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SPRINGFIELD -- You might expect to see a Breathalyzer in a police officer's car. You might not expect to see one in your neighbor's vehicle. That may soon be a reality that more Missourians must face because of a newly effective law that affects people convicted of drunken driving. In 2001, a new law let judges require individuals convicted of two or more alcohol-related driving offenses to pass a Breathalyzer test before starting their cars. Because few judges used that punishment, the Legislature and Gov. Matt Blunt approved a tougher law last year but it didn't go into effect until...

JEFFERSON CITY | There's never a dull day in the capital city. Today's evidence: a visit from Orly Taitz , the California dentist/lawyer (and black belt in Tae Kwon Do!) who's filed lawsuits disputing President Barack Obama's citizenship. Taitz spoke to a crowd of about 40 at a hotel here this afternoon, and in a little over an hour threw a kitchen sink's worth of accusations at the president. To wit: Obama has failed to produce a true copy of his Hawaii birth certificate; the birth documentation he has produced may be a forgery; Obama may have forged his selective...

JEFFERSON CITY — Two Missouri state representatives today attended meetings conducted by Orly Taitz in which the California dentist questioned the validity of the presidency of Barack Obama. Taitz alleges that Obama’s birth certificate is illegitimate, and even if it’s not, she says, he can’t be president because his father was Kenyan. She pushed her conspiracy theories and asked for money today at events in St. Charles and Jefferson City. Taitz said the Supreme Court is complicit in “illegal activity” for blocking her attempts to remove Obama from the presidency. Rep. Cynthia Davis, R- O’Fallon, who has gotten a bit...

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  NARTH News   June 29, 2009   The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality Journal of Human Sexuality now in NARTH Bookstore   Many are calling this the most important landscape review on the essential aspects of homosexuality and treatment in the last decade. Get your copy today or order one for a friend, your congressman, or a member of the local school board. We can stop the misuse of science in the psychological, policy, and legal arena with the distribution of accurate research!   Our Price: $ 15.00    www.shop.pilgrimageresources.com5 or More Price: $10.00    (call the...

President Barack Obama plans to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the All-Star game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on July 14. The White House said Tuesday that Major League Baseball’s focus on community service matches with Obama’s service initiative this summer, known as United We Serve. “The central theme of the 2009 All-Star game is community service, celebrating the extraordinary work being done by ordinary people,” baseball commissioner Bud Selig said. “We are thrilled that we can come together with President Obama, who has encouraged a renewed spirit of national service, and illustrate a call to action...

MOBERLY, Mo. (AP) - Attorneys say a northeast Missouri city has agreed to pay $2.4 million to survivors of a man who died after police fired a Taser at him numerous times. Lawyers for the family of Stanley Harlan, 23, say the settlement with the city of Moberly was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis. The agreement includes an indefinite moratorium on the use of Tasers by Moberly police officers. Harlan died in August 2008 after being pulled over by a Moberly police officer who suspected him of drunken driving. The lawsuit said other Moberly officers arrived...

Demonstrations in the wake of Iran's presidential election are a sign that country's dissidents want the U.S. to get involved in the disputed contest, Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) asserted Monday. Bond, the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, pushed back against President Obama's claim that the election is not a U.S. issue, and urged the administration to speak out more forcefully in favor of Iranian dissidents."We didn't have anything to do with this uprising; we're not trying to tell them who they should select," Bond said on CNBC Monday morning. "But when they have such obvious election fraud and...

Two prominent Republicans today endorsed the bid of U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt for the U.S. Senate. The Associated Press reported that former U.S. Sen. Jim Talent and Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder announced their support for the Congressman’s campaign.

A Christian group in Missouri will be allowed to freely distribute religious literature at “gay pride” event this weekend after a federal judge ruled in their favor. Another Christian group in Michigan, however, was not so fortunate in its quest for free distribution at a recent Arab festival but is still hopeful for a favorable conclusion. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds denied a motion from Calif.-based ministry Arabic Christian Perspective (ACP) for a temporary restraining order that would have prohibited the city of Dearborn, Mich., from restricting the group from handing out literature during the Arab International Festival,...

The US Air Force today revealed plans to acquire a small arsenal of a new 13,600kg (30,000lb) penetrator bomb to deploy on Northrop Grumman B-2As in three years. The USAF's public notice follows several years of testing the Boeing GBU57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), which is designed to destroy hardened bunkers buried deeply underground. The USAF plans to begin flight tests on the B-2A starting in June 2011 and reach operational status by June 2012, the USAF notice says. Integrating the MOP requires no changes to the B-2A's operational flight programme, avoiding a potentially costly and time-consuming recertification process. The...

