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Missouri

Rush Limbaugh

Missouri House Drops $1,100 For Camera To Guard Limbaugh Bust

So you've made a bronze bust of Rush Limbaugh and put it in your Hall of Famous Missourians. Now what do you do? If you're the Missouri House, you spend $1,100 on a security camera to watch over the thing.

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Topics: Missouri, Rush Limbaugh

Jim Bakker

Fallen Televangelist Jim Bakker Now Hawking Apocalyptic Survivalist Gear On The Web


Lori Bakker and Jim Bakker

What kind of gift can you get for the budding survivalist in your life? How about a great big Jim Bakker food bucket.

The disgraced televangelist is now hawking survivalist gear and books about the apocalypse on his website almost 20 years after he was released from prison on a conviction of bilking followers out of millions of dollars.

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Topics: Jim Bakker, Missouri, Survivalist, televangelism

White Supremacist Groups

Missouri National Guard Investigates Another Soldier's Alleged Racist Ties

For the second time this year, officials with the Missouri National Guard are investigating whether a white supremacist has been serving in their midst.

In March, officials accused a Missouri guardsman of participating in neo-Nazi activities while also serving in the military's honor guard, which routinely helped pay last respects at funerals for veterans who fought in WWII. The sergeant was fired from the honor guard after former coworkers said he kept a picture of Adolf Hitler in his living room and tried to recruit them to the white supremacist movement.

Now, the military is investigating whether another guardsman, an Iraq War veteran, might have traveled to Florida to train a group of white supremacists who were accused earlier this month of planning to start a race war and arrested as part of a domestic terrorism probe.

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Topics: American Front, Florida, Marcus Faella, Missouri, Missouri National Guard, White Supremacist Groups

Missouri

GOP Candidate Passed Off 'Home Economics' Degree As 'Economics' Degree

Missouri gubernatorial candidate Dave Spence liked to tout his "economics" degree on his website and at campaign events -- but in reality his degree was less about bookkeeping and more about housekeeping.

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Topics: Dave Spence, Missouri

White Supremacist Groups

How The Feds Brought Down Arizona's Suspected White Supremacist 'Serial' Bombing Brothers

In a small trailer park in Catoosa, Okla., in 2005, an aging white supremacist made a startling claim to a woman he had met only earlier that day.

He told her he was a serial bomber.

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Topics: ATF, Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Ku Klux Klan, Missouri, Right-wing extremism, White Supremacist Groups

Missouri

State Technical College In Missouri Institutes Mandatory Drug Tests For Students


Image from jcreation / Shutterstock

A state technical college in Missouri has an unusual requirement for new students: pass a mandatory drug test.

Linn State Technical College -- a 1,200-student school in Linn, Missouri -- instituted the program this week, the AP reports. Associate Dean of Student Affairs Richard Pemberton said the drug tests are a way to prepare students for the professional world.

"They're going to be faced with this as they go into the drug-free workplace," he told the AP. "We want them to be prepared."

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Topics: Drug Testing, Linn State, Missouri

Missouri

Missouri U.S. Attorney: Feds Could Challenge Sharia Ban

A U.S. Attorney in Missouri hinted that if the state passes a law banning Sharia law, the Department of Justice could challenge it in court.

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Topics: Islamophobia, Missouri, Sharia

Sharia

Missouri House Passes Ban On Sharia Law

The Missouri House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that would stop the courts from considering Sharia law, or any other "foreign law, legal code, or system" when ruling on cases.

The bill, which was introduced back in March, passed by a vote of 102-51.

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Topics: Islam, Missouri, Sharia

Missouri

GOP Lt. Gov. Who Said 'Every Dollar Counts' Charged Taxpayers With Thousands In Hotel Bills


Lt. Gov Peter Kinder (R-MO)

Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder (R) has had taxpayers foot the bill for 329 nights at hotels and casinos in St. Louis and St. Louis County since 2006 to "attend society balls, baseball games and political events, even though Missouri guidelines state that taxpayer-funded travel must be 'essential' for state business," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported this weekend.

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Topics: Missouri

Sharia

Show-Me State Says "Me Too" On Sharia Court Ban

Missouri is now the latest state seeking to ban its courts from consulting Sharia law. A bill introduced on Tuesday by State Rep. Paul Curtman (R) would bar courts from taking any foreign law, legal code or system into consideration when deciding cases.

From the bill:

Any court, arbitration, tribunal, or administrative agency ruling or decision violates the public policy of this state and shall be void and unenforceable if such court, arbitration, tribunal, or administrative agency bases its rulings or decisions in the matter at issue in whole or in part on any law, legal code, or system that would not grant the parties affected by the ruling or decision the same fundamental liberties, rights, and privileges granted under the constitutions of this state and the United States.

