#lawyers jefferson city mo

[knowdivorcelaw-blog]

How a Lawyer Can Help In the Course of a Divorce

These are some ideas for divorce questions to ask a lawyer. When you get a legal license in Missouri, you are free to practice law anywhere in the state of Missouri. Every divorce lawyer will pick a different area according to their demands, the capacity for new divorce company, along with other elements. As a consumer, think about what field of Missouri (MO) you'll probably be going to court. You will find county courts in Missouri for every county of this country. Deciding upon a divorce lawyer that is near your principal location can make things a lot easier for communication, collaboration, and understanding of the neighborhood divorce court. Prior to hiring a divorce lawyer, you should feel comfortable enough to talk with them concerning all facets of your circumstance. Below are questions you must ask before hiring a divorce attorney in the state of Missouri:

Divorce is complicated and can be stressful. Not only does this affect you -- both emotionally and financially -- it may also impact your children, family, and family members. If you are considering filing for a divorce, or if your spouse has initiated marriage dissolution proceedings, then you might need an experienced divorce lawyer to help you navigate this tough time when protecting your resources and lawful rights. The information found in this informative article was written with Missouri in mind, but it still can be useful to other states. Missouri (MO), like other states, has particular legislation on divorce and you will need to check with an attorney in your home state to better understand the way the laws of Missouri could differ. When crafting this particular piece, we spoke with Summer Masterson-Goethals, a divorce attorney in Springfield, Missouri (https://mastersonlawllc.com) to get more information on divorce laws, divorce proceedings, and generally to better understand the flow of events. An experienced divorce in Missouri will evaluate your specific case and advise you at each stage of the divorce process, all with the aim of guaranteeing that the results of your separation will be as beneficial as you can and your family. Choosing a proficient divorce lawyer in the state of Missouri with expertise, objectivity, and technical knowledge to represent you through the legal separation proceedings is a superior idea. The Things to Look For in a Divorce Attorney Back in Missouri (MO), there are a lot of competent divorce lawyers in Missouri. Even if you don't reside in one of those metropolitan areas such as Kansas City, Springfield, St. Louis, Columbia, or even Jefferson City, you will nonetheless be able to locate a Missouri divorce lawyer who can assist. Divorce attorneys in the state of Missouri handle various divorce problems, such as settlement agreements, kid custody/child visitation, the division of property and finances, and spousal support. If you are searching for a divorce attorney, you need to concentrate on the lawyer's experience, skill level, commitment, and place or area served.

Since divorce proceeding need divulging many aspects of your personal life and financial assets, you need to feel comfortable talking freely on your attorney's presence and feel confident in the lawyer's capability to take care of your case. Your divorce lawyer must also have experience managing child support cases and/or division of property problems.

It is likewise important to understand the attorney's divorce and style philosophy, like whether combative or cooperative, and whether the attorney in Missouri features legal separation choices, such as mediation.

Lastly, because state laws change, it's essential that the attorney in Missouri has experience managing divorces in the country where the marriage first took place.

What's involved in the divorce procedure and how long does it typically last?

What proportion of your practice is devoted to divorce cases? How many divorce cases have you attempted?

What is your experience handling child custody cases?

Just how much of my legal separation case will you really manage?

Do you offer mediation or other alternative dispute settlement?

Can you give me an estimate of just how much my divorce will cost?

[orbemnews]

Police board sues Kansas City, calls for Lucas to withdraw ordinances KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) — The battle over the budget for the Kansas City Police Department is headed to court. A lawsuit has been filed challenging the plan to shift millions of dollars. It comes after another closed door meeting by the Board of Police Commissioners. The board voted to take legal action against Mayor Quinton Lucas by a 4-1 vote. The meeting started about 10 a.m. Friday and was voted to be a closed session about a minute later. Lucas was the only person on the board who voted against closing the meeting. He also voted against taking legal action. This is about two ordinances passed last week that is taking around $42 million from KCPD’s budget and using it for a special fund geared toward crime prevention. The lawsuit points out a budget was previously passed and approved. It claims the new plan violates state law which grants the Police Board of Commissioners “exclusive management control.” It claims the new plan has serious consequences for the current operating budget and cuts will be needed. It names the mayor, city council members who voted for the plan, City Manger Brian Platt, Director of Finance Tammy Queen and the city as Plaintiffs. Lucas immediately responded about the need for some level city control saying the “status quo is killing us.” Lucas welcomes the court challenge saying the court will now evaluate the wisdom of Jefferson City controlling police in Kansas City. Lucas also denies many claims in the lawsuit including the allegation that immediate police cuts will be needed. You can read the entire lawsuit here. Bishop Mark Tolbert, President, on behalf of the Kansas City, Missouri Board of Police Commissioners, issued this statement: “While I understand the frustration of the Mayor, the City Council and some citizens of Kansas City, Missouri, I also understand that we must abide by the laws enacted by our Missouri Legislature. In March 2021, the City appropriated funds for the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department’s operating expenses for the year.  An unexpected $42 million change to our budget risks a disruption in services to our citizens.  I ask that the Mayor and the City Council withdraw the two ordinances at issue.  Otherwise, the Board of Police Commissioners will be forced to continue pursuing injunctive relief in order to fulfill our duties as outlined by the Missouri Legislature.  The Board of Police Commissioners stands ready to negotiate next year’s budget, and we hope to continue dialogue with the Mayor, the City Council and other stakeholders. Our goal is to work together to strengthen and improve the services we provide to the diverse population of Kansas City, Missouri.” Lucas issued this lengthy statement on Friday:  “My friends, this week we have already lost three more of our brothers and sisters to homicide.  We are in an epidemic of violent crime, with record breaking murders year after year. In my life, we’ve had more than 4,000 murders in our city—a larger population than any high school in this region and this state—all lives lost and lost far too soon.   Despite that, the Board of Police Commissioners has met twice this week, quickly going into non-public closed sessions, not spending a minute talking about violent crime in our community and how we can make our neighborhoods safer. While expected, today’s lawsuit reflects a failure— a failure of our status quo—where power and politics get the attention and the energy of our state, not the toll of violence in our neighborhoods and tragedies of human lives.   While the Board’s lawsuit represents a call for the status quo, under the status quo, we have lost kids like LeGend Taliferro. Under the status quo, two people were killed on our streets just yesterday.   Folks, we can’t keep doing the same thing over and over again. The status quo is killing us.   As I’ve said before, Kansas City, reluctantly embraces this litigation to shed light on and strike down a system that for generations has been unfair, unconstitutional, and, sadly, unsuccessful.   I appreciate that rather than fixing this in the legislature, a court will decide on whether this system, one that ignores the voices of the people and hasn’t worked for decades, is good for Kansas City.    Over the past week, we have heard many distortions and distractions about the ordinances passed in council last week. This increases funding to the police.     This increases neighborhood involvement in public safety, and this increases my accountability, your elected’s accountability to the victims and the neighborhoods plagued by decades of crime in Kansas City.     The only thing it decreases is the power of Jefferson City to keep looking the other way as our community tries to rid ourselves of these tragedies each and every day.   Over the past week, the City Manager has met in person with the police chief and conversations are ongoing about how the department working with the City can make us safer.  To the people of Kansas City and the rank of file of the Kansas City Police Department: we stand with you, we grieve with you, and those of us here in Kansas City will not use your pain, will not use your work to score political points, unlike too many at the state level.   Rest assured, every officer at KCPD today will have a job next week, next month, and next year. We’ve funded a new academy class to have more join you, to support the great work you do in our community.  Don’t believe those who seek to divide us when we all have a shared goal of keeping the community safe.  I support our law enforcement and know that in this action, we are giving them the tools, the relationships, and the local voices to be safer in this city every day.   Kansas City will fight vigorously this effort to keep our hands tied in solving one of our greatest challenges for decades.  Kansas City will fight to shine light on best practices and community collaboration with our police officers, rather than stay in the dark about where taxpayer money goes, what we’re doing, and how the hell we can once and for all get out of this situation.  We have a murder problem and it’s getting worse. I’m committed to solving it, even if it takes us going all the way to the United States Supreme Court.    Our lawyers are currently reviewing the filings, will oppose any emergency motions, and will evaluate all Constitutional counterclaims, including that this system undervalues the voices of all taxpaying Kansas Citians.” KCTV5.com is now with you on the go! Get the latest news updates and video, StormTrack5 weather forecast, weather radar, special investigative reports, sports headlines and much more from KCTV5 News.  >> Click/tap here to download our free mobile app.

