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Southwest Missouri college to honor Beetle Bailey cartoonist

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A popular comic strip has its roots in southwest Missouri’s Neosho. Cindy Brown with Crowder College says the creator of Beetle Bailey, Mort Walker, has a connection to Crowder College, which sits on the former Camp Crowder Army base.

Photos courtesy of Beetle Bailey.com

“Mort Walker was actually stationed at Camp Crowder. Camp Swampy was actually named for Camp Crowder. Beetle Bailey evolved from Mort’s time in the Army here,” Brown says.

Walker, who died in January, references the Camp Swampy Army base in the comic strip.

Crowder College will mark the 76th anniversary of Camp Crowder during a free event on Thursday. Brown tells Missourinet affiliate KZRG in Joplin there will be speakers and displays about Walker.

“We found that when we have historical things like this, it’s neat to share them with students in kind of an informal gathering because they get to go around and ask questions and find out thing that they didn’t realize are part of the history of the college,” says Brown.

The event begins at noon at Wright Conference Center at Crowder’s Neosho campus.

Joe Lancello of Missourinet affiliate KZRG in Joplin contributed to this story.

St. Louis divorce attorney says January is known as “Divorce Month”

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The holiday decorations are barely down but many Missourians and others will be getting one more special delivery in the weeks ahead. CEO of Cordell & Cordell Law Firm and St. Louis divorce attorney Scott Trout says January is known worldwide as “Divorce Month”.

Scott Trout (Photo courtesy of Cordell & Cordell Law Firm)

“They get caught up before January and the holidays, pretty light merriment and they believe they can actually make the relationship work. Once the clock strikes midnight on January 1, the real-life problems start piling up again and reality kicks in. They realize it’s not going to work,” says Trout.

He also says fewer people are tying the knot these days.

“We have single people really thinking about whether or not this is something they really want to do, considering the divorce rate is over 51%. It is an effort to make sure you make it through because divorce is something you never want,” says Trout.

January is also known to have a drastic climb in the number of people signing up for dating websites. Many of those registering are married and planning a divorce. Trout recommends to his clients that they lay off social media because posts could turn out to cost them on the witness stand.

“There’s all kinds of material in there. About 52% of divorce attorneys are utilizing social media in their cases in trials. Whether it be posts about bashing your ex, bragging about a job that you claim you don’t have or vacations. There is a treasure trove of information on social media,” he says.

Trout says divorce filings kick in after the holidays and peak in March.

By Karla James of Nebraska Radio Network

MU Chancellor in daily talks on conference realignment

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The Big 12 board of directors is hoping Missouri stays in the conference. Last Friday, the Board of Curators gave MU Chancellor Brady Deaton the power to make decisions regarding conference alignment. Mizzou is considering a move to the SEC. The Chancellor says a lot of work is being done behind the scenes regarding the decision. He says he has had meetings every day on the issue.

Monday’s Big 12 meeting included all 10 current members along with Texas Christian University, which will join next season. The board reportedly discussed television rights during the meeting.

David Gaines at affiliate KFRU contributed to this report.

Auditor: Highway Patrol and Water Patrol merger costing state more instead of saving money

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The State Auditor’s Office says merging the Highway Patrol and the Water Patrol was supposed to save the state $3 million dollars a year, but instead is costing the state almost a million more.

The first of this year, the State Highway Patrol absorbed the Water Patrol. Auditor Tom Schweich’s office says though the state will save some money from cutting support staff, not filling vacancies and terminating a lease, the merger is costing the state almost $2 million a year more in retirement and healthcare costs.

Deputy Auditor Harry Otto says the state will save some money from cutting support staff, not filling vacancies and terminating a lease, the merger will cost the state nearly $1.8 million more in increased retirement and health care costs each year. Also, the savings estimates claimed the state would save $2.4 million by reassigning water patrol officers, but the state will still have to pay these officers; it will just pay the $2.4 million using other state funds.

To view the complete audit report, visit www.auditor.mo.gov/press/2011-60.htm.