House GOP leaders who unveiled their “vision” for healthcare reform made clear that a major provision endorsed by 2008 GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) was not included. Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), chairman of the Health Care Solutions Group that spent months writing a "comprehensive" reform plan, said that McCain's proposal to tax employer-based benefits was "certainly not part of our plan."

After being briefed today on President Obama’s firing last week of Gerald Walpin, Inspector General of the Corporation for National and Community Service, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said the president did not abide by the same law that he co-sponsored – and she wrote – about firing Inspectors General. “The White House has failed to follow the proper procedure in notifying Congress as to the removal of the Inspector General for the Corporation for National and Community Service,” McCaskill said. “The legislation which was passed last year requires that the president give a reason for the removal.”

Rep. Roy Blunt’s path to the Republican nomination in Missouri’s Senate race got clearer last week, and it could become crystal-clear soon. Former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman appears increasingly less likely to run against Blunt, and she acknowledged Monday that she is looking at a possible campaign for Blunt’s open House seat as an alternative. Steelman said shortly after Sen. Kit Bond’s (R-Mo.) retirement announcement in January that she was leaning toward entering the Senate race, and for a while, it was a foregone conclusion. But after unleashing a string of Blunt criticisms and opening an exploratory committee in April,...

BRIDGETON — For decades, they roared across the St. Louis sky, inspiring awe and, on occasion, rattling windows. But come Sunday, the last Air National Guard fighter jets stationed at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport are scheduled to make their final departure, the result of a 2005 plan that called for the twin-tailed F-15 Eagles to be redeployed to guard units in Hawaii and Montana. The flights mark the end of an era for St. Louis and the 131st Fighter Wing, a highly-decorated unit that can trace its roots in the city back 86 years and whose members included Charles Lindbergh....

A crowd gathered at JC Nichols Fountain at the Plaza this evening to grieve together over the murder of Dr. George Tiller. Community members along with Planned Parenthood organizers, the ACLU and a few political and religious leaders remembered Tiller, whom they called a courageous man and a compassionate doctor. Speakers focused not only on Tiller’s work but also who he was as a person. Peter Brownlie, president of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, remembered him as kind, respectful, thoughtful, funny, warm and committed to his wife and children — a religious man who put the health of women...

The District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue has asked Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and his spouse to pay $6,820 in back property taxes for their Washington, D.C., home. A spokesman for Blunt had said Blunt and his wife received the tax breaks because the D.C. government had erred. Tax records reviewed by the Kansas City Star and detailed in a report in April show that the Blunts received a homestead exemption to deduct $67,500 from the assessed value of their $1.6 million house in Georgetown, which resulted in a $575 tax break this year. But the Blunts claim...

<p>On Sunday, after 17-year-old Ledarius Williams turned his gun on police - who then shot him in the knee -- at the corner of Cherokee Street and Texas Avenue, one responding officer told a resident that every cop in St. Louis knew of the 17-year-old, thanks to a robust criminal record.</p>

Note: The following text is a quote: Eight Uzbekistan Nationals Among 12 Charged with Racketeering, Human Trafficking & Immigration Violations in Scheme to Employ Illegal Aliens in 14 States Twelve defendants, including eight Uzbekistan nationals, have been charged in a 45-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., on May 6, 2009, on RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) charges related to labor racketeering, forced labor trafficking and immigration and other violations in 14 states. Abrorkhodja Askarkhodjaev, 30, Nodir Yunusov, 22, Rustamjon Shukurov, 21, citizens of Uzbekistan residing in Mission, Kan.; Ilkham Fazilov, 44, Nodirbek...

Are we looking at the biggest political scandal since Watergate? Big Dem Donor Group allowed to keep all 6 Chrysler dealerships open.... Local competitors eliminated by Obama's task force!! Earlier it was reported that the Obama Administration may have targeted GOP donors in deciding which Chrysler dealerships would have to close their doors. Now there's this... RLJ-McLarty-Landers is owned by three men. One was the former Chief of Staff for President Clinton. One is the founder of Black Entertainment Television and a huge Obama supporter. All 6 of their Chrysler dealerships will remain open. And, get this... Their local competitors...

EDITORIAL Crop Farmers Could Also Be Impacted by EPA Tax By Estil Fretwell Missouri Farm BureauCut to the Chase An editorial column from the Missouri Farm Bureau Federation701 South Country Club Drive, Jefferson City, MO 65102 · Voice (573) 893-1468 · Fax (573) 893-1560 · www.mofb.org This column may also be used as an op/ed piece or letter to the editor. Crop Farmers Could Also Be Impacted by EPA Tax By Estil Fretwell Considerable media attention has been given to the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published last fall by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which could tax livestock flatulence....

