Local and Global Community News – Activism / Protests - Animal Advocacy - Animal Rescue- Archaeology/Anthropology/Paleontology/Crypto-zoology , Corporate Assault on our Lives and Our Health, Environmental- Internet/IT - Signs of the Times – Wildlife : News Affiliate of Family Survival Protocol.com
Sparta, MO — Police Chief Andrew Spencer resigned this week after it
was revealed that he shot and killed an innocent dog that was in a cage
and meant no one any harm. To make matters even worse, he took the puppy
to a firing range and killed it there because he did not want to deal
with finding its home.
Spencer found the dog and managed to get it
into a cage using a catcher pole. He then wrote in his report that he
had planned to take the dog to a shelter where it would be “destroyed,”
but then he got another call about a car accident so he decided to do it
himself.
The report said that he had planned to go to “the cheapest vet to destroy the dog at the cost of the city.” However, the report continued “Due
to the higher priority call and the imminent destruction of the dog, I
decided it was best to destroy the dog and respond to the accident.”
After
the fact, Spencer claimed that the dog was charging at people in the
neighborhood. However, he said that he did not believe that the dog bit
anyone, otherwise he would have had it taken to the vet and tested for
rabies.
Posted: Nov 03, 2015 5:15 PM CST Updated: Nov 03, 2015 5:39 PM CST
By JJ Bailey, Online News Producer
ST. PETERS, Mo. (KMOV.com) - Residents
in St. Charles County are familiar with seeing trains. Locomotives roll
through the county several times a day, but a topic under discussion involving the Westlake Landfill has some on edge.
If
a decision is made to remove radioactive waste from Westlake, railways
could end up transporting it. A derailment is always a risk near any set
of tracks, but if train carrying radioactive waste is the one that
derails, it could be a catastrophe.
“Basically, what we want is to
have the trains run at a slower speed coming through the towns,” said
St. Peters Alderman Rock Reitmeyer. “We don't want to see any accidents
coming through our area and dropping all this waste. It could have a
hazardous effect.”
Before protests, U. of Missouri saw decades of race tension
A woman passes a tent encampment set up by student protesters following an announcement that... Read more
COLUMBIA,
Mo. (AP) — This week's events at the University of Missouri seemed to
unfold rapidly, with little warning. But some students, faculty and
alumni say the protests and sudden resignation of the president and
chancellor are the culmination of years of racial tension on the state's
flagship campus.
The history of racially charged incidents dates back generations.
When
the university denied admission to black law school applicant Lloyd
Gaines, the issue led to an influential 1938 Supreme Court decision that
helped pave the way for the civil rights movement.
Three decades
later, during the unrest of the late 1960s, the Legion of Black
Collegians emerged at Mizzou to press for increased minority
representation among students, staff and faculty — a goal student
protesters say remains unmet.
And the 2011 suicide of black
swimmer Sasha Menu Courey after she was allegedly raped by several
football players led some to question the campus commitment to
investigating sexual assaults.
"Who built this university?" asked
student government President Payton Head. "Who was building buildings in
1839" when the school was founded?
"Slavery wasn't abolished until 1865," Head said. "But we don't talk about that history here at the University of Missouri."
Head's
social media accounts of having racial slurs shouted at him from a
passing pickup truck helped spark a renewed protest movement at Missouri
that culminated Monday with the resignation of university system
President Tim Wolfe. Hours later, the top administrator of the Columbia
campus, Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin, was forced out.
Timeline of recent events at University of Missouri
COLUMBIA,
Mo. (AP) — Complaints about the handling of racial and other concerns
led to this week's resignation of University of Missouri system
President Tim Wolfe and the top administrator of the Columbia campus,
Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin. A timeline of key events:
___
AUG.
14: The university announces the elimination of subsidies that help pay
health insurance costs for graduate students employed by the school.
___
AUG. 26: Graduate students stage a walkout and rally, in part to oppose the health care cut.
___
SEPT.
12: Missouri Student Association President Payton Head posts on
Facebook that young people in a pickup truck yelled racial slurs at him.
