JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon plans to visit Italy, Germany and Spain on a trade mission to Europe to promote the state.

The governor’s office says the trade mission will include state officials, lawmakers and private business leaders.

Nixon plans to meet with executives from international companies with facilities in the state, including Italian cement and concrete producer Buzzi Unicem and the German-headquartered chemical company BASF.

A spokesman for the governor says the focus of this trip is meeting with private businesses.

The directors of the state departments of agriculture and economic development will accompany the governor.

The trip will begin Friday and end March 28.

KIMBERLY HEFLING, Associated Press
JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Many colleges are clamping down on campus fraternities after their reputations are sullied by race-tainted incidents.

Even with a school’s sometimes swift and hard action, episodes such as the racist chants by members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter at the University of Oklahoma still surface.

In recent years, numerous other fraternities have been suspended and students expelled from school for racially tinged parties or behavior. Actions have included hanging nooses and shouting racial profanities.

Many incidents come to light after the students themselves post pictures or videos online, drawing public attention.

Defenders of fraternities point to the system’s charitable works and social and professional benefits for members.

But beyond racism, fraternities in recent years have had to confront issues of sexual assault, binge drinking and hazing among members.

BY BLAKE HURST

The Cuban cows looked like Brahmas. I asked the president of the cooperative farm we were visiting about the breeds in their 1,200-cow herd, and he rattled off a series of Spanish names, none of which rang a bell with me. So, we’re calling them Brahmas. They’re used for milk and for beef and are fed grass, yucca leaves and sugar cane. The farm plans on four to six litres of milk per day per cow. After converting from metric to U.S. measurement, the production per cow per day is: not much. Of course, whatever breed they are, they’re not bred for their milking ability, and they aren’t fed what we would consider a balanced ration. Milking is done outside, and the milk is gathered in those tin milk cans we see for sale at flea markets.

Cuba is caught in a time warp. It’s as if nothing has changed since about 1959. Beautiful buildings line the waterfront in Havana, but many of them are collapsing. Some restoration is going on, but often only the front of the building is restored, while the rest of the building is nothing but ruins. Cubans rarely have private cars, and many of the cars on the street are vintage 1955, with a diesel engine replacing the original Chevy or Ford motor.

Missouri First Lady Georganne Nixon and Director of Agriculture Richard Fordyce recently led a trade trip to Cuba, and over 30 Missouri farmers were part of the 95-member delegation. We heard from numerous Cuban officials, and the interest in improving trade relations with the U.S. is strong. There is a tremendous amount of work to be done, including repealing or amending the trade embargo with Cuba, but it was clear from our short trip that Cuba needs what Missouri farmers produce. Several of the Missouri rice farmers on the trip toured a Cuban market, and they are convinced that we can send them Missouri rice at a better price and with much better quality. From my trip to the cattle farm, it’s clear that Missouri corn and soybeans would improve the productivity of their beef and dairy herd. The opportunities are there, and it’s time to act.

Trade today is limited not only by the embargo but by the financial requirements placed on trade with Cuba by our government. Cubans complain of the inability to buy on credit and about banking restrictions that make trade more difficult. So, the first step in improving trade will be to loosen some of those restrictions. It’s clear that the Cubans won’t be able to rapidly increase trade without access to more foreign exchange.

So, increased tourism and access to the American market for Cuban rum, cigars and produce is a must. Cubans are very proud of their organic production. They may well choose to produce organically because of a sincere conviction that it’s more healthy, but organic production may not be a choice when you don’t have the money to buy fertilizer, seed or medicine for your animals. Whatever the reason, it is a market niche Cuba can target.

While in Cuba, I visited a grocery store. It was sparkling, and the shelves were full. But there was very little variety compared to an American store. Cubans today are not hungry, as they so often were after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but they would greatly benefit from the variety and choices of food that we take for granted here in the U.S. There is much work to be done by both countries, and Cubans will never be full participants in international markets until they adopt a course of more economic and political freedom. But increased trade with Cuba will benefit both the Cuban people and Missouri farmers.

Blake Hurst, of Westboro, Mo., is the president of Missouri Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization, and was on the trade trip to Cuba in early March.
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Set to open on Monday, the clinic will be housed in the lobby of the Sprint Center, next to the College Basketball Experience.

In a news release, KU Hospital said the decision to open a clinic downtown was driven by the growing number of people working and living there.

Available to patients older than 6 months, the clinic will be open from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Additional hours might be added.

The clinic will treat routine medical matters, including asthma, allergy, cold and flu symptoms, cuts and scrapes, rashes and burns, and sprains and fractures, according to the release.

KU Hospital has been involved with the Sprint Center since it opened in October 2007, treating athletes and fans at Sprint Center sporting events.

People “deserve access to basic healthcare close to their jobs and their homes,” Bob Page, president and CEO of the hospital, said in the release.

Mike Sherry is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri Republican wants to see bonds approved by voters used to fund a new nursing home for veterans in order to reduce a 2,000-person waiting list.

The measure sponsored by Rep. Lindell Shumake, of Hannibal, is scheduled for a House committee hearing Monday.

The constitutional amendment would allow the state to issue $50 million in new bonds, the estimated cost for a new 150-bed facility.

Shumake says Missouri voters would want to see a new veterans home.

Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon called on lawmakers in his January State of the State address to find money to build a new facility to get rid of the waiting list.

A measure in the Senate to allow existing bonding authority to be used for new construction has stalled.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri Republican lawmaker wants to decriminalize concealing a gun without a permit.

Rep. Eric Burlison, of Springfield, introduced a measure Thursday that would decriminalize carrying a concealed weapon including firearms, knives and batons.

The bill would eliminate the requirement for individuals to get a permit in order to conceal a gun.

Burlison says citizens already have the right to carry a weapon openly and that the requirement to go through training and pay for a permit to wear a layer of clothing over the gun was silly.

He also says it’s probably unconstitutional because of the gun-rights amendment added to the state’s constitution in August.

The measure would not remove a requirement for a concealed carry at a school or place of worship to carry a gun.

CALIFORNIA, Mo. (AP) — A central Missouri man has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing his son-in-law.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that 69-year-old Donald L. Bateman received the sentence after pleading guilty Friday to first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 43-year-old Antoine E. Johnson. The probable cause statement said the men got into an argument in September while working together on a water heater at the home where they lived together in the Missouri town of California.

The statement said Bateman was drunk and became upset because Johnson threatened to fight him. Bateman is accused of leaving the room, coming back with a gun and shooting Johnson twice.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Southwest Missouri college students are beginning work on a solar-powered, tornado-resistant home that will be entered in a national competition.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that Drury University in Springfield is working with Crowder College in Neosho on the ShelteR3 home. Ground was broken Tuesday on the home, which will be built on the Crowder campus.

It will be entered in Solar Decathlon 2015, a competition that the U.S. Department of Energy organizes. The team working on the house is made up of more than 50 students from both campuses. More than a quarter million people are expected to tour the home at the competition site.