The Missouri National Guard is closing its ShowMe ChalleNGe program, located in Nevada, on January 15th because of state government budget cuts. The shut down will result in the laying off 44 full-time employees. ShowMe ChalleNGe began in 1998 and has graduated 830 cadets from the program designed to help “at risk” youth get a second chance at a successful life. Funding for the program has amounted to approximately $1.68-Million in federal funds and $1.09-Million in state funds.
First Petition For 2004 Clears Initial Hurdle
December 30, 2002 By
A proposed law letting Missourians generate their own electricity and sell any surplus to utilities for the same price utilities charge customers will be circulated in petition form. Secretary of State Matt Blunt has cleared the way for the petitions to go around. Organizers will need at least 75,000 valid signatures from at least six of the nine congressional districts. Blunt says the issue is a long ways from the 2004 ballot. Televangelist Larry Rice is behind the petition. He says people can generate their own power now, but the utility will pay only about one third as much to purchase the power as it charges consumers who use it.
Authorities Investigate Weekend String Of Crashes On I-44
December 30, 2002 By
A series of wrecks on Interstate 44 in Southwest Missouri on Saturday has left 22 people hurt and tied up traffic for almost four hours. It started with a two-vehicle accident. Traffic was stopped, and about half an hour later another series of crashes happened, one involving six vehicles that injured seven people; then another crash ten minutes later that involved six more vehicles and injured 11 more. Then, twenty minutes or so after that, another crash that involved one vehicle slowing down for all of the mess ahead getting rear-ended. Five of the injuries are described as serious. The others were minor to moderate.
State’s Libraries Ask For Share Of State Dollars
December 30, 2002 By
The public library in your town is not getting its share of more than $2-Million in state aid that it should be getting this year and the State Librarian thinks it’s because the Governor and the Legislature have violated the law in their efforts to balance the state budget. State Librarian Sara Parker says libraries should be getting money from the special tax on income of athletes and entertainers who live elsewhere but perform here. But this year, they’re getting none of it. The tax produces about $22-Million. Libraries are to get ten percent of that. She says the failure of the Governor and Legislature to approve the funding hurts small libraries the most becuase they have the smallest book-buying budgets.
New Federal Campaign Finance Laws Could Cost Missouri Broadcasters
December 30, 2002 By
The economic boon some Missouri broadcasters enjoyed with the fall elections might not be repeated as new federal campaign finance reform laws took effect. Broadcasters saw millions of dollars dumped into the state by third-party groups, so-called soft money, spent on ads supporting or attacking one candidate or another. Those ads are now no longer able to be run for a certain amount of time before an election. Don Hicks, President of the Missouri Broadcasters Association, does not believe the law will stand constitutional challenges national broadcast groups are bringing. Hicks says if the law does hold up, there could be a monetary impact for broadcasters. But, he says political ads can be a bit of a double-edged sword as those ads can help a station sell advertising time but at the same time, keep more lucrative broadcast contracts from being sold for those same slots. Broadcasters are required to give candidates the lowest rate given all year.
