SEDALIA (AP) – A sheriff says investigators consider the death of a woman whose remains were found scattered at a Sedalia trailer park a homicide.
Pettis County Sheriff Kevin Bond said Thursday a forensic anthropologist is working to determine the victim’s age and when she died. An autopsy confirmed the remains found Sunday in two areas of the Goodwill Chapel Trailer Park were those of a white female.
Bond told The Sedalia Democrat the victim’s DNA will be forwarded to the Missouri Highway Patrol Crime Lab to try and find a match.
The sheriff says there have been no recent missing person reports in the area. He says he does not believe the case is related to the 2008 disappearance of Dana Bruce of Sedalia.
Attendees at a town hall forum in Kansas City, Kan., split into several small groups to discuss Mayor Mark Holland’s idea for a healthy campus on the west edge of downtown.-photo Mike Sherry
By Mike Sherry
KHI News Service
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A Thursday evening town hall forum on a Wyandotte County health initiative drew a standing-room-only crowd to City Hall, but that level of interest didn’t mean participants believed government officials would follow through with the plan.
In reporting feedback from their breakout sessions, facilitators said many attendees were skeptical because they thought City Hall had not delivered for them in the past.
“Trust was a big concern,” said Gordon Criswell, assistant county administrator, who summarized the sentiment as, “We have been let down time and time again, and so … don’t set us up to fail again.”
Criswell said no one in his group mentioned any specific instances. Instead, he said, it was just a general feeling that City Hall had let them down before.
County officials convened the forum to start gathering input on an idea, championed by Kansas City, Kan., Mayor Mark Holland, to create a healthy campus on the western edge of the city’s downtown. Holland unveiled the idea in his Feb. 25 State of the Government address.
The mayor said he’d like to see a multifaceted area sprout from two anchors proposed for the property near 10th Street and State Avenue: a grocery store and a new community center operated in partnership with the YMCA of Greater Kansas City.
Those two projects alone, he said, would represent roughly $30 million in economic development in that area of the city. Holland said he hoped both facilities could be operating within the next three years.
Elected officials from the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan., have pledged $6 million in casino proceeds toward the community center.
And at the forum, Holland announced a $1 million grant from the Wyandotte Health Foundation for the healthy campus.
Foundation CEO William Epperheimer said it was the largest grant the foundation has made in its 17-year history, with the intention that money would go primarily toward the community center and perhaps a health clinic that would serve the uninsured and the underinsured.
The Unified Government has hired Gould Evans, a planning and architecture firm, to create a master plan for the campus. Organizers said they would incorporate community input from forums like the one Thursday. Approximately 270 people attended the forum.
Holland said the skepticism expressed by some of the attendees, to a certain extent, represented the general distrust today of government at all levels. Steps like the public forum, he said, are one way to regain the confidence of the community. But then, he said, you have to follow through.
“There is no shortcut to trust,” he said.
Other common themes that emerged from the breakout sessions were that the campus should be safe, well-lit and in keeping with the surrounding communities. Participants also said they’d like to see a broad mix of housing serving residents of all ages.
Holland has said the Unified Government was negotiating with a developer to bridge a financing gap to build the downtown grocery store.
On Thursday, YMCA CEO David Byrd outlined a list of amenities that community members indicated they would like to see in a facility when the YMCA conducted a survey two years ago. The items included exercise equipment, community rooms and a teaching kitchen where people could learn to prepare healthy food.
Holland said he envisioned a facility of approximately 40,000 to 50,000 square feet that would incorporate the existing John F. Kennedy Community Center at 1310 N. 10th St.
It’s important, he said, that they build a facility that is not only affordable to build but also to operate.
Organizers of the forum said they would schedule another gathering in August to give a progress report.
“I think we’ve got a big challenge ahead of us,” said Graham Smith, associate vice president with Gould Evans.
Kansas City, Kan., native Fred White participated in the forum. During his breakout session, he suggested that the campus should have a liaison who works with the school district and public housing residents.
As someone who has seen promises come and go, White said he had no choice but to be skeptical of this current plan.
He liked the idea, though. “I hope it carries through,” he said.
Missouri Governor Joseph Teasdale at his desk in 1980.
Jefferson City, MO–Gov. Jay Nixon released the following statement upon the death of former Missouri Gov. Joseph P. Teasdale. The Governor also has ordered flags at all Missouri state facilities to be flown at half-staff until the date of interment for Gov. Teasdale.
Earlier this evening we received the sad news about the passing of a dedicated public servant, former Governor Joseph P. Teasdale. Gov. Teasdale was a good man whose life was guided by a deep and abiding faith and a commitment to public service.
By the time he was elected as Governor in 1976 at the age of 40, Gov. Teasdale already had a record of accomplishment. As an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Kansas City, he headed up the organized crime section; then at the age of 30, he became the youngest prosecuting attorney in the history of Jackson County.
The hallmark of his 1976 campaign was his walking across the state to personally visit with Missourians, and the pages of Missouri’s political history were made richer with the image of “Walkin’ Joe.”
During his tenure as Governor, Gov. Teasdale was especially known for his actions in support of Missouri seniors. He created the Division of Aging, he pushed for passage of the Nursing Home Reform Act, and he supported removal of the state sales tax on prescription drugs.
Georganne and I are keeping the Teasdale family in our thoughts and prayers.
ST. JOSEPH—Heartland Health announced changes and adjustments to some clinical services today. These changes come about as the health system continues to innovate and adapt to meet the future demands of health care, as the industry continues to move away from a fee-for-service model toward population health.
