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Missouri representative wants to explore expansion of child court advocates

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A state representative wants to look into expanding Missouri’s program for court-appointed child advocates.

Representative Bill Lant (R-Joplin) Photo courtesy: Missouri House Communications.

Representative Bill Lant (R-Pineville) Photo courtesy: Missouri House Communications.

Representative Bill Lant (R-Pineville) said he did not realize those volunteers, who work in the child welfare system to advocate in court for the best interest of a child, aren’t in every judicial circuit.

He said those in his district, at least, have plenty to do.

“Having worked with CASA in my district, we have probably 30 volunteers in a two-county, very rural district, and they stay busy all the time. The judges uses them extensively to report on conditions in the home, how the child’s doing at school, how they’re coordinating with the foster parents, how well they’re working out in that environment,” said Lant.
Lant said those volunteers make a big difference.

“The CASA volunteer talks to their teachers, they’ll talk to the foster parents, they’ll look at the homes. They get involved in the child’s life enough to know why the child is making good decisions or bad decisions,” said Lant.

He said he doesn’t believe more state or federal money would be needed to expand CASA to more circuits, saying much of their support is also found locally.

Lant says expanding the system will require talking to judges.

The committee he chairs on child abuse and neglect meets again on July 25.

Missouri Democrats to seek repeal of abortion clinic laws, Republican counsel says attempt will ‘go nowhere’

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Missouri legislative Democrats say they’ll seek a repeal of the state’s abortion clinic laws in light of a Supreme Court ruling, but an attorney for Senate Republicans says there’s no reason for that attempt to go anywhere.

Sen. Jill Schupp (D-Creve Coeur)

Sen. Jill Schupp (D-Creve Coeur)

The U.S. Supreme Court two weeks ago struck down Texas laws requiring abortion clinics there to meet the standards of ambulatory surgical centers, and requiring abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. Missouri has similar laws, and Senator Jill Schupp (D-Creve Coeur) plans to file a bill to repeal them.

“In Texas those things were found to be what we’ve always known they were, which was interference with a woman’s ability to access a safe and legal abortion,” said Schupp. “Now that they have been ruled unconstitutional, specifically in the state of Texas, we are very hopeful that we can make sure that they are repealed also here in the State of Missouri.”

Senator Jamilah Nasheed (D-St. Louis) and Representative Stacey Newman (D-St. Louis) also expressed support for a repeal.

General Counsel to Senate Majority Republicans Todd Scott told Missourinet there are differences between the laws in Missouri and Texas.

“While the two touch on the same subject matter, they’re not identical,” said Scott, “the Texas law being more specific in terms of requirements on doctors and so forth.”

Scott said Missouri’s laws are a policy statement by legislators elected by Missourians that point out their position on abortion issues.

“A lot of the protections that we’ve built up over the years have come from this understanding that the people of Missouri have elected overwhelmingly pro-life majorities in the House and Senate. They want, and they expect, that Missouri law reflects their own views and their own morals on the subject,” said Scott. “If there is legislation filed to repeal certain abortion laws that would protect the safety and health of women, those bills, I am quite confident, will go nowhere.”

Senator Schupp will also seek a repeal of a law that requires a woman wait 72 hours before having an abortion in Missouri.

Shooting in St. Louis: 2 dead, 1 hospitalized, officer hit by ricochet

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A shooting overnight in St. Louis has left two people dead, one hospitalized, and a St. Louis Police officer wounded.
Police say what began as a fight between a boyfriend and former boyfriend turned into a fight over a gun. One man and the woman the two men were fighting over were fatally shot. Another person was shot and last reported to be in critical but stable condition.

St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson briefed reporters after a shooting that left two dead, one hospitalized, and one of his officers wounded in the leg by a ricochet.

St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson briefed reporters after a shooting that left two dead, one hospitalized, and one of his officers wounded in the leg by a ricochet.

