Soccer Stadium by a 53 to 47% no vote on Prop 2 which would have provided $60 million from a business tax to help build a stadium.

The funding plan actually needed both Prop 1 and 2 to pass.  Proposition 1 was a sales tax increase that would fund MetroLink expansion, which was approved by voters.  Proposition 2, an increase to the use tax paid by businesses by half a cent lost with 30,603 ‘no’ votes to 27,363 ‘yes’ votes.

After the state rejected a proposal to give any money to a new stadium project, Prop 2 was a restructured attempt that failed.  If there is any hope of St. Louis getting an MLS franchise, that $60 million gap would most likely need to be filled by team ownership.

(Missourinet/Jill Enders) – Missouri is taking a new approach to combating human trafficking. Attorney General Josh Hawley has announced new initiatives at St. Louis area safe house for human trafficking victims.

“Human trafficking is the third largest criminal industry in the world, and the fastest growing. It is happening right here, in our own neighborhoods, every day. I became a lawyer because I believe in justice, and justice means protecting the vulnerable and the exploited. I am proud to announce these efforts to make Missouri a leader in the fight to abolish trafficking. To the criminals who would exploit the weak, the vulnerable and the oppressed, I say this: Missouri is officially closed for your kind of business.” Hawley says.

These initiatives are the first of their kind in the nation and involve using the states consumer protection laws to target human traffickers. Hawley says many human traffickers use a business, such as a nail salon or a bar as a front for human trafficking.

“If traffickers attempt to use a business to mask their criminal enterprise, we will shut them down and we will hold them personally liable with civil and criminal penalties.” explains Hawley.

These new regulations will also make debt bondage illegal under the state’s consumer protection laws.

“This takes direct aim at another favorite tactic of traffickers. They lend money or give something of value to their victims, but use that debt to coerce their victims into commercial sex or forced labor,” says Hawley.

These new regulations will be enforced with a new Anti-Trafficking Unit in the Attorney General’s Office. Hawley also announced the creation of a permanent, statewide Human Trafficking Task Force, the only one of its kind in Missouri, to include law enforcement officials, local prosecutors, social-service providers, victims’ advocates, and individual human-trafficking survivors. The Task Force will coordinate law enforcement efforts and services for victims.

Katie Rhoades, a human trafficking victim turned activist with Healing Action, a nonprofit based in St. Louis focusing on ending sexual exploitation, also spoke at the press conference.

“For those who may not believe human trafficking is a real problem in Missouri, I ask you to look no further than my own story,” says Rhoades.

“We need more people with Attorney General Hawley’s passion and commitment to truly bring an end to human trafficking once and for all. “Rhodes adds.

Since 2007, the National Trafficking Hotline has reported over 31,000 confirmed cases of sex trafficking in the United States, with just over 2000 cases reported in Missouri.

(Missourinet/By Bob Ehle – Jason Taylor contributed to this story) – Missouri Governor Eric Greitens made an announcement at the Holliday C-2 School in northeast Missouri’s Monroe County Monday.

“I’m very proud to come here to announce to you that today we’re taking the first step to bringing high quality, broadband internet access to every school in the state of Missouri” said Greitens.

With a group of teachers, students, community members and a number of lawmakers on hand, Greitens said this will be a win for both teachers and students.

“This is a major investment, $45 million investment to make sure that we’re bringing quality, high speed broadband internet access to every school throughout the state of Missouri. It’s being led by the state of Missouri, but we’re also partnering with private sector partners like the EducationSuperHighway, and with the administration in Washington D.C. to make this happen.”

EducationSuperHighway is a San Francisco based nonprofit focused on upgrading internet access in public school classrooms.

Greitens said teachers in rural locations such as Holliday need to have the same resources that schools in population centers have to teach students.

“When you see here in a place like Holiday with great teachers like this, they need to have the tools and the resources in order to make sure that every kid in the state of Missouri is able to live up to their god given potential and to pursue their passions.”

Holliday School Administrator Daniel Liebhart thinks the boost in online availability provides new opportunities for rural schools.

“Just having the broadband availability to our students, having uninterrupted internet service, researching things online, online classes, any of those benefit our children” said Liebhart. “And then the part about the cost, where it wouldn’t cost anything to our district would be huge. You come to a small school like Holliday puts the little town on the map. The turnout was excellent. A huge percentage of our town was here to support this.”

Of the $45 million amount, the state would pay $6 million. That sum is currently included in the new budget that’s being considered in the Missouri House.

(Missourinet) – Missouri House Democrat Brandon Ellington of Kansas City hosted a town hall Saturday over a gas leak which has been plaguing a city neighborhood for years.

A flurry of complaints about petroleum odors both inside and outside of businesses and residents rolled in during late 2014 and early 2015.

The pungent smell was caused by a leak to an underground storage tank at a gas station in the neighborhood.

Ellington says the leak has led to widespread contamination of gas flumes containing benzene with deadly consequences.

“A lot of families have had multiple deaths with the exact same cancer, which is not an anomaly when you have three women in the same house that die from the same cancer” said Ellington. “And all of this is related to benzene exposure. So we know it’s benzene in the area. We know it’s gas flumes in the area.”

Ellington’s town hall was meant to inform the public about the danger and what’s being done to fix the problem, which he says is not enough.

In late 2015, the gas station’s owner, Zill LLC, removed an underground storage tank at the facility. The state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has also made numerous repairs to sewer lines.

Despite the work, the odor and contamination remain a serious issue. On top of everything else, Ellington says it’s not known how far reaching the flumes, which get into peoples’ systems through water out of faucets, are reaching into the community.

“There’s no way of judging, at least according to our state departments (DNR), how far or how fast those gas flumes are traveling.”

In August of 2015, then Attorney General Chris Koster filed suit against Zill, LLC., alleging the gas station never followed up on a work plan to address a petroleum leak into the neighborhood’s sewer system. That lawsuit is ongoing.

But in August of 2016, Zill LLC announced it would pay $300,000 to a group of six property owners and others in the neighborhood, which is known as Round Tip.

Ellington says Zill claims it’s done its part by replacing the storage tank and paying into the Missouri Petroleum Storage Tank Insurance fund. The insurance fund, by statute, is charged with cleaning up contamination.

DNR has conducted various studies and asked citizens to report possible cases of gas coming into their houses. But that’s not enough according to Ellington.

He says neither the city nor the state have taken an active role in conducting awareness campaigns or tests of the ground for contamination.

“It’s literally like a cap of silence that’s they’re trying to place over this contamination issue” said Ellington. “And that’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my life as far as bureaucracies and state and city departments being knowledgeable, but not wanting to admit anything or wanting to get involved with anything.”

Ellington said he arranged the town hall with the intent to get various agencies involved in the process. DNR was in attendance to assist with getting people signed up to have their houses tested for benzene or contamination.

The Department of Health and Senior Services was also present at the town hall. Ellington says that agency told him it had resources to remove some of the contamination at residences.

It’s not known how many deaths in the area are connected to the contamination. The most recent data from the Department of Health and Senior Services is from 2013, before the complaints about the odor started rolling in.

Documents from DNR show a gas leak in the area was known as far back as 2006.