An end-of-session attempt in Jefferson City to snare $133 million in federal stimulus money for expanding unemployment benefits has hit an unanticipated snag. The U.S. Labor Department said Tuesday that the wording of the legislation made Missouri ineligible to receive the federal dollars. “Missouri’s law regarding their (unemployment insurance) changes would deem them ineligible for UI Modernization funds as passed,” a spokeswoman for the Labor Department wrote The Kansas City Star in an e-mail. ***** Unlike their counterparts in Missouri, Kansas lawmakers intentionally made the changes permanent to meet the federal requirements for stimulus money. State Rep. Raj Goyle, a...

Where can you connect with 200 free-market conservatives from the Midwest, the South and across the Plains at one single event? On June 3 - 4, 2009, in St. Louis, Missouri, the Conservative Heartland Leadership Conference (CHLC) will bring together fiscal and social conservatives in a two-day conference focused on Transparency, National Security, Judicial Elections, Messaging and Term Limits Review. We are anticipating a broad group of policy advocates from across the mid-west, south and plains states. As you can see from the tentative schedule here, we have a first class line-up of speakers such as Former Missouri Governor Matt...

Chrysler said Monday it upgraded its buyout offers for workers at the plants the automaker plans to close — including in Fenton — as part of its bankruptcy restructuring. Fenton workers within two years of retirement eligibility on the dates their plants close will be placed on leave of absence with 85 percent of their pay until they are eligible for retirement. The offers include a $115,000 lump-sum payment for workers with more than 10 years of seniority who choose to leave the company. Workers with fewer than 10 years of seniority can get a $75,000 lump-sum payment plus a...

A federal judge in Los Angeles is set to sentence Lori Drew this morning on misdemeanor convictions linked to the cyber-bullying of a teenager who committed suicide in Dardenne Prairie in 2006. The court's pre-sentence report recommends probation and a $5,000 fine. The defense is asking for probation without the fine. Prosecutors have indicated they will seek the maximum of one year in prison on each count, run consecutively to make three years.

SPRINGFIELD, MO—Matt J. Whitworth, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that the former street department superintendent for the city of Nixa, Mo., along with his wife and another former city worker, have been indicted by a federal grand jury for a series of mail fraud and money laundering schemes totaling more than $756,000. Larry W. Covington, 49, and his wife, Paula K. Covington, 52, both of Ash Grove, Mo., and David W. Griggs, 44, of Willard, Mo., were charged in a 51-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Springfield on...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – An economist on leave from the federal agency that insures bank deposits has been charged with the April 11 attempted robbery of a Kansas City-area bank. Jeff Walser said he had a bomb in his briefcase and demanded money at the Bank of America branch in Independence, but did not take $41,000 brought to him by an employee, according to an indictment filed Tuesday. Walser, 51, surrendered to police and was being held in federal custody, the U.S. attorney's office said. Walser told police that he has health problems and was "alone, discouraged and tired of...

I've written about Missouri House Bill 668 before (with more here). The bill has several pro-self-defense provisions, including lowering the age of eligibility for carry permits from 23 to 21, and expanding the circumstances in which the "Castle Doctrine" applies. The biggest part of HB 668, though, came in an amendment that would end the status of Missouri college and university campuses as self-defense-free zones. Students, faculty, and staff, in other words, who are licensed to carry a defensive firearm nearly everywhere else in the state of Missouri would now be able to do so on campus, as well. Such...

Officials say a woman was killed in her mobile home near Green City in Sullivan County. State Emergency Management Agency Susie Stonner says there are reports of injuries in the Kirksville-Novinger area, but she had no other details. According to storm spotters, the tornado was a rain-wrapped wedge-shaped storm that was estimated at a quarter-to half-mile in width. Stonner said the storm left several people trapped in basements. According to the Adair Count Emergence Operations Center, 30 to 40 homes sustained at least some damage in the storm, with at least one home completely destroyed. Diane Western of the Northeast...

WASHINGTON, May 13, 2009 – Defense Department officials today released the names of four soldiers killed in a shooting at a combat stress clinic at Camp Liberty, Iraq on May 11. The name of a fifth victim, Navy Cmdr. Charles K. Springle, 52, of Wilmington, N.C., was released yesterday. Dead are: -- Army Maj. Matthew P. Houseal, 54, of Amarillo, Texas, assigned to the 55th Medical Company in Indianapolis; -- Army Sgt. Christian E. Bueno-Galdos, 25, of Paterson, N.J., assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 172nd Infantry Brigade, Grafenwoehr, Germany; -- Army Spc. Jacob D. Barton, 20, of...

