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Thursday’s Missouri House hearing on alleged illegal slots expected to draw crowd

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The Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Missouri Prosecutors Association will testify Thursday in Jefferson City before a House gaming committee investigating the issue of alleged illegal slot machines.

State Rep. Dirk Deaton, R-Noel, speaks at the August 22, 2019 Missouri House Special Interim Committee on Gaming hearing. State Rep. Robert Ross, R-Yukon, is behind him. (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

A large crowd is expected to attend the House Special Interim Committee on Gaming hearing, which begins at noon at the Statehouse.

The committee will hear testimony from Missouri State Highway Patrol Lieutenant Justin McCullough and from Missouri Prosecutors Association legal counsel Steve Sokoloff.

During the committee’s last hearing in September, Missouri Lottery Executive Director May Scheve Reardon testified that illegal slot machines are hurting public education in the Show-Me State. She says the I-44 corridor has many of them, and told lawmakers about one Lottery sales representative whose territory goes from St. James to Lebanon.

“Down that I-44 corridor in six months, her route alone was down $800,000. That’s an estimated $3.2 million sales lost for six months,” Scheve Reardon testified on September 5.

Alleged illegal slot machines can be found in bars, restaurants, gas stations and convenience stores.

Committee Chairman Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, tells Missourinet that illegal slot machines cost Missouri education at least $50 million last year. He says the illegal machines “are everywhere” in the state and in his district in eastern Missouri’s Jefferson County.

“But I think what we have to worry about is not what happened last year, it’s what’s going to happen next year because this is not a plateau. We are going to continue to see the loss,” Chairman Shaul told Missourinet after the September hearing.

Missouri Gaming Commission Executive Director David Grothaus testified in August that any illegal gaming machines used in Missouri negatively impact casinos and the state Lottery, reducing taxes and funding for education and veterans. Grothaus has called for the state to develop a coordinated effort to stop illegal slot machines.

Grothaus notes there’s one pending criminal case in western Missouri’s Platte County, in the Kansas City area.

Thursday is also your first opportunity to testify before the committee, and House officials have encouraged those who want to testify to call ahead. The hearing is expected to last for two to three hours.

Anyone who wants to testify Thursday should call E.J. Fleischmann in Chairman Shaul’s office. That number is (573) 751-2504.

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Prestigious private Missouri university to offer free college to qualifying students

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Washington University (Photo courtesy of Washington University)

A new financial aid program at Washington University in St. Louis will give free college to qualifying low- and middle-income students from Missouri and southern Illinois beginning next fall. During an inaugural ceremony on Thursday, new Chancellor Andrew Martin made a big splash by announcing the new WashU Pledge financial aid program.

“We are making this WashU pledge first because it’s the right thing to do,” says Martin. That means we have a unique responsibility to provide opportunity for students in our extended region — to the four corners of Missouri and our neighbors in the southern portion of Illinois. By doing so, we’re attracting our very best and brightest and keeping them right here, close to home.”

WashU Pledge is for first-year undergraduates who are Pell Grant eligible or are from families with annual incomes of $75,000 or less. It includes the full cost of tuition, room, board and fees.

Undergraduate students already enrolled at the university who would qualify will also fully benefit from the program beginning next fall.

Chancellor Andrew Martin (Photo courtesy of Washington University)

Recipients would get the benefit for all four years without having to re-apply for the program.

“Our hope and expectation is that these students will come to the university, have an exceptional experience and — then — post-graduation choose to stay in the region to work, start their own businesses, conduct important research or practice their craft,” Martin said. “This will boost the St. Louis regional economy and deepen our local talent pool.”

Washington University also has the Start Up Grant program that substantially offsets the cost of books and personal items. WashU Pledge students would also continue to be eligible for these grants.

The university’s undergraduate tuition for the 2019-20 academic year is roughly $52,400. On-campus undergraduate double occupancy housing ranges from $11,176 to $11,650. Many of the school’s students receive financial aid and scholarships to help offset these charges.

According to Jill Friedman, Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs, she says the school is paying for the program through a combination of additional funding that has been raised and will continue to be raised and a prioritization of discretionary funds the university already has.

WashU has currently enrolled undergraduate students from 43 of Missouri’s 114 counties and says the new program is a shot in the arm to increase that figure even further.

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Missouri professor: “If what Trump did is not impeachable, nothing is”

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A University of Missouri law professor says President Nixon’s spying on political opponents was penny-ante compared to President Trump’s conversation with Ukraine’s leader. In an op-ed, Frank Bowman says Trump didn’t cover up a second-rate burglary by a group of inept “plumbers” looking for dirt on Democrats. Bowman says Trump appears to have wielded the nation’s entire economic, military and moral authority to extort another head of state.