[wineanddinosaur]

14 Things You Should Know About Boulevard Brewing Co.

It all began in the summer of 1984 with a European vacation. John McDonald found himself in Paris at a bar that specialized in Belgian beer. The pints he sipped that day inspired him to make beer himself — but it would be five more years until he opened Boulevard Brewing Co. in Kansas City, Mo. After attending art school, and taking up cabinet making, McDonald proved himself to be a true beer pioneer when he finally opened Boulevard in 1989.

In 2013, Boulevard joined Brewery Ommegang as part of the Duvel Moortgat family (which also includes Firestone Walker Brewing Company and breweries across Europe, such as Belgium’s Brasserie d’Achouffe and Birrificio del Ducato in Italy). McDonald sits on the company’s board, and we imagine he has the opportunity to fly off to Europe, or that bar in Paris, at more regular intervals than he did on that trip so long ago.

When asked why he started the brewery, McDonald says that he was really interested in making things. He’s made something pretty impressive with Boulevard. Here are 14 things you need to know about Boulevard Brewing.

Boring beer paled in comparison to Boulevard’s first ale.

In Boulevard’s early days, McDonald brewed beers he’d been dreaming about for half a decade. Those beers, like Boulevard Pale Ale, a combination of caramel malts and zesty hops, and Unfiltered Wheat Beer, a citrusy American-style wheat beer, would eventually win national attention and awards.

The first keg of Boulevard Pale Ale was sold on Nov. 17, 1989. McDonald threw it in the back of his pickup truck and delivered it in person to the brewery’s first customer: a Mexican restaurant two minutes down the road. (A year later, McDonald convinced an investor to give him the capital he needed to buy a very small, very used bottling line, allowing the Boulevard team to start bottling.)

Boulevard’s saison was many Americans’ first.

After Belgian brewer Steven Pauwels came on board as Boulevard’s brewmaster, he took a stab at Belgian-style saison, a style not common — or well known — in much of the U.S. at the time. Eventually, Boulevard would help popularize the saison style with Tank 7 when it arrived in 2009 (a decade after Brewery Ommegang took the lead by introducing Hennepin Farmhouse Saison).

Brewed with a combination of Belgian yeasts (though not specifically saison yeasts) and dry-hopped with Amarillo, Tank 7 got set aside in the fermentation tank marked “seven” — which reportedly was the brewers’ least favorite tank of the bunch for an undisclosed reason. During quality control, someone took a sip and it blew them away. The brewers named it Tank 7 and incorporated it into its Smokestack Series, a collection of big, bold beers. The dry but spicy beer with notes of grapefruit from the hops immediately found a thirsty audience.

Tank 7 was ‘discovered,’ and became a movie star.

In January of 2020, Tank 7 stepped onto the silver screen — or, maybe more accurately, the aluminum screen. Boulevard decided to can its saison, printing the label onto 16-ounce aluminum cans and tucking them into 4-packs. The fresh packaging came as part of a partnership with Paramount Pictures to promote the release of “A Quiet Place Part II.”

According to Neil Gershon, vice president of marketing at Boulevard, the beer paired well with the film because they were both “scary good.” It also complements a big bucket of popcorn pretty well.

It left the brewery a beer and came back a whiskey.

When Boulevard shipped a tanker of its Unfiltered Wheat to Foundry Distilling Company, in West Des Moines, Iowa, it was the beginning of a two-year-long coming-of-age story. Foundry’s Scott Bush distilled the beer, then aged it for two years in 30-gallon charred oak barrels. The resulting spirit, an 89-proof American malt whiskey that featured aromas and flavors of banana bread, allspice, and caramel, arrived at Iowa retailers in August of 2020. Distribution of the whiskey, Midnight Ritual, would later extend to Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska.

Midnight Ritual was the first in a series of brewer and distiller collaborations that Foundry intends to release. The distillery has teamed up with several other breweries aside from Boulevard. Whiskeys distilled from Stone Brewing Co.’s Arrogant Bastard Ale and Surly Brewing Co.’s Furious IPA, among several others, are slated for release in 2021.

Boulevard’s brewmaster has friends with benefits.

Boulevard’s Unfiltered Wheat wasn’t the first of the brewery’s beers to step into a whiskey barrel. Boulevard brewmaster Steven Pauwels had a working relationship with Bush, having used barrels from the distiller’s previous venture, Templeton Rye, to age Boulevard’s Smokestack Series. The special collection includes bigger, bolder bottle offerings such as a Whiskey Barrel Stout, Bourbon Barrel Quad, and Tank 7.

McDonald brewed, built cabinets, and slept at the brewery.

In order to get the money required to start a new business, McDonald sold his house, moved into an old brick building in town, and operated his cabinetry business in a corner. Meanwhile, he retrofitted the building and installed a 35-barrel vintage Bavarian brewhouse. The building, originally a laundry for the Santa Fe Railway from 1859 to 1995, operated as the Boulevard headquarters until an expansion in 2006. (McDonald eventually moved out.)

Boulevard crossed the road.

By 2004, that original 35-barrel vintage Bavarian brewhouse was working overtime, producing nearly 100,000 barrels of beer per year. Boulevard had grown too big for its original brick building. That’s why in 2005, the brewery broke ground on a new headquarters across the street.

The three-story, 70,000-square-foot construction took advantage of urban land use to minimize its  footprint and also featured a sustainable design. In the years following the completion of the new brewery, Boulevard installed solar panels and adopted a zero landfill policy, meaning that the entire company either recycles or composts all of its waste.

Boulevard beer is a stadium staple.

For the last 20 years, seamheads have been able to find Boulevard beers at Kauffman Stadium, where the Kansas City Royals play. In 2020, they took it up a notch by collaborating with two players: Third baseman Hunter Dozier and second baseman Whit Merrifield. Together, the players and Boulevard released Hustle Up!, a 100-calorie blonde ale. T-shirts sold to memorialize the partnership benefit both the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kansas City and the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kansas City.

Boulevard kicks glass.

As a way to extend its continued efforts to protect the environment, Boulevard teamed up with neighboring companies and organizations in the community to find a better way to recycle the glass used by Kansas Citians. The solution they came up with was Ripple Glass and it started in 2009.

By supporting the construction of a local glass processing plant and setting giant purple bins around the city, the group found a way to recycle used glass more effectively than sending it to a landfill. In addition, a local manufacturer transforms the glass into fiberglass insulation, and other partners have found ways to reuse the glass as well.

