Former Bank of America executive sentenced to 9 1/2 years in prison

Former Bank of America Vice President Robert Conner was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison Wednesday for his role in engineering the bank and credit card fraud scheme that also brought a recent guilty plea from former Rep. John Bowman, D-St. Louis.
Judge Henry E. Autrey sentenced Conner during a 50-minute session that included a fainting spell for Conner, according to an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Conner apologized and begged for mercy, denying he was a predator and faulting the bank and even Post-Dispatch articles for his predicament. He also said he was a sacrificial lamb and complained that prosecutors were not pursuing banks for exorbitant interest rates.

U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey, who previously lambasted some of Conner's co-defendants for their behavior, responded with a slow, sarcastic round of applause.

"Bravo to you, Mr. Robin Hood," the judge said.

"You are a financial predator," Autrey told him, before comparing him to a vulture circling over the almost-dead financial carcasses of the cardholders, then throwing "an extra shovel of dirt in their grave."

After more than five minutes of the lecture, Conner appeared as though he wanted to interrupt, and Autrey responded, "Shut up. You lied. You stole. You eroded the trust of people in the community … who look up to people like you."

Conner then leaned to the right and slowly dropped to the floor.

After he was back on his feet, Autrey continued, sentencing him to 114 months in federal prison and ordering him to repay $1.42 million to Bank of America.

Live blogging planned for Democratic debate

I will be live blogging tonight's Democratic debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The debate is scheduled for 7 p.m. on CNN.

McCain schedules 8 a.m. news conference concerning charges of improper relationship with female lobbyist

Arizona Sen. John McCain has scheduled an 8 a.m. (Joplin time) news conference to discuss allegations made in a New York Times article concerning his alleged improper relationship with a female lobbyist:

Early in Senator John McCain’s first run for the White House eight years ago, waves of anxiety swept through his small circle of advisers.

A female lobbyist had been turning up with him at fund-raisers, visiting his offices and accompanying him on a client’s corporate jet. Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself — instructing staff members to block the woman’s access, privately warning her away and repeatedly confronting him, several people involved in the campaign said on the condition of anonymity.

When news organizations reported that Mr. McCain had written letters to government regulators on behalf of the lobbyist’s client, the former campaign associates said, some aides feared for a time that attention would fall on her involvement.

Mr. McCain, 71, and the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, 40, both say they never had a romantic relationship. But to his advisers, even the appearance of a close bond with a lobbyist whose clients often had business before the Senate committee Mr. McCain led threatened the story of redemption and rectitude that defined his political identity.

Link provided to McCaskill defense of Obama record

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-MO, defended the record of presidential candidate Barack Obama during an appearance on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews Wednesday.

The interview can be found at this link.

Former Joplin police chief keeps Fort Smith job by one vote

Former Joplin Police Chief Kevin Lindsey is still running the police department in Fort Smith, Ark., as he survived an attempt to remove him.
The Joplin Globe reports three members of the Fort Smith Board of Directors voted to get rid of Lindsey, but four votes were needed:

Several hundred supporters crowded into Fort Smith City Hall in a gesture of solidarity with Lindsey, Maddox said. Many police officers and other supporters wore black shirts stating “I Support Chief Lindsey.” A petition of support with more than 1,000 signatures also was presented.

“I knew a lot of people were going to show up, but I was a little surprised at the number,” Maddox said. “It was just astounding.”

The meeting capped a day of political tumult that included the abrupt resignation of City Administrator Randy Reed, who was going to recommend that the Board of Directors fire Lindsey. Reed’s resignation took effect immediately, and he did not attend the meeting Tuesday night, Maddox said.

Cole Goodman, another member of the Board of Directors, also announced his resignation Tuesday, although he did attend the meeting later that night. He abstained from voting when it came to Lindsey, Maddox said.

Velvet Barrows, another director and the wife of a former police officer who was fired by Lindsey, did not attend the meeting. Barrows said she wrote a statement that was read at the meeting in which she said she did not attend because of fears for her personal safety.