Service Adjustments are as follows:
Heartland Hearing Services – After May 31, patients of Heartland Hearing Services will be navigated to other service providers in the area.
Mobile Care Clinic – After June 6, patients of the Mobile Care Clinic will be navigated toward a patient-centered health home within Heartland Clinic Primary Care Services, the primary care services of Northwest Health Services, or to Heartland Urgent Care for pressing, non-emergent, health needs.
“If we look at the big picture of what we are successfully doing within our Accountable Care Organization, as well as the health and wellness aspect of the Mosaic Life Care model, it becomes more and more clear the importance of our mission of the right care, at the right time, in the right place at the right cost with outcomes second to none,” said Davin Turner, DO, Heartland Clinic administrator. “Collaborating with community health service providers to make sure we are all delivering the highest quality continuum of care through patient-centered health homes, with the most efficient navigation, will not only help to control health-care costs while maintaining high quality, but actually improve the patient experience.”
With changing reimbursements and more focus on preventative care, a patient-centered health home, or in common terms, a primary care health provider, offers a more effective continuity of care plan as well as wellness and preventative care support.
The Heartland Health and Mosaic Life Care Talent Agency (formerly the Human Resources Department) is currently working with the caregivers within these clinics to help them find other employment within the Heartland Health and Mosaic Life Care system.
JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – The Missouri Senate has passed legislation that could allow high school students who go on to receive state-sponsored scholarships to be reimbursed for some student fees.
Under legislation sent to the House on Thursday, students participating in dual-credit high school courses can use some scholarship funds to pay off fees charged as a result of those classes.
Students in Missouri’s Bright Flight and A+ scholarship programs could take advantage of the program if they meet criteria developed by the Department of Higher Education.
Bright Flight scholarships are awarded based on ACT or SAT scores. The A+ program gives students attending high school money to attend a community or technical college.
At a special “Signing Day” ceremony at Savannah High School, Savannah senior Brent Rosenauer accepted a scholarship to participate in speech and debate at Missouri Western State University starting in fall 2014.
“Brent has established himself as one of the top speakers in the country, and we’re excited that he’s going to be a part of Griffon Speech and Debate,” said Sohail Jouya, Missouri Western’s debate coach.
Rosenauer has placed at several regional tournaments in Public Forum, Extemporaneous Speaking and Original Oratory. He is currently ranked 7th in the state of Missouri in overall comprehensive speech and debate rankings. Nationally, he’s ranked 115th and is a certified National Speech and Debate Association All-American. He qualified for the National Speech and Debate Association’s National Championship after he and his partner went undefeated in one of the largest qualifying districts in the country. This past April, Rosenauer and his partner qualified in Public Forum at the Missouri State High School Activities Association’s State Tournament and placed in the top 8.
Rosenauer is the fourth Savannah speech and debate product to join the recently revived Missouri Western speech and debate program. Abi Richardson, Missouri Western speech and interpretation coach, is also a product of Savannah High. Savannah speech and debate is coached by Daniel Strang.
The 2013-2014 school year was the first time in more than 10 years that Missouri Western fielded a speech and debate team, and the team comprised of all freshmen did very well. The parliamentary debate team of Graham Deckard of Kansas City, Mo., and Eli Dodge of Stewartsville, Mo., placed first in the novice division of the first tournament of the year, and finished second at the Missouri Association of Forensic Activities State Championship to conclude the season. Another Griffon debate team, Haden McDonald of Rosendale, Mo., and Brad Stanton of Savannah, both graduates of Savannah High School, finished third behind Deckard and Dodge at the State Championship. Kasey Maag of Cosby, Mo., took third place in informative speaking at a November tournament in Kansas.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Springfield man who led the drive to place limits on Missouri state revenues and local taxes will be inducted next week into the Capitol’s Hall of Famous Missourians.
Mel Hancock was a businessman when he authored a Missouri constitutional amendment approved by voters in 1980. Now known as the “Hancock Amendment,” it establishes a state revenue limit, bars state government from imposing unfunded mandates on local governments and requires voter approval of local tax increases.
Hancock went on to serve four terms in the U.S. House representing southwestern Missouri. He died in 2011.
An induction ceremony for Hancock on Wednesday in the House chamber of the Capitol.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas information technology firm has admitted bringing foreign employees into the U.S. under a specialty worker program when it did not have work readily available for them.
Court documents show Overland Park-based iNEX Technologies pleaded guilty Thursday to visa fraud in a deal with the government to pay $552,601 in restitution and a $30,000 fine.
The company admitted in its plea agreement that it filed paperwork under the H-IB special worker program claiming foreign workers would be paid when they arrived. However, iNEX acknowledged it would not pay them until they found work with one of its contract vendors.
In a separate case, the government also deferred prosecution of company owners Preetham Kodiripaka and Sudhir Dodda. They did not immediately return a phone message left at their office.
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — A state budget approved by Missouri lawmakers includes $2 million for construction and repairs of levees near Rosecrans Memorial Airport in St. Joseph.
The budget has been sent to Gov. Jay Nixon for his signature.
The St. Joseph News-Press reports the airport houses the National Guard’s 139th Airlift Wing. During floods in 1993 and 2011, the levees did not protect the airport and threatened the Guard base.
Sen. Rob Schaaf, a Republican from St. Joseph, says the levees are important to the airport and the entire St. Joseph area. He says the airport is an economic driver for northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas.
SEDALIA (AP) – A sheriff says investigators consider the death of a woman whose remains were found scattered at a Sedalia trailer park a homicide.