St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson said the suspect shot at police as they arrived.

“At least one shot struck the police car. There’s ballistic damage to the passenger side door on the lower edge. There’s a police officer that was struck by a ricochet shot,” said Dotson.

The officer returned fire but the suspect was not hit. The officer is said to have about four-and-a-half years of service.
Dotson said the suspect was caught a couple of blocks from the scene. He has a criminal record and was described as well known to the neighborhood where the shooting occurred.

Dotson said such incidents are occurring too often.

“It’s become far too frequent not just here in St. Louis but around the country. You’ve got a police car that’s got a bullet hole in it, you’ve got a police officer who has an injury to his leg from gunfire,” said Dotson. “It’s a very dangerous situation when criminals have the ability to get guns and indiscriminately point them at their neighbors, at former girlfriends, at police officers.”

After five police officers were fatally shot in Dallas last week, Dotson ordered that his officers respond to calls in pairs. Dotson said that will continue for some time.

“I think when you have individuals who have guns, that are known to law enforcement, that are willing to use their guns in boyfriend/girlfriend disputes, and then when police are called and police respond to turn that weapon on police officers and fire shots at them, I think we have to take every safety precaution we can to keep our police officers safe.”

As of shortly after midnight, Dotson said police were still looking for the suspect’s gun.

Missouri governor signs fix for sentencing of juvenile murderers

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Governor Jay Nixon has signed a law that will allow juveniles guilty of first-degree murder to be sentenced.

Senator Bob Dixon (photo; Mike Lear, Missourinet)

Senator Bob Dixon sponsored the juvenile sentencing bill. (photo; Mike Lear, Missourinet)

The court ruled in 2005 that juveniles cannot be sentenced to death, and ruled in 2012 there must be a sentencing option for them in addition to or other than life without parole. The measure Nixon signed lets prosecutors seek a life term with the possibility of parole or 30-40 years in prison. Life without parole is still an option if prosecutors prove certain aggravating factors were involved in the crime.

Missouri Prosecuting Attorneys Association president Kevin Hillman says the new law brings Missouri into compliance with the Court’s rulings.

“It will allow our juries to have some options when it comes to some of the very worst crimes committed by people who just might be under the age of 18,” said Hillman.

Hillman said without the new law, juries have had limited options in sentencing.

“What the judge has to do in order to make a sentence in compliance with the Supreme Court mandate is he has to vacate the murder in the first sentence and impose a murder in the second degree sentence, and then send it to sentencing,” said Hillman.

Hillman said that allowed a minimum sentence of 10-years for first-degree murder.

Recent rain dries up Missouri drought concerns at least for now

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Rain in the past week has alleviated drought concerns in Missouri, if only for the time being, according to a state climatologist.

Pat Guinan

Pat Guinan

Several periods of rain in the past few days replenished the water table in much of the state, and have come at just the right time for crops according to climatologist Pat Guinan.

“The rains did come. They were badly needed, for corn especially because with this drier spring we had, we had some great opportunities for early spring planting and so corn was beginning to tassel, and that’s a critical period for determining yields at the end of the growing season,” said Guinan.

Before those periods of rain came, Guinan said vegetation was beginning to show signs of struggling.

“Early in the month lawns were green but by the third week of June they’d turned brown, and of course row crops were starting to take a hit, especially corn,” said Guinan.

Guinan says Missouri is actually reaching a point where additional rain could be the problem.

“Pretty much water resources both above and below he ground are now at capacity so there is going to be that potential for more flooding if we do receive more significant rainfall,” said Guinan.

Guinan says rain predicted the rest of this week could bring flooding concerns, then a return to hot, dry conditions is expected next week.

Damaging winds, flooding possible through Wednesday night in Missouri

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A couple of rounds of severe storms could sweep through mainly northern and central Missouri Tuesday evening and through Wednesday.

This graphic from the National Weather Service shows the projected severe weather risk for Tuesday evening and Wednesday.