Huffington Post blogger: Asia'h should move on to next American Idol round

Two contestants will be eliminated from American Idol tonight and not many of those who saw last night's program believe Joplin's Asia'h Epperson will be one of the casualties.
One who is in Miss Epperson's corner is Huffington Post blogger Michael Glitz, who gives his assessment of the female competitors in today's post:

Again, it's too early in the competition to accurately predict who goes home because there are so many to choose from. I will say that Syesha Mercado, Asia'h Epperson, Alaina Whitaker and Alexandrea Lushington should all easily be safe. Surely poor Amy Davis will be one of the two to go home, along with Kady Malloy (or perhaps Kristy Lee Cook, because fewer people watch in the first hour so going early is always a big disadvantage).

Senate wastes no time voting to repeal campaign contribution limits

The Missouri Senate wasted no time approving Rep. Charlie Shields' bill to repeal campaign conribution limits.
As Jason Rosenbaum points out on the Columbia Tribune Politics Blog, the bill was approved by voice vote, and all amendments were shot down, except one by Sen. Chuck Graham, D-Columbia, which would put the bill into effect immediately, allowing all candidates the opportunity to grab all of the cash they can get as quickly as they can grab it:

Senate Majority Leader Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, proposed a bill that would repeal limits on campaign contributions given directly to candidates. The bill would also require campaigns accepting donations of $5,000 or more to list the contribution online within 48 hours.

Democrats offered up a slew of amendments that — among other things — disallowed campaigns from taking funds from gubernatorial appointees, squelched the ability to create multiple political action committees and implemented a voluntary public financing system. All of those amendments were rejected.

The only amendment that was approved was one proposed by Sen. Chuck Graham, D-Columbia, that prompted the components of the legislation to go into effect immediately. The bill was slated to go into effect on August 28 — several weeks after the primary season ended.

***
One of the commenters to Rosenbaum's post saw this bill as a positive, noting that it would prevent people like billionaire voucher supporter Rex Sinquefield from forming all kinds of committees to funnel cash to favored candidates.
This supposedly restores openness to political campaign contributions. It actually does nothing of the sort. Missourians have made it clear they want contribution limits. Our politicians should have been working to eliminate all of the loopholes instead of just making it easier for special interests to buy elections and candidates.

American Idol voting begins after show

Those wishing to cast their votes for Joplin's Asia'h Epperson for American Idol can phone 1-866-IDOLS-09 or 1-866-53657-09. Text vote to 5709.

Voting begins after the show.

Personality, as well as voice, key to Asia'h Epperson's performance

It was not the first time an American Idol contestant has chosen to sing Janis Joplin's second most famous song and it (as well as the most famous, Me and Bobby McGhee) is easy to butcher, but a singer from the city of Joplin was able to pull off that famous Joplin song with no problems at all.

Nineteen-year-old Asia'h Epperson clearly had control over this song, even though it surprised me that she chose it, since it had been performed, albeit nowhere near as well, earlier in this year's competition.

With a combination of powerful performances and pleasing personality, Asia'h Epperson could easily go far in this competition.

Cowell to Joplin's Asia'h Epperson: It was my favorite song of the night

It's time for Asia'h Epperson. "I'm 19, I'm from Joplin, MO, and I work as a waitress," she said, opening her interview.
A few of the highlights of her past performances, including her heartbreaking performance in Atlanta, were featured. "I'm living his dream," she said, referring to her father, who died in an accident shortly after Asia'h learned about her audition.

She is singing Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart." Her stage presence and performance are outstanding, though I am betting she is going to get grilled by at least one of the judges.

The crowd appears to love it and Miss Epperson was definitely enjoying herself.

Judge Randy Jackson said, "You did your thing with (the song). I was impressed."


Judge Paula Abdul added, "You had some fun up there. You had some really good moments

The judge all of the contestants fear, sharp-tongued Simon Cowell, added, "To me, it was my favorite song of the night. It was fun, you are likable and you have a good voice. I liked it.

That comment clearly bowled over the Joplin teenager. "I was waiting to hear that," she said.

Host Ryan Sechrest asked Miss Epperson how she has been able to keep it together with all she has been through and continue to show the type of bubbly personality she has shown onstage.

"It's just me," she answered.