August 29, 2016

Follow-up: Hospitalized Texas Woman's University volleyball players had changes to fitness testing

More details have been released about the fitness testing for Texas Woman's University volleyball players in the days before eight were hospitalized and diagnosed with rhabomyolysis.

On Friday, the university outlined the training regimen and changes made to the player's fitness test.

The team of 18 began its pre-season on Aug. 15. Instead of holding the fitness testing the first day the team reported back, it was spread out over the first week, the university said.

Athletes were also given a number of reps to complete in a time frame as a way to give the players a goal to reach. In past years, they were given a time limit to complete as many reps as possible.

Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/denton-county/20160829-hospitalized-texas-woman-s-university-volleyball-players-had-changes-to-fitness-testing.ece

August 29, 2016

Edinburg Consolidated ISD files suit in bus camera case

EDINBURG — Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District filed a lawsuit against a company tied to the school board president’s brother for failing to provide services for which the district paid.

ECISD is seeking $810,000 in damages from Kiwix Technology Services, a California-based company that employed Obie Salinas. Salinas is the brother of school board president Oscar Salinas.

The lawsuit, filed Monday, indicates Obie Salinas can be served with the lawsuit because Kiwix employs Salinas as its chief marketing officer for the Texas region and he transacts business in the state.

Salinas previously told The Monitor he left the company about two years ago — before the district contracted the company’s services. His name still appears on the company’s website.

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/valley/article_1e2b8cfe-6b3c-11e6-bf05-876664184457.html

August 29, 2016

4 of 7 McCaughey septuplets starting college in Hannibal

On Nov. 19, 1997, the McCaughey septuplets entered the world together. On Thursday, four of the seven moved into dorms on the Hannibal-LaGrange University campus.

Joel, Nathan, Kelsey and Natalie came to HLGU after their parents, Kenny and Bobbi McCaughey, were offered scholarships in behalf of their newborns to one day come to Hannibal for a college education.

“The school had offered to each one of the kids the same thing. Of course it was their option and we're thankful four of them did choose to come here,” said Kenny during a press conference Thursday afternoon at HLGU.

Two of the septuplets, Alexis and Kenneth, chose to stay close to home and attend Des Moines Area Community College. Brandon has joined the military.

Read more: http://www.hannibal.net/news/20160825/hannibal-lagrange-welcomes-4-of-7-iowa-septuplets

August 29, 2016

Court uphold Missouri initiative limiting campaign donations

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A Missouri judge has rejected a challenge to a November ballot proposal seeking to reinstate campaign contribution limits.

Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce ruled Thursday that the measure's prohibition on contributions to political action committees from state-chartered banks, utilities and foreign corporations does not violate constitutional rights.

She also upheld the measure's prohibition on contributions between political action committees.

Opponents of the initiative had been seeking to knock it off the Nov. 8 ballot.

Read more: http://www.joplinglobe.com/elections/news/court-uphold-missouri-initiative-limiting-campaign-donations/article_fbef7ee2-6ae7-11e6-a220-4f23cb3998a1.html

August 29, 2016

State auditor wants his rulings to be enforced better

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — State Auditor Charlie Janssen may ask state lawmakers to find ways to enforce the findings his office makes after review spending by state agencies.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports (http://bit.ly/2bt57CP ) that currently there is little that Janssen's office can do besides call attention to bad management practices and questionable spending when it is found.

The latest example came earlier this month several problems were found in an audit of Nebraska Brand Committee. The director resigned, but then was offered a new job at the agency with the same pay.

Janssen says auditors often find the same lingering problems when they return to an agency three or four years after the last audit.

Read more: http://www.newspressnow.com/news/state/state-auditor-wants-his-rulings-to-be-enforced-better/article_24dd721e-c8cb-5148-9353-e7adcbb217d5.html

August 29, 2016

Right-to-work debate puts national spotlight on Missouri governor's race

Missouri’s race for governor this year is among the most watched in the country, drawing massive money and rapt attention from national business and labor interests.

