(Missourinet) – Governor-elect Eric Geitens has announced a new director of the Missouri Department of Corrections.

Anne Precythe will replace George Lombardi, who recently has been at the center of harassment and negligence reports at the state DOC.

Presythe will leave her post as Director of Community Corrections at the North Carolina Department of Public Safety to assume oversight of Missouri’s state prisons.

In a Facebook posting, Greitens claimed Missouri’s Department of Corrections is broken.  He said Presythe is tough on crime and a fierce advocate for the employees and officers who will keep our streets safe.

Presythe has served in her current position in North Carolina since March 2013.  Prior to that she spent six years as an administrator at that state’s Department of Corrections.  Presythe attended the University of North Carolina at Wilmington from 1983 to 1987, where she majored in Psychology.

After a scathing article on Pitch.com reported several corrections employees had been victimized and even threatened based on sex, age, religion, or physical ability, Missouri House Speaker Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff) announced he would form a committee to investigate the allegations.  Richardson called the behavior unacceptable.

The story in Pitch.com said from 2012 through 2016, the state paid more than $7.5 million in settlement payments and judgments. The website also reported that during the first six months of this year, DOC was told to pay more than $4 million to victims.

In response to the accusations of sexual harassment and discrimination at DOC,  Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway announced her office would conduct an immediate audit of the state’s Legal Expense Fund, which is the pool of money used to make payments stemming from lawsuits against the state.

(Missourinet) – According to data from the Missouri Division of Family Services, changes in state law passed by the Missouri legislature in 2015 have led to about 41,000 Missourians losing food stamps this year.

A 1996 federal welfare law limited food stamp benefits to three months out of every three years for childless, nondisabled adults unless they are working 20 hours a week or participating in a qualified job training program. Congress gave states the option to request a waiver of the provision in areas with high unemployment. Jeanette Mott Oxford with a social welfare group called Empower Missouri says the state law prohibits Missouri from extending those benefits beyond the three month time frame.

“The legislators believe that around $5 a day in food stamps was enough to keep people from looking for work, which we maintained is absolute craziness,” says Mott Oxford.

She says studies show that about 60% of women on welfare are domestic violence victims.

“They’re having to hide out kind of, because letting anybody know where they are can endanger their life or the life of their kids. That’s when all the wheels fall off of the bus, right. Then we say we want you to be self-sufficient,” says Mott Oxford.

The law has also cut off about 19,000 needy Missouri children of temporary welfare benefits this year. Those qualifying for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program can receive benefits for 45 months in a lifetime instead of the previous 60 months.

According to Mott Oxford, a former St. Louis state Representative, the average Missouri family receiving TANF benefits is $227 a month. She says those requesting the benefits shouldn’t feel guilty until proven innocent.

“Who cares if there’s high unemployment in your county. You can find some work somehow. You can magically invent a car. I suddenly had a picture of Fred Flintstone in his little mobile where he’s peddling things with his feet,” says Mott Oxford. “You can somehow solve his problem if you just would is the philosophy.”

She says many people who are not officially considered disabled need help. They have depended on TANF benefits because they don’t qualify for many other assistance options.

“You can either make too little or you can make too much. There’s only a little window of people that we will serve because of our failure to modernize the rules, to modernize the earnings rules, to modernize how much people make on TANF,” says Mott Oxford.

Republicans say changes to welfare laws needed to be made to help people set goals and find work. They argue that those being removed from such programs have been on public assistance for too long and the money saved from cutting people off of these benefits are being invested in getting recipients back to work.

(Update) – Missing teen located safe in store parking lot in Springfield.
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(Missourinet) – A missing endangered child report has been issued for a 13-year-old autistic girl.

Investigators say Rachel Mosher left a relative’s home in Springfield around 6 p.m. Tuesday after becoming upset. She was last seen running through the neighborhood.

Police say Rachel is 5 feet tall, weighs 90 pounds and has light brown hair and blue eyes. She was last wearing blue jeans, a red jacket with fur around the hood, a white sweater with snowflakes and black boots. She was also wearing a pair of blue framed eye glasses.

Anyone seeing the missing girl or having any information related to the case should immediately dial 911 to contact the nearest law enforcement agency or call the Springfield Police Department at 417-864-1786.

(Missourinet) – The state Development Finance Board postponed a vote during their scheduled meeting on Tuesday in Jefferson City, delaying a request from the city of St. Louis for $40 million in tax credits to go toward a $200 million downtown stadium plan to bring an MLS team to St. Louis.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, SC STL, the group trying to bring a professional soccer team to St. Louis, requested the postponement after Governor-elect Eric Greitens called the plan “nothing more than welfare for millionaires.”

