President Obama’s announcement that 30-thousand more troops will be sent to Afghanistan might have some Missouri National Guard members thinking, “here we go again.’
No, says the National Guard, not for a while at least. [Read more...]
Reach of Halloween sex offender law before court
December 2, 2009 By
Just how far the state can go to keep convicted sex offenders from contact with children is at the heart of a State Supreme Court case on a state law that greatly restricts activities on Halloween.
State law requires registered sex offenders to stay in their homes from 5-to-10:30pm on Halloween, turn off outside lights and post a sign stating “no candy or treats at this residence”.
During oral arguments, Supreme Court Judge Laura Denvir Stith questioned the reach of such restrictions.
“If it’s OK to restrict going outside or opening your door to others or keeping the porch light on on Halloween, although we understand why that was chosen, but legally if that’s permissible what’s the difference between that and saying you can never have your light on or you could never leave your home,” Stith asked.
Audrain County Prosecutor Jacob Shellabarger understands there is a line to be drawn.
“I believe the legislature has tailored these particular restrictions in a particular way and chosen their words carefully in doing so,” Shellaber responded. “I don’t know where the line is, your honor, but I think this is clearly on the lawful side of it.”
The case, State of Missouri v. Charles A. Aynor, doesn’t really center on the constitutionality of the Halloween restrictions, but on whether they are being applied retrospectively to Charles Raynor, who had to register as a sex offender when he moved to Missouri, because of a 1988 conviction in the state of Washington. Missouri law prohibits retroactive enforcement. The trial court found it retrospective. The Supreme Court will rule later.
Brent Martin reports.
Legislation targets spectators of dog fighting
December 2, 2009 By
Among the bills that will be taken up by lawmakers during the coming session of the General Assembly is one dealing with dog fighting. Senator Scott Rupp (R-Wentzville) has pre-filed legislation that aims to crack down on repeat offenders and to more quickly deal with the surviving animals.
“What it does is just strengthen the penalties on those that are repeat spectators at a dog fight,” said Rupp in an interview with the Missourinet. “Also, it allows a quick disposition hearing for the animals so they’re not just languishing in a shelter somewhere, racking up bills and things for months as these court proceedings drag on. So, it’s kind of a humane thing for the animal, but also a stricter crackdown on repeat offenders.” [Read more...]
Missouri gets federal money to get broadband to more people
December 2, 2009 By
About 20 percent of Missourians do not have access to high-speed Internet. A federal grant to expand broadband in the state will put more people on the fast track.
Governor Nixon’s office says Missouri is one of six states that was awarded federal funding from the Department of Commerce for broadband expansion. Spokesman Scott Holste says the money will first identify the problem areas in the state.
Holste says South Central, Northern and Northwest Missouri are unserved or underserved. He says it’s holding many rural areas in the state back from vital information exchange.
Holste says this grant will pay for mapping and data collection … the state now is competing for federal funding to lay some 25 hundred miles of fiber-optic cable and build 200 new broadband towers across the state.
The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). NTIA received grant applications representing all 50 states, five U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia; NTIA previously announced 15 grants under the program.
“Our preparations to present the best possible application have paid off in this competitive grant process,” Gov. Nixon said. “We will continue to aggressively pursue these federal funds for infrastructure development, even as we now use this $1.9 million for mapping and planning. There are a multitude of benefits to education, healthcare, commerce and consumers from having broadband reach into every corner of Missouri, and we will continue our work to make this a reality.”
This summer, the Governor announced a private-public partnership, the MoBroadbandNow Project, to compete for federal recovery funds to expand broadband accessibility to 91.5 percent of the total population of Missouri, a significant increase from current projected accessibility of 79.7 percent. The state and Sho-Me Technologies are working together to apply for federal funding to help lay 2,500 miles of fiber-optic cable and construct 200 new broadband towers across the state.
The Office of Administration has partnered with the University of Missouri to collect information and provide an independent source of evaluation for the data collection and mapping efforts. The state also will work with broadband providers across Missouri in collecting data.
The state of Missouri also is receiving $470,000 in federal recovery funds for its broadband planning. This money will help create regional technology planning teams within each of the state’s 19 regional planning council regions to develop a regional broadband adoption plan. In addition, this funding will help the state develop and host information technology summits to provide academia, business, industry, government and local citizens with important information about how broadband infrastructure can be used to their benefit, now and in the future.
Bearcats look for 5th trip in a row to D-II finals
December 2, 2009 By
Bearcat's Kilgore runs an INT back for a TD...courtesy of northwestbearcats.com
Joining me is Head Coach Mel Tjeerdsma of Northwest Missouri State, where the Bearcats played an incredible football game this past weekend in Ellensburg Washington, where the Bearcats beat #1 ranked Central Washington 21-20 thanks to a blocked extra point with six seconds to go to give the Bearcats the win.
