TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's Journal'Unbecoming': Family angered over Kansas City chief's remark at fatal police shooting scene
Family members of Cameron Lamb are outraged with Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith’s description of him as a “bad guy” minutes after he was fatally shot by a police detective, saying the comment illustrates larger issues with police culture that need to be addressed.
Det. Eric DeValkenaere shot and killed Lamb, 26, while he was backing his pickup into his garage on Dec. 3, 2019 at 4154 College Ave. DeValkenaere was found guilty earlier this month of second-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the killing.
The chief arrived at the crime scene shortly after the shooting unfolded. An audio recording recently obtained by The Star through a public records request captured Smith saying: “Everyone is good, house is clear. Bad guy’s dead.”
Laurie Bey, Lamb’s mother, said she was “shocked” to hear her son described that way by Kansas City’s top cop. She said the gut reaction that Lamb was a bad guy demonstrates that Kansas City police are all too willing to immediately accept as fact the early accounts of other officers in police shootings.
Read more at: https://www.kansascity.com/news/article256242447.html
Group hopes to amend Missouri constitution to enact ranked-choice voting
An effort to do away with partisan primaries in Missouri and replace them with a "ranked choice" method got a big boost last week, receiving roughly $670,000 from a Virginia-based nonprofit hoping to put the idea on the 2022 statewide ballot.
A group called Better Elections is pushing an initiative petition that would amend Missouri's constitution to allow all voters to vote for any candidate in a combined primary.
The four candidates in the primary with the most votes would advance to the general election, regardless of party. Then in the general election, voters would be allowed to rank those four candidates from first choice to last — or just vote for their first choice.
The change would apply to elections for statewide office, the Missouri General Assembly and U.S. Congress. Two versions of the initiative petition have been approved by the Secretary of State's Office to begin collecting signatures.
Read more: https://www.newstribune.com/news/news/story/2021/nov/30/group-hopes-to-amend-missouri-constitution-to-enact-ranked-choice-voting/896428/
(Jefferson City News Tribune)
As debate over sheltered workshops heats up, MO doubles down on paying people with disabilities less
A new Missouri law allowing employers to continue paying some people with disabilities less than minimum wage has positioned the state at the forefront of a national debate over disability rights in the workplace.
Part of a wide-ranging piece of legislation signed by Gov. Mike Parson in July, the rule directs the state to develop its own version of a federal program that allows wages as low as pennies per hour.
Roughly 5,000 employees work at facilities with subminimum wage certificates in Missouri – called sheltered workshops because workers are kept separate from others. Missouri has the second-highest number of sheltered workshops in the country, with 95 operating locations.
Though the New Deal-era law that governs such employment was considered progressive when it was enacted, it has come under increasing criticism in recent years.
Read more: https://thebeacon.media/stories/2021/11/24/sheltered-workshops-missouri-bill/
(Kansas City Beacon)
Lawmakers file complaint against Rep. Aaron Coleman after second arrest in recent months
A group of Democratic lawmakers filed a complaint Monday against Rep. Aaron Coleman (D), seeking formal discipline after the embattled legislator was arrested Saturday morning for the second time in as many months.
Meanwhile, prosecutors in Johnson County successfully increased Coleman's bond in a separate domestic battery case after his arrest over the weekend for alleged driving under the influence.
It is the second such complaint filed against Coleman and it will trigger a special Kansas House committee to probe its charges. At the conclusion of the investigation, the panel can recommend he be expelled, censured or that no action be taken.
It was the latter option legislators opted to take after examining Coleman's alleged behavior prior to his election as a legislator, including allegations of harassment, bullying and stalking.
Read more: https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/politics/elections/2021/11/29/complaint-filed-against-kansas-rep-aaron-coleman-following-dui-arrest/8797468002/
(Springfield News-Leader)
Ahead of session, lawmakers scrutinize Missouri social studies standards, school boards
Missouri lawmakers trained their focus Tuesday on how school boards interact with the public and the ways in which history is taught in schools.
For over three hours, the Joint Committee on Education discussed how social studies curriculum makes its way into the classroom, raising questions about whether the Sept. 11 attacks are taught and once again debating whether critical race theory is present.
“Missouri’s history education is a bit anemic,” said Rep. Doug Richey, an Excelsior Springs Republican and chair of the committee. “We are not teaching history in a way that is as robust as it ought to be, in my estimation.”
Tuesday’s hearing primarily focused on the learning standards that outline the concepts that students must be taught within social studies. There are upwards of 600 learning standards overall, said Tracy Hinds, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s deputy commissioner for the division of learning services.
Read more: https://missouriindependent.com/2021/11/30/ahead-of-session-lawmakers-scrutinize-missouri-social-studies-standards-school-boards/
Campaign fund linked to Stenger fined by Missouri ethics regulators
JEFFERSON CITY — A once-obscure campaign committee that helped fund former St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger’s 2018 reelection bid has been fined more than $10,000 for violations of state ethics rules.