SC STL hopes to set up a meeting with Greitens before considering another request for vote.  A St. Louis Board of Aldermen also introduced legislation last week that could ask city voters to approve up to $80 million for the stadium, which would be the next step in bringing a third professional franchise to St. Louis.

The Rams left St. Louis for Los Angeles after Governor Jay Nixon’s task force was unable to secure a stadium plan that met the approval of Rams’ owner Stan Kroenke and the NFL.

(Missourinet) – Home sharing service Airbnb has experienced massive growth in Missouri over the past year.

The company’s host community in the state – those who rent out their houses or extra bedrooms – doubled to 2,100 people. Over the same period, Airbnb guest arrivals in Missouri grew by 166 percent.

Spokesperson Ben Breit says the state is outperforming its neighbors and most every other market in embracing the service.

“Missouri is a state above almost all others that is experiencing this overwhelming growth.”

Missourians who rented out their residences through Airbnb made a combined $13.1 million this year. More than 65 percent of the business – $8.6 million – took place in the two large cities of St. Louis and Kansas City. 79,000 of the 124,000 guest arrivals occurred in the two cities.

“A city like St. Louis, for example, with all the universities, lots of industrial growth, they’re having a lot of big events,” Breit said. “The ability for home sharing to expand the lodging capacity and welcome as many people as possible, that could be a factor why we’re seeing that type of growth.”

Breit notes although growth was biggest in the large urban areas, it was also strong in smaller cities.

“Beyond that kind of first tier of the largest cities, St. Louis and Kansas City, (we’re) seeing this type of growth in Branson and Columbia and Springfield, really great communities that aren’t as well known outside of Missouri.  (They’re) really able to take advantage of tourism, and they’ve latched onto it”

Airbnb was founded in 2008.  It’s stated mission is “to create a world where people can belong when they travel by being connected to local cultures and having unique travel experiences.”

The company supplies insurance for its residents who provide dwelling spaces. Breit says it provides a $1 million “host” guarantee should anything go wrong at any of the properties. He admits that anything that can happen at a hotel can happen at an Airbnb rented space. The company vets both its hosts and guests by conducting background checks.

At this point, the hosts are responsible for complying with local laws that apply to lodging.  The hosts are required to collect taxes in compliance with their states and local jurisdictions. Breit says the company is engaged with thousands of communities in an effort to take over the handling of taxes. He claims Airbnb has had productive conversations at the state level in Missouri, and as well as with policy makers in St. Louis and Kansas City over the issue.

(Missourinet) – Missouri’s incoming House Budget Committee Chairman thinks more restrictions will have to be made on state spending.

After outgoing Governor Jay Nixon withheld about $200 million over several months, Republican Representative Scott Fitzpatrick contends there’ll need to be an additional $150 million sliced from state services and departments.

And he says they won’t come without pain.

“It’s to the point now where it doesn’t matter where you restrict,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s going to be a difficult decision and there aren’t very many easy places to go.”

The state’s total budget is $27 million, with about $10 million of which Fitzpatrick says lawmakers allocate to various departments and agencies.

Spending restrictions made by Nixon have came after state revenues have failed to cover the cost of expenses. Earlier this month, Nixon announced $51 million in restrictions, a move he made within his last 35 days in office. That brought his total to $201 million for the fiscal year after previous restrictions in July and September and following about $9 million he restored.

Fitzpatrick says the upcoming restrictions could disrupt operations at some departments.

“You’re going to be digging into pretty much core funding that these departments and the folks that they deal with have had in previous years, as opposed to just eliminating the increases and things like that. It’s going to be uncomfortable, that’s for sure.”

He adds the spending restrictions ahead will be more difficult because they’ll come in the middle of the fiscal year when departments have already spent a good portion of their budgets.

“It’s easier at the beginning of the year (July), because at the beginning of the year, not very much money has been spent,” Fitzpatrick said.  “And so there might be some places you would go that you couldn’t go now because that money has already been expended.”

Like most other states, Missouri is bound by its constitution to balance its budget.  The state constitution also calls for the governor to decide how spending reductions will be made. With Democrat Nixon leaving office, Fitzpatrick will be meeting with Governor-elect Eric Greitens, a fellow Republican, to discuss the future restrictions which he says will be needed to keep the state from avoiding a deficit.

He said that meeting will likely take place before Christmas weekend.

(Missourinet) – Missouri’s Governor-Elect is opposed to taxpayer funding for a new soccer stadium in St. Louis, describing it as “welfare for millionaires.”

Governor-Elect Eric Greitens, a Republican, has issued a statement which says “this type of politics as usual is coming to an end.”