As of 2020, more than 80 surrounding communities, like Jefferson City and Branson, have adopted Ripple Glass to help them keep used glass products out of their landfills.

Boulevard practices sustainability, inside and out.

Not only does Boulevard practice sustainability inside, but it’s also gone green on the roof. Literally. The brewery installed a green roof on the top of the brewhouse and packaging building, which basically just means it planted a wide array of greenery and plants up there. It helps insulate the building, lowering heating and air-conditioning needs and minimizes the amount of energy needed to run the facility.

Boulevard needed more room for activities.

In 2016, another expansion added the Tours & Rec center next door to the brewery. It included a 10,000- square-foot beer hall and acted as a hub for brewery tours. The building included exhibits about Boulevard and its beer. The Rec Deck, an outdoor space, was added to the fourth floor in 2019. The 2016 expansion also gave Boulevard a 3,600-square-foot facility for six more 1,000-barrel fermentation tanks. It increased the brewery’s fermentation capability by 40 percent.

Boulevard fills cans the fancy way.

A $10 million canning line arrived at the brewery in April of 2018. It was Boulevard’s extreme entry into canning. The brewery, which had primarily relied on glass prior to this time, could now fill 350 12-ounce cans in a minute with its new fancy high-speed contraption.

The other interesting thing about this canning line? It fills cans warm. More technically, it uses a warm filling process to allow secondary fermentation after packaging. While Boulevard had been doing this with its bottles for years, it was relatively unheard of for cans.

To sell its own beer, it had to make wine.

Part of the 2006 expansion included a suite above the brewery where Boulevard hosts private events. Because of local laws, the brewery quickly learned it couldn’t sell its own beer in that suite during certain events — but discovered through research that wineries in the state had the ability to get permits that allow selling their own products on-premise. So, after a rigmarole with a lawyer, Boulevard got the permits it needed and started its own wine brand: Boulevard Wine. It would result in McDonald planting a small vineyard on two acres in Truman Lake, Mo. The Boulevard house wines are still served at on-site events.

Eat, drink, and be married at Boulevard.

Speaking of that event suite, couples get married there. The Muehlebach Suite, on the top floor of the brewery, can be reserved for wedding receptions, along with corporate and non-profit events. The package includes Boulevard beer and wine, a gorgeous view of Kansas City, a custom pint glass for each guest, and of course, a good story.

The article 14 Things You Should Know About Boulevard Brewing Co. appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/boulevard-brewing-tank-7-guide/

[johnboothus]

14 Things You Should Know About Boulevard Brewing Co.

It all began in the summer of 1984 with a European vacation. John McDonald found himself in Paris at a bar that specialized in Belgian beer. The pints he sipped that day inspired him to make beer himself — but it would be five more years until he opened Boulevard Brewing Co. in Kansas City, Mo. After attending art school, and taking up cabinet making, McDonald proved himself to be a true beer pioneer when he finally opened Boulevard in 1989.

In 2013, Boulevard joined Brewery Ommegang as part of the Duvel Moortgat family (which also includes Firestone Walker Brewing Company and breweries across Europe, such as Belgium’s Brasserie d’Achouffe and Birrificio del Ducato in Italy). McDonald sits on the company’s board, and we imagine he has the opportunity to fly off to Europe, or that bar in Paris, at more regular intervals than he did on that trip so long ago.

When asked why he started the brewery, McDonald says that he was really interested in making things. He’s made something pretty impressive with Boulevard. Here are 14 things you need to know about Boulevard Brewing.

Boring beer paled in comparison to Boulevard’s first ale.

In Boulevard’s early days, McDonald brewed beers he’d been dreaming about for half a decade. Those beers, like Boulevard Pale Ale, a combination of caramel malts and zesty hops, and Unfiltered Wheat Beer, a citrusy American-style wheat beer, would eventually win national attention and awards.

The first keg of Boulevard Pale Ale was sold on Nov. 17, 1989. McDonald threw it in the back of his pickup truck and delivered it in person to the brewery’s first customer: a Mexican restaurant two minutes down the road. (A year later, McDonald convinced an investor to give him the capital he needed to buy a very small, very used bottling line, allowing the Boulevard team to start bottling.)

Boulevard’s saison was many Americans’ first.

After Belgian brewer Steven Pauwels came on board as Boulevard’s brewmaster, he took a stab at Belgian-style saison, a style not common — or well known — in much of the U.S. at the time. Eventually, Boulevard would help popularize the saison style with Tank 7 when it arrived in 2009 (a decade after Brewery Ommegang took the lead by introducing Hennepin Farmhouse Saison).

Brewed with a combination of Belgian yeasts (though not specifically saison yeasts) and dry-hopped with Amarillo, Tank 7 got set aside in the fermentation tank marked “seven” — which reportedly was the brewers’ least favorite tank of the bunch for an undisclosed reason. During quality control, someone took a sip and it blew them away. The brewers named it Tank 7 and incorporated it into its Smokestack Series, a collection of big, bold beers. The dry but spicy beer with notes of grapefruit from the hops immediately found a thirsty audience.

Tank 7 was ‘discovered,’ and became a movie star.

In January of 2020, Tank 7 stepped onto the silver screen — or, maybe more accurately, the aluminum screen. Boulevard decided to can its saison, printing the label onto 16-ounce aluminum cans and tucking them into 4-packs. The fresh packaging came as part of a partnership with Paramount Pictures to promote the release of “A Quiet Place Part II.”

According to Neil Gershon, vice president of marketing at Boulevard, the beer paired well with the film because they were both “scary good.” It also complements a big bucket of popcorn pretty well.

It left the brewery a beer and came back a whiskey.

When Boulevard shipped a tanker of its Unfiltered Wheat to Foundry Distilling Company, in West Des Moines, Iowa, it was the beginning of a two-year-long coming-of-age story. Foundry’s Scott Bush distilled the beer, then aged it for two years in 30-gallon charred oak barrels. The resulting spirit, an 89-proof American malt whiskey that featured aromas and flavors of banana bread, allspice, and caramel, arrived at Iowa retailers in August of 2020. Distribution of the whiskey, Midnight Ritual, would later extend to Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska.

Midnight Ritual was the first in a series of brewer and distiller collaborations that Foundry intends to release. The distillery has teamed up with several other breweries aside from Boulevard. Whiskeys distilled from Stone Brewing Co.’s Arrogant Bastard Ale and Surly Brewing Co.’s Furious IPA, among several others, are slated for release in 2021.

Boulevard’s brewmaster has friends with benefits.

Boulevard’s Unfiltered Wheat wasn’t the first of the brewery’s beers to step into a whiskey barrel. Boulevard brewmaster Steven Pauwels had a working relationship with Bush, having used barrels from the distiller’s previous venture, Templeton Rye, to age Boulevard’s Smokestack Series. The special collection includes bigger, bolder bottle offerings such as a Whiskey Barrel Stout, Bourbon Barrel Quad, and Tank 7.

McDonald brewed, built cabinets, and slept at the brewery.

In order to get the money required to start a new business, McDonald sold his house, moved into an old brick building in town, and operated his cabinetry business in a corner. Meanwhile, he retrofitted the building and installed a 35-barrel vintage Bavarian brewhouse. The building, originally a laundry for the Santa Fe Railway from 1859 to 1995, operated as the Boulevard headquarters until an expansion in 2006. (McDonald eventually moved out.)

Boulevard crossed the road.