It's the first of many racial incidents on the Columbia campus this
fall. Sit-ins, walkouts and other protests follow, fueled by concern
that administrators are not addressing the tension.
___
SEPT.
16: The university and Planned Parenthood announce the end of their
26-year relationship after state lawmakers start investigating abortions
performed at the university clinics.
___
SEPT. 24: A "Racism Lives Here" rally takes place on campus.
___
SEPT. 29: An estimated 1,000 protesters turn out for a rally in support of Planned Parenthood.
___
OCT.
5: A drunk man yells racial slurs at members of the Legion of Black
Collegians. Loftin, on Twitter and in a video message, expresses anger
at the slurs.
___
OCT. 6: Students and faculty stage a sit-in against racism and administrative inaction.
___
OCT.
8: The university announces that freshmen will be required to undergo
diversity training beginning in January, and the program will eventually
be expanded to include all students, faculty and staff.
Monday, November 02, 2015 by: L.J. Devon, Staff Writer
(NaturalNews)
A five-year fire is burning beneath a landfill in a St. Louis suburb,
and it's rapidly approaching an old cache of nuclear waste.
At
present, St. Louis County emergency officials are unsure whether or not
the fire will set off a reaction that releases a radioactive plume over
the city. An emergency plan was put together in October 2014 to "save
lives in the event of a catastrophic event at the West Lake Landfill."
St.
Louis County officials warn, "There is a potential for radioactive
fallout to be released in the smoke plume and spread throughout the
region."
Many residents are taking precautions; some are buying
gas masks, while others are considering moving away. Just recently, over
500 local residents discussed the precarious situation at a church
meeting which usually draws in less than 50 people.
EPA not worried about the fire or the nuclear waste
Nothing
stands in the way of the uncontrollable landfill fire, which is
smoldering hot underneath the trash of the West Lake Landfill of
Bridgeton County, St. Louis. This "smoldering event" is not uncommon.
Fires ignite and smolder under landfills because the trash becomes so
compact and hot. In this case, the fire is brewing less than a quarter
mile from an old deposit of nuclear waste that threatens to spread
cancer-causing radon gas.
EPA
officials admit that although the waste may eventually emit radon gas,
it won't affect anything outside the landfill property. This is the same
EPA that polluted the Colorado River with 3 million gallons of toxic
sludge full of lead, arsenic and other heavy metals. EPA
contractors breached a mine, sending the sludge flowing into the Animas
river, which quickly turned putrid and murky. That pollution has now
spread to New Mexico, Utah and Arizona, infiltrating the countryside
with toxic elements. Why should anyone in St. Louis County trust the EPA with radioactive waste?
To
make matters worse, the EPA isn't even worried about the fire reaching
the nuclear waste. "We just do not agree with the finding that the
subsurface smoldering event is approaching the radiologically impacted
material," said Mary Peterson, director of the Superfund division for
EPA Region 7.
There have been no plans to remove the radioactive
waste as of yet, leaving local residents baffled and worried. Most
residents were unaware of the existence of the radioactive waste, which
had been dumped there illegally four decades ago. If it weren't for
activists educating the public about the waste, no one would know.
Radioactive waste comes back to haunt St. Louis
The
radioactive waste includes 8,700 tons of leached barium sulfate
residue. It was illegally dumped in the West Lake Landfill by Cotter
Corporation sometime after World War II and wasn't discovered by
investigators until 1973. The radioactive waste was left behind due to
the mishandling of uranium by Mallinckrodt Chemical Works, a company
that started out working for the federal government's Manhattan Project.
Since 1990, the West Lake Landfill
has been managed by the EPA and deemed a Superfund site. The U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry recently warned all agencies not to disturb the surface
of the landfill.
They warned that radium-226, radon-222 and radium-228 could be released
into the air, putting people near the landfill at risk.
The
agency reported that radon levels in the area are often measured above
regulations "by as much as 10 to 25 times at individual surface test
locations." Moreover, radium increases people's risk of developing bone,
liver and breast cancer.
