WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court refused Monday to hear the state of Missouri’s appeal to keep Westboro Baptist Church members from protesting at soldiers’ funerals.

The Court declined to comment on the court order that blocks the state from keeping church members away, various media outlets reported.

Members of the Topeka, Kan., church say God allows soldiers to die because of the nation’s sins, including allowing homosexuality. Church members have picketed numerous military funerals in Missouri and other states.

State lawmakers had passed a law to bar religious demonstrators from funerals.

UPDATE: Nixon to withhold Ellis Fischel funds

Theo Keith / KCOU News / June 25, 2009

JEFFERSON CITY – The Columbia Tribune is reporting that Gov. Jay Nixon has decided to withhold, but not veto, funding for Columbia’s Ellis Fischel Cancer Center.

The funding has been in limbo as Nixon looked to trim the state’s budget.

Nixon suggested that if the economic situation improved, he would release $325 million he withheld, including the Ellis Fischel money. The governor delayed a total of $91.3 million in UM projects.

Last week, the University of Missouri Board of Curators sent a letter to Nixon urging him to spare the center. Columbia’s state representatives said they were disappointed the governor delayed funding, but said it was better than a veto, the Tribune reports.

When Nixon finally releases the money, the cancer center would receive $31.2 million to build a new facility on the MU campus.

Nixon’s veto pen is the latest obstacle Ellis Fischel has eluded. In the spring legislative session, lawmakers inserted and removed funding several times before finally sending the $23 billion state budget to the governor.

Nixon did veto outright $105 million in other projects, including operating funds. That means about 200 state employees will lose their jobs, the Tribune reports. ◊

Forsee: State must ‘fulfill its commitment’ to Ellis Fischel

Theo Keith / KCOU News / June 19, 2009

COLUMBIA – At an emergency meeting Friday morning, the University of Missouri Board of Curators voted to oppose a possible Gov. Jay Nixon veto of some spending projects, such as Columbia’s Ellis Fischel Cancer Center.

Nixon is looking to shave $500 million off the state’s $23 billion budget, according a curator quoted in a Columbia Daily Tribune report. This as the state’s tax revenues will fall far more than expected.

The body directed UM President Gary Forsee to tell Nixon that Fischel and other UM projects were necessary and would quickly create jobs.

But the Curators couldn’t agree with Forsee’s especially harsh words, voting to strip some language from a draft he had circulated. A curator appointed by Nixon called Forsee’s words “adversarial.”

UM officials would not release a copy of Forsee’s draft to the media. But Forsee did say the state has already committed to the projects and “needs to fulfill its commitment,” according to media reports.

The 2010 operating budget contains $31.2 million for a new cancer center, to be located near University Hospital on the MU campus. The project is scheduled for completion in 2012, but Forsee says a Nixon veto would delay or cancel construction. ◊

Storms kill 3 in Missouri

Theo Keith / KCOU News / May 8, 2009

COLUMBIA – Officials blame Friday morning storms for three home fires, one natural gas leak and power outages in parts of Columbia. There were no injuries.

But the situation reached emergency levels in southern Missouri. Gov. Jay Nixon has declared a state of emergency after strong winds, floodwaters, and suspected tornadoes tore through the area.

Two people died near Poplar Bluff after strong winds knocked a tree over onto their car on Route 53.

Residents believe a Dallas County tornado tossed an elderly couple’s home 75 to 100 feet in the air. The man died of a heart attack during the incident. The storm destroyed 50 other homes in the same path.

Southern Missouri counties reported winds of more than 80 miles per hour. The high winds knocked out power for 60,000 people in the Joplin area. The National Weather Service is investigating whether the strong winds were tornadoes.

Floodwaters forced officials to rescue several drivers and people in their homes in St. Francois County.

A spokesperson for Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said the lawmaker is considering asking for federal aid. ◊

Mo. House cuts stimulus money for MU

Theo Keith / KCOU News / April 24, 2009 / Audio

JEFFERSON CITY – The Missouri House of Representatives slashed the amount of money lawmakers had previously earmarked for the MU campus.

Only two projects remain after legislators drafted House Bill 22 to spend about $2 billion of federal stimulus money.

The university will receive $31 million to build a new Ellis Fischel Cancer Center on campus, plus $13 million for renovations at the Mid-Missouri Mental Health Center.

But $20 million that Rep. Chris Kelly, a Columbia Democrat, pushed for in Monday’s House Budget Committee hearing wasn’t in the reworked bill. The money would have paid for maintenance and repairs on the MU campus. Kelly has said the plan would have created jobs.

The University of Missouri had asked for $341 million of federal funds, but it will get only a small portion of that.

House Republican leaders, concerned that spending has gotten out of control, want to use $1 billion in stimulus money to give Missourians a tax cut.

The plan would reduce the state income tax to 5.5 percent, down from 6 percent. The move would save the average taxpayer about $500. The tax cut has until the May 8 deadline to get through the General Assembly and onto the governor’s desk. ◊

Mo. House passes higher education funding

Theo Keith / KCOU News / April 16, 2009

JEFFERSON CITY – The Missouri House passed a $700 million higher education bond plan Thursday. The bonds would fund projects on the MU campus and at other Missouri colleges and universities. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Chris Kelly, a Columbia Democrat, passed 131-28.

The bonds would allow construction of the new Ellis Fischel Cancer Center near University Hospital on the MU campus. Gov. Jay Nixon cut that project along with several other higher education construction plans in January because of funding problems. The Lafferre Hall renovation on the MU campus would also receive funding.

The bond bill now moves to the Senate. If it passes that body, Missourians will vote on the bill in the November 2010 election. Gov. Jay Nixon could move that election up as early as this August. ◊

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Supreme Court won’t block church from soldiers’ funerals

Theo Keith / KCOU News / June 29, 2009