By the end of this day, four million of us might be registered to vote in November. Anybody who registers tomorrow will have waited too long. More from Bob Priddy. The deadline for registering to vote is the close of business today….Local election authorities say thousands of people have shown up to register in the last few days, many of them organized by voter-registration drives. People wanting to register can use a driver’s license or another form of identification including a student I-D or a utility bill with their current name and address on it to identify themselves. The co-director of elections for the state, Betsy Byers, says local authorities can do a quick but rudimentary check on whether the person is who they claim to be. She says they sound out verification cards and if the cards bounce back, the name is not put on the voter rolls. A statewide voter registration data base will help keep people from registering in two places. Byers says information entered into the system by a county clerk will be compared with information in other counties, and if there’s a match, the new county can pull the record from the old county…then notify the old county about the change. Missouri has about six-million people. By the end of this day, about two-thirds will be registered to vote. The Secretary of State is not ready yet to predict how many will actually cast a ballot, though.
Increase in Autism Worries Officials
Missouri is getting some help battling autism as officials express worry about the increase of those diagnosed with the disease. Janet Farmer with the Thompson Center for Autism at the University of Missouri in Columbia says the question that has been driving research in the field of autism is: Why has the number of people diagnosed with austism gone up? Farmer says the number of people asking for services has increased 18% in the last year alone. Better diagnosis could be a factor, but Paul Law with the Kennedy Krieger Institute of Baltimore says more publications have been focusing on an increase in severe cases of autism and it would be difficult for those to be misdiagnosed. The Thompson Center for Autism and the Missouri Department of Mental Health are joining with the Kennedy Krieger Institute to enhance the Missouri Autism Project Registry and make it a national model. State Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Director, Bernard Simons, calls this a unique opportunity for the state. The on-line registry to be created will link families with researchers to improve treatment and help work toward a cure.
Related web sites:
Thompson Center for Autism
Talent Calls for U.N. Action Against North Korea
United Nations diplomats have begun talking about possible sanctions against North Korea in the wake of the apparent testing of a nuclear weapon by that country. Senator Jim Talent, a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, says sanctions must be employed, or at least threatened by the international community, to make sure North Korea puts an end to its nuclear weapons program. And, he says the pressure on the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il must come from the major players in that part of the world – China and Russia – and they must do it without getting something from the United States in return. China’s Amnassador to the U.N. has indicated his country is ready to support some sort of international action. North Korea has been insisting on bilateral talks with the U.S. to deal with nuclear concerns. Talent says the U.S. must reject that and insist on multilateral talks involving such countries as Japan and South Korea.
Blues Still Winless After Three
The Blues took 34 shots on goal, but none of those shots made the red light come on. Ducks goalie Jean-Sebastian Giguere stopped every last one of the Blues shots en route to his 22nd career shutout and a 2-0 win for Anaheim Monday night.
Chris Kunitz scored both the Ducks goals, both on power plays. His first goal came after Eric Brewer was penalized for hooking. The second score came while Martin Rucinsky was in the penalty box for a hooking penalty.
The Blues dropped to 0-3, having lost their last 12 road games – a team-record – dating back to last year.
O’Neil Remembered For All Good Reasons
Legendary baseball figure Buck O’Neil died over the weekend. O’Neil was a player for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Baseball League. He later went on to become the first black coach in the Major Leagues and also worked as a scout.
O’Neil made many public appearances including his last, in which he spoke on behalf of the Negro League players, coaches, and other personnel at the Hall of Fame induction this year.
Earlier in the year, O’Neil signed a one day contract with the Kansas City T-Bones to become the oldest player to ever play in a professional baseball game.