The EPA is downplaying the potential for a Chernobyl or Fukushima-like disaster,
but residents have every reason not to trust the agency's guesswork,
given its decades-long refusal to safely remove the radioactive material
from the area.
The
NaturalNews Network is a non-profit collection of public education
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The vast majority of our content is freely given away at
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that are designed to educate and empower individuals, families and
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life fulfillment.
Tonya
Mason, who works just feet away from the fence line of Republic
Services' landfill in Bridgeton, expresses anger that the air from
burning underground material has never been tested for contaminants on
Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015 at a meeting by Just Moms at John Calvin
Presbyterian Church. Hundreds of people gathered to hear about the
ongoing problems at the site. Photo by Christian Gooden,
cgooden@post-dispatch.com
More
than 40 years ago, radioactive waste was dumped at the West Lake
Landfill in Bridgeton. The decades since have been filled with legal and
political moves that have not gotten the site cleaned up.
Now
a growing number of residents want to know how dangerous it is to live
and work in the area as a fire burns underground in the adjoining
Bridgeton Landfill. More than 500 people showed up at a Bridgeton church
on Thursday for a meeting organized by residents. The monthly meetings
held for the last two years typically attract no more than 50.
The
surge in public interest comes after state reports showed the fire is
moving toward the nuclear waste, and radioactive materials can be found
in soil, groundwater and trees outside the perimeter of the landfill.
At
least six school districts have sent letters home in the last week
outlining their plans for a potential nuclear emergency. St. Louis
County recently released its own emergency evacuation plan that was
written last year.
Underground fires are common in
landfills as buried garbage can get hot, much like the bottom of a
compost pile. Typically they are monitored and allowed to burn out. But
none of the fires have gotten so close to nuclear waste, which was
created during the World War II era for St. Louis’ part in the
production of the atomic bomb.
Darren
Paden was sentenced to 50 years in prison Friday after pleading guilty
in August to two counts of first-degree statutory sodomy
A child sex abuse victim says she’s been denied housing after accusing a “good man” of molesting her for years — and Missouri prosecutors are mystified that so many community members are supporting the admitted sex offender. Darren
Paden was sentenced to 50 year
s in prison Friday after pleading guilty
in August to two counts of first-degree statutory sodomy — but friends,
family members, church elders and community leaders begged a judge to go
easy on him.
Prosecutors said the 52-year-old Paden sexually
abused the girl up to 300 times over a decade, beginning before she was 5
years old. His 28-year-old son, Anthony Paden, was also charged with
sex abuse, although his case remains pending.
But community
members have turned their backs on the girl, who is now 18 years old and
testified against her abuser in court, and rallied around Paden.
“There
are certainly a few good people in this community who have offered
support to this young victim,” said Platte County Prosecuting Attorney
Eric Zahnd. “It is shocking, however, that many continue to support a
defendant whose guilt was never in doubt. If it takes a village to raise
a child, what is a child to do when the village turns its back and
supports a confessed child molester?”
JEFFERSON CITY,
Mo.. – April 24, 2014. Yesterday, a Missouri house committee gave
approval to a bill which would authorize the growing and production of
industrial hemp within the state, effectively nullifying the
unconstitutional federal ban on the same.
Introduced by Rep. Mike Colona and cosponsored by Reps. Galen Higdon and Paul Curtman, House Bill 2054 (HB2054) passed by a vote of 16-1 in the house committee on economic development.
The
bill states, quite simply, “Industrial hemp production, possession, and
commerce in industrial hemp commodities and products shall be permitted
in this state.”
HB2054 sets up “shall issue” licensing program.
In short, the Missouri department of agriculture will be required, under
broad parameters, to issue licenses to those wishing to grow industrial
hemp or become an industrial hemp seed producer. A similar requirement
was included in a bill passed by the Tennessee legislature earlier this month.
Three
other states – Colorado, Oregon and Vermont – have already passed bills
to authorize hemp farming, but only in Colorado has the process begun
in practice. Farmers in SE Colorado started harvesting the plant in
2013 and the state began issuing licenses on March 1, 2014. In Vermont
and Oregon, hemp farming was authorized, but no licensing program was
mandated, so implementation has been delayed due to regulatory
foot-dragging. HUGE ECONOMIC POTENTIAL
Experts suggest that the U.S. market for hemp is around $500 million per year.