The penalty was levied against the Missouri Association of Career Fire Protection District’s political action committee earlier this month after the Missouri Ethics Commission audited the account amid news reports about potential money laundering.
“Based on the audit report, the commission determined that there were reasonable grounds to believe that violations of law had occurred,” the decision said.
The fund, which has since been shut down, was used by Stenger as a place to park large corporate donations from donors seeking to bypass a state ban on making such donations directly to candidates.
Read more: https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/campaign-fund-linked-to-stenger-fined-by-missouri-ethics-regulators/article_02945981-eb54-5952-a914-0eed67bdf5ea.html
LGBTQ exhibit that was removed from Missouri Capitol opens in St. Louis
JEFFERSON CITY — An LGBTQ history exhibit that was removed from the Missouri Capitol this year after drawing complaints has opened in St. Louis.
The “Making History: Kansas City and the Rise of Gay Rights” exhibit — which describes the city’s “surprisingly pivotal role in helping to launch America’s gay rights movement,” according to the exhibit’s website — was removed from the state Capitol in September after several complaints, including from a GOP official who worked in the Capitol.
The state later announced the exhibit would be on display at the historic Lohman Building on the Jefferson City riverfront.
Cheryl Adelstein, deputy director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of St. Louis, said a copy of the exhibit was opening in St. Louis.
Read more: https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/lgbtq-exhibit-that-was-removed-from-missouri-capitol-opens-in-st-louis/article_20d7ead1-11e2-5402-b612-d41326fadb7f.html
Missouri attorney general pushes 'Parents' Bill of Rights' in schools
As school boards across the U.S. face conservative backlash to policies on masks, library books and social studies curriculum, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt proposes a “Parents’ Bill of Rights” for the next legislative session.
Such a bill, similar to a federal version introduced last month by Sen. Josh Hawley, would require schools to provide information to parents on curriculum, extracurricular clubs, teacher training and school choice programs such as the Missouri Empowerment Scholarships Accounts.
“Parents have a fundamental right to oversee their children’s education,” said Matthew Spalding, vice president of Hillsdale College and executive director of the Trump administration’s 1776 Commission, speaking Tuesday at a hearing of the Missouri Joint Committee on Education.
During the hearing, Republican committee members signaled their interest in the legislation.
Read more: https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/missouri-attorney-general-pushes-parents-bill-of-rights-in-schools/article_e55aec03-e505-5af0-914e-b21078459486.html
Rep. Bush enters fray over GOP attempt to crack down on Planned Parenthood in Missouri
JEFFERSON CITY — U.S. Rep. Cori Bush is asking the Biden administration to intervene in an attempt by Gov. Mike Parson and the Republican-led Legislature to withhold funding to Missouri’s lone abortion provider.
In a letter sent Tuesday to Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the St. Louis Democrat asks for the administration to ensure that none of the actions taken by the state interfere with patients’ right to health care.
“As the Congresswoman for Missouri’s First District, a Black woman who has utilized Medicaid and also faced systemic barriers in accessing health care, and a nurse who has worked on the frontlines of patient care, I urge the administration to denounce all actions that prevent Medicaid patients from accessing care at Planned Parenthood and any other abortion-providing health centers,” Bush said.
In October, Parson’s administration issued an emergency rule designed to give agencies under his control another tool to close down Planned Parenthood.
Read more: https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/rep-bush-enters-fray-over-gop-attempt-to-crack-down-on-planned-parenthood-in-missouri/article_ae5bca9a-96bb-58dd-b976-312ae8e66335.html
Windfall from NFL settlement won't change St. Louis convention center expansion plan, Mayor Jones
Windfall from NFL settlement won’t change St. Louis convention center expansion plan, Mayor Jones saysST. LOUIS — The Dome at America’s Center is a “unique” asset that will help downtown St. Louis continue to attract conventions and events, Mayor Tishaura O. Jones says, providing a vote of confidence for a 26-year-old stadium some say may not be worth the cost of maintenance without an NFL team.
The mayor’s comments come as the board that owns the Dome at America’s Center is set to receive a windfall from the Rams relocation lawsuit settlement — a roughly $500 million check split between St. Louis, St. Louis County and the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority that owns the Dome.
Jones, in a Monday interview, said last week’s $790 million settlement with the NFL and Rams over the team’s 2016 relocation to Los Angeles has not changed the city’s position on the convention center project. Prominent and politically connected businessman Bob Clark has suggested the convention center be redesigned and the attached Dome demolished.
“No, that’s not a conversation I’m willing to have,” Jones said when asked whether the Clayco founder and chairman’s recent campaign for a larger, redesigned convention center expansion might gain traction following the Rams settlement. “We’ve already started down the process for (construction) bids ... so that process should continue.”
Read more: https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/windfall-from-nfl-settlement-won-t-change-st-louis-convention-center-expansion-plan-mayor-jones/article_d6820820-54ea-5d02-825d-1aca7fcf3938.html
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
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