Posted By J.T. on January 4, 2011
Cass County prosecutor Teresa Hensley is suing to get presiding county commissioner Herschel Young removed from office because he has a prior felony conviction, which — according to Missouri statute — means he can’t hold elective office.
From kansascity.com :
Young, a Republican, said the lawsuit is politically motivated and unfair to voters who elected him. He acknowledges the 1995 conviction but says the rap is rather benign compared with other officeholders.
“There’s guys in office who committed IRS fraud and embezzlement — all I did was slap a guy because he spit on my wife,” Young said.
For that, he pleaded guilty to felony assault, was given a suspended entence of three years and was placed on probation for three years.
But a Missouri statute says no person shall qualify as a candidate for elective office if he or she has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a felony.
Hensley filed a Petition in Quo Warranto on Monday stating Young’s 1995 felony assault conviction disqualified him from holding office.
From the Belton Star-Herald :
Hensley said Missouri law requires her to file the petition when the primary issue is the qualfication to hold office.
“I believe that once Mr. Young took office, Missouri law requires that the prosecutor seek removal of an officeholder who does not qualify to hold that office,” she said. “Missouri case law has clearly stated that a quo warranto is an action to protect the public against usurpation of a public office and that the public is the real party in interest here.”
Young pleaded guilty on June 29, 1995, to the Class C felony of assault, and was sentenced by then-Circuit Court Judge Joseph Dandurand to three years of supervised probation.
Category: Hot Topics, What your public servants are doing |
1 Comment »
Tags: Elections, legal issues
Posted By J.T. on November 14, 2010
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Authorities say a 2-year-old girl who was taken by a stranger from her western Missouri home has been found safe in Iowa.
The Cass County Sheriff’s Department says two people were with Syah Duffey in a vehicle stopped by the Iowa State Highway Patrol near the Des Moines suburb of Mitchellville.
The stop was made around 5:45 p.m. Thursday, about nine hours after Syah’s mother turned the toddler over to a woman who showed up at their home in East Lynne, Mo. Authorities said the woman claimed she was with a state agency and needed to remove the child from the home.
The woman had been driving a van with Iowa license plates.
KCTV5.com has done a rather lengthy article on the story.
Investigators said the reunion between mother, daughter and grandmother will end the ordeal for the Duffey family, but the work is just starting at the Cass County Justice Center. At the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Cpl. Kevin Tieman said they have plenty of work to do on the case.
“We’re in touch with our prosecutor’s office, in touch with the prosecutor’s office up there, along with the Iowa Highway Patrol,” Tieman said.
What is undecided is if Duffey’s father, James Guyer, and the woman authorities believe abducted the girl, will face charges.
Category: East Lynne |
Comments Off
Tags: crime, East Lynne
Posted By J.T. on November 10, 2010
Herschel Young (Republican), recently elected as Presiding Commissioner of Cass County, has been charged with 2 counts of assault after an incident at a Mud Run in Garden City.
From the Kansas City Star:
On Nov. 23, Young is scheduled to appear on charges that he assaulted a teenage boy at a “mud run” by throwing him to the ground and trying to kiss the boy on the mouth.
According to court documents, Young, 43, admitted he did “grab the victim by the arm and attempted to kiss him.”
Young told KCTV5 that that he vehemently denies the charges and said he believes the case is politically motivated. He said the fact the alleged incident happened in June, but is now being brought to light just days after the election, raises some flags.
Category: What your public servants are doing |
Comments Off
Tags: crime
Posted By J.T. on November 2, 2010
Cass county residents voted Yes to all 3 statewide Amendments and both Propositions. Peculiar voters said Yes to the fuel tax, Raymore said No to concealed carry and most surprising of all, Vicky Hartzler defeated long-term incumbent Ike Skelton. Skelton was first elected to Congress in 1977.
Here are the winners for State Representatives in Cass County:
- State Rep 120 – (R) Scott Largen
- State Rep 122 – (R) Mike McGhee
- State Rep 123 -(R) Chris Molendorp
- State Rep 124 – (R) Rick Brattin
You can view the results here -
http://casscounty.com/clerk/coelectionresults.html
Category: Countywide, Elections |
1 Comment »
Tags:
Posted By J.T. on November 2, 2010
Today is voting day for Cass County residents. There are quite a few issues for voters to decide on.
