FORT SCOTT, Kan. (AP) — Nearly 70 years after Nebraska-born soldier Donald Schwab knocked out a German machine gun position on a French battlefield, his descendants are heading to the White House this month to accept the Medal of Honor on his behalf.
The delegation representing the late Army lieutenant will include his son Terry Schwab, a physician in Fort Scott, Kan., and Terry Schwab’s daughter, Missouri Southern State University student Savannah Schwab.
The Joplin Globe reports the March 18 visit will supplement a project Savannah Schwab already had begun for her government class at the Joplin school — a blog called “Letters to My Grandfather.”
She and her father remember Donald Schwab as a humble man who spoke little of his World War II experiences with the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division.
JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – Reining in a wide-open Missouri school transfer law could involve first directing students to better schools within the struggling school district if there is space.
Missouri’s current student transfer law requires districts without state accreditation to pay tuition and provide transportation for students to transfer to an accredited school in the same county or a bordering one.
Lawmakers have proposed controlling out-of-district transfers by redirecting students first from struggling schools to high-performing ones in the same district. The current transfer option would remain for students attending unaccredited schools within unaccredited districts and who cannot move to a higher-performing school within their home school system.
Missouri’s three unaccredited districts are Kansas City, along with Normandy and Riverview Gardens in St. Louis County. Transfers have occurred at both St. Louis County districts.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The data breach at Target has refocused attention on the patchwork of state consumer notification laws — and it’s renewed a push for a national standard.
Most states have laws requiring retailers to disclose data breaches, but those laws vary.
Consumers in one state might immediately be told that their personal information has been exposed. But that might not happen elsewhere.
Requirements for businesses depend on where companies are located.
Attorney General Eric Holder has joined the call for a nationwide notification standard.
Consumer groups don’t want to weaken existing protections.
Retailers want laws that are easier to comply with and say that too much notification isn’t necessarily the best way.
Congress is exploring how a federal standard should be enforced and what the threshold should be for notification.
Two people were injured in a Sunday morning crash in Daviess County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports the accident occurred as a 1995 Mercury driven by Elizabeth A. Hogan, 28, Jameson, Mo., was eastbound on County Road Jordan Avenue 2 miles west of Jameson at 12:54 a.m.
The driver lost control of the vehicle on the gravel roadway and struck an embankment. The vehicle overturned coming to rest on its passenger side.
Hogan and a passenger James D. Wilson, 24, Bethany, were transported to Cameron Regional Medical Center. The driver’s daughter MaryJane F. Rice, 4, Jameson was treated at the scene.
The MSHP reported Wilson was not wearing a seat belt.
Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander (left) discusses some of the research occurring within CIE laboratories with CIE Director Larry Lee (center) and Analytical Chemist Dr. Mohammad Mottaleb (right). Kander visited the CIE Friday as part of a statewide tour highlighting entrepreneurship efforts. (Photos by Darren Whitley/University Relations)
Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander visited Northwest Missouri State University’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Friday as part of a statewide tour highlighting entrepreneurship efforts.
“I am a very strong believer in the idea that Missourians really are our best assets, and the companies that are most likely to grow here and stay here are those that start here,” Kander said during the visit, which included a tour of Northwest’s CIE. “That’s why we’ve put such enormous emphasis on local economic development and entrepreneurship and innovation. That’s why we’re visiting innovation centers around the state, trying to highlight the good work that they do.”
Northwest’s CIE recently was designated a Missouri Innovation Center by the Missouri Technology Corporation (MTC). The Missouri Innovation Center program includes nine other centers throughout the state and provides assistance to entrepreneurs and early-stage, technology-based business ventures.
Innovation centers work closely with their associated universities and are targeted to develop high-growth advanced technology companies. Innovation centers provide access to specialized entrepreneurial and small business support services critical to the growth of high-tech startups including access to capital, technical and business experts, and, in some cases, specialized facilities.
The CIE, located on the north edge of the Northwest campus, is a mixed-use incubator with emphasis on technology-based, start-up companies. It also provides assistance to existing small businesses and encourages development of new small businesses. The 46,679 square-foot facility includes three lab analysis research areas, a shared scientific instrument room and 9,000 square feet of tenant office space. The academic wing contains more than 16,000 square feet of highly specialized teaching and research labs and offices.
During his remarks Friday, Northwest Provost Dr. Doug Dunham noted universities have long been viewed as important players in economic development. However, he said, post-secondary education is now more important than ever because economic development is dependent on the kind of creative, agile and innovative workforce that Northwest graduates provide.
“Northwest Missouri State University is a cornerstone organization, representing higher education, helping the private sector and working to enhance the economic development of northwest Missouri,” Dunham said. “Through news and information, public policy, educational programming and best practice-sharing, Northwest has worked to expand economic opportunity in our 20-county catchment area by leveraging research, community and campus planning, talent development and technology commercialization.”
Jefferson City, MO –Gov. Jay Nixon announced today that Missouri homeless service providers, including emergency and domestic violence shelters, will receive $1.3 million to help bridge a gap caused by reductions in federal funding. The new funding will be provided by the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) and the Missouri Department of Social Services (DSS).
“Missouri’s network of shelters provides safe haven for thousands of domestic violence survivors, as well as provide housing solutions for the homeless in both rural and urban communities across the state,” Gov. Nixon said. “We will take the steps necessary to ensure that funding to the shelters is not reduced, even in the face of these federal cuts.”
Federal funding for the Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) Program, administered by MHDC, was cut this year. This deficiency, coupled with newly implemented federal regulations placing a greater emphasis on permanent housing solutions, has resulted in less funding being available for emergency shelter services in 2014.
At Gov. Nixon’s request, the Office of Administration, along with DSS and MHDC, has identified a multi-year, long-term solution to bridge the funding gap caused by the federal cuts.
