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Saturday, November 7, 2009

State News

Education leaders discuss future of schools (11/06/09)
WARRENSBURG, Mo. (AP) -- The future of education from preschool to beyond graduate school united four state senators and top state educators for a hearing at the University of Central Missouri. About 30 percent of students entering college need remedial education, prompting a question from a west St. Louis County Republican, Sen. Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield...
Interest in charter schools up among KC students (11/05/09)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Only a few other U.S. cities have a higher percentage of students than Kansas City and St. Louis enrolled in charter schools. That's according to a report from the Washington-based National Alliance for Public Charter Schools...
Mo. debates ways to handle drunken driving cases (11/05/09)
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Officials examining how Missouri handles drunken driving cases agreed Wednesday that record keeping must improve to ensure drunken drivers get the right punishment and are less likely to repeat. More than a dozen prosecutors, judges, activists, law officers and state officials met at a summit convened by Gov. ...
Jury rules in favor of Tenn. district in Bible case (11/05/09)
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- A federal court jury has ruled in favor of Knox County Schools in a lawsuit in which a student claimed he could not read and discuss Bible passages during recess. School officials had argued before the decision was reached last week that it was a misunderstanding of policy...
Missouri license offices go to bidders tied to auditor (11/04/09)
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A friend and the ex-husband of Missouri Auditor Susan Montee have amassed millions of dollars of contracts from Gov. Jay Nixon's administration under a new competitive bidding system that was supposed to eliminate political favoritism in awarding state license offices...
Man gets 2 years for flying stolen plane to U.S. (11/04/09)
ST. LOUIS -- A Turkish-Canadian man was sentenced Tuesday to two years in federal prison for stealing a plane in Canada and flying over three states before landing along a dark southern Missouri highway. Adam Dylan Leon might have received 12 to 18 months. But U.S. District Judge Charles Shaw went beyond federal sentencing guidelines in deciding punishment...
State enforcing sales tax on yoga (11/04/09)
ST. LOUIS -- On Sunday, Missouri became the only state to enforce a sales tax on what many see as a spiritual pursuit -- the practice of yoga. The debate between Missouri's yoga community and the state centers on whether yoga is a spiritual practice or just exercise. If it's one, it's constitutionally protected and can't be taxed. If it's the other, Missouri's cash-strapped budget has a new source of revenue...
Man gets 2 years for flying stolen plane into Missouri (11/03/09)
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A Turkish-Canadian man was sentenced Tuesday to two years in federal prison for stealing a plane in Canada and flying over three states before landing along a dark southern Missouri highway.
Tear gas used at school fight in St. Louis (11/03/09)
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- St. Louis public school officials are investigating after security guards sprayed tear gas to break up a fight at Sumner High School. The incident happened around noon Tuesday. Media reports say at least seven students were treated for the exposure to the tear gas. Details of their injuries were not available...
Factory towns slow to see job growth from stimulus plan (11/02/09)
LAMAR, Mo. -- This southwest Missouri city, tucked amid endless fields of winter wheat and soybeans, felt the recession ahead of the rest of the country, when furniture-maker O'Sullivan Industries closed in mid-2007. That threw 700 employees out of work and turned an economic cornerstone into a million-square-foot vacancy...
Missouri monk still teaching calligraphy (11/02/09)
CONCEPTION, Mo. -- Northwestern Missouri monk Michael Marcotte knows the use of calligraphy might seem outdated as more of the world's writing is done on computers and cell phones. But brother Michael Marcotte has been practicing calligraphy for close to 40 years, and he's continuing to teach...
15 barges break free at St. Louis (11/01/09)
ST. LOUIS -- A tow boat collided with a bridge Saturday, causing 15 barges to break free in the rain-swollen Mississippi River near downtown St. Louis. The U.S. Coast Guard said the coal-loaded barges were being towed on the river when the collision happened around 11:30 a.m...
University president's ouster raises questions (10/30/09)
WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- By most measures, Aaron Podolefsky's nearly five-year tenure as University of Central Missouri president has been a success. Enrollment is up, and so is the school's graduation rate. Podolefsky steered the school through a name change and successfully lobbied for more state and federal money. His achievements have made Podolefsky a desirable candidate to lead other, larger universities...
Casino gets preliminary go-ahead (10/29/09)
CLAYTON, Mo. -- The St. Louis County Council has given first-round approval to a riverside casino in north St. Louis County despite protests from several residents. KMOX reported the council voted 4-to-3 Tuesday night to give preliminary approval for the $350 million casino complex, which includes a hotel and golf course. A final vote is scheduled for next week...
Mo. governor announces $200M in additional cuts (10/29/09)
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon cut an additional $204 million from Missouri's budget Wednesday and eliminated nearly 700 jobs in attempt to offset a continued decline in state tax revenue. The wide-ranging cuts will reduce busing aid to public schools, Medicaid payments to some health care providers and subsidies to the arts and humanities. ...
Children learn their part in swine flu prevention (10/28/09)
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Mention swine flu to a young child, and odds are pretty good you'll get a blank stare. But an increasing number of kids can tell you that the Sesame Street character "Elmo" sneezes properly into the crook of his arm, and if they sing the whole "ABCs" song while washing their hands they'll get them really clean. They're also well acquainted with hand sanitizer, anti-bacterial wipes -- and their germ-fighting abilities...
Nixon announcing more budget cuts (10/28/09)
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- More spending cuts are coming to Missouri government. Gov. Jay Nixon planned an announcement today of additional cuts that he says are needed to keep the state budget in balance. Nixon already has vetoed or cut $430 million from the $23.7 billion budgeted by lawmakers for state operations and capital improvements during the current fiscal year...
2 Missouri investigators to be honored by ASPCA (10/28/09)
ST. LOUIS -- Two investigators with the Humane Society of Missouri are being recognized for their efforts that led to the largest dogfighting raid in U.S. history. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said Monday it will honor Tim Rickey, director of the Missouri agency's animal cruelty task force, and Kyle Held, its animal cruelty investigator...
Police: Mo. town's anti-meth law working (10/27/09)
WASHINGTON, Mo. -- Three months after the town instituted a law requiring the sale of a key meth precursor by prescription only, police are seeing a ripple effect: Sales of products with pseudoephedrine are down not only in Washington but in surrounding communities, too...
Mo. hosts top scientists for global food security summit this week (10/27/09)
ST. LOUIS -- The world's top plant scientists kicked off a weeklong meeting Monday aimed at improving global food security. An estimated 1,300 scientists were expected to attend the International Plant Molecular Biology Congress, which hasn't been to the U.S. in 20 years...
Report: Mo. public defender system still in 'crisis' (10/27/09)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's criminal justice system continues to be threatened by a severely overtaxed public defenders system, according to a new study. Missouri's public defender system has "an overwhelming caseload crisis" that has pushed the state's criminal justice system "to the brink of collapse," said the study issued Friday by the Spangenberg Group and the Center for Justice, Law and Society at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va...
Mo. finally produces Medicaid report (10/26/09)
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- After claiming for more than a year that it could not do so, the Missouri Department of Social Services finally has obeyed a state law and published a list of employers whose workers get government-funded Medicaid health care coverage...
AP headlines