By 2004, that original 35-barrel vintage Bavarian brewhouse was working overtime, producing nearly 100,000 barrels of beer per year. Boulevard had grown too big for its original brick building. That’s why in 2005, the brewery broke ground on a new headquarters across the street.

The three-story, 70,000-square-foot construction took advantage of urban land use to minimize its  footprint and also featured a sustainable design. In the years following the completion of the new brewery, Boulevard installed solar panels and adopted a zero landfill policy, meaning that the entire company either recycles or composts all of its waste.

Boulevard beer is a stadium staple.

For the last 20 years, seamheads have been able to find Boulevard beers at Kauffman Stadium, where the Kansas City Royals play. In 2020, they took it up a notch by collaborating with two players: Third baseman Hunter Dozier and second baseman Whit Merrifield. Together, the players and Boulevard released Hustle Up!, a 100-calorie blonde ale. T-shirts sold to memorialize the partnership benefit both the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kansas City and the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kansas City.

Boulevard kicks glass.

As a way to extend its continued efforts to protect the environment, Boulevard teamed up with neighboring companies and organizations in the community to find a better way to recycle the glass used by Kansas Citians. The solution they came up with was Ripple Glass and it started in 2009.

By supporting the construction of a local glass processing plant and setting giant purple bins around the city, the group found a way to recycle used glass more effectively than sending it to a landfill. In addition, a local manufacturer transforms the glass into fiberglass insulation, and other partners have found ways to reuse the glass as well.

As of 2020, more than 80 surrounding communities, like Jefferson City and Branson, have adopted Ripple Glass to help them keep used glass products out of their landfills.

Boulevard practices sustainability, inside and out.

Not only does Boulevard practice sustainability inside, but it’s also gone green on the roof. Literally. The brewery installed a green roof on the top of the brewhouse and packaging building, which basically just means it planted a wide array of greenery and plants up there. It helps insulate the building, lowering heating and air-conditioning needs and minimizes the amount of energy needed to run the facility.

Boulevard needed more room for activities.

In 2016, another expansion added the Tours & Rec center next door to the brewery. It included a 10,000- square-foot beer hall and acted as a hub for brewery tours. The building included exhibits about Boulevard and its beer. The Rec Deck, an outdoor space, was added to the fourth floor in 2019. The 2016 expansion also gave Boulevard a 3,600-square-foot facility for six more 1,000-barrel fermentation tanks. It increased the brewery’s fermentation capability by 40 percent.

Boulevard fills cans the fancy way.

A $10 million canning line arrived at the brewery in April of 2018. It was Boulevard’s extreme entry into canning. The brewery, which had primarily relied on glass prior to this time, could now fill 350 12-ounce cans in a minute with its new fancy high-speed contraption.

The other interesting thing about this canning line? It fills cans warm. More technically, it uses a warm filling process to allow secondary fermentation after packaging. While Boulevard had been doing this with its bottles for years, it was relatively unheard of for cans.

To sell its own beer, it had to make wine.

Part of the 2006 expansion included a suite above the brewery where Boulevard hosts private events. Because of local laws, the brewery quickly learned it couldn’t sell its own beer in that suite during certain events — but discovered through research that wineries in the state had the ability to get permits that allow selling their own products on-premise. So, after a rigmarole with a lawyer, Boulevard got the permits it needed and started its own wine brand: Boulevard Wine. It would result in McDonald planting a small vineyard on two acres in Truman Lake, Mo. The Boulevard house wines are still served at on-site events.

Eat, drink, and be married at Boulevard.

Speaking of that event suite, couples get married there. The Muehlebach Suite, on the top floor of the brewery, can be reserved for wedding receptions, along with corporate and non-profit events. The package includes Boulevard beer and wine, a gorgeous view of Kansas City, a custom pint glass for each guest, and of course, a good story.

The article 14 Things You Should Know About Boulevard Brewing Co. appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/boulevard-brewing-tank-7-guide/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/14-things-you-should-know-about-boulevard-brewing-co

[kansascityhappenings]

Family still seeking answers in death of 26-year-old man police killed in December

KANSAS CITY, Mo.— For more than three months, family, friends and lawyers of Cameron Lamb have been searching for answers about the shooting at the hands of Kansas City Police, that left the father of three dead.

“Law enforcement has been very tight lipped about their investigation,” said civil rights attorney S. Lee Merritt, who is representing the Lamb’s family in the legal proceedings.

Details of the shooting have been not been clear.

Here’s how police described the shooting:

On the afternoon of Dec. 3, 2019, Lamb was chasing another car in his truck near 35th and College.

The KCPD Helicopter Unit spotted him, and followed him behind a home near 40th and College.

That’s when two-plain clothes officers approached him while he was still in the truck.

One officer said he shot at Lamb, after seeing him pull out a gun, and point it at the other officer.

Police say a gun was found at the scene.

“The officers are going to say that they feared for their life, Mr. Lamb represented a threat to them,” Merritt saud,

Merritt, who has been front and center of police shootings of Botham Jean and Atatiana Jefferson, both who were shot by officers while in their own space, says Lamb’s case is very similar, where the civil rights of those killed were violated.

Merritt said Lamb did own a gun, but it hasn’t been proven that he flashed it at police, but he said because officers weren’t chasing him there was no need to be on the property.

“If there was an ongoing pursuit going on, they could go onto the property, but there was no ongoing pursuit. You can’t create a deadly hazard and then use it as the justification for use of force,” he said.

Merritt said he is conducting his own investigation into the shooting that includes witness statements, scene recreations, and autopsy findings.

He said he’s pleased with the investigation be conducted by the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, and has turned over some of his own findings to help with the investigation.

“It’s not easy to prosecute a police officer in the United States, but we anticipate criminal charges being brought against this officer and then that civil suit will be state.”

Merritt said each passing day has been tough for the parents of Lamb, who are seeking justice and closure.

“It’s been troubling all together because we just have not heard much of anything regarding the case, it’s just hard when you’re waiting,” Cameron’s mom Laurie Bey said.

She said celebrating Christmas just weeks after Cameron’s death, and the Chiefs Super Bowl victory without her son has been the toughest things she’s ever done.

“You go to sleep at night, he’s on your mind, you wake up in the morning he’s on your mind,” Bey said.

In addition to seeking answers, Merritt is also educating others about their own fourth amendment rights.

Serving as a panelist on a discussion forum called Killed By Police: It Can Happen To You.

The event Thursday night aimed to raise awareness about law enforcement and the levels of transparency in cases like Lamb’s.

Merritt said he has enough evidence to support a civil lawsuit.

The Jackson County Prosecutors office told FOX4, they are currently reviewing the case to determine if the shooting was justified and if charges will be filed.

There’s no timetable on when a decision could be reached.

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/news/family-still-seeking-answers-in-death-of-26-year-old-man-police-killed-in-december/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2020/03/06/family-still-seeking-answers-in-death-of-26-year-old-man-police-killed-in-december/

[anumberofhobbies]

I think this counts as an accessibility fail of sorts.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“M’Cullough’s Life As Told By Himself,” Toronto Star. June 11, 1919. Page 04. --- Story of Boy Led Astray - Was in Jail at Age of Fifteen. --- Frank McCullough’s life story written by himself and delivered to his counsel, Mr. T. C. Robinette, K. C., describes his various activities since the left home at the age of 14 to the last days spent in the death cell at the Toronto Jail.

‘I am not a murderer,’ nor have I the instincts of one,’ says the condemned man.

