(AP) – Missouri lawmakers appear to agree with Gov. Jay Nixon that public colleges and universities should get more money next year.
But some lawmakers want to put part of that money toward building improvements, instead of devoting it to operations as proposed by Nixon.
House Budget Committee Chairman Rick Stream says he wants to make use of a 2012 law that authorizes state money for college building projects that generate a 50 percent match through private donations.
Under the program, five university campuses have submitted a total of eight applications for building projects that seek an aggregate of nearly $43 million from the state.
Nixon included no money in his budget plan for the buildings.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Kurt Schaefer says he’s open to funding some of the projects.
(AP) — Miss Kansas traded evening gowns for camouflage when she went out on a deer bow hunt this winter in southeast Kansas.
Theresa Vail joined a December hunt in the Pratt area organized by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, JB Outfitters and Realtree Outdoors, which taped the hunt for a television show.
The Kansas City Star reports Vail has been hunting since her dad introduced her to the sport when she was 10. She took part in the hunt to get a chance to shoot a trophy buck and shatter a stereotype.
The National Guard sergeant shot an 8-point buck in the final hour on the third day.
She was scheduled to be a featured speaker at the Hunter’s Expo in Overland Park, which ended Sunday.
(AP) — A Northern California company is recalling more than 8.7 million pounds of beef products because it processed diseased animals without a full federal inspection.
That’s a whole year’s worth of meat processed by Petaluma-based Rancho Feeding Corp.
The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service said Saturday that without the full inspection, the recalled products are unfit for human consumption.
They were processed from Jan. 1, 2013, through Jan. 7, 2014, and shipped to distribution centers and retail stores in California, Florida, Illinois and Texas. They include beef carcasses, oxtail, liver, cheeks, tripe and tongue.
Last month the company recalled more than 40,000 pounds of meat products produced on Jan. 8 that also didn’t undergo a full inspection.
A law professor from India will speak on “Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems in India” at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11 in the Hoff Conference Rooms, Blum Student Union rooms 218-219.
The lecture is the third of the 2013-2014 Peace and Conflict Studies Speaker Series, sponsored by the Peace and Conflict Studies minor and the Missouri Western State University Foundation. It is free and open to the public.
Dr. K.C. Sunny is professor and head of the University of Kerala School of Law. Included in his presentation will be the traditional Indian approach to peace and harmony, the historical development of dispute resolution systems in India and the specialized approach today in Kerala.
For more information, contact Joanne Katz, professor of legal studies, at 816-271-5837 or katz@missouriwestern.edu.
5 p.m. Sunday STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma State star Marcus Smart has been suspended three games by the Big 12 for shoving a fan in the closing seconds of the Cowboys’ loss at Texas Tech on Saturday night.
Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford announced the suspension as he spoke in support of the All-America guard Sunday.
Smart apologized for his actions prior to Ford speaking at the news conference on the Oklahoma State campus.
Ford says Smart accepts his punishment and feels terrible. Smart will miss games against Texas, Oklahoma and Baylor.
Late in Saturday night’s game at Lubbock, Texas, Smart shoved Tech fan Jeff Orr with two hands after it appeared the Red Raiders fan said something to the top NBA prospect. Teammates quickly pulled Smart away as he pointed back in Orr’s direction.
4 a.m. Oklahoma State basketball player Marcus Smart pushed a fan in the stands during Saturday night’s game at Texas Tech.
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Oklahoma State star Marcus Smart shoved a fan underneath the basket in the waning seconds of Texas Tech’s 65-61 win over the 19th-ranked Cowboys on Saturday night.
Smart tried to block Jaye Crockett’s dunk attempt from behind with 6.2 seconds to go and tumbled into the front row of the crowd. He was helped to his feet by one man but then got in the face of another fan in a black shirt.
The man appeared to say something to Smart, who then shoved him with two hands. The fan stumbled backward a bit but didn’t fall.
Teammates quickly pulled an angry Smart away from the fracas, and he pointed back in the direction of the fan. Smart was called for a technical foul but was not ejected.
