SAVANNAH- A man was injured in an accident just after 11:30 a.m. on Thursday in Andrew County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported Terry E. Cortinaz, 49, Kiel, WI., was outside unloading the towed unit of a 2004 Volvo on U.S. 71 four miles south of Savannah.
A 2005 Pontiac Grand Prix driven by Rachel M. Wright, Savannah, traveled off the right side of the road and stuck him. The Pontiac then collided with the Volvo.
Cortinaz was transported to Mosaic Life Care.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri officials are ratcheting back their expectations for the state’s finances while forecasting modest growth for the future.
Gov. Jay Nixon said Thursday that he has agreed on new revenue projections with budget leaders from the Missouri House and Senate. That agreement is noteworthy, because the Democratic governor and Republican lawmakers were unable to reach a consensus revenue estimate a year ago.
The officials now are predicting Missouri revenues of $8.37 billion for the 2015 fiscal year that runs through June. That’s down about $367 million from what Nixon originally had forecast and down about $218 million from what lawmakers originally predicted.
The governor and legislators are predicting the state’s 2016 revenues to grow by about 3.6 percent over that revised forecast for 2015.
TRENTON – A Missouri man was injured in an accident just before 4 a.m. on Thursday in Grundy County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2007 Ford Focus driven by Derrick W. Hughes, 20, Jamesport, was westbound on Mo. 6 six miles west of Trenton. The driver lost control in the snow. The vehicle went off the south side of the road and struck a culvert.
Hughes was transported to Wright Memorial Hospital. The MSHP reported he was properly restrained at the time of the accident.
BARNARD – One person was injured in an accident just before 7:30 a.m. on Thursday in Nodaway County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2000 Dodge passenger vehicle driven by Joseph S. Godfirnon, 61, Bedford, IA., was southbound on U.S. 71 three miles northwest of Barnard. The driver lost control on the snow-covered road. The vehicle traveled off the west side of the road hit a post and a utility pole.
A private vehicle transported Godfirnon was to St. Francis Hospital in Maryville.
The MSHP reported he was properly restrained at the time of the accident.
BILL DRAPER, Associated Press
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas prosecutor will seek the death penalty for a white supremacist from Missouri who is charged with killing three people at two Jewish sites in suburban Kansas City.
Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe announced his intention Thursday at a hearing where 74-year-old Frazier Glenn Miller of Aurora, Missouri, was ruled competent to stand trial.
Miller is charged in the April 13 shooting deaths of 69-year-old Dr. William Lewis Corporon, 14-year-old Reat Griffin Underwood and 53-year-old Terri LaManno.
After a judge on Thursday scheduled a three-day preliminary hearing in March, Miller protested the hearing date, shouting “What about my speedy trial?”
A Kansas judge last month ordered Cross to undergo a mental evaluation when his attorneys expressed concern about his ability to help with his defense.
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OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A white supremacist who admits killing three people outside two suburban Kansas City Jewish sites is set to appear in court for a hearing on whether he’s mentally competent to stand trial.
Seventy-three-year-old Frazier Glenn Cross, of Aurora, Missouri, is charged with capital murder in the April 13 shooting deaths of 69-year-old Dr. William Lewis Corporon, 14-year-old Reat Griffin Underwood and 53-year-old Terri LaManno.
A Kansas judge last month ordered Cross to undergo a mental evaluation after his attorneys expressed concerns about his ability to help with his defense.
Cross told The Associated Press last week that one of his attorneys said he passed the evaluation “with flying colors.” Results of the evaluation were to be revealed at a hearing Thursday morning at the Johnson County Courthouse in Olathe, Kansas.
JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — Members of a Catholic parish in Joplin that had its church, rectory and elementary school destroyed in a May 2011 tornado have celebrated Mass at their new church for the first time.
The Joplin Globe reports hundreds of residents on Wednesday packed the new St. Mary’s Catholic Church for a dedication service and its first Mass. The service was led by the Most Rev. James Johnston, bishop of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese, and the Rev. Justin Monaghan.
