Sheriff raises concerns about Crystal City Underground
CRYSTAL CITY, Mo. (AP) - An eastern Missouri sheriff is raising safety concerns about gatherings at an old sand mine now used as a recreation complex.
The 200-acre site near Crystal City once provided sand to a glass factory. It is now known as Crystal City Underground.
The site is also rented out to parties. A gathering on April 6 drew hundreds of people. Jefferson County Sheriff Glenn Boyer told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that deputies issued eight summonses, including three for underage drinking and two for drugs.
Boyer is concerned about whether emergency vehicles could get to the site, and if a bridge meets safety standards.
Owner Tom Kerr says an emergency plan is in place and plans are in the works for a new road and bridge to the site.
Missouri congressional candidates will debate next month
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) - Candidates to replace U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson in Missouri's 8th Congressional District will debate next month at Southeast Missouri State University.
The university announced Tuesday that the 90-minute live debate will air at 6:30 p.m. May 28 on KFVS-TV. It also will be webcast on the Southeast Missourian's website.
All four candidates running in the June 4 special election will participate. They are Jason Smith, a Republican; Steve Hodges, a Democrat; Bill Slantz, a Libertarian; and Doug Enyart, the Constitution Party. Because seating is limited, tickets will be distributed by each candidate's campaign headquarters.
Missouri's 8th District stretches from the outer suburbs of St. Louis south to the Missouri Bootheel and west to the Ozark hills.
Emerson resigned in January to lead a national association of rural electric cooperatives.
Feds say Missouri conceal weapon permit list wasn't read
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - The federal Social Security Administration now says that its investigators were not able to read an electronic list of concealed gun permit holders from Missouri.
In an email Monday, a spokesman for the federal agency says it distributed incorrect information last week when it said the disk was read before it was destroyed. The agency's retraction came after Missouri Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer held a news conference Monday recounting what he had been told about the disk by the agency's inspector general.
The miscommunication highlights the confusion about an issue that has been a growing concern among Republican lawmakers. They fear gun owners' privacy rights were violated when the Missouri State Highway Patrol provided the list of permit holders to a federal investigator.
Conceal weapon registry fuels driver's license fued
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The way Missouri processes concealed weapons permits has fueled the fire in Republican lawmakers' fight over the state's new driver's license procedures.
Missouri appears to be the only state to have concealed weapons endorsements printed on driver's licenses. Permit holders can choose to have the endorsement printed on the license or on a separate card issued by the Revenue Department.
In most other states, county sheriffs or police issue the concealed weapons permits. Some states don't require a permit at all to carry a concealed weapon.
The department began scanning applicants' concealed weapons permits and other documents in December when it switched licensing protocols. Republicans say the department could share that information with the federal government or a private company. Revenue department officials deny that information is being shared.
St. Louis County gun instructor faces charges
CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — Missouri authorities are trying to determine what to do with at least 1,700 concealed-carry permit holders who received their required firearms training from a man accused of shortchanging his students.
Fifty-two-year-old Donald Crangle is charged in St. Louis County Circuit Court with seven misdemeanor counts in the case. His attorney, Williams Buchholz, didn't immediately return a phone message from The Associated Press.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that an investigation began when a permit applicant presented a certificate showing he'd received eight hours of firearms training that very day. The St. Louis County police records clerk was stumped because it was only 1:30 p.m.
Undercover officers then attended Crangle's class. Police said participants were told they'd completed the course after just three hours and without meeting any state-mandated criteria.
Two bald eagles shot and killed in Missouri
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Authorities are investigating the recent shooting deaths of two bald eagles in northwest Missouri.
The Missouri Conservation Department said in a release Friday that one bald eagle was found shot to death in January in Caldwell County. The other bald eagle was found shot to death in February in Clay County.
The department says a reward is being offered for information leading to a conviction in the case. It's a state and federal offense to shoot a bald eagle.
Anyone with information about the case can call the Missouri Operation Game Thief hotline, 800-392-1111.
Feds dropped project after getting Missouri gun data
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Social Security Administration says one of its fraud investigators received a readable list of Missourians who have concealed-weapons permits but that the list was later destroyed.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday that the agent received the list in a readable format from the Missouri State Highway Patrol in January.
Patrol officials told a Missouri Senate committee Thursday the data were never accessed at the federal level because of a technical glitch. But the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General told The Post-Dispatch the unreadable version was sent to the agent in 2011.
The investigator was planning to check if anyone who met Missouri's mental health qualifications for a weapons permit had also sought benefits for a mental disability. But the project was dropped.
Missouri sheriffs say they would handle conceal carry ID cards
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri sheriffs say they stand ready to issue photo ID cards for concealed gun holders if the Legislature helps pay for the equipment.
The Missouri Sheriffs' Association said Friday that it's willing to work with legislators on efforts to shift the responsibility of producing the cards from the state Department of Revenue to the local sheriffs who already handle applications.
Some lawmakers want to strip the Revenue Department of the duty because of concerns that agency databases on concealed gun permit holders could be used to infringe on their privacy rights.
The Revenue Department recently began making electronic copies of concealed gun permits. The Highway Patrol also has acknowledged that it got a list of concealed gun permit holders from the department and shared it with a federal investigator.
Missouri Senator calls for public hearings on driver's license procedures
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - A Republican state senator plans to hold hearings across Missouri to get public reaction to a new driver's license process that stores electronic copies of applicants' birth certificates and concealed gun permits in a state database.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Kurt Schaefer claims the procedures by the Department of Revenue are an invasion of privacy. During a hearing Wednesday, Schaefer aggressively quizzed department officials about whether they are trying to comply with the 2005 Real ID Act, which sets stringent proof-of-identity requirements.
Department officials insisted they are not. They noted that a 2009 state law prohibits compliance with Real ID.
Schaefer wants to hold public hearings across the state on the procedure. He says he won't give the driver's license administration any money until it can prove it's worthy.
Gun control bill gets first read in Missouri Senate committee
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - With less than six weeks left in the annual session, a gun-control bill has received its first hearing by a Missouri legislative committee.
The Senate General Laws heard testimony Tuesday on a bill requiring parents to notify their child's school if they own a firearm. It would also create crimes for improperly storing a firearm and for a parent failing to stop their child from possessing an illegal weapon.
The Republican-led committee did not take a vote and is unlikely to take action on the legislation in its current form.
Sponsoring Democratic Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, of University City, says it would help urban areas cope with juvenile gang violence. Opponents say the bill would infringe on gun rights and would not solve illegal firearm possession.
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