The funding solution announced today by Gov. Nixon will include more than $500,000 for domestic violence shelters from DSS through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Another $800,000 for homeless service providers will be made available from MHDC through other existing funds. These resources will be available in future years, providing a long-term, stable solution for emergency shelters, domestic violence shelters and other homeless service providers. The proposal for the MHDC share of the funding will be presented to the MHDC board for approval at its March 14 meeting.
“It is critical that Missouri keeps the safety net of shelters available to domestic violence survivors and our state’s homeless,” said Attorney General Chris Koster, a member of the Missouri Housing Development Commission. “I appreciate Governor Nixon’s quick action in identifying resources to keep the doors open at these shelters.”
“I support Governor Nixon’s efforts to work with housing commission members to implement a plan that will provide crucial funding for emergency and domestic violence shelters,” said Treasurer Clint Zweifel, also a member of MHDC. “I look forward to working with the Governor and my fellow commission members to address this issue and begin creating a long-term solution for these shelters next week.”
JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – A recent decline in Missouri’s casino revenues is raising questions among lawmakers about the extent to which the state can continue to rely on gambling to fund key programs.
Attendance at Missouri’s 13 casinos is down almost 9 percent from last year.
Missouri relies on two sources of casino revenues. A portion of a per-patron fee is used to pay for the operations of the Missouri Veterans Commission, which oversees seven nursing homes. A state tax on casino revenues helps fund public schools.
The House has approved an additional $22 million for public schools because of the funding shortfall and lawmakers are considering a temporary funding boost to help the veterans’ homes.
State officials are citing this winter’s cold weather among the causes for the revenue decline.
KANSAS CITY (AP) – A marathon spelling bee finally has a conclusion – after nearly 100 rounds and two weeks of anticipation.
A seventh-grader and fifth-grader exhausted the Jackson County spelling bee’s initial word list Feb. 22, forcing another day of competition.
On Saturday, the seventh-grader was declared the winner after his opponent stumbled on “stifling” in the 28th round.
Kush Sharma, who attends a Kansas City charter school, accurately spelled “definition” in the next round to claim the title and move on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May. Lee’s Summit fifth-grader Sophia Hoffman took second place.
Sharma and Hoffman were the last two standing last month after 19 rounds. It took them several hours and an additional 47 rounds to force Saturday’s deciding event.
Former State Sen. Barbara Allen, was among those who testified in support of Senate Bill 394, which some call the “foster parents’ bill of rights.”-Photo by Dave Ranney
By Dave Ranney
KHI News Service
TOPEKA — The Senate Judiciary Committee has endorsed legislation that would give foster parents more information about the children in their care.
“This is definitely a good start, it’s a step in the right direction,” said Barbara Allen, a former state senator who testified in support of Senate Bill 394, which some have called the “foster parent bill of rights.”
Allen, an attorney, said she and her husband, a district court judge in Johnson County, had been denied information about a newborn baby that was placed in their care last Thanksgiving.
In February, the child was moved to the home of a relative who had indicated a willingness to adopt her.
Allen said that because she and her husband had cared from the child less than 6 months, they had no “legal standing” and would not be informed of the child’s whereabouts.
Allen said she and her husband felt like the state’s foster care laws take foster parents for granted and discourage some from remaining in the system.
‘Huge change’
SB 394 would change the six-month threshold to three months.
“That’s a huge change,” Allen said.
With legal standing, she said, foster parents would receive 30 days notice in writing prior to a child being moved from their home and the notice would explain the reason for the move.
If a foster parent objected to the proposed move, he or she could request a court hearing and the child would not be moved until after the court ruled that the move would be in the child’s best interest.
The bill also would allow foster parents access to more information about the children in their care and to make contact with a child’s previous foster parents.
Kathy Armstrong, staff attorney in charge of prevention and protection services at the Kansas Department for Children and Families, testified in favor of the measure, telling committee member that the agency’s earlier concerns about the bill had been resolved.
DCF and advocates for foster parents agreed to drop a provision creating an 8- to 10-member advisory board on foster care and adoption issues.
‘Move in the right direction’
Sen. Forrest Knox, an Altoona Republican and a former foster parent, expressed support for the bill, now called Senate Substitute for Senate Bill 394.
“It moves us in the right direction,” Knox said. “Hopefully, it will do some meaningful things.”
Last year, Knox said he intended to propose legislation creating a “new tier” of foster parents that would have more say in decision making in exchange for additional training and agreement to take in more difficult children.
But Wednesday, Knox said his proposal had not come together as quickly as he thought it might.
“These things take time,” he said. “I’m guessing it’ll be next year, maybe.”
Knox and his wife, Renee, have nine biological children, two of whom still live at home. The couple adopted four brothers — then ages 5, 7, 8 and 13 — two years ago after caring for them two years as foster parents.
Senate Substitute for Senate Bill 394 now goes to the full Senate.
These retail locations in St. Joseph are on the list. Click for a closer look
These retail locations in Atchison are on the list. Click for a closer look
Last month, Federal officials launched a criminal probe of a California slaughterhouse that recently recalled more than 8.7 million pounds of beef.
The USDA believes the recall is now larger than originally stated. The recall has been extended and it includes retail locations in Missouri
The list includes locations across Missouri and Kansas.
The USDA has said the beef processing plant processed diseased and unhealthy animals and circumvented federal inspection rules. The recalled beef was sold at Walmart and other national chains and used in products, including Hot Pockets.
-The Associated Press contributed to this report.
FORT SCOTT, Kan. (AP) — Nearly 70 years after Nebraska-born soldier Donald Schwab knocked out a German machine gun position on a French battlefield, his descendants are heading to the White House this month to accept the Medal of Honor on his behalf.