Frank Bowman III (Photo courtesy of the University of Missouri)

“What does Trump ask the United States should get out of it? Not something that would really be important to the country as a whole. Not something that’s important to the American national interest, but instead a private help to get dirt on Trump’s political opponent so he has a better chance of winning the upcoming election,” he says.

Bowman has written at great length about the history of impeachment. He says if what President Trump pulled with Ukraine’s president is not impeachable, then nothing is. Bowman tells Missourinet the U.S. Constitution includes abuse of power as an impeachable offense, not just criminal violations.

“We make a strong distinction between the president’s duties to represent the country as a whole and his private political interests,” he says. “One of the tells in all of this is that the president is talking about sending his personal lawyer over as a sort of secret emissary to the Ukraine to get this information – wholly inappropriate and it tells you that this was a private matter.”

Bowman says Trump’s conversation may be what the president denied through the Mueller investigation – conspiring with a foreign power for personal electoral gain.

“Turn this around for a second and consider whether, if you’re a Republican and you’re basically favorably disposed to Mr. Trump, and the names were reversed and this were President Obama making this kind of a call under these kind of circumstances whether you would think this was all hunky dory. If you’re honest with yourself, I don’t you can arrive at that conclusion.”

Trump alleges that Biden tried to interfere in a Ukrainian prosecutor’s investigation of a gas company there that Biden’s son has ties to. He calls the allegations a witch hunt. U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, vigorously defends Trump and says he has zero problems with the conversation the president had.

Meanwhile, a Harvard law professor says a recent tweet by Trump about the Civil War is grounds for impeachment. Trump quoted Southern Baptist pastor Robert Jeffress warning of a “Civil War” like fracture in the nation if Democrats try to remove him from office. Professor John Coates said the post was an independent basis for lawmakers to remove Trump from the White House.

When Bowman was asked for his opinion on the matter, he said Coates is “hyperventilating” a bit.

“Trump’s retweet is deeply regrettable,” he says. “And dangerous, because he has some very literal-minded supporters. But as a freestanding ground of impeachment, no. Even Jeffress doesn’t call for Civil War, he predicts a Civil War-like fracture. That’s subject to varying interpretations, including something like ‘social and political divisions similar in type or degree to those that occurred before, during, or perhaps after the Civil War.’ Saying such a thing betrays a poor understanding of the 1860s, and it’s dangerous for its unstated implications. But it’s not an obvious call to arms. Impeachment requires more than one awful tweet.”

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Sexual assault reports on the rise at Missouri State University

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Missouri State University in Springfield (Photo courtesy of the school)

Missouri State University in southwest Missouri’s Springfield is experiencing an uptick in reports of sexual assault. Since July, there have been five cases compared to nine in 2018.

University officials say they are encouraging students to come forward if something happens. Sexual assault includes a range of accusations from rape to inappropriate touching.

Not all cases have been investigated, but the University title IX coordinator, Jill Patterson, says the number is “alarming.” She adds that in 80 to 90 percent of cases, sexual assault occurs as an abuse of trust, and not from a stranger in the dark.

By Nathaniel Polley of Missourinet affiliate KSGF in Springfield

Missouri teachers using new standards in two subjects

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The state’s K through 12 public school districts are referencing a different set of fine arts and computer science standards. The guidelines were adopted this year by the Missouri Board of Education.

Missouri teachers using new standards in two subjects

Coursework in theatre, music and dance are a priority. The fine arts measures also expand the definition of arts to include animation, film, and gaming development and interactive and computer-based art-making.

Many of the computer science guidelines do not a require a computer to learn, particularly at the lower elementary levels, and are incorporated across other subjects. They could be studied through what is referred to as “unplugged activities”, which involve critical thinking and understanding algorithms.

The cost to districts will depend on the way they choose to apply the standards.

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Missouri Education Department proposes $6.3 billion budget for next fiscal year

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The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is proposing a $6.384 billion budget for the next fiscal year – a $111 million increase over the current year. Department spokesman Tyler Madsen says the State Board of Education gave unanimous support to the proposal.

Missouri Education Department proposes $6.3 billion budget for next fiscal year

“We’re obviously looking forward to working with lawmakers to really just craft a budget that, in the end, helps us accomplish our goal to ensure every student in Missouri graduates ready for success,” says Madsen.

Under the proposed budget, $172 million budget to bus students to and from school – a $65 million increase over the current year.