Colonel Ron Replogle, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, says in response to the audit that “At a time when other state highway patrols have faced significant financial pressure, Missouri has benefited from the combined efforts of the Water Patrol and the Highway Patrol. As a result, there are more troopers available to respond both to our roadways and waterways.”
 
“The merger of the Highway and Water patrols was designed to provide Missourians with a seamless, fluid patrol force-an efficient, fully integrated team, from the state’s highways and roadways to its lakes and rivers. In just six months it has already exceeded our expectations in the capabilities demonstrated in response to large scale emergencies and natural disasters.”

However, Otto says the Auditor’s Office doesn’t feel that’s a response to the problem at hand, which is a major cost over-run. He says now there’s really no turning back, but the staff is recommending that any other agency mergers in the future first go through a strategic process of working out all of the numbers with all departments that have a vested interest.

Replogle says in a statement, “Many of the long-term cost savings predicted from the merger have already occurred. Redundant administrative staff reductions have resulted in cost savings of approximately $403,000. Elimination of the Water Patrol headquarters facility has resulted in savings of about $250,000. Through attrition, redundant Water Patrol command staff positions have already reduced costs by about $250,000.”

Otto says those savings are a good thing, but the retirement and healthcare costs are still pushing the total cost way over what it was before the merger.

AUDIO: Jessica Machetta reports [Mp3, 1:20 min.]

MODOT chip sealing operations might help it live ‘Bolder’ going forward

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The Department of Transportation is ramping down some of its summer operations, like chip- and cinder sealing. Practices like those might be one of the biggest pieces of the Department’s “Bolder Five Year Plan.”

Chip sealing keeps water from penetrating a roads surface and softening its base. Maintenance Superintendent Mike Belt says that work is done in the summer to help get roads through the next two seasons. He says it helps roads survive fall rains and the freeze-and-thaw cycle of the winter.

Belt says such preventive maintenance practices pay the Department back in dividends by helping to put off the replacement of a road’s surface, which he adds is one of the most expensive parts of maintaining a road. He says those processes often lengthen the life of a surface two-fold or more.

MODOT says its “Bolder Five Year Plan” is intended to help it live within a 600 million dollar budget; about half the size of previous years. Under that plan Belt says work like chip sealing might be seen more, going forward.

He notes many of the crews who have been conducting sealing work in the summer are, or soon will be, out assessing road damage from this summer’s floods as the waters recede.

The price of preventing another 2011-like flood (AUDIO)

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 Four Missouri members of congress are sponsoring a bill demanding the Corps of Engineers not let a flood like this year’s flood happen again.  But they might be hurting an industry that past Missouri members of congress have fought to protect. .

Missouri members Graves, Cleaver, Hartzler, and Luetkemeyer join eight other Missouri River basin members of congress supporting a bill ordering the Corps of Engineers to increase the upstream reservoir space for spring runoff.  Graves says the corps needs to prepare for the next worse-case scenario. [Read more…]

Missouri’s congressional delegation reacts to Obama speech

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Missouri’s congressional delegation is pretty much split on party lines in reacting to the president’s jobs speech last night.

Senator McCaskill says she hopes Congress got the message that working together and compromising is the way to solve the unemployment problems. 

Congressman Todd Akin, who hopes to run against McCaskill next year says the president doesn’t understand the economy and is in over his head. 

Congressman Lacy Clay of St. Louis, a democrat, has laid out a bold and common sense plan. 

Republican Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler says the president would have been better off urging repeal of his health care bill.

Republican Blaine Luetkemeyer says the answer is for the Senate to act on job-creating bills the House already has passed.

Kansas City Congressman Emanuel Cleaver is concerned about proposed budget cuts and reforms in Medicare and Medicaid.

Congressman Sam Graves says the President and Congress face a difficult job balancing debt concerns with tax incentives, infrastructure investment and help for local governments.

St. Louis man charged with Medicaid fraud

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A dozen Medicaid fraud charges have been filed against a 77-year-old St. Louis man. The Attorney general identifies Jornel Williams as a personal care services provider. He’s accused of submitting fraudulent claims for reimbursement for services and home nurse visits never provided. The charges say he got $23,000 dollars.