This graphic from the National Weather Service shows the projected severe weather risk for Tuesday evening and Wednesday (click for larger version).

Meteorologist Dan Hawblitzel says damaging winds are the main threat.

“For tonight at least it doesn’t look like we’ll be dealing with quite the magnitude of winds that we’ve seen with some of these past storms, including the ones last night. The winds tonight should be fairly localized in nature. Maybe 40 to 50 miles per hour. Can’t rule out a very isolated gust up to 60 or 65,” said Hawblitzel.

He said storms Wednesday will be perhaps more worrisome.

“These are going to be late tomorrow night into early Thursday. Those carry a better chance of being more widespread and stronger as well, so better chance for heavy rain and some damaging winds as well, with those,” said Hawblitzel.

He said with much of Missouri’s ground already saturated from recent rain, flash flooding is a concern with these storms.

“Especially across areas that saw that heavy rain [Monday] night. That’s mainly going to be close to and north of the Missouri River in northwest Missouri, especially up toward the St. Joe area where they saw two to three inches, those are the areas that can’t really handle too much more rain and we’ll have to watch those locations for possible flooding late tonight and tomorrow,” said Hawblitzel.

Tornadoes can’t be ruled out but are not considered to be a primary threat with these storms.

Child victims’ advocate: freeze of money for Missouri Children’s Division could hurt kids

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An advocate for child abuse victims says the budget restrictions made last week by the governor could hurt children.

Missouri Kids First Deputy Director Emily van Schenkhof

Missouri Kids First Deputy Director Emily van Schenkhof

Of the $115.5-million Governor Jay Nixon (D) has frozen the spending of, $408-thousand would hire ten more child abuse caseworkers. Emily van Schenkhof with Missouri KidsFirst says after the responsibilities of the state Children’s Division were expanded last year to include assessing reports of child-on-child sexual abuse, these caseworkers were badly needed.

“We were flooded with calls as soon as we got this because we knew it was a big problem, but even the number of hotline calls the Children’s Division got as soon as we changed the law – it surprised everyone, and so the caseloads for children’s division skyrocketed,” said van Schenkhof.

She said the national standard for one worker’s caseload is 15 a month, but some have had as many as 45 cases a month. Five caseworkers were assigned to handle the new case responsibilities last year, and van Schenkhof says they all had full caseloads within weeks.  Each case must be assessed in 45 days.

“They desperately need more staffing,” said van Schenkhof. “I really am concerned about the safety of children in Missouri when we overburden and overwork our Children’s Division staff, and this was meant to be relief for them so that they could do their job at the level that we need them to.”

Governor Jay Nixon (photo: Mike Lear, Missourinet)

Governor Jay Nixon (photo: Mike Lear, Missourinet)

Van Schenkhof and other advocates were glad to see the state make that change in statute last year to begin assessing cases of children abusing children.

“About 25-percent of sexual abuse of children is perpetrated by other juveniles on children, and we believe that by interrupting these behaviors early on we can prevent a lot of child sexual abuse,” said van Schenkhof.

She said she worries about the message being sent to caseworkers.

“When the General Assembly works and Missouri KidsFirst and advocates all over the state work to try to ease their burden saying, ‘Your work is valuable. We value what you do,’ and then these restrictions come across and sort of say, ‘Maybe it’s not a priority to make your workload manageable,'” said van Schenkhof.

She said she’s “frustrated” that the $408-thousand couldn’t have come from some other program or programs in the $27.2-billion dollar state budget.

“I respect everyone who’s involved in the process and I respect the governor, and I understand it’s tough to work on the budget and these are not easy decisions that the administration makes, but I’m close to begging,” said van Schenkhof. “I really want this money released because I believe that it’s so critical to the safety of our children.”

The Nixon administration said, and at least one Republican budget leader agreed, that the budget restrictions were necessary because state revenue is coming in slowly. Nixon’s State Budget Director Dan Haug said it is unlikely any restricted money would be released until at least September.

