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Two people suffered minor injuries in the crash of a small plane, Sunday, at the Taney County Airport. Two other people were on board the plane. They were not hurt. All are members of the same family from Crete, Illinois.
Officials at the airport say the plane got off the ground for about a hundred feet, then returned to the runway and might have blown a tire before it ran off the end of the runway. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating. [ Photo by Sally Kaucher ]
He’s not interested in being the Number 2 guy on the presidential ticket … and he isn’t looking for a cabinet post in a McCain Administration, but former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating (R-OK) is going all out to send the Arizona Senator to the White House.
Keating, who now represents the U.S. life insurance industry with the American Council of Life Insurers, is involved in a number of volunteer positions in the McCain campaign, including Catholics for McCain, which he co-chairs with Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS). He brought that support and enthusiasm to Branson over the weekend to talk up McCain to Republicans attending the GOP State Convention.
During a meeting with a handful of reporters, Keating praised McCain as someone who has proven he can work well across party lines. He points to what is a very contentious issue among many conservatives – McCain’s refusal to go along with what became known as the "Nuclear Option" to end a Democratic filibuster of President Bush’s judicial nominees.
McCain organized several Republicans and Democrats into a group known as the Gang of 14 to force up or down votes on a number of the President’s nominees. Keating says without the Gang of 14 several of those conservative judges who are now serving – including Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito – would not be where they are today.
Having nixed the idea of being a VP candidate, Keating did say he would be "thrilled" to help McCain. Asked if he had his eye on anything in particular, Keating joked, "Some place that’s exotic."
Download/Listen: Former Governor Frank Keating on judicial appointments (:22 MP3)
He concedes he will not win the Republican presidential nomination, but Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) remains in the race, as part of the effort to get out his message. That message is one of limited government and more individual freedoms, elimination of the federal income tax, withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, and doing away with the Patriot Act.
Paul was in Branson over the weekend to speak to many of the Republicans attending the State Party Convention. He doesn’t understand why, in his view, so many of his supporters were denied a welcome mat at the convention.
Paul says the Republican base is getting smaller, not larger, and he thinks anyone who can garner the votes he is capable of bringing in would be welcomed.
Download/Listen: Steve Walsh report (:60 MP3)
Download/Listen: Steve Walsh interviiews Congressman Ron Paul (4:00 MP3)
A legal challenge to a lower court ruling on legislation legalizing the services of certified midwives is now in the hands of the judges of the Missouri State Supreme Court. Arguments were heard, Wednesday, over the validity of the midwifery component of HB 818 – a 2007 bill dealing primarily with life, health, or accident insurance.
SC88783 does not focus on the merits of midwifery, but rather on whether the midwifery component in the insurance bill is a violation of the so-called Hammerschmidt rule – a constitutional requirement that any provision of any bill must relate to the original purpose and title of that bill. Prior to final passage of that bill, Senator John Loudon (R-Chesterfield) added what is known as a "legislative tuck" when he slipped in language legalizing the services of midwives.
The Missouri State Medical Association went to court, challenging the validity of the provision, and Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce agreed, striking down the midwifery component.
During oral arguments, Assistant Attorney General John McManus defended the law, saying there is a link between insurance coverage and the legalizing of midwifery because insurance companies would be allowed to offer insurance for the services of midwives.
Attorney Rob Hess, representing the Medical Association, argued previous rulings from the State Supreme Court point to the judges refusing to allow what he calls an indirect link to qualify under Hammerschmidt.
Stand alone legislation legalizing midwifery is again before the General Assembly this year, but will not be needed if the Supreme Court rules in favor of the State and the Missouri Midwives Association, which appealed the lower court ruling.
Branson’s city council could vote next week on whether the city supports Christmas. Two aldermen propose the ordinance that calls on businesses to support what they call "a traditional American Christmas."
The city attorney is warning aldermen that the city could be sued if it passes an ordinance that violates the First Amendment to the Constitution, which forbids government from favoring one religion over another.
