Monday, July 6, 2015
Stuckey: Just Questions So Far on Interngate II
Post-Dispatch reporter Alex Stuckey reports on how there’s no news on the second intern investigation, and how there might not be news.
Pull Quote: In the nearly two months since the Missouri Senate hired an attorney to assist with a “workplace harassment complaint,” more questions than answers have arisen about what happened in Sen. Paul LeVota’s office this year. And it doesn’t appear likely those questions will be answered publicly any time soon.
Hillary to KC Next Week
The email invite…
From: Dan Nilsen
Subject: HILLARY CLINTON IS COMING TO KC ON JULY 13!
Good afternoon,
I couldn't be more excited to be asked to host an event at my home with our president-to-be Hillary Clinton on Monday, July 13. As we all know, Hillary has a sincere loyalty to the LGBT community and human rights. This will give us all an opportunity to not only thank her for her commitment to these ideas but to be a part of her historic run for the presidency.
If you're planning to give to Hillary's campaign, now is the time because we're capping attendance at 150. Everyone here that night will get a photo with her and hear directly from her about the campaign. After the amazing news last week on the Health Care law and Marriage Equality, we can't stop now and risk going backwards…
Several of us thought that between now and the end of the primary season, we would max-out one way or another, so why not do it now at the critical start-up stage of her campaign…
Dan Nilsen
CEO
MEC Orders Reynolds County Commishs to Reimburse
The Missouri Ethics Commission found that the Reynolds County Commissioners used public funds to oppose a ballot measure and ordered them to reimburse the county for the money. See it here.
How Teachers Walk?
KCUR reports that teachers are leaving Kansas for Missouri. See it here.
Pull Quote: In the next couple of years, Kansas education will face some of its most unstable times ever. The Legislature has cut classroom funding. There’s no school finance formula and the whole system may be thrown into chaos depending on what the state Supreme Court does. All of this is all taking a toll on recruiting and retaining teachers, and there's mounting evidence that Kansas teachers are becoming disenchanted. And out-of-state districts are taking advantage… The legislature has stripped Kansas teachers of tenure protection and this session tried to severely limit their bargaining power. That’s an ugly combination for many young teachers, like Morgan Rodecap who’s teaching math this summer at Pioneer Ridge Middle School in Independence, Missouri…. Rodecap says her goal coming out of graduate school was to return to her hometown of Topeka to teach. She was actually offered a job in Junction City, Kansas but because of an uncertain budget they couldn’t tell her how much she would be paid.
So she took a job in Missouri instead.
Vicksburg Memorial Money
Spending money on a memorial involving Confederate soldiers is politically questionable right now, but spending it on memorial in Mississippi?
Rudi Keller has the story. See it here.
Pull Quote: In October 1917, the first state memorial at Vicksburg National Military Park to soldiers who fought on both sides of the Civil War was dedicated to the 42 Missouri Union and Confederate units. In the Missouri budget for the year that began Wednesday, lawmakers set aside $375,000 for repairing the stone and bronze monument in advance of the 100th anniversary of its unveiling. Civil War heritage groups and the National Park Service are cheering the move, but legal obstacles must be overcome to spend the money…. “The National Park Service is delighted that Missouri has provided this money,” said Bill Justice, who will take over as superintendent at Vicksburg at the end of August. “It is one of only two and the first monument to commemorate the sacrifices of soldiers from a single state who fought on both sides of the battle, and that makes it a very special monument to us.”
eMailbag: Stop With Women’s Ages
Reader: Hey Dave quit saying Happy Birthday and printing the ladies age. Geez....
The summer lull is probably the perfect time for this, so we’ll to do an informal vote today, anyone who really cares about this issue, email me what you think….
Today’s Events
From Mary Scruggs’ indispensable events calendar:
Rep. Caleb Rowden Golf – Columbia Country Club – lunch at Noon – Tee at 1PM.
Lobbyists Registrations
Megan Ellyiz Green deleted Child Care Aware of Missouri.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Susan Montee, and Elizabeth Dumm.