JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – Gov. Jay Nixon has vetoed or frozen more than $1.1 billion of spending in Missouri’s next budget, citing concerns about declining state revenues and the potential for new tax breaks.
Nixon’s budget cuts announced Tuesday include nearly $275 million of line-item vetoes and $846 million of spending restrictions affecting everything from public schools and universities to the Medicaid health care program.
The Democratic governor said his actions were necessary because the budget passed by the Republican-led Legislature was “dangerously out of balance.”
The budget is to take effect July 1.
Nixon’s actions mean there will be no funding increase for education when the new school year begins. But Nixon said he could release the additional school money if legislators in September sustain his vetoes of bills granting various tax breaks.
SALINA, Kan- Salina Police are reviewing an arrest last Friday night where a Wichita man was tased for not getting out of his car when requested by an officer to do so.
Capt. Mike Sweeney said Tuesday morning, it is department policy to review all cases where there was a use of force by an officer.
Sweeney said at the conclusion of the review if there was a violation of department policy, the officer would be disciplined.
About 11 p.m. Friday night, 30-year-old Zachary Noel was stopped at Ninth and Kirwin, in the area where police were conducting a seat belt enforcement program.
The officer learned Noel had a suspended driver’s license and asked Noel to get out of his car. The officer tased Noel when he thought Noel was going to drive away after he put his hand on the gearshift of the car.
Noel was charged with driving with a suspended license and obstruction. Video from a cellphone in the car recorded the exchange police have reviewed the video.
OZARK, Mo. (AP) — The husband of a woman whose body was found in her burned home is charged with killing her.
Christian County authorities on Tuesday charged Aaron Clemons with first-degree murder, kidnapping, armed criminal action, arson and several counts of child endangerment.
The body of his wife, Bailey Clemons, was found in her burned out home in Ozark June 17. Her cause of death has not been announced.
County coroner Brad Cole said Monday that DNA confirmed the victim’s identity.
Ozark Police Chief Lyle Hodges said Aaron Clemons was arrested at a Springfield hospital Monday night. His bond was set a $1 million.
KOLR-TV reports online court records show Bailey Clemons filed for divorce from her husband in April 2013 but the case was on hold since June 2013.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A U.S. Senate subcommittee has endorsed a spending bill that would authorize $300 million for the construction of a new national bioscience lab at Kansas State University in Manhattan.
In a joint news release Tuesday, Republican Sens. Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran say the money for the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility was approved by Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Appropriations. The bill awaits a vote by the full Senate. A similar amount is pending in a bill before the U.S. House.
The $1.25 billion lab is designed to conduct research on large animals and related diseases, replacing an aging facility at Plum Island, New York.
Roberts and Moran say the funding is equal to the amount sought by President Barack Obama in his budget.
————- MANHATTAN, Kan- It is a very important day for the future of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility.
Senator Jerry Moran wrote on his Facebook page, “Today, the Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Appropriations on which I serve is poised to pass the FY2015 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill, which includes $300 million for construction of NBAF.
This funding is a critical step forward to finish construction of the lab in Manhattan. It solidifies Congressional support for construction of the modern, world-class facility which will protect Americans against biological threats.
Kansas will become a research epicenter, and the construction will ultimately create jobs for Kansans in the fields of engineering, science and technology. The talented young men and women who grow up here will have more opportunities to work and live in Kansas. Following Subcommittee passage, the bill will await passage by the full Appropriations Committee on Thursday, which I’m confident will occur.”
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A Kansas City teenager says he was walking home when he found a box containing what appears to be human ashes sitting on the sidewalk in front on an abandoned home.
Elijah Farley and his mother contacted authorities after he found the box in east Kansas City Sunday. The box had “Tina Manning” written on it.
KCTV reports the Jackson County Medical Examiner’s Office will verify if the box contains human ashes.
Kimberly Farley says she thinks the box was discarded without the owner’s knowledge and she and her son hope the ashes will be reunited with the person’s relatives.
DENVER (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton is making an economic pitch for youth employment, announcing a set of partnerships aimed at training and hiring young people.
Clinton is announcing a project called “Job One” at the Clinton Global Initiative America meeting Tuesday to focus on hiring, training and mentoring teens and young adults. The 10 companies involved include The Gap, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft and Marriott.
The project also aims to recruit small businesses to address youth employment and creates an action network for companies to partner with the Clinton Global Initiative on jobs.
The announcement in Denver comes as the potential 2016 Democratic presidential candidate has faced criticism from Republicans that her family’s wealth and prestige have insulated her from the economic problems facing average Americans.