Raymore has an amendment regarding concealed carry in city buildings:
Shall Article XIV the Charter of the City of
Raymore be amended, adding “Section 14.2
(4) Concealed Weapons. No person shall
directly or indirectly carry any concealed
weapon capable of lethal use onto any portion
of a building owned, leased, or controlled by
the City of Raymore or during any meeting of
the Council or its advisory boards,
commissions, or committees wherever they are
held”?
Peculiar is requesting a $.01 increase in tax per gallon of gas to fund road improvements, Pleasant Hill wants to issue bonds to fund an aquatic center and Missouri residents will be asked to vote on whether or not cities can impose an Earnings Tax on residents without first going to a vote of the people.
Here is the ballot language:
http://casscounty.com/clerk/cass1.pdf
http://casscounty.com/clerk/cass2.pdf
Category: Countywide |
Comments Off
Tags: Cass County, Elections, firearms, roads
Posted By J.T. on October 25, 2010
Harrisonville, Missouri – The Cass County Commission officially adopted a resolution in support of Amendment 3, one of several ballot measures facing voters on Election Day, Tuesday, November 2.
Amendment 3 is an effort to prevent the state legislature from imposing a “transfer tax” on the sale of real-estate. While the Hancock Amendment in the state constitution requires all tax increases to go to a vote of the people, there is a small loophole that allows the state legislature to increase revenue. Currently, the state legislature can impose a tax or increase taxes up to $90 million. They could impose a “transfer tax” on real-estate to generate revenue for the state without going to a vote of the people.
What is a transfer tax? Simply defined, it is a tax imposed by governments that is collected when you transfer ownership of your home, land or other real estate. This would include transferring property to children or heirs.
Amendment 3 states, “Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to prevent the state, counties, and other political subdivisions from imposing any new tax, including a sales tax, on the sale or transfer of homes or any other real estate?” A “YES” vote changes the state constitution and prevents a ‘transfer tax’ from being imposed on real estate in Missouri.
(more…)
Category: Countywide, Elections, What your public servants are doing |
1 Comment »
Tags:
Posted By J.T. on July 1, 2010
From the Pleasant Hill Times:
F. Kirk Powell
The Pleasant Hill Fire District will have a new pumper on the road later this summer.
Fire Chief Steve Long and Assistant Fire Chief Nathan Carpenter picked up the new pumper from the manufacturer in Breda, Iowa, earlier this month and plan to make it operational the first week of August when firefighters have had the opportunity to equip the new truck and train with it.
A new pumper is part of equipment being requested by the Pleasant Hill Fire District in a $4.5 million bond issue on the ballot in August, but the need for a new fire truck was so urgent that the fire board agreed to purchase it early under a lease-purchase agreement.
“We desperately needed a new pumper,” Fire Chief Steve Long says. ”Both of our old pumpers are in such poor mechanical condition that we couldn’t wait.”
In fact, the two older pumpers have both broken down and had to be towed from a call three times in the past two months and the fire district has had to pay nearly $4,000 so far this summer in repair bills.
“We wanted to wait to buy the new pumper until after the bond election,” Long said, “but we didn’t have a choice.”
Long said the fire district will be able to make payments on the lease-purchase agreement if the bond issue falls short in August, but it would be tight.
“We couldn’t take the chance that one of our other pumpers would break down on the way to a fire and result in the loss of life or serious injury,” the fire chief said.
(more…)
Category: Pleasant Hill |
Comments Off
Tags: fire department, Pleasant Hill
Posted By J.T. on July 1, 2010
From the Cass County Democrat-Missourian:
Ashley Freburg
A boil water notice was put in place for Garden City this week as a limit use advisory for Drexel’s water supply was lifted.
Around 11 a.m. Monday, Garden City received notice that a contaminant was present in the city’s water. Residents were presented a boil water notice the same day and a notice was sent out using the county’s Code Red emergency alert system.