The reason for the attention isn’t a mystery: If Republican nominee Eric Greitens is elected on Nov. 8, Missouri will almost certainly, almost immediately become America’s 27th “right-to-work” state. If he isn’t, it probably won’t.

“For organized labor, it is make-or-break,” said state Rep. Jake Hummel, D-St. Louis, a vocal opponent of right-to-work legislation. “If we don’t get (Democratic nominee) Chris Koster elected, Missouri will very quickly be a right-to-work state.”

Daniel P. Mehan, president and chief executive of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a key driver of the right-to-work movement here, agreed. “The country is watching.”

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/right-to-work-debate-puts-national-spotlight-on-missouri-governor/article_dc8ebece-40f7-5062-9e2c-f53b988c0d3a.html

August 29, 2016

New Missouri law pushes divorce judges to establish equal child custody time

In early 2009, Scott Myers read through his finalized divorce settlement and felt like he had been the victim of a pre-planned robbery.

It wasn’t the child support, or the divvying up of the couple’s possessions. It was about the time he got with his children. It was so sparse, “I felt like a visitor and not a father.”

Although the circuit court judge in St. Charles County consented that day to joint custody of his two young daughters with his former wife, he was not granted equal time with them.

Nothing negative was brought up in court about his parenting, he said. He made it clear to his attorneys he wanted equal custody. Even so, the judge ruled for a fairly typical custody agreement: He would get the children every other weekend and four hours every Tuesday. Their mother would get the rest.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/state-and-regional/new-missouri-law-pushes-divorce-judges-to-establish-equal-child/article_91956c76-1725-5c4c-aa6a-bb39584a7c1d.html

August 29, 2016

They get Kansas tax breaks, and they ‘feel like freeloaders’

Being a Kansas attorney for energy interests pays well, thank you very much.

So for James P. Zakoura it just feels wrong to pocket an extra $6,000 at tax time, though state law lets him.

“I’d give that up in a second,” said the Overland Park lawyer, a six-figure earner for decades. “I don’t need it.”

But Kansas does, he said. Zakoura regrets that the state in which he was born and schooled has been gasping for extra revenue the past four years.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article98185532.html

August 29, 2016

Osawatomie State Hospital prepares for high-stakes federal review

Kansas officials say conditions at Osawatomie State Hospital have improved dramatically since it lost Medicare certification last year, and the state psychiatric facility is ready for a high-stakes federal inspection.

Osawatomie lost certification in December after federal inspectors raised concerns about safety at the hospital, where a patient allegedly raped a staff member in October. Decertification has cost the state $8 million in federal aid so far. That amount will continue to climb by about $1 million a month until the hospital is recertified. The state also has spent nearly $8 million to address safety and other concerns that led to Medicare’s action.

The state has applied for recertification and set Aug. 30 as the date when the hospital will be ready for a new review by federal inspectors.

“We’re very confident that we’re ready to go,” said Tim Keck, acting secretary of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, the agency that oversees the state’s hospitals.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/latest-news/article98341452.html

August 29, 2016

Thirty-year-old SNAP overpayments still being collected

About a month ago, Sue Good of McLeansboro got some mail from the state of Illinois. The Department of Human Services said it wanted some of its money back. Specifically, the department wanted Good to repay $242 in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, the program once more commonly known as food stamps. DHS said the money was an overpayment of SNAP benefits.

The overpayment occurred from August through November in 1985.

“Do you think anybody has some kind of paperwork (from 30 years ago)?” Good said. “I think if you had 30-year-old papers, you would be like ‘I think you need to call (the TV show) 'Hoarders.'’”

DHS says there’s a reason someone may get a notice to repay improper payments made decades ago – both federal regulations and state law require that an effort be made to recoup the money.

Read more: http://www.sj-r.com/news/20160828/thirty-year-old-snap-overpayments-still-being-collected