JEFFERSON CITY - Only supporters made their voices heard at a Senate hearing on a bill that would allow guns on college campuses. Five people defended a measure which would allow for college students to carry and conceal firearms on the state's college campuses. Originally, House Bill 668 was a measure to lower the age for a gun permit to 21 from 23. But then the legislative process ran it course, which led to an additional amendment to allow for concealed handguns on college campuses. The University of Missouri System and Missouri State University each opposed the measure when the...

. . . . . Elected Republicans should govern by the principles they profess in campaign rallies and advertisements. Those principles were once the difference between the parties. . . . . . The Republican Party, at its best, is a party of broad ideas and principles. For example, those who tend to vote Republican believe in limiting the size and scope of government and respect the guarantees of individual freedom and liberty of our Constitution. They respect life and its diversity; and they understand that free market capitalism, the glue that holds the Republican Party, and our nation, together,...

ARCADIA, Mo. — A 3-year-old boy was found in remarkably good condition Wednesday, 50 hours after he wandered away from his home and became lost in the rugged hills of Missouri's Mark Twain National Forest. Joshua Childers slipped out of his family's mobile home near Arcadia in rural southeast Missouri around 11:30 a.m. Monday.

The St. Louis Post Dispatch has been keeping tabs on Rep. Lacy Clay's (D-Mo.) impending divorce. Sadly, it was news - literally - to Clay's wife, Ivie. Yesterday the St. Louis Dispatch reported that the congressman had his divorced filings sealed. (This after a reporter asked to see the file.) And today, Ivie Clay released a stinging statement regarding her husband, whom she married in 1992 when he was a state senator. Turns out, Ivie and her children found out about the divorce only through the media. She released the following statement: “I and my children are devastated and embarrassed...

Missouri state Sen. Jolie Justus of Kansas City on Friday boarded a bus for Iowa where same-sex marriage is legal to wed her partner of nearly two years, the Democratic senator said Sunday. Justus said she married Shonda Garrison of mid-Missouri at a ceremony in Iowa City. The two were one of 17 couples mostly from the St. Louis area that took advantage of the recent Iowa Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage in the Hawkeye State. Missouri does not recognize same-sex marriages, meaning that the marriage carries no legal weight back home in Kansas City. The couples boarded a...

The FR 2009 NHRA Championship Drag Racing Thread No Turns. . . No Pit Stops. . . Just White Knuckles Ground Pounding Speed NHRA-CDR: Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, Pro Stock Motorcycle <> HRH: Top Fuel, Funny Car, Groups 1 & 2 Drag School Locations: Gainesville & Pomona ~ Frank Hawley, 2 Time NHRA Funny Car World ChampionNHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series Schedule - Full Nostalgia Drag Racing Schedule 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Championship Drag Racing Schedule For Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock cars there are twenty-four(24) racing events in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle...

COLUMBIA — A woman whose house was being burglarized is believed to have shot one of the three men caught in her home early Thursday. The woman arrived at her home in northeast Columbia and found that her back door had been kicked open, according to a release from the Columbia Police Department. Inside, she found three men robbing her house. She left the house, and the men followed her. She told police that one of the men had a handgun and pointed it at her. She fired one round at the men, the release stated. Investigators collected evidence that...

My granddaughter asked the Big O a question today at his town hall meeting at my old high school. If you see her on the news, she is the 4th grader he complimented on sounding so poised and she asked a question about the Environment. Yes, she is being raised by my liberal daughter in law but I have to give her credit for exposing Laurel to a variety of experiences. Laurel is in a program for extremely gifted children in the St. Louis metro area - in 2nd grade she tested 162 on the IQ test for this program.

What’s at risk is the ability to preach the Gospel.’ So said Bishop Harry Jackson, standing with other black religious leaders and Republican congressmen at a press conference yesterday.   Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) led a group of members of Congress and Christian leaders yesterday in denouncing HR 1913, the federal hate crimes legislation that was passed on a straight party line vote out of the House Judiciary Committee late last week.   Jackson, a well-known leader in the black community as Sr. Pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Md., and chairman of the High Impact Leadership Coalition, cautioned...