The article reads as follows:

I was born in Otsego Co., New York, on a farm within five miles of Coopertown, named after the famous author of ‘The Last of the Mohicans.’

My parents were honest, God-fearing people of good old Yankee stock, and my proper name is LeRoy Ward Fay Swart. When I was a little over 11 years of age my father’s home was by some accident burned to the ground, so he sold the old farm and moved to Jersey City, N. J. , where he obtained work as a carpenter on the Pennsylvania Railroad. I have two sisters and a brother, all of whom are younger than myself, the oldest being at this time twenty-two. While we were in Jersey City, I attended public school until I was thirteen and then we moved over to Brooklyn, N. Y., where I continued my Public school education.

Read Lurid Tales I enjoy reading very much, and, as most young boys of that age, read what are termed dime movie novels a great deal, and when I was a few months over fourteen I became imbued with the glamor of the life of some of these fictious heroes, and ran away from my home.

Dupe of Tramps. I had about $10, the proceeds of a boyish stamp collection, and with it I purchased a ticket on one of the Hudson River boats to Albany, N.Y. Incidentally, my people made several efforts to find me, but I did not communicate with them for a year.

Well, in Albany they were erecting a new educational building at the time. I got work as a water boy and worked for seven months or more. I quit there and went to the railway yards and beat my way to Erie, Pa., where I was taken in charge by a couple of real tramps, and they in a few weeks initiated me to the duties of a ‘look-out’ while they performed various burglaries and robberies.

In Trouble at 15. I was with them about four months, and was arrested one night in Kansas City, Mo., for investigation, and I admitted being implicated in these crimes. It was the first time in my life I had been in trouble, and I was just one month over fifteen years of age. But, nevertheless, I was sentenced by Judge Latshaw to ten years in the penitentiary at Jefferson City, Mo.

I had no lawyers or friends. The other two men promptly vanished. I was in such a state of mind I did not know what to do. There was only three days interval between my arrest and my sentence. Had I had a lawyer, I would have been sent to the Reform School at Moodville.

Wrote to Mother. Well, after I had recovered what little sense I had, I wrote a letter to my dear mother and told her that I was going on an exploring and prospecting trip with some men and that she would not hear from me again for some years. I was taken to the pen, and did not write again for over ten years. After that time I had begun to have a glimmering of more mature sense, so I sat down and wrote the whole thing to her, and their efforts were successful in getting my sentence reduced to five years. I was released on the 15th day of October, 1914, and my number was 12,222.

In U.S. Army. Being ashamed to go home then, I went to Joplin, Mo., and enlisted in the United States army. The Mexican trouble was raging at the time and I was shot in the right leg. I was in the army for two years and three months. After my discharge I came to Canada and received work at Banfield’s munition plant, with the intention of joining an overseas battalion, as that was before the United States had entered the war, and as I had studied hard during my incarceration, and having had previous field experience, I thought I might be able to pass for a commission in one of the Canadian units.

Here to Enlist. My leg, however, not being completely cured (the bone had been somewhat shattered), I was turned down for a time, and after working here a few weeks I happened on one of my fellow-prisoner from Missouri, and again I got into trouble.

Sent to Burwash. I was sent to Burwash for one year. The first week I was there I gave my word to the superintendent in charge that I would run away, and was made a trusty (without any guard) and finally after nine months, was paroled. I came back to Toronto and went to work for Barker’s Bread Bakery, as a driver, as the hours were shorter and more pay was given. Then, again, I ran across the man of whom I spoke before, and another young man from Ottawa, and I fell once more into the crooked path.

Never Carried Weapon. But I never carried a revolver or other dangerous weapons in my life except when I was in the army, and I have never broken my word, and I will endeavor to tell the facts regarding this terrible tragedy the best that I know how.

I went up to Ottawa to visit the man Johnson, and while there we burglarized a store and shipped the goods to Toronto. We arrived here ourselves on Sunday morning. Johnson went to a friend’s house to stay, while I went to my room. We met that afternoon and Johnson showed me a revolver that he had purchased from his friend. I remonstrated with him about it in his friend’s hearing, but to no avail. We parted company then until the next day when we met as usual and going to the livery stable of Mr. Cross we hired a rig and took some of these stolen goods around to the store and sold them.

The Shooting. The next day we did the same and one of the proprietors of the store notified the police, and when we returned the horse and wagon, Detective Frank Williams was waiting for us.

Mr. Cross took the rig down to his stables and we returned with the detective. He had come between us grasped us by the shoulders. We turned with him and went to the little back office of Cross’s. Johnson went through the door first, then Williams, then myself. He was turned sideways so as not to let go of us. The office was dark and as soon as Williams was inside Johnson pulled the revolver and fired. Williams let loose at me and attempted to grapple with Johnson and he fired once more.

Tried to Stop Pal. I cried, ‘quit that, you fool,’ and jumped at him and grabbed his arm with one hand, the right, and the gun with the left, just as he fired once for the bullet going into the roof, and the fire burning my left hand. He let go the gun and went through the next office, though the front door and away.

Questions Evidence. In the meantime Williams had pulled his ‘billy’ and jumped on me. We wrestled a little while and that is when Cross came to the door. The whole thing had only taken a matter of seconds till then, and Cross was mistaken at my trial, as the evidence at the inquest, how own evidence, will show, for he had taken the rig to the back of his wagon shed, a distance of perhaps 200 feet from us, and was unhitching the horse when the first shot was fired, and all three were practically simultaneous as the evidence shows.

Had Forgotten Gun. I was trying my darndest to ward off the blows, and Cross was choking me. In fact, I had forgotten all about the darned gun when it went off, I swear, by accident, and God knows, it is the truth if no one else does. Whereup Cross shifted one of his armed around my right arm by the elbow to order to hold the gun, I suppose. Anyway, Williams hit me on right over my left eye, and I must have the pulled the trigger again, but I do not remember. All I do know is I felt myself falling but he only stunned me for a moment, I guess, for I staggered to my feet and attempted to run, but was tripped by someone before I had gone 40 steps, and, well - that is all, excepting, God forgive me, and God rest Frank Williams’ soul.

Not a Murderer. ‘I am not a murderer, nor have I the instincts of one, thank God, although I am convicted as one, and if I have to die on the gallows, my conscience is clear as to that, and I will die as a man, I hope. I do not fear death myself, thanks to the best Christian man I ever met, the Rev. Bertram Nelles, of this city. God bless him.’

Carried No Weapon. ‘All I will say in regard to my escape from here is this. In the circumstances who would not have done the same? If the thing had required violence I would not have gone, and during my brief freedom I had two opportunities to get firearms, but would not take them. In fact, would not even carry a penknife, and if by any chance God sees fit to have mercy on me, and I am granted commutation of sentence, my word is given to NEVER do any wrong again.

‘I will close this epistle now. God help my poor old mother, brothers and sisters. My father is dead, may he rest easy. And God have mercy on me. His Will Be Done.’ (Signed). FRANK McCULLOUGH

[brydonlaw]

Our attorneys and lawyers have diverse experience and complementary talents to provide you with attentive, efficient service. Contact us today to learn more about where to start if you are considering filing for divorce or your spouse already has. You are not alone. Visit our website today: https://brydonlaw.com

[dowcolawncare]

Lawn Treatment Grubville Mo

Contents

Lawn care plans

Care specifically designed

Sexual harassment lawyer

Top rated lawn care maintenance

Mo. … bloomsdale

Page 1 (transcriber

TruGreen lawn care plans provide year-round care specifically designed for the turf and environmental conditions of Missouri. Click to find the nearest local …

Use FindLaw to hire a local sexual harassment lawyer to help recover damages from retaliatory discharge or other disparate treatment. Need a lawyer in Missouri? FindLaw’s Lawyer Directory is the largest online directory of lawyers.