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Topics: Islamophobia, Missouri, Sharia

Robin Carnahan

Democrat Carnahan, Fox News Dismiss Suit Over Campaign Ad


Chris Wallace

Fox News and Robin Carnahan have settled their suit over a campaign ad that the Missouri Democrat ran against Republican Roy Blunt last year.

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Topics: Cable News, Chris Wallace, Fox News, Missouri, Robin Carnahan

John Cauthorn

Missouri GOPer: Street Signs, DMV Tests Should Be In English Because People Hate Spanish

Missouri House Speaker Steve Tilley wants to end multilingual DMV tests, and state Rep. John Cauthorn agrees: "The average guy on the street hates Spanish, and it is everywhere."

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Topics: Immigration, John Cauthorn, Missouri

IRS

St. Louis Man Threatened To Bomb IRS Facility, Say Feds

Aaron Johnson, a 20-year-old St. Louis, MO resident, was charged this week with threatening to blow up an IRS facility. Federal prosecutors charge in an indictment that on April 14, Johnson called an IRS facility on South Grand in St. Louis.

The facility is described in an indictment as a records facility known as a "lockbox" which was being operated by an unnamed U.S. bank. Johnson allegedly called the telephone number associated with the lockbox and threatened to "blow up" the facility.

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Topics: Aaron Johnson, IRS, Missouri, St. Louis, Terrorism, Treasury Department

Fox News

Carnahan Camp To Fox News: Why Single Us Out?

Lawyers for former Senate Candidate Robin Carnahan are arguing that the Fox News network is singling the Missouri Democrat out in its lawsuit alleging her campaign violated the network's copyrights.

To strengthen their argument, lawyers for Carnahan are pointing to Fox News clips posted on the websites of Republican candidates during the 2010 election season that the network doesn't seem to be worried about.

"Through this lawsuit, Fox News attempts to use copyright law to silence political speech. This distortion of copyright law fails," lawyers representing Carnahan wrote in a court document filed on Friday.

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Topics: 2010 Elections, Copyright, Fox News, Missouri, Robin Carnahan, Roy Blunt

Robin Carnahan

Fox News Seeking Default Judgement Against Carnahan Over Ad

The election may be in the bag, but a lawsuit filed by Fox News against former Senate candidate Robin Carnahan (D-MO) for using their footage in a campaign ad hasn't wrapped up yet.

Fox News on Monday requested that clerk in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Missouri enter a default judgment against Robin Carnahan for Senate, Inc. "on the ground that it has failed to answer or otherwise defend against the amended complaint in this action... within the time period prescribed by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure."

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Topics: Fox News, Missouri, Robin Carnahan, Roy Blunt

Missouri

Tea Party-Opposed Anti-Puppy Mill Law Might Be In The Doghouse With Missouri Lawmakers


TPM Photo Illustration

Members of the Missouri legislature are considering a repeal of Proposition B, a measure to strengthen anti-puppy mill laws, that was approved by voters on election day.

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Topics: Alliance For Truth, Missouri, Proposition B

Russ Carnahan

Ex-Campaign Worker ID'd As Suspect In Carnahan Arson


Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO)

Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO) confirmed in a press conference yesterday that a man identified as a suspect in an alleged arson at Carnahan's campaign office is a former paid campaign worker.

The man, Chris Powers, was arrested but has not been charged in the arson case. In a phone interview this morning with TPMmuckraker, Powers denied having any involvement with what local reports have described as a "fire bombing."

"I'm innocent," Powers said. "I was at home when Congressman Carnahan's office was fire bombed. I have nothing to do with it."

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Topics: Chris Powers, Missouri, Russ Carnahan

Brian Nieves

Victorious GOPer Allegedly Flashes Gun At Defeated Rival's Staffer Over Sex Allegations


Brian Nieves (R), State Senate Candidate in Missouri, and Shawn Bell (inset)

The closing days of a GOP primary race for state Senate between state Rep. Brian Nieves and Washington mayor Richard Stratman in Missouri got especially heated and ugly -- but accusations that Nieves committed adultery and paid alleged rapist Rod Jetton as a campaign consultant were nothing compared to what has happened since election day. Nieves, now the GOP nominee, stands accused of physically assaulting Stratman's campaign manager, Shawn Bell, threatening him with a gun, forcing him to strip and threatening the manager's boss.

Bell is seeking a restraining order; Nieves denies the allegations.

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Topics: Brian Nieves, Missouri, Richard Stratman, Rod Jetton, Shawn Bell