Tag Archives: Missouri

VIRAL VIDEO: Gay Missouri GOP Rep Corners “Don’t Say Gay” Author On Teaching About Heterosexuality

The Huffington Post reports: Rep. Phil Christofanelli, a gay Republican, challenged Rep. Ann Kelley on the House floor last week over the logic of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill she sponsored, wondering if it would also prohibit teaching about heterosexuality, which is a sexual orientation. “You mentioned George Washington. Who is Martha Washington?” Christofanelli asked. “His wife,” Kelley answered. “Under …

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MO “Don’t Say Gay” Bill Would Apply To Grades K-12

NBC News reports: Missouri lawmakers argued over a bill that would ban most LGBTQ education subjects for all grades in the state’s public schools. The Missouri bill debated in a state House committee hearing would ban K-12 public school staff from teaching about gender identity and sexual orientation. “Exposure to such topics is inappropriate for children, creating confusion which may …

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MO Church Youth Leader Arrested On Child Sex Charges

Northwest Missouri News reports: Daviess County authorities have charged a Hamilton woman with seven felony counts of sex crimes with a child. It is alleged that twenty-nine-year-old Anastasia Dawson engaged in illicit activity with the minor while she was the victim’s church leader. A probable cause statement issued by the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office says Dawson later paid the victim …

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GOP Missouri “Don’t Say Gay” Bill Would Apply To K-12

The Insider reports: A new bill being considered in Missouri would restricts how schools can talk to students about LGBTQ issues and would go further than Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law. The bill, sponsored by Republican State Sen. Mike Moon, would prohibit any school nurse, counselor, teacher, principal, or other member of staff at a public or charter school …

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Missouri GOP Blocks Ban On Children Openly Carrying

The Associated Press reports: Missouri’s Republican-led House on Wednesday voted against banning minors from openly carrying firearms on public land without adult supervision. The proposal to ban children from carrying guns without adult supervision in public failed by a 104-39 vote. Only one Republican voted in support of it. Democratic Rep. Donna Baringer said police in her district asked for …

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SCOTUS: Missouri Can’t Use COVID Aid To Cut Taxes

Bloomberg News reports: The US Supreme Court turned away a Missouri appeal that sought to ensure states can cut taxes even as they receive $195 billion in federal pandemic-relief money. The justices without comment left in place a federal appeals court decision that said Missouri lacked legal standing to press a lawsuit over the requirements imposed under the American Rescue …

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Missouri Priest Sentenced To Five Years For Child Porn

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports: A former Catholic priest was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison after admitting to possessing thousands of pieces of child pornography and putting them into PowerPoints that he edited over the course of more than a decade. Father James Beighlie, 72, was a Vincentian priest who most recently served as an associate pastor at …

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New MO Rule: Female Lawmakers May Not Bare Arms

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports: Democrats on Wednesday slammed a Republican-backed change to the Missouri House dress code for women legislators. Rep. Ann Kelley, R-Lamar (photo), proposed explicitly requiring women legislators to wear jackets on the House floor, saying “it is essential to always maintain a formal and professional atmosphere.” Lawmakers debate changes to House rules at the beginning of …

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Missouri Dem Launches Bid To Unseat Sen. Josh Hawley

The Kansas City Star reports: Just months after a losing bid for U.S. Senate in Missouri, former Marine Lucas Kunce is launching another campaign — this time in an attempt to take down Republican Sen. Josh Hawley. Kunce announced his new campaign Jan. 6, two years after Hawley objected to the certification of the 2020 presidential election amid an insurrection. …

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Court: Mark McCloskey Can’t Have Guns Or Money Back

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports: Mark McCloskey, a lawyer who was pardoned alongside his wife for pointing guns at racial justice protesters outside their Central West End mansion in 2020, won’t be getting his guns or money back, a St. Louis judge ruled Wednesday. McCloskey filed suit last year seeking the return of a Colt AR-15 rifle and a Bryco …

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MO Youth Pastor Sentenced To 9 Years For Child Rape

The Roys Report reports: A former youth pastor at a Southern Baptist church in southwest Missouri pleaded guilty this week to six child sex abuse-related charges, court documents show. Jeff Taylor, 48, was sentenced to nine years in state prison as part of a plea agreement. He pleaded guilty to four statutory sodomy charges and two statutory rape charges, the …

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Voters In Missouri And Maryland Approve Legal Weed

ABC News reports: Voters approved recreational marijuana in Maryland and Missouri but rejected it in two other states, signaling support gradually growing for legalization even in conservative parts of the country. The results mean that 21 states have now approved marijuana’s recreational use. Arkansas and North Dakota voters rejected legalization proposals in Tuesday’s elections. A similar initiative went before voters …

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GOP Missouri AG Eric Schmitt Wins Open Senate Seat

St. Louis’s ABC affiliate reports: Missouri Attorney General and Republican candidate Eric Schmitt won the U.S. Senate against Democratic candidate Trudy Busch Valentine, the Associated Press projects. With 26% of precincts reporting at 9:15 p.m., Schmitt has 55% percent of the vote, while Busch Valentine has 43%. With the Constitution Party, Paul Venable so far secured 1% of the vote, …

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Cultists Bombard MO Election Officials With Demands

St. Louis’s Fox affiliate reports: Like most people, McDonald County Clerk Kimberly Bell had never heard of a “cast vote record” before this summer. It’s not a report she’s ever generated after an election in the small county in southwestern Missouri, where she has administered elections for eight years. But like many county clerks and election officials across the country, …

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Youth Pastor Charged With Child Porn, Soliciting Teen

Joplin’s NBC affiliate reports: A former area youth pastor and college instructor is accused of soliciting a 15-year-old girl for sex and paying her $500, according to Arkansas court documents. Daniel Williams Smathers, 44, of 3602 Cherry Lane, Joplin was charged in Benton County, Arkansas Circuit Court with traveling for the purpose of an unlawful sex act with a minor …

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St. Louis School Shooter Used AR-15 Assault Weapon

The Associated Press reports: The 19-year-old gunman who killed a teacher and a 15-year-old girl at a St. Louis high school was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and what appeared to be more than 600 rounds of ammunition, Police Commissioner Michael Sack said Tuesday. Orlando Harris also left behind a hand-written note offering his explanation for the shooting Monday at …

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St. Louis School Shooter Carried Hundreds Of Rounds

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports: Police identified the suspect late Monday as Orlando Harris, 19, a graduate last year of the school, Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, at Arsenal Street and South Kings highway near Tower Grove Park.  One survivor heard the shooter say he was “tired of everybody” in the school. Police said the damage could have …

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At Least Three Dead In St. Louis School Shooting

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports: At least three people were killed, including the suspect, and six others injured after a shooting Monday morning at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School in south St. Louis. A woman died at a hospital, and a teen girl was pronounced dead inside the school, both of gunshot wounds. Injuries ranged from gunshot wounds …

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Missouri GOP Moves To Defund Public Libraries If They Don’t Censor Allegedly “Non-Age-Appropriate” Books

From GOP Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft: Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s office has submitted a proposed rule that would establish a certification requirement for libraries receiving state funds and institute measures to protect minors from non-age-appropriate materials. As stated in the proposal, libraries would adopt written policies determining what material is age-appropriate. As well, state funds could not …

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Missouri Baptist Pastor Charged With Child Rape

The Joplin Globe reports: The former pastor of a fringe church in McDonald County at the center of a sexual abuse scandal 16 years ago is facing a new charge that he raped an underage girl. Raymond L. Lambert II, 67, of rural Washburn, was arrested and charged last week with first-degree rape of a 10-year-old girl in the summer …

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