But,
since the enactment of the unconstitutional federal
controlled-substances act in 1970, the Drug Enforcement Agency has
prevented the production of hemp within the United States. Many hemp
supporters feel that the DEA has been used as an “attack dog” of sorts
to prevent competition with major industries where American-grown hemp
products would create serious market competition: Cotton, Paper/Lumber,
Oil, and others.
JEFFERSON CITY,
Mo., May 15, 2014 – Both chambers of the Missouri legislature gave
final approval today to a bill to end the state’s involvement in the
Common Core educational standards. The bill will now go to the
Governor’s desk for a signature
House Bill 1490 (HB1490)
passed through the state senate on May 1 by a 24-8 margin. It had
previously passed the house by a 131-12 vote. Since the Senate version
differed from the House version, the House had an opportunity to accept
the amendments offered by the Senate, but refused. That sent the bill to
a joint conference committee, where members of both chambers worked out
the differences in the bill and finalized the version going to the
governor.
A
spokesman for Rep. Bahr, the bill’s chief sponsor, said, “The
conference was requested by the floor leader since the house passed a
four page bill and the senate sent back a 44 page version. He did not
feel like there would be enough time for all 150 house reps to pour over
all of the new information in the bill to pass it speedily and also
doing their duty.”
The
final version of the bill includes important steps to re-establish
local control of education and end involvement with Common Core in the
state. HB1490 states that “[each] local school board shall be
responsible for the approval and adoption of curriculum used by the
school district.” It also would sanction “work groups composed of
education professionals to develop and recommend academic performance
standards” which would ultimately be used to replace Common Core by the
2016-2017 school year.
The
reasoning behind the delay in scrapping Common Core is to smooth the
transition back to a normal curriculum. This would give the schools
enough time to jettison the Common Core standards that have been foisted
upon them without any undue harm being done to the development of
students.
A
parody of the National Security Administration's logo, created by EFF
designer Hugh D'Andrade to help publicize EFF's case against NSA illegal
spying, 1st Unitarian v. NSA: https://www.eff.org/node/75009
JEFFERSON CITY,
Mo., May 16, 2014 – Legislation to protect electronic communications
and data was given final approval by the Missouri State Senate today.
Because it is a proposal for a state constitutional amendment, it will
now bypass the Governor’s desk, instead going directly to the People on
the ballot this November.
When
proponents of mass, warrantless surveillance are backed into a corner
on the basis that such activities violate the 4th Amendment’s warrant
requirements, they often make the claim that electronic data is outside
the scope of the amendment because it doesn’t qualify as “persons,
houses, papers, or effects.”
Instead
of worrying about a long legal debate with opponents who likely hold a
political agenda, the Missouri legislature took a different path. They
passed legislation to expressly give “electronic data and
communications” the same state constitutional protections as “persons,
homes, papers and effects.”
Introduced by Sen. Rob Schaaf, Senate Joint Resolution 27 (SJR27) was passed by the full House today. It previously passed the Senate by a vote of 31-1.
The
text of SJR27 is short and concise, replacing the “privacy rights”
section in the state constitution with the following language adding
electronic communications to the objects protected from search or
seizure without a warrant.
“That
the people shall be secure in their persons, papers, homes [and],
effects, and electronic communications and data, from unreasonable
searches and seizures; and no warrant to search any place, or seize any
person or thing, or access electronic data or communication, shall issue
without describing the place to be searched, or the person or thing to
be seized, or the data or communication to be accessed, as nearly as may
be; nor without probable cause, supported by written oath or
affirmation.”
The
effect of this resolution would be significant. The addition of
electronic communications to the list of privacy items would make
emails, phone records, Internet records and other electronic information
gathered without a warrant inadmissible in state court. That would
include data gathered illegally by overzealous state and local law
enforcement as well as the federal government.