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources lists the cause of the boil water notice as high turbidity levels. Turbidity is the measure of suspended particles in drinking water. While the report says it has no health effects, it can interfere with disinfection and indicate the presence of disease-causing organisms. Chlorine is added to drinking water as part of the disinfection process.
The turbidity level reported by Garden City was 1.55 turbidity units. The maximum allowed by safe drinking water regulations is 1 turbidity unit. The city also reported low chlorine levels.
According to the boil water notice, a high amount of manganese passed through the plant treatment process. When chlorine disinfectant was added, the water turned brown. The notice said the system is being flushed and more treatment is being done.
Garden City Mayor Mark Lopez said while the cause of the contamination has not been determined, it is possible it came from old lines that need to be replaced within the water treatment system.
Category: Drexel, Garden City |
1 Comment »
Tags: Drexel, Garden City, utilities
Posted By J.T. on May 4, 2010
From the Cass County Democrat-Missourian:
Ashley Freburg
The former home of Cass Medical Center, located on East Mechanic Street in Harrisonville, is under contract to be sold.
Winners Limited Enterprises of Missouri LLC has signed a contract with Cass County to purchase the facility and its 15.26 acres of associated property for $608,000.
A contract between Cass County and Winners Limited Enterprises of Missouri was signed by the county March 4. Presiding Commissioner Gary Mallory said the closing date for the sale is scheduled for 120 days after the contract was signed.
Chris Lang, CEO of Cass Regional Medical Center, who has been working with Cass County on the sale, said the purchaser plans to create a multi-phased senior living project.
“It will range from everything including independent living to memory counseling,” Lang said.
Lang said the former hospital building will be used for part of the project and other buildings are expected to be developed on the campus.
The proceeds from the sale will be used to help pay off the loan on the new Cass Regional Medical Center, located on Rock Haven Road.
A representative of Winners Limited Enterprises of Missouri was not available for comment at press time.
Category: Countywide, Hot Topics, Raymore |
Comments Off
Tags:
Posted By J.T. on May 4, 2010
Press release from Cass County -
There’s a new group of volunteers in Cass County, which has banded together under the leadership of the Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Diehl has established a Sheriff’s Auxiliary program that is designed to supplement the regular activities performed by his organization. This will allow the Sheriff to increase the level of service provided to the community by his Office in a way that does not ask the taxpayers for additional funding.
The Auxiliary is made up of Volunteers from the community, who have completed the Sheriff’s Citizen Academy and wish to donate their time and skills to help extend the good work performed in the Sheriff’s Office. During periods of normal activity, this will allow our Deputies and the Sheriff’s civilian employees to focus more of their time on activities that take advantage of their talents and training. When unexpected events occur, such as a severe storm or an extended crime scene investigation, the Sheriff will be able to call upon the volunteers to fill the sudden and short term need for extra help. Volunteers will do tasks that do not need to be performed by Deputies. This will free up the Deputies and allow them to devote more time to law enforcement activities.
Sheriff Diehl commented “I consider every volunteer to be an important member of the Sheriff’s Office. Every hour they contribute to making their community a better place to live is time well spent.”
In addition to the requirement of having completed the Sheriff’s Citizen Academy, the Auxiliary Volunteers must pass a thorough background check and are held to the same high standards of conduct that are expected by the Sheriff from every person representing the Sheriff’s Office. It is important to note that the Volunteers will compliment and extend the work performed in the Sheriff’s Office and will not be a substitute for the Deputies or the civilian employees in any way.
Of the 50 people who have already completed the Sheriff’s Citizen Academy and are eligible, 44 applied for membership in the Volunteer Auxiliary. There is a wide range of backgrounds and ages represented in the group, and each person brings a unique set of abilities to offer to the community. The Auxiliary Volunteers receive additional ongoing instruction at monthly meetings, taking advantage of the training facilities that are in place at the Cass County Sheriff’s Office.
As our community grows and the County budget shrinks, all of our public service offices are continuously challenged to do more with less and this is an innovative way to increase service to the public without placing an additional burden on the taxpayers.
Category: Countywide |
Comments Off
Tags: Cass County, law enforcement
