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Rams sign four, release four

July 30, 2009 By

The St. Louis Rams have signed 2009 second-round draft choice (35 th overall) linebacker James Laurinaitis, along with two other draft picks and a free agent defensive tackle as the Rams get ready for this opening weekend of training camp.   

Laurinaitis, 6-2, 244 pounds, joined the Rams after a four-year career at Ohio State University.  Laurinaitis is a three-time first-team All-America honoree and the recipient of the Ronnie Lott Trophy (2008), Butkus Award (2007) and the Nagurski Award (2006).  Laurinaitis’ 375 career tackles rank seventh in school history. 

The Rams also signed fourth-round draft choice defensive tackle Darell Scott and sixth-round draft pick quarterback Keith Null.  Scott, 6-3, 312 pounds, recorded 161 tackles (103 solo) with nine sacks and 36 quarterback pressures in his four-year playing career at Clemson University.   Null, holds the West Texas A&M career records for passing yards (9,769), completion percentage (67.5), touchdown passes (92) and total offense (9,174). 

The Rams also signed free agent defensive tackle Hollis Thomas, while  waiving defensive linemen Kirston Pittman and Willie Williams, and wide receivers Travis Brown and Horace Gant.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Chiefs sign two, but not top pick yet

July 30, 2009 By

The Chiefs signed third round pick, defensive end Alex Magee and sixth round wide receiver Quinten Lawrence.  The Chiefs’ top pick, defensive end Tyson Jackson is unsigned along with fourth round pick cornerback Donald Washington. 
Magee, who played his college ball at Purdue, recorded 28 tackles (14 solo), 6.0 tackles for loss, a career-high 3.5 sacks (-18.0 yards), a forced fumble and a fumble recovery while starting 11 games and playing in all 12 games last season for the Boilermakers.

Lawrence, played in just four games for McNeese State before suffering a leg injury.  He pulled in 12 catches last year.  In 2007, as a junior he had a productive year, starting all 12 games and finishing with 31 receptions for 645 yards (20.8 avg.) and six TDs to earn second-team All-Southland Conference accolades.

As the Chiefs make their way up to River Falls, Wisconsin, two of the Chiefs top four picks have yet to sign on the dotted line.  DE Jackson was the Chiefs third straight first round pick that came from LSU making Jackson the highest drafted Tiger ever taken from the defensive side.  Washington, from Ohio State, is considered a candidate for nickel and dime packages this season with the Chiefs.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Another Missouri River study coming, maybe

July 29, 2009 By

 Senator McCaskill tries to stop another study of the use of the Missouri River. But she loses to a formidable opponent.

North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan wants to put 25-million dollars into the federal budget for a new study of the river, the latest shot in the long-running fight between upstream and downstream river states.

Senator McCaskill says a "very large study" was completed in 2004 at a cost of 35-million dollars. She said it took 15 years to complete and it started numerous lawsuits. She says there has not been time for many of the recommendations to be put into effect.

But Dorgan, who claims upstream states have never reaped the benefits of having big reservoirs, says the 2004 Master Manual still operates the river for barge navigation–when there is hardly any barge commerce left. He says the people who did the 2004 study "ought to have their head examined."

Dorgan is the Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water. He controlled the bill in the Senate during this week’s debate.

upload McCaskill-Dorgan debate (10:48 mp3)

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation

Columbia conference promotes school and college security

July 29, 2009 By

A two-day conference designed to prepare educators for possible school and college emergencies begins Thursday in Columbia with participants hearing from safety experts and sharing lessons learned.

The Third Annual Conference on Coordinated School and College Safety and Security is sponsored by the Missouri School Boards’ Association . MSBA Chief Communications Officer Brent Ghan says that while most educators and emergency responders believe our schools and colleges are safe there is a need to be prepared for anything that might happen.

"The message that we have at these conferences is," according to Ghan. "Even though the odds of a particular incident happening at your school building or your college campus are relatively small you still need to be prepared, you still need to develop plans for how you would handle emergency situations involving safety."

The best plans in the world are of no value if they are not studied and practiced by those who must be in the know in the event of disaster.

"It’s absolutely critical that the classroom teacher understand exactly what to do in the case of a school safety incident," said Ghan. "And how to handle the kids, how to keep them calm in a situation, and just how to react properly."

The preparation of the classroom teacher is critical in so many emergency situations.

"What we want to emphasize is that the classroom teacher needs to be very familiar with those plans," said Ghan. "Not just the building principal and not just administrators."

Preparedness advice will not be limited to natural disasters, fires, and the like. Among the presenters will be an expert on terrorism research and response.

Download/Listen: Steve Walsh report (:60 MP3)

Filed Under: Education Tagged With:

Bond opposes health care plan, makes counter-proposal

July 29, 2009 By

Senator Bond opposes President Obama’s health care legislation, insisting that targeted changes in law would solve most of the nation’s health care problems.

Bond says the president’s massive proposal is an overreach and what would he propose?

"First of all, make it simple enough so that the people of America can understand it and everybody can read it," Bond says.

Bond claims one critic said he would need two weeks and two lawyers to get through the bill.

"Well, we shouldn’t be taking over a 6th of our nation’s health care with that kind of cockamamie, complicated scheme," according to Bond.

Bond is a Republican. Obama is a Democrat. Democrats control Congress, but disagreements within the party have held up consideration of the president’s health care plan, a plan estimated to cost $1 trillion over the next 10 years.

Bond has a counter-proposal in mind. He says that the government needs to expand the safety net provided by community health centers. He advocates allowing small business owners to pool their resources to provide health care for their employees, a move that Bond estimates would provide health care coverage to an additional 26 million workers. He says another 11 million impoverished Americans without health care coverage are eligible for existing governmental programs and should be enrolled.

A change in the country’s tax law would help, according to Bond. He says inequities are embedded in the tax code that drive up the cost of buying individual health insurance policies. The senator also calls for malpractice reform, claiming that "junk lawsuits" cost the country as much as $120 billion each year.

"I mean, those are some simple things that can make a huge difference and do so within the current system itself," Bond says, "and without having a brand new bureaucracy to run health care."

Bond expects members of Congress to hear plenty of complaints about the health care proposal during their August break.

Download/listen Brent Martin reports (:60 MP3)

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Politics & Government Tagged With:
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