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Jefferson Democrat. June 4, 1896 . page 1 (transcriber note: A full column is included of names of individuals who were injured/killed during the cyclone/tornado that hit St. Louis; the entire front page of this issue is devoted to this.)

from In Control Dandelion Wentzville Mo http://www.dowcolawncare.com/lawn-treatment-grubville-mo/

[janicecpitts]

Remodeling Springfield Mo

Contents

Tax issues tuesday

Professional remodeling services

Cities. alamo drafthouse

Pro remodeling contractor

6.19.2017 st. louis

L. Keeley Construction Co. was awarded a $5.5 million contract to remodel the Sam’s Club store in Springfield, Mo., for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the company announced Friday. The contracting firm said th…

The most trusted remodeling contractors in Springfield, MO are on Porch. See costs, photos, licenses and reviews from friends and neighbors. Get the best info  …

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 193 – Serving Springfield and all of Central Illinois

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.–Renovations will soon start on a building dedicated … staff at Foster Adopt Connect are looking forward to more room once the remodeling is finished. “So excited, I think everyone …

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. –Voters will decide several tax issues tuesday at the … voters to continue an operating tax without increasing it. The money would pay for remodeling and repairs for the district’s …

Smart Stone The current version of Windows, 8.1, hides its old-style desktop mode under a layer of touchscreen-optimised apps. All the hybrids here try to get the

custody lawyers in springfield mo. 5% from the reported claims and achieving rear ended made up 11.

ABOUT COMPLETE REALTY REAL ESTATE & MANAGEMENT. Complete Realty is a full service real estate company that operates out of Marshfield, MO and helps people in southwest MO sell and manage their real estate property.

As a home remodeling company in Springfield, we specialize in kitchens, bathrooms, basements & outdoor living. For professional remodeling services, call …

Other stops on the tour include Joplin and Jefferson City, Mo.; Bettendorf, Iowa … First St.; pharmacy remodeling. * Springfield Clinic Orthopedic Group, 800 N. First St.; remodeling. Contact Tim La…

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – Two theater chains want customers to be able … to educate the city council about how it works in other cities. alamo drafthouse is busy remodeling the former Campbell 16 the…

Read real reviews and see ratings for Springfield, MO Kitchen & Bath Remodel Contractors near you to help you pick the right pro remodeling contractor.

Decks By Design Plastic Decking decking posts sit below the base of the deck and hold the boards in place. The posts provide stability and support the weight Ada Uniforms Vinyl Decking Mo Deck The Millwood and Competitive pools are popular places to be during the summer. The heated pool and deck areas are spacious Remodeling Contractors Springfield Mo Mike M. — 6.19.2017 st. louis, MO. Alex P & Brad C were courteous and did a good job and cleaned up after themselves. They

See past project info for Integrity Renovations including photos, cost and more. Springfield, MO – Remodeling Contractor.

BBB Directory of Remodel Contractors near Springfield, MO. BBB Start with Trust ®. Your guide to trusted BBB Ratings, customer reviews and BBB Accredited …

via Check This Out More Resources

[skilltradecontractor]

Remodeling Springfield Mo

Contents

Tax issues tuesday

Professional remodeling services

Cities. alamo drafthouse

Pro remodeling contractor

6.19.2017 st. louis

L. Keeley Construction Co. was awarded a $5.5 million contract to remodel the Sam’s Club store in Springfield, Mo., for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the company announced Friday. The contracting firm said th…

The most trusted remodeling contractors in Springfield, MO are on Porch. See costs, photos, licenses and reviews from friends and neighbors. Get the best info  …

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 193 – Serving Springfield and all of Central Illinois

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.–Renovations will soon start on a building dedicated … staff at Foster Adopt Connect are looking forward to more room once the remodeling is finished. "So excited, I think everyone …

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. –Voters will decide several tax issues tuesday at the … voters to continue an operating tax without increasing it. The money would pay for remodeling and repairs for the district’s …

Smart Stone The current version of Windows, 8.1, hides its old-style desktop mode under a layer of touchscreen-optimised apps. All the hybrids here try to get the

custody lawyers in springfield mo. 5% from the reported claims and achieving rear ended made up 11.

ABOUT COMPLETE REALTY REAL ESTATE & MANAGEMENT. Complete Realty is a full service real estate company that operates out of Marshfield, MO and helps people in southwest MO sell and manage their real estate property.

As a home remodeling company in Springfield, we specialize in kitchens, bathrooms, basements & outdoor living. For professional remodeling services, call …

Other stops on the tour include Joplin and Jefferson City, Mo.; Bettendorf, Iowa … First St.; pharmacy remodeling. * Springfield Clinic Orthopedic Group, 800 N. First St.; remodeling. Contact Tim La…

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – Two theater chains want customers to be able … to educate the city council about how it works in other cities. alamo drafthouse is busy remodeling the former Campbell 16 the…

Read real reviews and see ratings for Springfield, MO Kitchen & Bath Remodel Contractors near you to help you pick the right pro remodeling contractor.

Decks By Design Plastic Decking decking posts sit below the base of the deck and hold the boards in place. The posts provide stability and support the weight Ada Uniforms Vinyl Decking Mo Deck The Millwood and Competitive pools are popular places to be during the summer. The heated pool and deck areas are spacious Remodeling Contractors Springfield Mo Mike M. — 6.19.2017 st. louis, MO. Alex P & Brad C were courteous and did a good job and cleaned up after themselves. They

See past project info for Integrity Renovations including photos, cost and more. Springfield, MO – Remodeling Contractor.

BBB Directory of Remodel Contractors near Springfield, MO. BBB Start with Trust ®. Your guide to trusted BBB Ratings, customer reviews and BBB Accredited …

via Check This Out

[judelawguardian]

Why Might You Require a Divorce Law firm?

Tips on Selecting the Right Divorce Lawyer Here are some questions to ask a divorce lawyer You'll find numerous county courts in Missouri for every county of this country. Deciding upon a divorce lawyer that's close to your primary location may make things a lot easier for communication, cooperation, and knowledge of their local divorce court.

Divorce in Missouri, like most states, can be confusing and frustrating. Not only does this affect you -- both emotionally and financially -- it can also impact your kids, friends, and family members. If you are considering filing for a divorce, or when your spouse has initiated divorce proceedings, you may require an experienced divorce lawyer that will help you navigate this tricky time whilst protecting your assets and lawful rights. The information found in this post was composed with Missouri in mind, but it still can be useful to other states. The state of Missouri, like other states, has specific legislation on divorce and you'll have to check with a lawyer in your house state to better understand the way the laws of the state of Missouri could differ. An experienced divorce lawyer in Missouri will evaluate your specific situation and advise you at every stage of the divorce process, all with the objective of guaranteeing that the outcome of your legal separation is as favorable as you can and your family.

Hiring a professional divorce attorney in Missouri with experience, objectivity, and specialized knowledge to represent you throughout the marriage annulment event is a skilled idea.

