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Missouri county considers whether to join lawsuit against opioid drug makers

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Another Missouri county is debating whether to sue drug manufacturers for the burden the opioid crisis has placed on its community. Ed Douglas, the presiding commissioner of Livingston County in northwest Missouri, says the county commission could join a national lawsuit against addictive prescription drug makers.

Missouri county considers whether to join lawsuit against opioid drug makers

Several other Missouri counties have also filed lawsuits against drug manufacturers contending that the opioid epidemic burdens their areas with hospitalizations, incarcerations and emergency responses, among other things.

“There has been harm to the county. I can tell you our jail costs are higher because of that. Most of our jail costs are related to drug use,” Douglas tells Missourinet affiliate KCHI in Chillicothe. “Now not all of that is opioid use but a significant part of it is.”

He says he’s in the process of trying to find out how many deaths opioid misuse has led to in Livingston County.

“It’s significant. Our prosecutor was able to think of about eight that he could remember in the last five or six years. I’m actually going to check with our coroner to find that out too,” he says.

In 2015, the county recorded 117 opioid prescriptions per every 100 residents.

Douglas says there would not be upfront costs to join the suit.

Missourinet affiliate KCHI in Chillicothe contributed to this story.

Missouri department updating accountability measures on charter school sponsors

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The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is revising standards by which charter school sponsors are judged. During a recent Missouri Board of Education meeting, Chris Neale with the department says operating on an almost direct basis with charter schools and sponsors is probably no longer the best practice.

Missouri department updating accountability measures on charter school sponsors

“We’ve come to the conclusion that since sponsors of charter schools have that contractual relationship with their schools, our best efforts need to be put into strengthening those sponsors to ensuring that they are then strengthening the schools,” he says.

Neale says the changes would reduce the number of standards and be more clearly defined. He also says they would emphasize the sponsor’s role in the management of governance, financials, operations, academic expectations, and contract consequences of its charter schools.

“I think what we’ll see is a much more effective approach to sponsor practice and to our evaluation of sponsors against effective practice,” he says.

For the past several months, the department has been revising sponsor standards in collaboration with the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA). It has also gathered feedback from sponsors. The Missouri Charter Public School Commission has funded the project.

Bill Mendelsohn, the executive director of Charter Schools at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, says for years, university sponsors have advocated for standards revisions that incorporate best practices.

“We fully support DESE’s efforts to revise the standards and the process by which DESE evaluates sponsors. We deeply appreciate that NACSA and DESE have involved us in the process and we support the incorporation of best practice for sponsors in the new standards, knowing that our offices have already incorporated many of them into our own policies and operations,” says Mendelsohn.

He says during the past five years, eight charter schools have been closed in Kansas City and St. Louis. He indicates that some of those schools outperformed the public schools in St. Louis and Kansas City that are comparable in demographics and grade levels.

Charter schools are allowed in Kansas City, St. Louis an any unaccredited public school districts in Missouri. Charter schools in Missouri are required to have a sponsor to operate. Sponsors are given 1.5% of state aid to help cover their operational costs for their charter school responsibilities.

For the changes to occur, the Missouri Board of Education must approve them.

Copyright © 2018 · Missourinet

Missouri Ethics Commission subpoenas for Greitens’ non-profit bank records

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Former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens speaks to reporters in downtown St. Louis on May 14, 2018, after the felony invasion of privacy charge against him was dismissed (Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

The Missouri Ethics Commission has subpoenaed Carrollton Bank for all bank records from former Gov. Eric Greitens’ political non-profit organization – A New Missouri. It wants to examine the information to learn if any campaign finance violations have occurred. Court documents obtained by Missourinet say Greitens’ non-profit has requested that Cole County Circuit judge Daniel Green dismiss the subpoena.

In June, Greitens resigned after months of controversy involving allegations of taking and transmitting a non-consensual sexual photo during a 2015 affair and threatening to release the image. He’s also accused of transmitting a charity donor list without proper approval to fuel his campaign, potential foreign campaign donations and open records violations for his former office’s use of a cell phone app to immediately delete text messages.