A multimillion dollar fundraising campaign, insurance proceeds and hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations funded the construction of the new church.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) joined an amicus brief led by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (Texas) and co-signed by U.S. Senator John Cornyn (Texas) in support of a lawsuit brought by the State of Texas against President Barack Obama’s illegal amnesty. The brief is also co-signed by a number of members from the U.S. House of Representatives.
Last weekend, Blunt also voted in favor of a constitutional point of order offered by Cruz and U.S. Senator Mike Lee (Utah) against the president’s executive amnesty.
“I agree with the president’s previous 22 comments that he didn’t have the authority to take this action on immigration. I voted with Senator Cruz this weekend to show my disapproval for the president’s executive amnesty, and I am proud to co-sign this amicus brief with Senators Cruz and Cornyn against President Obama’s lawless immigration power grab,” said Blunt.
“As Republicans prepare to take control of the Senate next year, I will continue to fight against this administration’s blatant disregard for the law and the Constitution,” Blunt continued.
In its lawsuit challenging the president’s executive action, the State of Texas argues that President Obama’s executive amnesty violates federal immigration law and usurps Congress’ constitutional authority to set immigration policy.
The amicus brief, filed by the American Center for Law and Justice, makes clear that the president’s executive action “changes the law and sets a new policy, exceeding [the president’s] constitutional authority and disrupting the delicate balance of powers.”
In addition to Blunt, Cruz, and Cornyn, the brief was signed by U.S. Representatives Diane Black (Tenn.), Dave Brat (Va.), Jeff Duncan (S.C.), John Fleming (La.), Randy Forbes (Va.), Virginia Foxx (N.C.), Trent Franks (Ariz.), Bob Goodlatte (Va.), Trey Gowdy (S.C.), Morgan Griffith (Va.), Vicky Hartzler (Mo.), Tim Huelskamp (Kans.), Mike Kelly (Pa.), David McKinley (W.Va.), Jeff Miller (Fla.), Alan Nunnelee (Miss.), Pete Olson (Texas), Ted Poe (Texas), Bill Posey (Fla.), Tom Price (Ga.), Phil Roe (Tenn.), Adrian Smith (Neb.), Lamar Smith (Texas), and Rob Wittman (Va.).
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — After 30 years of operation in Springfield, the Forest Institute for Professional Psychology will close in the fall of 2015. The school also plans to close its smaller operation in St. Louis.
School officials announced in a news release Wednesday that acting school president Gerald Porter will resign, effective Friday, to take another job.
Board of Trustees Chairman Kent Ragan says the school is closing for financial reasons. Current students who are scheduled to earn their degrees by the end of the summer will be able to do so. Ragan says the school will help other students find alternative institutions.
The Springfield News-Leader reports Forest enrolls about 254 students in degree programs that include a master’s degree, a post-master’s certificate and a doctoral degree in professional practice.
FULTON (AP) – Federal officials are delaying a decision on issuing a 20-year extension for the Callaway County nuclear power plant.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the decision is on hold pending an administrative hearing on an environmental group’s legal challenge regarding spent fuel rod storage.
A decision on extending the license for the Fulton plant was expected this month. The plant’s current operating license is set to expire in 2024. The license renewal would extend the license another 20 years.
The Jefferson City News-Tribune reports the NRC expects to respond in the next few days to a petition filed by the Missouri Coalition for the Environment.
A recent lawsuit against the nuclear agency objects to new rules allowing above-ground storage of spent nuclear fuel. The environmental group joined that lawsuit.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Prosecutors say a Kansas City man charged with committing 34 residential burglaries was linked to the crimes by a GPS in an ankle bracelet he was wearing because he was on parole for burglary.
Sixty-four-year-old Roy E. Samuels was charged Wednesday with one count of first-degree burglary, 33 counts of second-degree burglary and 26 counts of theft.
The burglaries occurred in Kansas City between July and September 2013. At the time, Smith was on parole for a burglary in Grandview.
Court records say the GPS placed Samuels inside 34 homes where burglaries were reported. The homeowners lost such items as electronics and guns.
It was not immediately clear if Samuels has an attorney.
