Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Ellinger Tax Lien
According to Casenet, Rep. Rory Ellinger’s law office was hit with a state lien for taxes. The amounts looked like a little over $2,700. See casenet here. Case number: 1311-MC04679.
Justice for Daisy
Over the weekend the Kansas City Star ran a disturbing story of rape charges being dropped in the rural town of Maryville, Missouri. Read it here.
Pull Quote: “ Few dispute the basic facts of what happened in the early morning hours of Jan. 8, 2012: A high school senior had sex with Coleman’s 14-year-old daughter, another boy did the same with her daughter’s 13-year-old friend, and a third student video-recorded one of the bedding scenes. Interviews and evidence initially supported the felony and misdemeanor charges that followed. Yet, two months later, the Nodaway County prosecutor dropped the felony cases against the youths, one the grandson of a longtime area political figure.”
That political figure is Rex Barnett.
The outrage has sparked many more media outlets to pick up the story. See Google results here.
Koster Fall-out?
In last paragraph of the LA Times follow-up story (see it here), the attorney general’s office says the ball isn’t in their court: “While we appreciate the concerns of those who have sent petitions to our office, the attorney general's office does not have the authority under the laws of the state of Missouri to review a prosecutor’s discretionary decisions in particular cases,” spokeswoman Nanci Gonder said in an email Monday. “Charging decisions in criminal cases are exclusively within the discretion of elected county prosecutors in Missouri.”
As the top law enforcement official in the state though, it may not be so simple for Attorney General Chris Koster to distance himself from a high-profile miscarriage of justice in the state. Eventually he may have to weigh in, use his bully pulpit, or find other means of showing he’s not insensitive to the plight of the two young women.
Also
Since they may be asked for comment on this by constituents or media… current state representative for Maryville is Rep. Mike Thomson; state senator is Sen. Brad Lager.
Rumorville: Aycock Turns Down Ag Spot
In response to my bit yesterday that southeast businessman Barry Aycock, might be tapped as Jon Hagler’s replacement, one tipster emails that Aycock was indeed considered for the job – but he turned the offer down. We’ll see…
Kinder Hogs Mic?
Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder stole the spotlight yesterday at an event yesterday organized Rep. Steve Cookson to protest the government shutdown of national parks. See Missouri Times coverage of the event here, and Gateway Pundit’s piece here.
But on Twitter Carter County Republican prosecutor Rocky Kingree complained: “Great event by Rep. Cookson on helping veterans visit Big Springs until the unannounced @PeterKinder hijacking. #MO8 #CheapPoliticalPoints”
Still the microphone reportedly left Kinder’s possession long enough for a letter to be read from Congressman Jason Smith…
eMailbag: On Whether Managed Care Saves Money
“Managed care won’t save money in pharmacy Medicaid program. Pharmacy is carved out currently and it’s proven to be cheaper without managed care.”
$5K+Contributions
Missourians for Fair Taxation - $25,000 from Missouri Association of REALTORS.
Birthdays
Happy birthday to Rep. Chrissy Sommer.