Leon Moe said he’s always been a patriot. The Cottage Grove resident’s definition of what that means, though, has changed a lot. Forty years ago, when he was fighting with the U.S. Army in Vietnam, it meant following the U.S. government’s orders. Leon Moe, a Vietnam veteran, is now lobbying state legislators to pass a bill that declares Minnesota a sovereign state. Moe will speak at the Constitution Party of Minnesota’s Liberty Banquet April 25. Now, it means lobbying legislators at the state Capitol to assert Minnesota’s sovereignty, a move that would allow the state to claim exclusion from unfunded...

A source close to Sarah Steelman told the Political Fix today that the former state treasurer has enlisted Washington, D.C., lawyer Ben Ginsberg to form an exploratory committee for a run for U.S. Senate. Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post’s “The Fix” blog first reported the news via his Twitter feed. Steelman has been talking about the race for a couple of months. This week, her new Web site made its debut, and while it didn’t mention a Senate run, it referred to two social networking sites that said “Sarah Steelman for Senate.” Steelman would face Republican Congressman Roy Blunt...

Congressional Republicans, led by House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), came out swinging against President Barack Obama's apparent new-found willingness to entertain the possibility of prosecuting former Bush Administration officials for decisions made regarding enhanced interrogations. Hoekstra (R-MI), penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal declaring that if Democrats wanted to conduct an investigation, Republicans would make sure Congressional Democrats were the subjects of the probe right along with the Bush Administration. House Minority Leader John Boehner echoed Hokestra's sentiments, saying that there was little that could be learned from any investigation that Congressional leaders did not...

Today and tomorrow, theres a pretty cool gun show going on here in Kansas City. I was thinking of buying an AR-15, but there are apparently a lot of options. What is the difference, CMMG, DPMS, Olympic, Bushmaster, Colt? Is there anything specific I should look for while comparing these? I was thinking of the .223 chambered variant because there is at least some of that ammo available here. CMMG, DPMS and Olympic are about the same, right at a grand.. Bushmaster is about 1200-1400 and Colt is just straight out of my price range, 1600-2000. Any helpful advice on...

JEFFERSON CITY | House Speaker Ron Richard said this afternoon that federal officials have already warned against a plan to use federal stimulus dollars for a tax cut. Richard, a Joplin Republican, made the remarks in an appearance on the Fox News program Your World. "We've got a message from the OMB, the vice president, they don't like it," Richard said in the TV interview. "They say it's illegal and we're going anyway."

It's been said that conservatism has different meanings for different people. It may not be textbook, but without a whole lot of navel gazing, here's what it means to me and what Free Republic is all about: In a word, Freedom! In two words, Preserving Freedom. In a handful of words as stated by our Founding Fathers, to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity! America was founded on the proposition that all men are created equal by God and that our unalienable rights to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness are granted directly by God...

NEW YORK, April 23 (Reuters) - Ameren Corp (AEE.N) suspended its efforts to build a new nuclear power plant in Missouri due to unfavorable legislation that would not allow for cost recovery during the construction process, the company said in a release on Thursday. This is one of the first nuclear projects in the United States to be suspended since the federal government started pushing the "nuclear renaissance" several years ago amid rising energy demands, concerns over climate change and dependence on overseas supplies of fossil fuels. Despite Ameren's decision, the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry advocate, still expects four...

JEFFERSON CITY — House Republicans revolted yesterday against scores of proposed earmarked projects, demanding that their party instead use $1 billion of the state’s federal stimulus money for a refund to taxpayers. House Speaker Ron Richard, R-Joplin, said this morning that GOP members rejected a spending plan drafted by the House Budget Committee and insisted on a large taxpayer refund. The decision came yesterday during a closed caucus meeting. “Over half the caucus has said we overspent, acting like Washington D.C.,” Richard said at his weekly donut breakfast with Capitol reporters. “”We said, ‘Fine, we’ll come up with another plan.’”

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Rep. Roy Blunt’s disappointing first-quarter fundraising performance reflects growing concern within the party that the veteran Missouri Republican may not be the ideal Senate nominee to take on likely Democratic opponent Robin Carnahan, according to Missouri Republicans.

Does anyone know of a protest being organized for Obama's visit to Jefferson County to mark the end of his "first 100 days"? I would love to see that happen. I actually don't even know what city he is going to.

Nobody can sell any ammunition after June 30, 2009. It has already started: 'Ammunition Accountability' Legislation. Remember how Obama said that he wasn't going to take your guns? Well, it seems that his allies in the anti-gun world have no problem with taking your ammo! The bill that is being pushed in 18 states (including Illinois and Indiana) requires all ammunition to be encoded by the manufacturer, a data base of all ammunition sales. So, they will know how much you buy and what calibers. Nobody can sell any ammunition after June 30, 2009 unless the ammunition is coded. Any...