Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Ferguson Day 4
Post- Dispatch reports the City of Ferguson last night was “uneasy.” Read it here.
Pull Quote: About 12:20 a.m. Wednesday, a woman was shot in the head in the 1300 block of Highmont Drive, west of West Florissant Avenue near the QuikTrip gas station, St. Louis County Police said. It appeared to be a drive-by shooting and police said they were looking for four or five men. The woman was shot once and is expected to survive. It was unknown if the shooting was related to the protests in the area… At about 1 a.m., a St. Louis County Police officer shot and critically wounded a man who police said pointed a handgun at the officer near the intersection of West Florissant and Chambers Road… Officers cleared the shooting scene shortly before 5 a.m. By 6:30 a.m., the streets were quiet and school buses were running.
And Washington Post tells a piece of the Michael Brown story. Read it here.
Pull Quote: The graduation photo was taken in March… A student with a football tackle’s build. Just one of the 100 or so in his senior class at Normandy High, a struggling school that had lost its state accreditation and, along with it, a measure of its pride, in an area already beset by challenges… Michael Brown officially graduated Aug. 1, later than some and months after the photo was taken. He still had credits to earn then. He was in an alternative learning program, a way to help the students facing the longest academic odds.
But he got his diploma. And 10 days after that, he was to start at a local technical school to learn how to fix furnaces and air conditioners. “He’d accomplished it,” teacher John Kennedy said. “In the last two months, man, Mike was there every doggone day and he was giving it his full effort.” Now, Mike Brown is no longer just Mike Brown. Last Saturday, as Brown walked down a street with a friend, the 18-year-old man was fatally shot by a police officer in this city in St. Louis’s northern suburbs. Brown was unarmed…
Meanwhile the words from yesterday…
President Obama
The death of Michael Brown is heartbreaking, and Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to his family and his community at this very difficult time. As Attorney General Holder has indicated, the Department of Justice is investigating the situation along with local officials, and they will continue to direct resources to the case as needed. I know the events of the past few days have prompted strong passions, but as details unfold, I urge everyone in Ferguson, Missouri, and across the country, to remember this young man through reflection and understanding. We should comfort each other and talk with one another in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds. Along with our prayers, that’s what Michael and his family, and our broader American community, deserve.
New York Times Editorial
The F.B.I. may be able to answer the many questions surrounding the death of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black student from Ferguson, Mo., who was a few days from heading off to college when he was shot by a police officer on Saturday. The shooting of Mr. Brown, who was unarmed, led to three days of protest, some of it violent, and several tense confrontations between residents of the St. Louis suburban town of 21,000 and the police. But it doesn’t take a federal investigation to understand the history of racial segregation, economic inequality and overbearing law enforcement that produced so much of the tension now evident on the streets… See it here.
Governor Nixon
Like them and like all of you, I’ve done a lot of praying over the past few days. As a father of two sons, I’ve prayed for the parents and loved ones of Michael Brown. I’ve prayed for the residents and businesses and children of this community. I’ve prayed for justice. For wisdom. And for peace. We stand together tonight, reeling from what feels like an old wound that has been torn open afresh. A wound that hadn’t quite healed right in the first place, and now the pain is just as searing as when the injury first occurred… This tragedy is a challenge to all of us, not only to the citizens of Ferguson – but to all Missourians – to join hands and begin a journey of reconciliation. To have patience for the investigation that is now underway, but be unwavering in our insistence that it be open, thorough and fair. To keep the peace, while remaining uncompromising in our expectation that justice must not simply be pursued, but achieved. To express the anger and frustration that we rightfully feel in a way that respects the living, and honors the memory of the young man we mourn… Read it here.
MCN on Nixon Speechifying
The tweet from Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal on Nixon’s appearance in Ferguson… @MariaChappelleN: Did anyone notice @GovJayNixon left the church he was speaking at immediately after he spoke? He did. Gov. Nixon is a COWARD! #MIKEBROWN
Meanwhile in Campaign Land…
Catherine Hanaway, running for governor, issued a press release touting her new grassroots campaign volunteers. But apparently nothing to say about Ferguson…
Non-Committee Expenditure
The Missouri Ethics Commission put up an easy link to look atrNon-Committee Expenditure reports for individuals and groups that aren’t committees but make expenditures supporting or opposing candidates or ballot measures. See it here. Yesterday there were two filings, nothing surprising.
Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company spent $7,500 opposing Amendment 1. See it here.
Citizens for Modern Transit spent $11K to support Amendment 7. See it here.
AHC Decisions
A month or so ago, I wrote about former state senator Robin Wright Jones appealing her Missouri Ethics Commission fine to the Administrative Hearing Commission. The 83-page appeal decision is now on-line. See it here. Jones was fined $229,964, down some $40K from the initial MEC fine of $271,580.
Also among the AHC decisions… George Turner is entitled to a personalized license plate reading “SEX DOC.” Seems the Department of Revenue thought that sex or doctors or the combination was in violation of Section 301.144.3… “No personalized license plates shall be issued containing any letters, numbers or combination of letters and numbers which are obscene, profane, patently offensive or contemptuous of a racial or ethnic group, or offensive to good taste or decency…” See the decision here.
Hummel: GOP Gloating
In an email blast, Minority Leader Jake Hummel points to HRCC’s huge haul last weekend as an appeal for contributions…
The Missouri House Republican Caucus just raised over ONE MILLION DOLLARS IN ONE WEEKEND, dealing a crushing blow to progressive efforts across the state. Will you help us take a stand against GOP BIG MONEY by donating $15?
The House GOP has made one thing clear: they only need a weekend to dump hundreds of thousands of dollars raised from on-call corporate interests, outside groups and Missouri's wealthiest into Missouri's legislative races. We need your help. Republicans are already gloating on Twitter about their influx of cash.
DED: More MO Jobs
From Department of Economic Development’s release yesterday: Missouri's nonfarm payroll employment grew by 13,200 jobs in July, according to seasonally adjusted data released by the Missouri Department of Economic Development. The state's unemployment rate held at 6.5 percent. Employment gains were widespread in a variety of industries. Among the larger gains in private industries included durable goods manufacturing, adding 3,300 jobs, construction, adding 2,500 jobs, and the transportation, warehousing and utilities sector, which jumped by 2,300 jobs…
Lobbyist Registrations
From the Gate Way Group website:
Rich Heddens added Novartis Vaccines.
$5K+ Contributions
Committee to Elect Trae Bertrand - $6,000 from Rivertowne Properties LLC.
Schmitt for Missouri - $25,000 from Lewis & Clark Ozarks Mountain Forum.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc - $15,000 from Friends to Elect Bill Reiboldt.
Citizens for Allen Andrews - $15,000 from Citizens for Mike Thomson.
Happy Birthday
Happy birthdays to former Rep. Ed Wildberger (65), Aaron Baker (32), and Tony Pousosa (44).