Shantell Cross, a sixth grade teacher at Hosea Elementary in St. Joseph, accepts Northwest’s 2014 Young Educator of the Year award from Darryl Johnson during the fourth annual Northwest Night at the St. Joseph Mustangs. (Photo by Raylynn Myers/University Relations)
NWMSU Media Release
A local teacher’s dedication to her students earned her a top honor from Northwest Missouri State University’s outreach centers.
The University presented Shantell Cross, a sixth grade teacher at Hosea Elementary in St. Joseph, with its Young Educator of the Year award. The award, presented by Northwest’s outreach centers in St. Joseph and Kansas City, is given to a non-tenured teacher who has demonstrated evidence of service above normal expectations.
The University announced Cross as this year’s winner June 21 during its fourth annual Northwest Night at the St. Joseph Mustangs game. Darryl Johnson, a Northwest alumnus and 2013 inductee into the National Teachers Hall of Fame, presented the award. Loyal Northwest supporters also helped the Mustangs set a new attendance record as 4,427 people watched the game.
Hosea Elementary Principal Kevin Carroll nominated Cross, who recently completed her first year of teaching at the school, for her contributions to the school, positive interactions with students and innovative lessons.
Cross serves as the building’s DMI coach, which allows her to learn best practices in mathematics and share them with other teachers, and she coaches sixth grade girls basketball.
Additionally, she organized a sixth grade dance and a sixth grade graduation. She developed a play day for students by researching games, designing T-shirts, scavenging for materials and creating a schedule. In her classroom, she created tabletop whiteboards that students used to brainstorm answers and show their work during team activities.
“Mrs. Cross’ hard work and dedication was an example to her students,” Carroll said. “She built relationships with each child and worked tirelessly at challenging them to be more and to do more, all while meeting their individual needs. Shantell has contributed to Hosea this year in many ways and is a fantastic addition to our wonderful staff.”
This was the second year Northwest presented the Young Educator of the Year award. The award is an effort to bring awareness to younger educators in the region and the positive impacts educators they are having on students, said Dr. Terry Barmann, director of outreach at Northwest.
“What Shantell Cross has done is definitely deserving of some recognition, and we are lucky to have her as an educator,” Barmann said.
Northwest’s St. Joseph and Kansas City centers offer 20 graduate degree and certificate programs including 19 in education ranging from master’s, education specialist and education doctorate degrees, as well as a Master of Business Administration. For more information, visit www.nwmissouri.edu/outreach.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) celebrated reports today that 27-year-old Meriam Ibrahim, the wife of an America citizen, will no longer face the death sentence and will be freed from captivity in Sudan. Ibrahim, who gave birth in jail and has been imprisoned with her two young children, previously faced the death sentence in Sudan after refusing to disavow her Christian faith.
In an effort to secure Ibrahim’s release, Blunt worked with U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (N.H.) to send a letter on May 16, 2014, urging Secretary of the U.S. Department of State John Kerry to intervene on Ibrahim’s behalf. Blunt and Ayotte also sent a follow-up letter to Kerry and Jeh Johnson, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), on May 21, 2014.
“I am very pleased that the Sudanese court has reportedly cancelled Meriam Ibrahim’s death sentence and ordered her release. I continue to urge U.S. officials to work quickly and use all resources available to immediately provide Meriam and her family with safe haven in the United States,” said Blunt.
JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – New arguments are being raised against a proposed Missouri constitutional amendment that would enhance the right to bear arms.
A legal challenge has claimed the summary approved by the Legislature for the Aug. 5 ballot measure is insufficient and unfair. Last week, an attorney for those challenging the measure asked a Cole County judge to rewrite the summary.
But now, attorney Chuck Hatfield has revised that request to instead ask the judge to send the measure back to the Legislature for a new summary. He contends it would violate the constitution’s separation of powers for a judge to rewrite a legislative measure.
Hatfield is representing a gun-control activist and the St. Louis police chief.
Referring the measure back to lawmakers could knock it off the ballot, because they aren’t in session.
CHICAGO (AP) — The nation’s largest pediatricians’ group says parents should read aloud to their children every day starting in infancy.
Doing so can enhance child development and prepare young minds for early language and reading ability.
That’s according to a new policy from the American Academy of Pediatrics issued Tuesday.
The academy wants pediatricians to spread the message to parents of young children and to provide books to needy families.
To help promote reading, the doctors’ group is teaming up with the Clinton Foundation’s Too Small to Fail program, children’s book publisher Scholastics Inc., and a group called Reach out and Read. That nonprofit group works with doctors and hospitals to distribute books and encourage early reading.
