Bubs Hohulin is no longer in the Missouri House of Representatives, but the Lamar Republican still finds himself the center of controversy.
Hohulin, who works as an assistant to State Senator Carl Vogel, R-Jefferson City, was recently awarded a driver's license office in Lamar by Governor Matt Blunt.
A story issued less than two hours ago by the Kansas City Star indicates that state Democrats have filed a complaint with the Missouri Ethics Commission about the appointment. According to the article, "Democrats said state law prohibits state employees from doing work for an agency for compensation beyond their regular salary without a competitive bid. Hohulin told The Star he has not decided if he will accept Blunt's offer, but if he does, he will continue to pull down his $30,000 salary as a senate assistant and allow his wife, Marilyn Hohulin, to run the revenue office.
A spokesman for the governor's office said the governor does not believe his appointment of Hohulin was illegal.
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Cox Communications is following in Cable One's footsteps and is giving away antennas to its customers after being forced to remove Nexstar station KSLT, a CBS affiliate, from its system in San Angelo, Texas, according to John Boyd's article in today's San Angelo Standard-Times.
Cox was a little slower on the trigger than Cable One was when it began handing out the free antennas in Joplin even before it had to remove Nexstar stations KODE and KSNF from its system. The Standard-Times article indicated that many customers had already bought antennas.
As expected, Nexstar COO Duane Lammers had comments for the media. "I think this is basically over and I don't think we'll be back on cable," he told the Standard-Times. While the penny a day (30 cents a month per subscriber) price has been bandied about in the media, the Standard-Times article indicated what most observers had already anticipated. The article said, "Nexstar initially asked for a penny per day per Cox cable subscriber over the next year, with escalating rates for the next several years, before it would sign a new retransmission consent agreement allowing KLST to return to the Cox cable lineup." Nexstar later just asked Cox to "agree in principle to payment of some kind," according to the article.
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U. S. District Court Judge Richard E. Dorr issued an order today, directing that convicted child molester Martin Eck be compelled to answer questions from lawyers representing Jasper County Sheriff Archie Dunn and the Jasper County Commission within 20 days or have his lawsuit against them dismissed.
Eck is suing the county officials for $10 million after he allegedly was unable to get dental care while he was being housed in the county jail.
The lawyers arrived at Eck's prison Jan. 28 and he refused to answer questions until he had a lawyer. He indicated his mother was trying to hire one for him.
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The attorney for former McDonald County deputy and Seneca police officer Randy Hance is attempting to keep threatening letters purportedly written by Hance from being admitted into evidence. Hance is being held without bond awaiting trial on weapons charges.
Shawn Askinosie, the prominent Springfield attorney who is representing Hance, filed objections in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri to the government's plan to submit copies of threatening letters written by Hance to the Kansas victim. Government lawyers had asked that the judge examine the letters before making any decision on granting bond to Hance.
Askinosie said the evidence "was not presented at the detention hearing and thus is an attempt by the government to offer the district court new evidence" and the court should deny the government's request.
More information about other evidence in the Hance case can be found in the Feb. 14 Turner Report.
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Another change of judge took place in the involuntary manslaughter case against Edward Meerwald, 50, Noel. Kevin Selby will preside over the preliminary hearing when it takes place 1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 25, in Division 3, Newton County Circuit Court. Judge John LePage, the second judge to be assigned to the case after it was refiled in Newton County recently recused himself.
Meerwald was allegedly driving drunk when his car left Highway 86 and hit James Dodson, 69, Neosho, and Dodson's granddaughter, Jessica Mann, 7, Joplin, when they were walking in Dodson's driveway. Meerwald is charged with two felony counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of resisting arrest.
The case had been moved to Jasper County on a change of venue, but Newton County Prosecuting Attorney Scott Watson elected to drop charges there and refile charges in Newton County to try to get the case to trial faster.
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A 9:30 a.m. April 4 preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Gary Reed Blankenship, Neosho, who faces 10 charges after being arrested in connection with another of Diamond police officer Jim Murray's internet sex stings.
Blankenship, 55, who resigned as an official at O'Sullivan Industries in Lamar after his arrest, faces one count of enticing a child, one count of promoting obscene material to a minor, and eight counts of possession of child pornography.
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Great story on KODE tonight about the newly-found freedom of Aurora resident Ted White, Jr., who served six years in prison, until he was granted a new trial and was found not guilty. But correct me if I am wrong, didn't KOAM do that same story last week?