Greitens quickly stepped down when a judge ordered his non-profit and campaign committees to hand over personal donor information to a Missouri House committee. The move ultimately ended the investigation the committee was charged with doing.

Later that same month, committee chairman Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, announced that he planned to file a complaint with the Missouri Ethics Commission stating that the Commission has the authority to investigate A New Missouri. He went on to say that Greitens was still likely guilty of multiple crimes that could be prosecuted in state or federal court.

Copyright © 2018 · Missourinet

Parson: Missouri agencies continue to explore how to help drought-impacted farmers

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Gov. Mike Parson says Polk County, where he has a farm, is among the Missouri counties affected by drought.

Drought map

“We’re just in terrible shape down here,” says Parson, in an interview with Brownfield Ag News. “We haven’t had rain in months.”

Farmers in the driest counties are chopping corn that’s become too dry to make a crop of grain.

In June, Parson signed an executive order putting 47 Missouri counties on drought alert. The governor says state agencies are exploring what’s available to help farmers and ranchers.

“We’re working on it from the state level trying to see what we can do, as far as to assist farmers and help them,” he says, “but the reality of it is, at the end of the day, we just need rain.”

The next week or so, according to Governor Parson, will at least provide a diversion.

“It’s a time to go to the State Fair and just enjoy the time you have there with family and friends and see a lot of young men and women showing livestock,” says the governor. “It’s a great opportunity.”

The Missouri State Fair opens today in west-central Missouri’s Sedalia. The annual event runs through Aug. 19.

By Tom Steever of Brownfield Ag News

Ivanka Trump visits St. Louis area to discuss workforce development

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Ivanka Trump is touring the country to unite academic, business, and political leaders in a series of workforce development roundtable discussions. During a visit today at Lewis and Clark Community College near St. Louis, she says the nation’s low unemployment rate is creating an unprecedented climate.

Ivanka Trump speaks to hundreds of U.S. Steel workers in Granite City, IL on July 26, 2018

Ms. Trump wants to connect unemployed and underemployed Americans with the training necessary to fill skilled jobs in growing industries.

“For the first time in history, we actually have more job vacancies than unemployed people,” she says. “There’s skills mismatched that exist. What can we do about it?”

She says the federal government is going to reconcile workforce programs to make them more accountable and think holistically about the role of education through the lifecycle of American workers.

“I think as a federal government, we are not very good, typically, at training. But we can leverage the knowledge of the private sector. We can say be our partner and help us do better,” Trump says. “Help us amplify the issue. Help us think about ways that we can be creative. Help us leverage technology, for example, to create better transparency for our students and our workers across the country.”

Ms. Trump cites the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics saying the country has 6.6 million vacant jobs.

“They can tell you the industries they are in, but they can’t tell you geographically where those jobs are located and they can’t tell you the underlying skillsets required to fill those jobs,” she says.

Trump goes on to say the U.S. is experiencing historic low unemployment rates for African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, women and the disabled.

Todd Sauter contributed to this story.

Copyright © 2018 · Missourinet

The top upsets in Missouri’s primary election

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Another Missouri primary election is in the books. The outcomes of some of the races were not surprising, while others came out of left field.

The biggest statewide upset in Tuesday’s election goes to Right-to-work supporters. For the first time since 1978, Missouri voters have rejected a ballot referendum known as Proposition A, which would have banned mandatory union membership or fees in the workplace. Missouri will not become a Right-to-work state, for now. The issue is a major priority for many Republicans in the Missouri Legislature and another similar proposal will likely make a comeback soon.

The top upsets in Missouri’s primary election

Saundra McDowell has taken the Republican nomination for the Missouri State Auditor’s race. She finished the race with 33% of the vote to David Wasinger’s 27%, followed by State Rep. Paul Curtman’s surprising 16%. McDowell faces Missouri Democratic State Auditor Nicole Galloway, along with the Libertarian, Green Party and Constitution Party candidates in November.

In a four-way Republican race for the Missouri Senate District 18 seat, the lone candidate who is not a current legislator, Cindy O’ Laughlin, defeats the three legislators. Lindell Shumake, Craig Redmon and Nate Walker were also running for the seat being vacated by the term-limited Brian Munzlinger of Williamstown. O’Laughlin will face Crystal Stephens, a Democrat, in November.