In Missouri (MO), there are tons of competent divorce attorneys in every city. Even in case you don't reside in one of the metropolitan areas such as Kansas City, Springfield, St. Louis, Columbia, or even Jefferson City, you will continue to have the ability to locate a Missouri divorce attorney who can help. Divorce attorneys in Missouri handle various divorce problems, such as settlement agreements, child custody/child visitation, the division of property and financing, and spousal support. If you are searching for a divorce attorney in Missouri, you need to focus on the lawyer's expertise, ability level, dedication, and location or region served.

Divorce proceedings may require divulging many facets of your own personal life and monetary assets, you should feel comfortable talking freely on your lawyer's presence and feel confident in the lawyer's capability to take care of your case. Your divorce lawyer should also have experience managing child support cases and/or division of property difficulties.

It's also important that you be aware of the attorney's style and divorce philosophy, like whether or not cooperative, and whether the Missouri law firm provides divorce alternatives, such as mediation.

Last, because state laws change, it is important that the Missouri law firm has experience handling divorces in the country where the marriage first happened.

When you pass the bar in Missouri, then you are free to practice law anywhere in the state of Missouri. Each divorce attorney will pick a different area according to their needs, the potential for new divorce cases, and other facets. As a consumer, think about what area of Missouri you'll probably be going to court.

Prior to hiring a divorce attorney, you must feel comfortable enough to speak with them concerning all aspects of your circumstance. Below are questions you must ask before hiring a divorce lawyer:

What's involved with the divorce procedure and how long does it typically last?

What's your experience handling child support situations?

Do you provide mediation or other alternative dispute settlement?

What percentage of your law practice is dedicated to divorce cases? How many divorce cases have you tried?

Just how much of my legal divorce case will you actually handle?

Would you give me an estimate of just expensive this will be?

[gettingdivorce]

Why a Divorce Lawyer Can Be Beneficial

How to Select a Good Divorce Lawyer In Missouri (MO), there are plenty of capable divorce attorneys across the Show-Me State. Even in the event, you don't reside in one of the metropolitan areas like Kansas City , Springfield, St. Louis, Columbia, or Jefferson City, you will continue to be able to get a Missouri divorce lawyer who can assist. Divorce lawyers handle various divorce issues, including settlement agreements, kid custody/child visitation, the division of land and finances, and spousal support. If you are searching for a divorce lawyer in the state of Missouri, you should concentrate on the attorney's expertise, ability level, commitment, and location or location served.Potential questions for a divorce law firm Would you give me a quote of how far my divorce will charge?

Divorce doesn’t have to be a super complicated ordeal. Not only does this affect you -- both emotionally and financially -- it may also affect your family. If you are considering filing for a divorce, or when your partner has initiated legal separation proceedings, you might need an experienced divorce lawyer to help you navigate a challenging period time whilst protecting your assets and lawful rights. The information contained in this post has been written with Missouri in mind, but it still may be useful to other states. The state of Missouri, like other states in the midwest, has particular legislation on divorce and you will have to check with a lawyer in your home state to better understand the way the laws of the state of Missouri could be different. If you’re still confused about divorce, navigate here and you can speak with an attorney who will point you in the right direction. An experienced divorce lawyer in the state of Missouri will evaluate your specific situation and advise you at every stage of the divorce procedure, all with the objective of guaranteeing that the result of your separation is as favorable as possible to you and your loved ones. Hiring an honorable divorce attorney with experience, objectivity, and technical knowledge to represent you throughout the legal separation proceeding is a genuine idea.

Since divorce proceedings need divulging many aspects of your personal life and monetary assets, you need to feel comfortable speaking freely in your attorney's presence and feel confident in the lawyer's capacity to take care of your case. Your divorce lawyer must also have experience handling child support cases and/or division of property issues.

It's likewise important that you understand the lawyer's style and divorce doctrine, such as whether combative or cooperative and if the lawyer features marriage dissolution alternatives, such as mediation.

Last, because state laws vary, it is important that the lawyer has experience handling divorces in the state where the union first happened.

When you get a Bar license in Missouri, then you're free to practice law anywhere in the state of Missouri. Each divorce lawyer will select a different area based on their demands, the capacity for new divorce organization, along with other factors. As a consumer, think about what field of the state of Missouri you'll probably be going into court. You'll find numerous county courts in Missouri for each county of the country. Deciding upon a divorce lawyer in Missouri that's close to your main location can make things much easier for communication, collaboration, and knowledge of their neighborhood divorce court. Prior to hiring a divorce attorney in Missouri, you must feel comfortable enough to speak with them concerning all facets of your situation. Below are questions you must ask before hiring a divorce lawyer:

What is involved in the divorce process and how long does it typically last?

What portion of your practice is committed to divorce cases? How many divorce cases have you ever attempted?

Do you have prior experience with child custody or support cases?

How much of my divorce case will you actually handle?

Do you provide mediation or other alternative dispute settlement?

[kansascityhappenings]

Survey finds states give few details on billions spent on virus supplies

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — States are spending billions of dollars stocking up on medical supplies such as masks and breathing machines during the coronavirus pandemic. But more than two months into the buying binge, many aren’t sharing details about how much they’re spending, what they’re getting for their money or which companies they’re paying.

An Associated Press survey of all 50 states found a hodgepodge of public information about the purchase of masks, gloves, gowns and other hard-to-get equipment for medical and emergency workers.

Illinois has one of the most detailed tracking websites, showing the date, vendor, purpose, quantity and price of each purchase. In most states, it’s not that easy. Some provided similar information only after the AP pointed to laws requiring the release of government documents.

The public can see only a piece of the procurement puzzle in many states — maybe an estimate of the total spent on supplies, but not the names of the providers or the price of each item, which could show whether the state got a good deal or was ripped off.

Those details are important because many states set aside purchasing safeguards amid a scramble for supplies among health care providers, states, the U.S. government and other countries. Instead of seeking competitive bids and vetting them for months, states have closed emergency deals in days with businesses claiming to have access to supplies. In some cases, states have prepaid to ensure orders aren’t diverted elsewhere.

Some states say technological barriers prevent them from posting more information. Others provided no explanation for why they aren’t doing so.

Transparency advocates say they’re troubled by the difficulty in getting details about government spending, especially during a crisis that’s shaken the economy and sickened about 1.6 million in the U.S.

“There’s no reason that this information should be hard to come by, and there’s no reason that the states should be keeping it under wraps. That just makes people suspicious,” said Lisa Rosenberg, executive director of Open the Government, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that advocates for government transparency.

After an AP request in late April and early May, 44 states provided figures showing they had ordered or spent more than $6 billion collectively on protective equipment and ventilators. The actual costs likely are higher, because some numbers were several weeks old and some reported only what they had spent so far, not what was in orders still to be delivered.

The AP hasn’t received figures from Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey and Texas. Some provided no specific timeline for releasing the information.

States should prioritize requests for public records that relate to the coronavirus, said Anna Diakun, an attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.

“As this crisis is unfolding, the value of that information is less after the government response has concluded,” Diakun said. “There is still time to make course corrections, but only if the public knows they need to be taken.”

Several states have made changes already. Missouri canceled orders worth $34 million for over 9 million masks made in China after tests showed they didn’t fit properly. A Chinese company refunded California $247 million after missing a deadline for the U.S. to certify its N95 masks were safe and effective.

The AP’s survey shows other states have yet to get their supplies. North Carolina placed orders for $253 million in protective equipment but had received just $21 million of it as of early May. Emergency managers say they’re starting to cancel orders that probably won’t be delivered.

