Allstate Insurance’s good hands are not going to let go of some documents demanded in a Jackson County lawsuit even though the company’s refusal is costing it $25,000 a day. The penalty ordered by the judge in the case already total $2.4 million. The lawsuit charges Allstate has been running a claims payment system since the 1990s that earns the company big profits by shortchanging clients. Allstate says the 12,500 pages of material contain trade secrets. But a circuit judge has demanded them. The Missouri Supreme Court agrees with him. The case involves a man who says Allstate has refused to pay his claim arising from a vehicle crash seven years ago.
Judge Declines to Prevent Ethics Commission from Moving Forward
December 19, 2007 By
A Cole County Circuit judge has declined a request to stop the Missouri Ethics Commission from proceeding with its plan to hear from candidates who claim compliance with a State Supreme Court ruling on campaign financing would cause a hardship.
Judge Jon Beetem denied Rep. Margaret Donnelly’s (D-St. Louis) request to issue a temporary restraining order. Donnelly had argued before Beetem earlier this week that the restraining order was needed to prevent the Ethics Commission from moving forward until her complaint against plans to hold closed hearings was fully aired in court. The Ethics Commission has argued that state law compels it to hold hearings on hardship cases in secret. Donnelly counters that such hearings don’t fit with the normal proceedings of the commission and should be open to the public.
The State Supreme Court ruled in July that a law approved by the legislature that lifted campaign contribution limits was unconstitutional. It made its ruling retroactive and left enforcement up to the Ethics Commission. The court ruled candidates must return money collected in excess of the contribution limits unless they can convince the Ethics Commission that to do so would create a hardship.
Most candidates are voluntarily giving back their excess donations.
Iesha Clay, University of Missouri – St. Louis
December 19, 2007 By
Iesha is a pre-med junior. She plans to pursue a career in pediatrics. Through Iesha’s work with the East Central Missouri Area Health Education Center she has been able to job shadow physicians in a variety of fields. She has developed projects that teach elementary school children about careers in healthcare. She is also a volunteer at Ranken Jordan, a private, not-for-profit, pediatric rehabilitation hospital. She assists in UMSL’s Biology Department and attends forums and functions in the medical fields. Iesha is a first generation college student.
Holt, Gonzalez, and Allen Missouri Pro Bowlers
December 19, 2007 By
St. Louis Rams wide receiver Torry Holt is the Ram’s lone Pro Bowl representative. Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez will make his ninth straight Pro Bowl appearance and defensive end Jared Allen, who missed the first four weeks of the season serving a suspension has ranked up 11.5 sacks this year to earn his first trip to Hawaii.