“With the lower request for the foundation formula this year, we’re hoping that more of that funding can go toward transportation for this next year,” he says.

The plan also calls for $22 million to provide Parents as Teachers services to 538 families considered in high need of help.

“Transportation – we’re short of full funding by about $195 million,” Madsen says. “Last year’s budget request for fiscal year 2020, we asked for full funding over five years. In this year’s budget request, we’re asking for full funding over three.”

It also asks for $22 million to provide childhood development services through the Parents as Teachers organization. The request would help 538 high-need families on a wait list for services.

“With this increase, what we’re looking at is a shade over a million dollars. It would provide funding to those high-need families,” he says.

The legislature will consider the budget next year.

To view the proposed budget, click here.

Hearing on illegal slot machines expected to draw crowd to Missouri Capitol (AUDIO)

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Missouri House officials are expecting a crowd to attend an October public hearing at the Statehouse in Jefferson City about alleged illegal slot machines, and are urging those who want to testify to call ahead.

Missouri House Special Interim Committee on Gaming Chairman Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, and State Rep. LaKeySha Bosley, D-St. Louis, speak on August 22, 2019 in Jefferson City (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

House Special Interim Committee on Gaming Chairman Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, tells Missourinet the committee will take public testimony on October 10 at noon.

“And I think we’re going to hear some of the stories on how we can fix it, what we can do and what we can and what we shouldn’t do,” Chairman Shaul says.

Shaul says the illegal machines “are everywhere” in the state and in his district in eastern Missouri’s Jefferson County.

They can be found in bars, restaurants, gas stations and convenience stores. Chairman Shaul tells Missourinet illegal slot machines cost Missouri education at least $50 million in 2018.

“But I think what we have to worry about is not what happened last year, it’s what’s going to happen next year because this is not a plateau. We are going to continue to see the loss,” says Shaul.

Missouri Lottery Executive Director May Scheve Reardon testifies the alleged illegal machines can be found across the state, adding that the I-44 corridor between St. James and Lebanon has many of them. She testified this month before the House committee, saying the illegal machines are hurting public education in the Show-Me State.

Missouri Gaming Commission Executive Director David Grothaus has also testified before the committee, saying that any illegal gaming machines used in Missouri negatively impact casinos and the state Lottery, reducing taxes and funding for education and veterans.

The October 10th hearing at the Statehouse is expected to last for two to three hours. Shaul’s office tells Missourinet those who call ahead will have the opportunity to speak first at the hearing. Anyone wanting to testify on the issue should call E.J. Fleischmann in Chairman Shaul’s office. That number is (573) 751-2504.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Missouri House Special Interim Committee on Gaming Chairman Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, which was recorded on September 5, 2019 at the Statehouse in Jefferson City:

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Albright: from Waynesville resident to first female U.S. Secretary of State

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The nation’s first female Secretary of State spent time Thursday in Fulton recounting her journey from a newspaper reporter in Rolla to the nation’s highest diplomatic post.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright lectures at Westminster College in Fulton on September 19, 2019 (photo courtesy of Westminster Twitter page)

But the biggest part of Madeleine Albright’s speech was her warning that democracy “appears to be in retreat”, and her criticism of President Donald Trump (R).

Dr. Albright, who served as Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton (D) from 1997-2001, spoke to a capacity crowd of more than 1,500 at historic Westminster College. She tells the audience that President Trump “has become a source of comfort to anti-democratic forces across the globe.”

“The president has picked fights with Europe over trade, climate change, Iran and NATO instead of rallying our democratic allies to push back against Russia and compete together against China,” Albright says.

She says President Trump “touts a world in which each country is only out for itself.”

“It is a world in which the strong strut, the weak submit, and people everywhere may be divided into patriots and subscribers to, and I quote, ‘the ideology of globalism,’ whatever that may be,” says Albright.

Dr. Albright is also warning about Russia, saying Vladimir Putin’s “clear intent” is to divide the transatlantic community and cause NATO to collapse from within.

She served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 1993-1997.

She also recapped her long career journey from a newspaper reporter in Rolla to becoming Secretary of State. Dr. Albright tells the audience she moved to southern Missouri’s Waynesville after college, where her husband was in the Army at Fort Leonard Wood.

Albright worked for the “Rolla Daily News”.

“Where I wrote obituaries and articles for the society page, reported on an occasional sports story, and even interviewed people who had seen a UFO,” Albright says, to audience laughter.

She also notes she sold classified ads in Rolla. She says her favorite read “Cemetery plot, owner must move, will sell at sacrifice.”