Colorado said it ordered over $58 million in protective equipment but has paid just $44,000 so far because it hasn’t received most of the supplies. The state has declined to identify its vendors in case they “fall victim to fraud or customs delays” and can’t deliver the goods, the health department said.

By contrast, Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza has created a website tracking coronavirus-related spending. It shows what was purchased, from what business, on what date, in what amount and at what cost.

“Transparency, to me, is like a pathway to rebuilding trust in government,” Mendoza said.

The website, for example, shows that the state paid nearly $11.8 million to Steven MacGeachy on May 6 for 2.4 million N95 masks.

MacGeachy, who does business as The Rare Group LLC in suburban Chicago, declined to tell the AP where he got the masks. He said he specializes in accessing global government institutions and wealthy people.

“I got involved in this particular instance in an effort to make sure that the state of which I live in was able to procure good product at fair pricing,” MacGeachy said.

State purchasing records show MacGeachy and numerous other businesses required full prepayment.

“Normally, we wouldn’t be able to do that, nor would we ever even entertain the thought,” Mendoza said. But “we kind of had a gun to our head — we didn’t have the leverage to negotiate the best deals.”

Though not posted online, officials in Georgia, Iowa, Kansas and Louisiana provided the AP with detailed lists showing how much they paid each vendor and how many supplies they got.

Other states are posting only certain information.

Minnesota publishes a biweekly online COVID-19 report detailing the prices and quantities purchased, but not the vendors. Washington state posts a list of vendors it uses to buy protective equipment, but not the amounts paid or ordered from each.

Missouri Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick launched a website showing how the state is using federal coronavirus aid. Because that money can reimburse state purchases, the site is gradually including some of the $42 million spent on protective equipment. It shows the amount paid to each vendor but only for general categories like “medical and dental supplies.”

Fitzpatrick said he’s limited by a more than 20-year-old computer accounting system.

“In a perfect world, I’d love to be able to put a check and a copy of every invoice up so people could see what it was,” he said. “But that’s not a realistic thing for us right now. That would be a massive amount of document scanning and uploading and cataloging.”

Ohio also said computer programming complications kept it from releasing more information. Three agencies have committed more than $109 million for personal protective equipment, but “a comprehensive number would be very difficult to ascertain because there is no single code in the State accounting system to identify PPE,” Bill Teets, a spokesman for the Department of Administrative Services, said in an email.

Missouri lawyer Dave Roland, who represents residents in public records lawsuits, said details of government coronavirus purchases should be easily available.

“It’s 2020,” he said. “There should be no difficulty in making this information available online.”

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/tracking-coronavirus/survey-finds-states-give-few-details-on-billions-spent-on-virus-supplies/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2020/05/25/survey-finds-states-give-few-details-on-billions-spent-on-virus-supplies/

[mastcomm]

W.N.B.A.’s Maya Moore to Skip Another Season to Focus on Prisoner’s Case

Maya Moore, the W.N.B.A. star regarded as one of the greats of the sport, will sit out for a second straight season and remove herself from contention for the Olympics so she can continue to push for criminal justice reform and the release of Jonathan Irons, a man she believes is innocent of the crime for which he was sentenced to prison.

“I’m in a really good place right now with my life, and I don’t want to change anything,” Moore, an eight-year Minnesota Lynx forward, told The New York Times in a telephone interview this week from her home in Atlanta. “Basketball has not been foremost in my mind. I’ve been able to rest, and connect with people around me, actually be in their presence after all of these years on the road. And I’ve been able to be there for Jonathan.”

Irons, now 39, whom she met in 2017 during a visit to the Jefferson City Correctional Center in Missouri, is serving a 50-year sentence after being convicted of burglary and assaulting a homeowner with a gun. Born into severe poverty, Irons was 16 when the incident occurred in a St. Louis suburb. The homeowner testified that Irons was the perpetrator, but there were no corroborating witnesses, fingerprints, footprints, DNA or blood evidence to connect Irons to the crime, his lawyers said.

Irons, who is African-American, was tried as an adult and found guilty by an all-white jury.

Moore shocked women’s basketball last winter by announcing that she was taking a season off to support Irons as he appealed his conviction. Only 29 years old at the time and still in her prime, she left the door open for a return to the Olympics this summer in Tokyo and the W.N.B.A., where she has led the Lynx to four championships since her rookie season in 2011.

Moore said she was fatigued by the grinding year-round schedule that top female basketball players endure to supplement a W.N.B.A. salary of roughly $120,000 a season — about one quarter of what LeBron James makes in a single regular-season game. (A new labor pact will boost W.N.B.A. salaries and benefits in coming years.) Moore tried to maximize her earnings by playing in leagues around the globe throughout the year with little rest. Including the Olympics, she had rarely had time away from competition since her teens.

Now, her decision to take a second year off is a blow to women’s basketball. Moore’s haul of Olympic gold medals from the 2012 and 2016 Summer Games, W.N.B.A. titles and her leadership of two undefeated championship teams at the University of Connecticut qualify her as one of the greatest winners that basketball has ever known. She also has a charisma that has endeared her to fans and corporate sponsors.

Her absence will affect more than the marketing of the women’s game.

The Lynx, who have lost in the first round of the playoffs the past two years, could use her leadership. So could the Olympic team, which was stunned by the University of Oregon in a November exhibition loss.

“We are going to miss Maya tremendously, but we also respect her decision,” said Carol Callan, director of the United States national team. “A player of Maya’s ability does not walk away from the gym lightly. Everyone feels it. The thing that makes her so special is her approach, her dedication, which has always been contagious for our team. We know how devoted she is to what she believes in, and that what she is doing is remarkable.”

Asked during the Times interview this week if she would ever play again, Moore paused to consider her response. “I don’t feel like this is the right time for me to retire,” she said. “Retirement is something that is a big deal and there is a right way to do it well, and this is not the time for me.”

Nonetheless, she added: “I have had such a unique experience in the game. I got to experience the best of my craft, and I did that multiple times. There is nothing more I wish I could experience.”

Moore’s family had come to know Irons through a prison ministry. He and Moore have become close friends, although she did not speak about their sibling-like bond until after 2016, when she began advocating criminal justice reform following a series of police shootings of unarmed black men and the killing of five law enforcement officers by a sniper in Dallas.

Moore, an evangelical Christian, spent much of her first year away from basketball ministering in Atlanta and spending time with her family. She spoke on panels and was interviewed multiple times on national television about Irons and changes she would like to see in the justice system, particularly in how it treats minorities and the poor.

She traveled often to her hometown Jefferson City, Mo., to confer with Irons and his defense team, which she has helped pay for. Moore and her family also attended a series of courtroom hearings as Judge Daniel Green considered Irons’ appeal.

In October, despite protests from state prosecutors, who argued that Irons’s case should not be reviewed, Green heard nearly six hours of testimony. Moore watched as Irons took the witness stand in shackles to state his innocence and face cross-examination — something a public defender had kept him from doing at his original trial, citing his youth and lack of education.

Asked about the case this week, a spokesman for the Missouri Attorney General’s Office declined to comment.

Additional court appearances are likely in the coming months, including a hearing next week, as Green considers new expert testimony and reviews the results of a test he ordered fingerprints discovered at the crime scene that match neither Irons nor the homeowner.

In a profile published by The Times in June, Moore expressed optimism that Irons’ conviction could be overturned. Now, Moore believes passionately that Irons will be freed.

“We just have to keep being patient,” she said. “And keep having faith.”

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