JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) _ A Missouri Republican is proposing that women be required to get notarized permission from the father to receive an abortion.
State Rep. Rick Brattin of Harrisonville recently filed legislation requiring a father’s consent except in cases of rape or incest.
Brattin told Mother Jones that “it has to be legitimate rape.”
Brattin told The Associated Press he wasn’t trying to define “legitimte rape,” but said a woman would need to prove the rape to have an abortion without the father’s permission.
The bill is one of several dealing with abortion that have repeatedly failed, including an identical bill that died in committee last session.
Brattin’s comments spurred critical comparisons to former Republican U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, who said women’s bodies can avoid pregnancy from what he called “legitimate rape.”
GALENA, Mo. (AP) — The mayor of a Missouri town has resigned after a police officer said the man threated him while he was writing the mayor’s mother a speeding ticket.
The Springfield News-Leader reports Dustin Bray resigned before Galena’s city council meeting on Tuesday.
A Galena police officer wrote in a report that the mayor showed up Monday while he was writing Bray’s mother a ticket for speeding and failure to show proof of insurance.
The officer says Bray blocked him from exiting his patrol car and acted like he was going to throw a punch. He says the mayor asked if he liked his job.
The officer says he told the mayor he would rather be fired than make an exception for the mayor’s mother.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri school district has apologized to the family of a blind student whose cane was replaced with a swimming pool noodle after he allegedly misbehaved on the bus.
Rachel Nafzinger tells WDAF-TV that school officials took the cane from her 8-year-old son, Dakota, on Monday. North Kansas City School District spokeswoman Michelle Cronk says the boy reportedly hit someone with his cane on the bus and that officials gave him the pool noodle as a substitute because he fidgets and needed something to hold.
The 8-year-old was born without eyes, a condition known as bilateral anophthalmia.
The district released a statement Wednesday that acknowledges making a mistake. His mother says school officials visited their home Wednesday morning, returned the cane and apologized to the family.
CENTRALIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is planning to hold a summit to brainstorm ways to beef up the state’s cattle industry.
Nixon announced the summit during a Wednesday visit with Future Farmers of America members at Centralia High School. It’s meant to find ways to expand the industry and spur economic development in rural Missouri.
A statement from the governor’s office says Missouri is ranked second for its large numbers of beef cows, but 95 percent of the cattle are finished and processed in other states.
Industry stakeholders will meet Jan. 5 at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Cattle genetics experts from the university, national beef packers and cattlemen will speak at the summit.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Lawrence police have arrested a woman who they say stole a man’s cellphone when he tried to record her vehicle after it nearly collided with his bicycle.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports the 29-year-old woman was arrested at her home Wednesday. She faces an aggravated robbery charge.
Sgt. Amy Rhoads says a 31-year-old Lawrence man was riding his bike when the suspect’s vehicle nearly struck him. She says the victim used his phone to photograph the vehicle before he got into a confrontation with the woman.
Rhoads says the suspect grabbed the phone and drove away.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Lawyers for 21 death row inmates say Oklahoma’s bungled execution in April is evidence they likely will experience pain and suffering from the state’s lethal injection protocol.
Testimony is scheduled to continue Thursday in a federal court in Oklahoma City where the inmates are challenging the state’s method of execution. Much of the case centers on the use of the sedative midazolam as the first in a three-drug combination.
The combination was used for the first time in Oklahoma during the April 29 execution of Clayton Lockett. He writhed on the gurney, mumbled and lifted his head before dying after the execution was halted.
Attorneys for the state say new execution protocols and staff training will prevent similar problems from happening again.
WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) has announced that he will rejoin the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in the 114th Congress. The Committee is responsible for overseeing and funding the nation’s intelligence activities. Blunt previously served on the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2011 and 2012. He also previously served as a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Blunt will depart the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services in January 2015. He will continue to retain his positions on the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations; the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; and the U.S. Senate Rules and Administration Committee. Blunt also serves as a member of the defense appropriations subcommittee.
“I’m pleased to rejoin the Senate Intelligence Committee at a time when the nation continues to face real threats from enemies who wish us harm,” said Blunt. “I look forward to building on my experience working on these issues in the House and Senate. I also plan to stay fully engaged in the discussion surrounding the relocation of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and working to ensure that facility stays in Missouri.”
“I’ve been honored to serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee for the past two years and to work on a number of critical issues facing our servicemembers and their families in Missouri and around the world,” Blunt continued. “This year, we’ve successfully advanced the discussion surrounding military mental health care, and ensured that military assets like the A-10 and Growlers, which are critical to jobs in Missouri, will continue to receive important federal resources. I intend to stay engaged on all of these issues and others that impact Missourians.”
Click here to read Blunt’s recent statement on critical priorities that were included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2015. Click here to read Blunt’s statement on key defense priorities that were included in the passage of the omnibus this weekend.
Jeff Gragg, vice president of information services and chief information officer for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas.-KHI photo
By KHI News Service
TOPEKA — Jeff Gragg recently joined Topeka-based Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas as vice president of information services and chief information officer (CIO).
In his new role, Gragg oversees the company’s technology division, which encompasses computer information systems and training, voice/data communications, duplicating and mailing services, disaster and workplace recovery, audit compliance and project management.
Gragg has 33 years of systems and technology experience in a variety of industries. Most recently, he served as senior vice president of information technology and CIO for Hostess Brands, Kansas City, Mo. He previously served as CIO and senior vice president of e-commerce and demand planning for Carhartt Corporation, Dearborn, Mich.; executive director of solutions delivery and director of IT retail channels for Hallmark Cards Corporation, Kansas City, Mo.; and director of merchandising systems for Payless ShoeSource Inc., Topeka.
In addition, as the owner of Wheat Plains Group Consulting he has consulted with several organizations on issues related to e-commerce, IT strategic planning, and large project justification and management.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen says she’s prepared to let the unemployment rate fall from its current 5.8 percent to exceptionally low levels, saying doing so should help cause inflation to rise closer to the Fed’s 2 percent target.
A forecast provided by Fed policymakers indicates that the unemployment rate is expected to slip below 5 percent in 2017. This suggests that unemployment would run below what economists call its “natural rate,” in theory the lowest level the economy can sustain for the long run. Pushing unemployment below its natural rate could help lift inflation from its current ultra-low 1.3 percent level.
“A slight period of unemployment below natural rate will facilitate return of inflation to objective,” Yellen said at a news conference after policymakers ended their December meeting.
ST. LOUIS (AP) â Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has ended the state of emergency that he declared for the St. Louis area ahead of unrest over the Ferguson grand jury decision.
By doing so Wednesday, Nixon removed the Missouri National Guard from duties in Ferguson, the city of St. Louis and other nearby communities.
Nixon issued his executive order on Nov. 17. Protests, including some that turned violent, broke out on Nov. 24 after St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch announced that a grand jury wouldn’t indict Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown on Aug. 9.
Twelve businesses in the Ferguson area were burned during the unrest immediately after McCulloch’s announcement, but Nixon credited the work of police and the National Guard in preventing any protest-related deaths.
