Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has formally requested that the state’s Democratic auditor investigate allegations that Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley used public resources to support his successful campaign for the U.S. Senate.

Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway was already scheduled to begin an audit of the attorney general’s office in January. Galloway’s office conducts an audit any time there is a change in a statewide office.

Ashcroft is seeking to enlist Galloway’s subpoena power in an investigation sparked by a complaint filed in early November with the secretary of state’s office by The American Democracy Legal Fund, a liberal group backed by influential Democratic operative David Brock. The group demanded an investigation to determine whether Hawley should be prosecuted for violating a state law barring elected officials from using public funds to support political campaigns.

The secretary of state’s office began its formal investigation into the allegations last week.

Read more: https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article222900205.html

A lawsuit filed Monday in Johnson County district court alleges that an Olathe Republican who won a seat in the Kansas House last month is ineligible to serve because he didn’t reside in the district.

Adam Thomas won the 26th District seat in the Kansas House of Representatives despite being arrested and charged with election perjury in September. He allegedly gave a false address when he filed paperwork declaring his candidacy.

The lawsuit contesting Thomas’ ability to assume his seat in the state House was filed on behalf of 11 residents of the 26th District by Kansas City attorney Mark Johnson. He wrote in the lawsuit that if Thomas was in violation of the residency requirement, he “could be neither a nominee nor candidate for the Kansas 26th House legislative district, and as such he may not assume the seat representing that district.”

Within 20 days, Johnson said, a judge will gather evidence and send it to the speaker of the House of Representatives.

Read more: https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article222921095.html

JEFFERSON CITY • A Springfield Republican wants to again make Missouri a “right to work” state — even after two-thirds of voters in August shot down the state’s law.

State Sen.-elect Eric Burlison, R-Springfield, filed the legislation this month in preparation for the Legislature’s annual session, which starts in January. Republicans overwhelmingly control both the state House and Senate.

In 2017, lawmakers approved similar legislation, which bans union dues as a condition of employment. But unions and allies struck back, submitting more than 300,000 signatures to force a referendum on the law.

In August, nearly two-thirds of voters across the state rejected the proposal, dealing a blow to one of former Gov. Eric Greitens’ crowning achievements.

Read more: https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/missouri-voters-said-no-to-right-to-work-republican-lawmaker/article_365c4f4a-3303-5cde-a44e-b6324bf2ab59.html

Missouri residents who fraudulently bill Medicaid owe the state $170 million, Gov. Mike Parson said Friday afternoon during a news conference at the Missouri State Capitol.

Parson held the news conference after a meeting with cabinet officials and state health leaders as he announced the creation of a new Medicaid and Fraud Abuse Task Force. The task force will be charged with identifying where Medicaid fraud happens and how to uncover inefficiencies in the system.

Each year, Missouri spends $10 billion on its Medicaid program, which covers about 1 million people.

"At the end of the day, what we really want is to help the people that need the help," Parson said. "The people that really need it are the ones that we want to get those services to."

Read more: http://www.newstribune.com/news/local/story/2018/dec/08/medicaid-fraud-costing-state-170m/755756/

URANUS, Mo. (AP) — The Uranus Examiner, a small Missouri newspaper whose name inspired chuckles and groans when it launched a few months ago, is closing.

The paper's editors announced the end of publication Friday, after publishing just five editions since September.

In statements posted on Facebook, Managing Editor Natalie Sanders and Louie Keen, the paper's owner and publisher, blamed a judgmental "Fuddy Duddy Squad" for the Examiner's demise.

They said many people supported the paper but banks declined to loan it money and many businesses wouldn't advertise in it, in part because Keen once owned a strip club.

Read more: https://hosted.ap.org/semissourian/article/b7270beac210426282e27a530dc8c43e/uranus-examiner-ends-publication-blaming-judgmental-people

A second settlement in the police killing of Anthony Lamar Smith awards his young daughter another $500,000.

Smith was shot to death by St. Louis police Officer Jason Stockley in 2011. His family sued for wrongful death and initially agreed to a $900,000 settlement, but that was before they learned there was DNA evidence that could have helped them in the original negotiations.

Stockley and his partner pursued Smith after spotting what they claimed was a parking lot drug deal. At the end of the high-speed chase, Stockley walked to Smith's car window and shot him at close range. The officer claimed Smith was getting ready to shoot him.

