Rep. Sam Graves was on an important mission in St. Joseph Thursday. Graves wrote about it on Facebook.
” I was privileged to be in St. Joseph to present the Purple Heart to Evelyn Winslow, the widow of Bobby Gene Winslow, who fought bravely in the Korean War. It is an honor to assist the families of those who served their country so admirably.”
(AP) — A suburban Kansas City dinner theater had to cancel opening night of its play “Harvey” after a disgruntled Judge Reinhold resigned from the production.
New Theatre co-owner Richard Carrothers told The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/1dYXZfc) the “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and “Beverly Hills Cop” star had appeared increasingly unhappy with everything related to the production.
The Overland Park theater canceled its opening-night show on Wednesday after Reinhold’s abrupt departure. “Harvey” was instead opening Thursday after an afternoon matinee.
Kansas City-based actor Craig Benton was assuming the lead role in the whimsical 1944 comedy through Jan. 29, after which Los Angeles-based British actor Charles Shaughnessy takes over.
Reinhold said in an emailed statement that the theater provides “wonderful entertainment” and that the production wouldn’t be an exception even without him.
(AP) – Missouri’s transportation chief is warning that the state won’t have enough money to maintain its roads in a few years.
The state’s construction budget for roads and bridges has fallen from about $1.3 billion annually five years ago to $685 million this year. Transportation Department Director Dave Nichols said Thursday that the annual road-and-bridge budget is projected to fall to about $325 million in 2017.
That’s considerably shy of the $485 million annually that Nichols says it takes to maintain the highway system in its current condition.
Nichols spoke at a transportation conference in Jefferson City hosted by the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Some of those at the conference are pushing a proposed ballot initiative that would ask voters to impose a 1-cent sales tax for transportation.
(AP) – A federal judge on Thursday granted a preliminary injunction against Missouri’s law requiring of a state license to serve as a navigator to help consumers sign up for coverage through the new health insurance marketplace.
An attorney for the St. Louis-based plaintiffs calls the ruling by U.S. District Judge Ortrie D. Smith a “huge victory.” Messages seeking comment from state officials were not immediately returned.
A new state law requires insurance counselors to receive at least 30 hours of training and pay a small fee in order to help on-line shoppers negotiate the federal insurance exchange. Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature opted against setting up a state-run exchange.
The lawsuit filed in November said the requirements conflict with the federal Affordable Care Act.
(AP) — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback took a field trip to a suburban school district as he kicked off a campaign to build support for his plan to increase state funding of all-day kindergarten.
The Republican governor dined Thursday with students at Roesland Elementary School in the Shawnee Mission school district before chatting with teachers, students and parents.
Currently, district parents pay $300 per month for the all-day program. The half-day program is free.
Brownback wants to increase state funding for all-day kindergarten starting in the next budget year, providing an extra $16 million each year over five years for the state’s 286 school districts. The governor says Kansas can afford to spend the money and should to improve early learning.
Critics are wary that Kansas can sustain the investment financially.
(AP) — Detectives believe they have found out what happened to a man who escaped from the Missouri Penitentiary 27 years ago.
They think he changed his name and lived in Gold Bar until 2012 when he died of cancer and his wife buried his body in the back yard.
Human remains discovered last week are being investigated by the medical examiner. It could take weeks to make identification, likely using DNA.
Snohomish County detectives believe Dennis “Slick” Lilly lived under the alias of Dave Murray and died at the age of 64. They say his wife Mary Lilly has been living under the name of Amanda Murray.
They moved to Gold bar in 1993 and operated a business called The Mail Station.
(AP) – Gov. Jay Nixon is criticizing an income tax cut plan endorsed by a Missouri Senate committee.
Nixon’s office issued a news release Thursday calling the legislation a “fiscally irresponsible tax experiment.”
The bill endorsed by the Senate Ways and Means Committee would gradually cut the top individual income tax rate from 6 percent to 5 percent. It also would gradually phase in a 50 percent tax deduction on business income reported on individual tax returns.
Republican Sen. Will Kraus says his bill is a sensible and responsible way to cut taxes, because the incremental cuts only take effect if state revenues continue to rise by at least $100 million.
The Democratic governor says the legislation could jeopardize funding for schools.
(AP) – Citing federal budget restrictions, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources has turned down a permit request from a northwest Missouri business that sought to process horses for meat.
The DNR said in a letter Thursday to David Rains, owner of Rains Natural Meats in Gallatin, that the agency has denied Rains’ permit request for his proposed horse slaughter operation because the new federal budget withheld funding for required federal inspections of the slaughtering process.
The resumption of commercial horse slaughter in the U.S. was effectively blocked last week when President Barack Obama signed a budget measure that stops the U.S. Department of Agriculture from spending money for inspections necessary for slaughterhouses to ship horse meat interstate and export it.
Rains didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment Thursday.
(AP) – Missouri lawmakers are considering whether to permanently block a proposal that could allow more ethanol to be blended into gasoline.
The Senate rules committee held a hearing Thursday on a resolution that would prevent stations from selling fuel containing 15 percent ethanol.
The state Agriculture Department proposed the rule last year allowing E15 gas to be sold. But a legislative panel delayed the proposal in October, citing a 2006 state law that requires a 10 percent ethanol blend. The department says it has legal authority to allow higher concentrations of ethanol.
The House and Senate would likely need to pass the resolution by early March to permanently halt the department’s proposal. That would require Gov. Jay Nixon’s approval, but lawmakers have the ability to override a veto.
This 70 foot shot was Tuesday night in Johnson County. Maranatha Christian Academy tied McLouth.
The shot didn’t win the game. McLouth won in overtime 88-87.