Justin Dan Brown has defeated Republican State Reps. Diane Franklin and Keith Frederick to take the State Senate District 16 seat in mid-Missouri. Brown, also a Republican, captured 40% of the vote to Franklin 35% and Frederick’s 25%.

Longtime St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch has lost his re-election bid. Fellow Democrat Wesley Bell, who serves on the Ferguson City Council, won last night’s primary.

State Rep. Karla May came out with the victory in last night’s Democratic primary by beating incumbent Jake Hummel for the District 4 State Senate seat. May will take on Republican Robert Crump in November’s general election.

Term-limited Springfield State Sen. Bob Dixon has handily defeated incumbent Bob Cirtin in the Greene County presiding commissioner race in southwest Missouri. Dixon faces Democrat and former State Rep. Sara Lampe in November. Lampe and Dixon, a Republican, both served together in the Missouri House.

Copyright © 2018 · Missourinet

Springfield voters overturn City Council’s gradual ban on pitbull breeds

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Springfield voters have easily reversed the City Council’s ordinance that would have phased out the ownership of pitbulls and pitbull mixes. The measure, known as Question One, would have only allowed renewals of existing pitbull registrations – not new ones.

Photo courtesy of Springfield-Greene County Health Department website

After a vote last year by the Springfield City Council in favor of such a ban, advocates of the breed vowed to collect enough signatures to overturn the ordinance through a public vote of the people. Pitbull lovers kept their promise with more than 60% of the vote in favor of no ban.

A public vote on an issue like this is not one you hear about every day. Many local ordinances around the country dealing with dog breed regulations are done solely through a vote by a governmental body like a City Council or state legislature.

Tuesday’s vote maintains Springfield’s current ordinance on pitbulls. The policies require pitbulls living within the city limits to be registered annually, current on certain vaccinations, spayed or neutered and micro-chipped. While in public, they are required to be muzzled. A sign must also be placed on the owner’s property that says pitbull dog.

Copyright © 2018 · Missourinet

Missourinet 11:00 p.m. primary election newscast

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Missourinet’s last report this evening on our primary election coverage includes Brian Hauswirth recapping the latest results.

Alisa Nelson reports the decision on a mid-Missouri State Senate race.

Bob Priddy shares his thoughts on tonight’s major union victory against Proposition A and a St. Louis Congressional race.

Listen here:

Missourinet 10 p.m. primary election newscast

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Missourinet’s primary election coverage continues through 11 p.m. In this broadcast, Brian Hauswirth recaps the latest results and upsets.

Missourinet contributor Jill Enders reports from the union election headquarters in St. Louis.

Bob Priddy shares his thoughts on voter turnout in Missouri Auditor’s, State Senate and Congressional races.

Listen here:

Missouri unions win major victory in failure of Proposition A

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The move by Republicans in the Missouri Legislature to switch Proposition A from November to August in hopes of a favorable turnout has backfired. Opponents of Proposition A carried a strong upper hand all evening in primary election results. Some 280,000 voters opposed making Missouri a Right-to-work state while roughly 176,000 supported Proposition A.

Proposition A fails in Missouri

The measure asked Missourians whether to ban forced union membership or dues as a condition of employment.

Missouri Democratic Party Chairman Stephen Webber issued the following statement about today’s win for unions:

“Tonight, Missouri voters rejected a top Republican priority and sent a resounding message that we will not leave working people behind. Standing together, Democrats and working families successfully fought off this shameless attack on the middle class from corrupt Republican politicians in Jeff City,” said Webber.

On the other side, Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Dan Mehan had the following statement:

“Using a roughly $20 million war chest, union bosses have blocked Missourians from having the freedom to decide whether or not they join a union and pay dues. As our state became a national battleground over worker freedom, millions of union dollars poured into Missouri to persuade voters. These out-of-state groups sent money to Missouri because they were fearful of losing out if Missourians had the power to stop their paychecks from being siphoned to pad union coffers and play politics,” said Mehan.

He goes on to say his statement is not a concession and the chamber will continue to pursue such measures.