Westminster College is where former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered his famous “Iron Curtain” speech in 1946.

Previous Westminster Green Lecture speakers have included Presidents Harry Truman and Gerald Ford and Vice Presidents George H.W. Bush and Hubert Humphrey.

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Standing-room only crowd expected for Thursday’s Albright speech in Fulton

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A capacity crowd of at least 1,500 people is expected Thursday afternoon for former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s lecture at Westminster College in mid-Missouri’s Fulton.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright speaks Thursday afternoon in Fulton (undated photo courtesy of Westminster College in Fulton)

Her speech begins at 1:30 p.m, and she’s expected to speak for about an hour.

Dr. Albright served as President Bill Clinton’s (D) Secretary of State from 1997-2001, the first female Secretary of State in American history. She also served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 1993-1997.

As the 64th Secretary of State, Dr. Albright advocated for democracy and human rights across the globe.

“This is a tremendous honor to welcome a world leader of Dr. Albright’s stature to Westminster. I have asked that her lecture further articulate her ideas about democracy’s future prospects, and how humanity might once again break down the walls that divide us, and join together, in a spirit of hope, to confront the challenges that lie ahead,” Westminster President Dr. Fletcher Lamkin said, in a written statement.

In 2012, President Barack Obama (D) honored Dr. Albright with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

She is currently the chair of global strategy firm Albright Stonebridge Group. Her latest book, titled “Fascism, a Warning” was published in April and debuted at #1 on the “New York Times” bestseller list.

Dr. Albright’s lecture will be the final part of Westminster’s 12th annual Hancock Symposium, a two-day event that includes lectures, panel discussions and presentations.

The theme of this year’s symposium is “Breakthrough.” It ties-in with the Breakthrough sculpture that’s on the Westminster campus in Fulton. The sculpture is adjacent to Champ Auditorium, where Dr. Albright will be speaking.

The Churchill statue at Fulton’s Westminster College (2017 file photo from Missourinet’s Ashley Byrd)

This is the 30th anniversary of the Berlin Wall’s fall.

Previous Green Lecture speakers at Westminster have included former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1946), former President Harry Truman (1954), President Gerald Ford (1977), Vice President Hubert Humphrey (1967), Vice President George H.W. Bush (1986), former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (1996) and former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev (1992).

The 1946 Churchill event was the famous “Iron Curtain” speech. Then-President Harry Truman joined Churchill that day. The 1946 speech drew about 30,000 people to Fulton.

Fulton Police Chief Steve Myers tells Missourinet that his officers will be providing security for Thursday’s event, as they do for all VIPs who visit Westminster.

The Green Foundation Lecture began in 1937, and was established by a gift from Eleanor Green to honor the memory of her husband, St. Louis attorney John Findley Green. He graduated from Westminster in 1884 and served on the Westminster Board of Trustees for 27 years.

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Parson predicts improved economic results for Missouri, following state government reorganization

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Officials say the largest state government reorganization in decades will allow the Missouri Department of Economic Development (DED) to focus exclusively on its core mission, which is economic development.

The 2019 Missouri state government reorganization, courtesy of DED

Missouri’s governor is predicting improved economic results.

The restructuring plan took effect on August 28, and Governor Mike Parson (R) and Cabinet directors from four agencies briefed Capitol reporters last week about its significance and impact.

DED Director Rob Dixon tells reporters DED is now focusing on helping Missouri prosper and helping communities grow.

“For the Department of Economic Development, what that means is we’re going to go from an agency of about 900 employees, 865 or so, down to 177 employees,” Dixon says. “We’re going to be lazer-focused and streamlined.”

When Parson announced the plan in April, DED’s 865 employees were more than any of its Midwest competitors, and Missouri ranked eighth among Midwest peer states in wage growth.

The restructuring included moving the Division of Energy from DED to the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and also involved moving the Public Service Commission (PSC) and the Office of Public Counsel from DED to the newly-named Department of Commerce and Insurance.

The restructuring also moved DED’s Division of Workforce Development to the Department of Higher Education.

Governor Parson tells reporters the reorganization highlights his commitment for greater efficiency while improving customer service.

“During my State of the State (Address) in January, I committed to the General Assembly and all Missourians that my administration would fundamentally restructure state government,” says Parson.

The governor says the reorganization was needed, especially for DED to improve its performance.

“Today is a combined effort involved with achieving this historical reorganization, something that hasn’t happened in decades but was needed to better serve Missourians,” Parson says.

Parson tells Missourinet he’s confident the restructuring will lead to better economic results.

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet