This blog features news and commentary from Randy Turner, a former teacher, newspaper reporter and editor. Send news items or comments to rturner229@hotmail.com
An October 15 pre-trial conference is scheduled in Jasper County Circuit Court for Leonard Valdez, 22, Joplin, the accused killer of three-year-old Jonathan Munoz-Bilbrey.
Valdez is charged with second degree murder and felony child abuse.
The three-year-old was taken to Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas after he suffered brain injuries, facial bruising and a laceration at his home at 1502 S. Michigan Avenue November 10. He died two days later.
The probable cause statement indicates Valdez was the only person supervising the boy at the time the injuries occurred.
The boy died 22 days after the Joplin Police Department arrested Valdez for domestic assault at the same address, 1502 S. Michigan Avenue, where police say the child abuse took place. The victim was the boy's mother, Natasha Michelle Bilbrey, 22, according to the JPD incident report.
NOTE: The charges against Dr. Stuppy have been dropped. His wife pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge and received a suspended sentence.)
A Rogers, Arkansas cardiologist and his wife were running a marijuana operation on their property, according to a probable cause statement filed in McDonald County Circuit Court.
Robert Stuppy, 60, and Becky Stuppy. 65, both of Pineville, face felony charges of possession of a controlled substance, manufacturing a controlled substance, unlawful use of a weapon and stealing. Officials at Mercy Hospital in Rogers have suspended Stuppy, who has also maintained a practice in Joplin.
From the probable cause statement:
On 9-21/2018, members of the McDonald County Special Response Team retrieved one motion-activated camera out of three that had been placed on a suspected outside a marijuana grow on 09/07/2018.
While viewing on the photographs on the SD card from the camera that were retrieved. A white male subject and a white female subject were seen harvesting the suspected marijuana plants on 9?14/2018 and 9/15/2018. They are seen taking two of the three motion-activated cameras. The motion-activated cameras were on loan from MOCIC and are valued at $1,199.99 each. The male subject and the female subject were identified as Robert Stuppy and Becky Stuppy through their Missouri Department of Revenue photos. 6,063- Joplin City Finance Director:
5,749- Embezzling Jasper R-5 Board secretary
4,604- New Carthage newspaper hits the streets
4,519- Jason Vieselmeyer
4,318- Governor appoints
On 9/21/2018, members of the McDonald County Special Resource Team and the McDonald County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant at the Stuppys' residence located at 590 Hard Drive in rural Pineville, Missouri. During the search of the residence, detectives found approximately 16 pounds of a green, leafy substance that field tested positive for marijuana and 10 rifles in a locked safe room that was hidden behind a bookshelf that appeared to be mounted to a wall.
The Stuppys are free on $5,000 cash bond each. Their arraignment is scheduled for 10 a.m. October 29 before Judge John LePage.
“Mercy administrators have been made aware of serious criminal charges alleged against Dr. Robert Stuppy. Based on the charges brought against him, the decision was made to suspend Dr. Stuppy indefinitely. He has been relieved of all clinical and administrative duties pending an internal review of this matter.”
Online McDonald County Circuit Court records indicate Stubby faces the following felony charges:
-Possession of a controlled substance
-Manufacturing a controlled substance
-Unlawful use of a weapon
-Stealing
Stuppy, who has maintained a practice in Joplin, is free after posting a $5,000 cash bond.
Jasmine Bailey has been named public affairs officer for Springfield Police Department. She replaces Lisa Cox, who moved to central Missouri in July. She is part of the City of Springfield’s Department of Public Information and Civic Engagement and serves as the primary contact for the police department's media programs, inquiries and news releases.
Under the direction of the City’s Director of Public Information & Civic Engagement Cora Scott and Police Chief Paul Williams, Bailey will develop, coordinate and administer communication and marketing programs to promote the department's programs and services.
Bailey has a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from the University of Missouri – Columbia and most recently served as the morning news anchor for KSNF-TV in Joplin, Missouri.