The St. Louis Circuit Attorney charged Stockley with murder in 2016, alleging in part that DNA found on a Taurus pistol supposedly recovered from Smith's car proved the cop had planted the gun after the shooting.

Read more: https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2018/12/06/second-settlement-in-jason-stockley-case-to-pay-500000-to-anthony-smiths-daughter

ST. LOUIS -- Wearing Christmas hats, Washington University campus workers and student activists marched around campus Friday, singing altered Christmas carols to urge administrators to raise university workers' wages and offer childcare.

Organized by the Washington University Graduate Workers Union (WUGWU) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the "All I Want for Christmas is $15" demonstration was staged in front of Knight Hall, the planned location for the university’s Board of Trustees meeting on December 7.

The protesters’ set list included a version of “Jingle Bells” that replaced the traditional lyrics with “Jingle bells/ fight like hell/ for a living wage. I got bills/ that I can’t fill/ till the next time I get paid.”

Another chant took a shot at the university's chancellor Mark Wrighton, replacing the lyrics of “Oh Christmas Tree” with “A living wage, a living wage, is all we need for Christmas/ Wash U.’s wages make me flinch/ Wrighton, don’t be a Grinch!”

Read more: https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2018/12/10/wash-u-protesters-seeking-15-hourly-wage-tell-chancellor-dont-be-a-grinch

I recall that about a month ago in Minneapolis-St. Paul similar protests were held and the private universities said that they would have to increase tuition to offset any pay increase if wages increased to $15/hour. I wonder if Washington University will be in the same predicament?

Rumblings about whether local marketing company Catalina is headed for bankruptcy have heated up.

One of the largest privately owned companies in the Tampa Bay area, Catalina is often remembered for doling out cash register coupons. Now, it uses data to help its clients turn shoppers into buyers and boost consumer loyalty.

The company has said in the past that it was working to restructure its balance sheet as it makes the transition to being more digitally focused, though it has not said anything about bankruptcy.

Bloomberg Law, however, reported in late November that executives with Checkout Holding Corp., Catalina's official corporate name, were preparing "to file for bankruptcy before the end of the year to lighten its debt load of about $1.8 billion."

Read more: http://www.tampabay.com/business/reports-catalina-one-of-tampa-bays-largest-private-companies-is-contemplating-bankruptcy-20181210/

Before the federal government sued California in an attempt to open the state to private-prison contractors, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sought the advice of GEO Group, the Boca Raton-based, multibillion-dollar private-detention-facility corporation.

Mother Jones broke news of the close ties between GEO and ICE's legal team this past Friday. New Times has since obtained the full trove of files related to the cooperation from the 501(c)(4) group Democracy Forward. They show an extremely high level of coordination between top ICE officials and GEO's legal team long before the Department of Justice filed its case, which was tossed this past July. New Times was also able to identify multiple GEO employees involved in the conversation, including Adam Hasner, the former Majority Leader in the Florida House of Representatives.

While both ICE and GEO have stated the emails show routine conversations between government agencies and their contractors, private-prison-industry critics are sure to seize on the disclosures as proof the company exerts far too much influence over the federal government.

GEO is the largest ICE contractor in America and holds nearly a half-billion dollars in contracts. Roughly one-fourth of GEO's entire revenue comes from running ICE detention centers. A full third of ICE detainees occupy a GEO jail. Before Donald Trump took office, GEO's stock was falling thanks to a Barack Obama executive order banning the use of for-profit prisons at the federal level. GEO then (allegedly illegally) donated quite a lot of money to the Trump campaign and Attorney General Jeff Sessions then rescinded the Obama-era ban. GEO also moved its yearly company conference to the Trump National Doral golf course in 2017.

Read more: https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/geo-group-coordinated-on-ices-california-lawsuit-emails-show-10945740

Andrew Gillum’s post city hall plans have some people seeing a presidential bid. The former Tallahassee Mayor and Democratic candidate for Florida governor was in Washington Tuesday and had a meeting with former President Barack Obama.

That led CNN to report that sources are speculating Gillum may be considering a challenge to President Donald J. Trump in 2020.

Neither the Obama nor Gillum camp would say what the two had discussed.

Gillum was in the nation's capital to speak at a Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. CNN reported he punted on the question of what the future may hold.

Read more: https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2018/12/05/andrew-gillum-meets-barack-obama-silence-adds-speculation/2218481002/