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Associated Press - November 20, 2009 4:44 PM ET
Mo. gov. details community college tuition freeze
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri community colleges have agreed to freeze tuition next school year if state officials promise not to severely cut their budgets.
Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon said Friday that community colleges have promised to not raise tuition for instate students if budgets are cut by only 5.2 percent. That amounts to roughly an $8 million budget cut.
The community college agreement is similar to one Nixon announced earlier this week for Missouri's 4-year colleges and universities. Those schools also agreed to a 5.2 percent budget cut without a tuition increase for in-state undergraduates.
The budget deal would affect how much money colleges and universities get starting next July. The schools can set their tuition rates, but the Legislature must approve the state budget.
Heather Ellis testifies at store-scuffle trial
KENNETT, Mo. (AP) - Testimony in the trial of Heather Ellis has concluded with Ellis, her cousin and aunt telling the jury it was police who were abusive to her.
The 24-year-old school teacher from Louisiana is accused of cutting in line at the Kennett Walmart in January 2007, then becoming belligerent and refusing to leave after store managers asked her to go.
Ellis is black and arresting officers are white. The racial overtones of the case have drawn national attention.
Prosecutors have tried to show that Ellis became belligerent when another customer confronted her for cutting in line at the cashier.
Police have said Ellis used obscene language and kicked and bit officers as they led her out of the store.
But in testimony Friday, Ellis said she didn't curse or attack anyone.
She said it was police who attacked her in the parking lot. Her 15-year-old cousin who was with her at the store and the boy's mother who arrived in the parking lot collaborated Ellis' story.
Mo. teen murder suspect seeks mental care
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - The attorney for a teenager accused of killing a 9-year-old Missouri girl says his client should be sent to a psychiatric hospital.
A judge had not approved the move as of noon Friday, though a draft order had been submitted by the public defender Thursday as part of the case file.
Fifteen-year-old Alyssa Bustamante has been held at the Morgan County jail after being indicted Wednesday on charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the Oct. 21 death of Elizabeth Olten.
Authorities say Bustamante strangled, stabbed and cut the throat of Elizabeth because she wanted to know what it felt like to kill. They say Bustamante led them to Elizabeth's body two days later in a wooded area near their homes in St. Martins, just west of Jefferson City.
Coroner's jury: Venice shooting death homicide
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) - A southwestern Illinois coroner's jury says a man's shooting death was a homicide, but the suspect no longer faces murder charges.
The Madison County jury made the ruling in the Sept. 5 death in Venice of 24-year-old Chaunci Dukes of Granite City.
Authorities say 24-year-old Diron Pinnix initially was charged with first-degree murder. But a grand jury later decided there wasn't enough evidence and indicted him instead on charges of aggravated unlawful use of weapons.
That's because the shooting was considered self-defense.
Pinnix is free on bond and scheduled for trial in January.
Information from: Belleville News-Democrat, http://www.bnd.com
Fairview mayor charged with stealing
FAIRVIEW, Mo. (AP) - Newton County officials have charged Fairview Mayor Sid Oliver with two counts of felony stealing and one count of misdemeanor official misconduct.
Sheriff Ken Copeland alleges that the 57-year-old Oliver was paid for work he did on the city's streets and for building maintenance. The sheriff also says Oliver may not have done some of the work for which he was paid.
Oliver was freed after posting a $5,000 bond Thursday.
Oliver is accused of receiving $20,579 in compensation from the city from 2007 until Oct. 30 this year. He's also accused of telling the city clerk to reduce his water bill and of using a city debit card for personal expenses.
State law imposes a $5,000-per-year-limit on how much an unpaid mayor may be compensated for work, unless it is done after competitive bidding with proper public notice.
Information from: The Joplin Globe, http://www.joplinglobe.com
Smoking banned outside Phelps courthouse
ROLLA, Mo. (AP) - The Phelps County Commission has banned smoking within 25 feet of any public entrance to the county courthouse.
The move was prompted by concerns about patient health and compliance with federal laws.
Jodi Waltman is director of the Phelps/Maries County Health Department. She told commissioners the smokers who congregate near the entrance pose a health risk to pregnant women and children entering the building.
She also said the health department must comply with federal rules governing such food programs as Women, Infants and Childrens or WIC.
Information from: Rolla Daily News, http://www.therolladailynews.com
Gephardt pushes for expanded health care focus
JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) - Former Missouri Congressman Richard Gephardt is pushing for an expanded focus on public health, saying medical innovation is the key to cutting costs and finding cures to deadly diseases.
Gephardt spoke Friday during a taping of Iowa Public Television's "Iowa Press" program airing later in the weekend.
Gephardt says Iowa is poised to be a leader in the health care industry because of its research facilities, and that a renewed focus can help boost the state's economy.
Pushing for expanded health care was a centerpiece of Gephardt's presidential campaigns.
He won the Iowa caucuses in 1988 but was unsuccessful in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. A poor finish in the 2004 caucuses ended his presidential ambitions and marked the end of a 28-year congressional career.
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