Greitens says that “because of reckless spending by career politicians,” Missouri cannot currently afford the core functions of government, much less spending millions of dollars on soccer stadiums. His statement says that “this back-room wheeling and dealing is exactly what frustrates Missourians.”

Missourinet has reached out to Greitens spokesman Parker Briden to see if Greitens will discuss this issue during the January inaugural address or State of the State. We have not heard back from him, as of yet.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports Greitens’ statement comes one day before the State Development Finance Board is set to vote on a request from St. Louis City for $40 million in tax credits to go toward the $200 million downtown stadium plan.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon (D) tweeted about Greitens’ statement Monday afternoon. Nixon’s tweet read: “I don’t consider a transparent process that involves three public votes, including one by St. Louis voters, to be ‘backroom wheeling and dealing.’”

(Missourinet) – The creation of three state parks announced Friday will bring Missouri’s state park count to 91. Governor Jay Nixon (D) says the parks, which will be located in southern Missouri, will have some of the state’s most distinctive natural landscapes and features on their more than 8,000 acres.

The new parks include:

*Ozark Mountain State Park, with 1,011 acres, features an open, grassy, flower-filled landscape of ridges and hills, known locally as knobs. The property is located in Taney County, northwest of Branson along Highway 465.

*Bryant Creek State Park, with 2,917 acres, consists of thick oak and pine forests and nearly two miles of river hills and bluffs along Bryant Creek. The property is located in Douglas County, near the Ozark County line approximately 22 miles southeast of Ava.

*Eleven Point State Park, with 4,167 acres, includes six miles of direct river frontage on the Eleven Point River, a nationally protected river corridor. The property is located in Oregon County approximately 45 miles east of West Plains, near Alton.

“These new state parks ensure that we can protect and preserve these valuable natural landscapes for generations to come,” says Nixon. “At a time when other states are closing or even selling state parks or charging day use fees, we are expanding our system of state parks to offer more opportunities for Missourians to experience the outdoors, at no admission cost.”

The state park system purchased the Eleven Point State Park for $8 million, Bryant Creek State Park for $4 million and Ozark Mountain State Park for $2.8 million. Money for the purchases came from settlements reached with mining companies that had operated in the state. The purchase of Ozark Mountain State Park and Bryant Creek State Park also included some state park funds designated for land acquisitions.

“These new parks were acquired to fill natural history gaps that were not previously represented in the state park system,” says Bill Bryan, director of Missouri State Parks. “For more than 20 years, the park system has been looking to add properties with these unique natural features for the public to enjoy.”

The new park lands were selected based on goals identified in the 1992 Missouri State Park and Historic Site System Expansion Plan, which was developed following a nearly five-year process of public meetings, research and staff input. In 2004, Missouri State Parks also completed Missing Masterpieces: A Survey about Missouri State Parks and Historic Sites. The survey gathered public input regarding the standards the division uses to evaluate potential new areas for their worthiness to become new Missouri state parks.

Plans for development of the properties and future use are in the preliminary stages. Early development will focus on natural resource stewardship. The park system will hold a series of events to allow members of the public to see the properties and provide feedback on park planning. The first of these events will be guided hikes on the property. They will take place at:

*Ozark Mountain State Park in Taney County from 2-4 p.m. on Jan. 6.
*Eleven Point State Park in Oregon County from 1-4 p.m. on Jan. 7.
*Bryant Creek State Park in Douglas County from noon-2 p.m. on Jan. 8.

(Missourinet) – A mid-Missouri doctor is urging people to be careful around ice.

Dr. Christopher Sampson of MU Health Care said he sees a lot of “slip and fall” injuries during and after ice storms. He recommends being careful and planning ahead.

“Look outside and check. Salting your walks is also helpful, or your steps, that will likely prevent injuries from falls,” says Sampson.

Dr. Sampson said he sees multiple injuries from ice.

“So you’ll see people who sprain their ankles, break their ankles, back injuries,” Sampson says. “And it’s often, everyone talks about black ice with driving, but sometimes you may not even notice that ice that’s on your front steps when you step out, and that’s why these people end up falling and injuring themselves.”

Dr. Sampson also urges Missourians to bundle up in the cold and to cover exposed skin. He says frostbite happens quickly, especially when the wind chill is below freezing.

“I’ve seen people who, their car’s broken down and they’re just outside trying to change a tire and they’ve quickly developed frostbite in that limited time it was to fix a tire,” Sampson says.

Because of the extreme cold, MODOT is urging Missourians to drive with a full tank of gasoline and to have extra blankets and gloves with them.

MU Health Care, which has about 6,000 health professionals, has facilities and clinics throughout Missouri.