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Voting is underway in Missouri. Absentee voting, that is.
In-person absentee voting began Tuesday in Missouri’s presidential primary. Reasons for voting absentee may include plans to be out of your voting district on election day, physical disability or illness or religious beliefs that prevent casting a ballot that day.
The state’s presidential primary is February 7.
Detroit got goals by Pavel Datsyuk and Niklas Kronwall less than a minute apart midway through the third period Tuesday night as the Red Wings rallied to beat the St. Louis Blues 3-2 for their 11th consecutive victory at home.
St. Louis led 2-0 on power-play goals by Matt D’Agostini and Alexander Steen, but Nicklas Lidstrom gave the Wings cut the lead when his one-timer from the left point went through traffic and past Brian Elliott with 1:03 remaining in the second period to make it a 2-1 game.
Datsyuk tied the game with 8:41 left, deflecting Ian White’s shot for his 12th goal. Kronwall then got the game-winner by firing a wrist shot from the left point past Elliott with 7:45 remaining.
The Pro Bowl rosters were announced and two Chiefs get first time invites to Hawaii. Inside linebacker Derrick Johnson and outside linebacker Tamba Hali.
Johnson has had a breakthrough season, already establishing a team single-season tackle record (172 tackles) with one game left to play. Hali was a late injury addition to the Pro Bowl last season after he led the conference with 14.5 sacks, but he declined the invitation for personal reasons. This season he is just one sack off the AFC lead heading into the game with Denver.
Last year the Chiefs sent five players to the Pro Bowl and three of them…Eric Berry, Jamaal Charles and Matt Cassel were lost to season ending injuries.
Jefferson City native and former Missouri Tiger Justin Smith is one of eight San Francisco 49ers who were selected to the Pro Bowl. The 11 year vet is having a solid year with 6.5 sacks this year.
No Rams were voted on by the fans, players or coaches, but one of the three NFC running backs, Matt Forte of Chicago is out with an injury. It’s possible that Steven Jackson could be added to the roster.
The Rams player that needs to be there is defensive end Chris Long. He has 13 sacks, but with former Chief Jared Allen from Minnesota and Jason Babin of Philly who leads the NFC in sacks ahead of him, it was a tough hill to climb.
The map app finds your location and shows the road conditions in the area.
The Traveler Information App, better known as the “map app” is now available from the State Transportation Department. They have developed it to give people an idea of how clear the larger roads in the state are as the weather gets bad this winter. Department Spokesman Matt Hiebert says the application gives a map of the state, with all the major roads highlighted. They’re color coded to indicate road conditions or construction.
He says those working in the field update the conditions of the road by radioing back to MoDOT headquarters, and the status is changed within five minutes. It shows major roads and highways, but also some smaller roads.
The app is free for iPhone and Android phones. Hiebert says this app should not be used while people are in the car because it’s dangerous to drive distracted. He says also this should be used for planning ahead for what the highway conditions are, and once someone is in the car, it’s probably too late to plan a new route.
MoDOT urges motorists to not use this app while driving.
He says he expects this app to be very popular during the winter months. Those without smart phones can visit MODOT’s website for the same information, or call MODOT to speak to someone about road conditions.
The department put out another application earlier in the year called the Show Me My Buzz App, which gives people an idea of if they’ve had too much to drink, and if they have, it gives an option to call a local cab company. Hiebert says it’s been downloaded thousands of times, so this new app should also be very popular. The department is working on ideas for a few new applications, but none are in the development phase. Hiebert says hopefully the more information that people have at their fingertips, the safer they will be on the roads.
AUDIO Allison Blood reports. Mp3 [1:03]
The Department of Education is concerned about a funding shortfall, but looks forward to working with the legislature on addressing the problem. Missouri’s school foundation formula is the mechanism the state uses to distribute money to public schools. It has gone underfunded in recent years, and Department of Education Commissioner Chris NiCastro says this year’s outlook is no better.
She says the formula was never designed to be underfunded, and bills filed during the upcoming legislative session will seek to fix that. She says if the structure isn’t reformulated, there will be vast funding differences between districts, creating an environment of winners and losers throughout the state.
NiCastro it’s going to be difficult for the legislature to maintain level funding this year, but the department is still hopeful it will happen. The Department, she says, anticipates working with legislators when they come into session Jan. 4.
The current formula the state uses to fund public schools was revised during the the 2005 legislative session, before the economy plummeted.
The new, higher-funding formula was to be phased in over a seven-year period, but the failure to fully fund the formula has thrown that schedule way off. The phase-in process began at the start of fiscal year 2007, which is in July, 2006, with schools receiving 17 percent of their state funding from the new foundation formula and 85 percent from the formula that was written in 1993.
The plan was that each year, the phase-in plan would progressively raise the percentage of funds based on the new, higher foundation formula. For this year, 2012-2013 year, Missouri’s schools should be at 100 percent of the new formula. That has not happened.
NiCastro says she anticipates the legislature will try to rewrite legislation to fix that this year.