According to a release from the Grain Valley, Missouri police: Amber Jo Bradley-Couch was last seen in Grain Valley on January 19, just after 1 a.m. The family reported her missing on February 6.
Grain Valley is in eastern Jackson County.
Amber was last seen wearing a white shirt, grey sweat pants, silver and pink ‘Nike’ shoes with knee high stockings. Amber is described as 5’11; 220 lbs; blonde hair and hazel eyes. Family stated Amber had been known in the past to leave for a few days without contacting them.
If you have any information, please contact the Grain Valley Police Department.
Monday through Friday 8-5pm 816-847-6250
After hours and weekends, Jackson County Dispatch 816-524-4300
Hanaway at Saturday night’s Lincoln Day Dinner-photo courtesy @MoGOP19
Social Media is reporting that Catherine Hanaway, the former Republican speaker of the Missouri House is going to run for governor.
Hanaway served as speaker in the Missouri House from 2003-2005. She was the first female speaker in Missouri. She also served as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri for 5 years.
According to Twitter reports, Hanaway’s announcement came during the annual Lincoln Day Dinner in Moniteau County.
TOPEKA — The number of patients flagged by K-TRACS, the state’s computerized prescription drug monitoring system, increased more than sixfold after officials began using new software last year, program overseers were told Friday.
K-TRACS Executive Director Marty Singleton. Photo by Phil Cauthon, KHI.
In the last half of 2013, warnings were triggered by 584 patients when they tried to fill prescriptions too frequently or otherwise signaled potential for abuse of the drugs. Only 91 patients were flagged in the first half of 2013, when the system was using older, more costly software.
Once a transaction is flagged, program officials alert doctors and pharmacists with a letter. Patients are flagged if their prescriptions exceed a certain number or type in a three-month period. The quarterly thresholds are confidential to make it harder for potential abusers to dodge the system.
Licensed Kansas pharmacies are required by state law to use the K-TRACS system, which includes a statewide database of prescriptions with files specific to each patient. Many hospitals also use it but voluntarily.
K-TRACS Executive Director Marty Singleton told members of the Prescription Monitoring Program Advisory Committee today that it was unclear what led to the spike in flagged patients.
“I really haven’t been able to put my finger on it,” Singleton said. “Personally, for me, when analyzing data — particularly with a new software vendor — I would like to have more than two quarters of data to look for trends.”
Clay Rogers — a data analyst with Appriss, the new software vendor — said it was possible his company’s software did a better job than the old system of identifying variations in personal information supplied by patients. Drug abusing patients often “doc shop” and use variations on their name spelling, address, or birthday in an attempt to evade detection.
In other news from the committee’s quarterly meeting, Singleton said LACIE — one of the two networks that comprise the statewide health information exchange — plans to begin a pilot connection with K-TRACS starting next month. After a test period, the K-TRACS connection would be rolled out to all providers connected to LACIE — about 4,000 providers in the Kansas City metro area, according to LACIE officials.
Access to K-TRACS via the network would mean that connected doctors and pharmacists would not have to go to a separate K-TRACS website to enter and check prescribing data but could find that information via the LACIE network, which is used for communicating patient information.
Officials for the other patient information exchange network — KHIN, which is the primary network for Kansas providers outside the KC area — have said its software vendor currently cannot complete a connection to K-TRACS.
BLOOMFIELD, Neb. (AP) — A Bloomfield police officer has been given a written reprimand for shooting a family cat he had trapped on city property.
Lisa Kilgore, a Des Moines, Iowa, veterinarian, says the 2-year-old, neutered cat belonged to her parents, who live just outside of town. The cat went missing on Jan. 13, and Kilgore says her mother confronted Officer Wally Holz on Jan. 21. He confirmed he had trapped the cat following complaints of feral cats in town, shot it and dumped its body behind a city maintenance shed.
Bloomfield Mayor Phil Schroeder tells the Norfolk Daily News that Holz should have impounded the cat for five days to give its owners a chance to claim him.
Schroeder says it’s the first time the 15-year police veteran has been disciplined.