While at Newsy.com in 2012-2015, she implemented innovative methods of storytelling to reach online news consumers. While at KSNF, she received a Missouri Broadcasting Association Honorable Mention Award in 2018 for feature reporting, as well as one from the Kansas Broadcasting Association Honorable Mention Award in 2017.
“We are happy to have Jasmine on our team and are looking forward to her expanding on online and social media presence, as well as working on civic engagement initiatives for SPD,” said Scott.
“The role of the Public Affairs Officer (PAO) is important at SPD, and Jasmine will do more than simply be the source of information about the police department," said Chief Williams. "The PAO is a vital piece in our overall communication strategy, and she will serve as the primary point of contact for both public and media inquiries. Jasmine will be responsible for enhancing our efforts to engage with our citizens across multiple platforms—and having an experienced professional in that role is essential.”
(From Second District Democratic Congressional Candidate Cort VanOstran)
Moments after voting to rip health care away from 23 million Americans, Ann Wagner yelled "Freedom!" That was like a sucker punch straight to my gut.
Stripping away health care from those in need is not what freedom means to me.
Freedom is a country where our representatives don't cut coverage for pre-existing conditions because they care more about the profits of the insurance companies than the people they swore to represent.
Freedom is a country where no one is priced out of access to their prescription drugs.
Freedom is a country where people like my mom have access to quality affordable health care. That's what’s at stake in 42 days.
Like so many in Missouri, my family knows firsthand what it’s like to have a family member with a pre-existing condition.
We understand the enormous stress of wondering whether they will always have access to the same level of care they do now.
That’s why I support requiring insurance companies to cover all pre-existing conditions, and Senator McCaskill knows it. That she would claim otherwise is not only wrong, it’s insulting.
Missouri needs a Senator who is driven to fix our healthcare mess, something McCaskill has promised to do for a long time.
Imagine being at the pharmacy picking up a prescription: you give the pharmacist your insurance card, fork over the $20 (or more) copay, and go on with your day.
What if you knew, though, that the medicine you just paid $20 for with your health insurance would only cost $8 without it?
Well, right now some pharmacists in Missouri may be legally prohibited from telling customers that their prescriptions could cost LESS without their insurance -- and in 2013, that added up to more than $125 million Americans overpaid for their medicine.
A recent report found that customers overpaid for prescription drugs at the pharmacy counter 23% of the time, so I made it a personal goal to fix it.
And just last week, something big happened: by a vote of ninety-eight to two, the Senate passed my bipartisan bill with Maine Republican Senator Collins, the Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act.
What does that mean for Missourians? Well, if it passes the House and the President signs it into law (and based on this, I think he will!), this law would finally put an end to pharmacy gag clauses that can sometimes prohibit pharmacists from telling customers that they could pay less for their prescription if they pay out of pocket.
Too often in Washington, it feels like common sense takes a back seat. Because I know if we just look at the actual issues -- like how to save people money -- we can make real progress and get that done.
That's exactly what happened here, and I'm really thrilled that we could come together and get this done in a bipartisan way. It's an amazing step towards lowering Americans' prescription drug costs.
(From Fourth District Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler)
Today Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler (MO-04) supported a bill to prevent child exploitation, H.R. 6847, the Preventing Child Exploitation Act of 2018. The House passed the bill on Monday evening.
“It is unfortunate that a bill like this is needed to protect innocent children, but clearly it is necessary,” Hartzler said.
“Tonight the House took an important step to close loopholes in the law that allow predators to get away with child exploitation, especially those who engage in foreign sex tourism. There is no room for error when it comes to prosecuting those who go after defenseless children.”
Currently, a sexual predator can video or photograph the assault of a child and avoid being charged with production of child pornography through a loophole that requires the predator to have specific intent to produce child pornography prior to abusing the child. This bill would remove this onerous loophole.
Additionally, this legislation would expand the definition of sexual contact to further protect victims of foreign sex tourism who are minors, and it would renew funding for the National Sex Offender Registry.