Missouri bill to help adoptees get birth certificates signed into law

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Governor Jay Nixon (D) has agreed that adoptees need a way to get a copy of their original birth certificates.

Representative Don Phillips (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Representative Don Phillips (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

The sponsor of the law signed last week by Nixon, Representative Don Phillips (R-Kimberling City), said people born before 1941 will be able to get their certificates when it takes effect, August 28.

“The rest of the folks in the state will have to wait until January 1, 2018. The reason being there’s a couple of provisions in there that require taking time to really notify, as much as possible, what some options are within the bill for the birth mother,” said Phillips.

Birth mothers can fill out a form to say whether they’re willing to be contacted by the child they gave up for adoption.

“Either say, ‘Yes, I want to be contacted,’ ‘No, I don’t want to be contacted at all,’ or, ‘Yes I’d like to be contacted, but with an intermediary source,” said Phillips. “With any of the options the can fill out a medical history form and leave that with the birth certificate no matter what.”

Phillips says many adoptees want to learn about their birth families to be able to learn medical histories.

“The real important thing is the medical history. In this day and age you just can’t get it from anywhere except directly from the source,” said Phillips.

When the contact preference form and medical history form are developed, birth mothers will be able to get them from the state registrar.

One of the reasons Phillips sponsored the bill was an encounter he had with a constituent – a 71-year-old great grandmother.

“She also encouraged me to sponsor this legislation because she can’t get a copy of her original birth certificate without a court order and unnecessary expenses,” said Phillips.

Lawmaker hopes Missouri body camera, other police bills, will get renewed attention after recent violence

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A state representative hopes the recent incident of violence involving police in Ballwin and elsewhere in the U.S. will prompt more attention to bills dealing with police in Missouri.

The shooting death of Michael Brown, Junior, in August, 2014 made bills to change how police operate a greater priority for some legislators, but in the two sessions since then they haven’t gotten much traction.

Representative Gail McCann Beatty is the ranking Democrat on the House budget committee. In a caucus statement she accused Republican leadership of, "Jamming through a budget while denying lawmakers and the public any chance to adequately review it."

Representative Gail McCann Beatty is the ranking Democrat on the House budget committee. In a caucus statement she accused Republican leadership of, “Jamming through a budget while denying lawmakers and the public any chance to adequately review it.”

Assistant House Democrat leader Gail McCann Beatty (D-Kansas City), member of the Black Caucus, says she hopes that will change after shootings by and of police last week – particularly with a bill that would require police in Missouri to use body cameras.

“If you look at the incident in Minnesota and the incident in Louisiana, had there been body cameras at least it would have told the story. It would have given a little more insight as to what happened,” said McCann Beatty. “That’s not necessarily against the police department or against the victims.”

Another proposal would require a special prosecutor be appointed to look at all officer-involved shootings.

“That was one of the challenges we had in the Michael Brown shooting was whether or not the prosecutor can be objective when dealing with these situations,” said McCann Beatty.

There has also been a proposal that would require diversity training for police officers.

McCann Beatty thinks those proposals would help ease racial tension that, she said, if it is not addressed, could result in more incidents of violence like those last week.

“We have to teach our African-American males differently, which is sad but true, as it relates to the police and how they have to behave in order to stay alive. Now whether you agree with that statement or not, as a community that’s how we feel. That’s what we experience, and no one is addressing that,” said McCann Beatty.

“I heard lots of people appalled at the fact that the police officers were shot [in Dallas, Texas], and it was a horrible thing and I feel for those families, and those were innocent police officers, but I haven’t heard the same outrage for the gentlemen that were killed [in Minnesota and Louisiana] and the many others that have been killed across the country over the last few years,” said McCann Beatty.

Some law enforcement groups and legislators have opposed those bills, and said storing the data that the body cameras would create would be very expensive.