Democrats and Republicans point finger at other party for budget delays

A possible government shutdown may be in the cards and Democrats and Republicans are busy blaming each other.

When asked why the Democratic budget plan was not finished at the beginning of the last fiscal year, Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill points the finger at bipartisanism.

"There is an equal opportunity for blame here on why we did not get the budget done last year," McCaskill said. "The Republicans were not wanting to help with that process. They wanted to blame us for not getting a budget and they wanted us to hold off so they could try to put their priorities in place which you’re seeing happen right now. This was part of their strategy."

However Missouri Senator Roy Blunt feels the problem has been caused by poor negotiation when the House was under Democratic control.

"We’re dealing with issue that they could have resolved any way they wanted to last year," Blunt said. "So their negotiating position is dramatically impacted by their unwillingness to deal with these issues when they were totally in control."

Daniel Rohr, KRCU

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Exposure to welding fumes may lead to impaired brain function

ST. LOUIS, MO (ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO) - Workers exposed to the metal manganese in welding fumes may be at increased risk of developing Parkinson’s-like symptoms, including loss of motor control and tremors.

That’s the finding of researchers at Washington University School of Medicine, who compared brain scans of apparently healthy welders to those of Parkinson’s patients.

Washington University neurobiologist Susan Crisswell says the scans revealed that even though the welders seemed healthy, their brains had something in common with the Parkinson’s patients’: they both had trouble taking up dopamine, a chemical that helps brain cells communicate.

“The implication would be that we really need to take a close look at the kinds of exposures people are getting because it appears that there’s toxicity that happens even before you could see something on the outside,” Crisswell said.

Crisswell says the next step would be to re-examine the same manganese-exposed welders in three to five years, to see whether they develop symptoms.

“The big question is so what happens if you come and look at these same people three years down the line, or five years down the line, are they going to start to have symptoms, or would it be something that if you stopped welding or stopped the exposure that it resolved. And we don’t – we don’t know that, the answer to that question,” Crisswell said.

Close to half a million U.S. workers in welding-related jobs may be exposed to toxic levels of manganese.

Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio

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Exposure to welding fumes may lead to impaired brain function

ST. LOUIS, MO (ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO) - Workers exposed to the metal manganese in welding fumes may be at increased risk of developing Parkinson’s-like symptoms, including loss of motor control and tremors.

That’s the finding of researchers at Washington University School of Medicine, who compared brain scans of apparently healthy welders to those of Parkinson’s patients.

Washington University neurobiologist Susan Crisswell says the scans revealed that even though the welders seemed healthy, their brains had something in common with the Parkinson’s patients’: they both had trouble taking up dopamine, a chemical that helps brain cells communicate.

“The implication would be that we really need to take a close look at the kinds of exposures people are getting because it appears that there’s toxicity that happens even before you could see something on the outside,” Crisswell said.

Crisswell says the next step would be to re-examine the same manganese-exposed welders in three to five years, to see whether they develop symptoms.

“The big question is so what happens if you come and look at these same people three years down the line, or five years down the line, are they going to start to have symptoms, or would it be something that if you stopped welding or stopped the exposure that it resolved. And we don’t – we don’t know that, the answer to that question,” Crisswell said.

Close to half a million U.S. workers in welding-related jobs may be exposed to toxic levels of manganese.

Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio

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Unemployment benefits hinge on Missouri Senate Republicans

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (MISSOURI DIGITAL NEWS) - Filibustering Republicans in the Missouri Senate gave Governor Jay Nixon an ultimatum: send back some federal stimulus money to end the filibuster or continue to keep the money and risk termination of unemployment benefits on Saturday.

Senators Jim Lembke and Brian Nieves found ways to cut 300 of the 570 million stimulus dollars allotted to Missouri from the indebted federal government.

The senators say they will compromise and let the benefits extension pass to a floor vote if the governor cuts certain projects.

Nieves cites a $22 million study of high speed rails as an unnecessary project. He says it's up to the governor to decide what's more important.

"So, what needs to happen here is the governor needs to decide whether or not these ridiculous pet projects are more important than these Missouri families," Nieves said.

Saint Joseph Senator Rob Schaaf is also a filibustering Republican Senator.

He says he's doing so because of the irresponsible federal spending that's put the country in debt.

"The federal government is spending us into oblivion. They're putting our children and grandchildren in deep debt and they're essentially enslaving their futures for many years," Schaaf said.

Senator Lembke says they've extended the olive branch. The governor has yet to meet with the Senators.

Kyle Toms, Missouri Digital News

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Mo. Senate considers eliminating teacher tenure

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (MISSOURI DIGITAL NEWS) - The elimination of teacher tenure is a possibility with its inclusion in another bill heard by a Missouri Senate Committee.

Another bill eliminating teacher tenure was debated as a solution to bring up Missouri's K-12 test scores.

St. Louis County Represenative Jane Cunningham is the sponsor of this bill and says teacher tenure along with teacher evaluations and performance based pay are all possible solutions to better teaching methods.

However, Mike Wood of the Missouri State Teacher Association says performance based pay is ridiculous.

"To put teachers across the hallway in competition with each other for increases of salary at their expense just doesn't lend itself to being conducive in a learning environment," Wood said.

On the other hand, Cunningham says she has more good faith in teachers.

"What a deregatory statement to a professional," Cunningham countered. "To say a difference in pay would make them so they are so jealous they can't work together for the betterment of a child. I'm embarrassed by a statement like that."

The committee took no vote on the bill, with just five weeks left.

Sherman Fabes, Missouri Digital News

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Cape Girardeau smoking ban fails

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KRCU) - The debate over the controversial smoking ban in Cape Girardeau was finally resolved Tuesday when voters failed the smoking ban. 52% of residents voted against it.

Members of the pro smoking ban group, Smoke Free Cape, were disappointed in the outcome of the election but feel that they accomplished something positive through their campaigning efforts.

Shelly Wood, a volunteer for Smoke Free Cape, shared her feelings about the outcome of the vote.

“I think we knew all along that it was going to be a close race. Disappointed, again, is how I feel but again very proud of the campaign that we ran and happy that we helped educate the local public and just very thankful for all the volunteers that worked with our group,” Wood said.

Smoke Free Cape does not currently have any plans to get another campaign in place. The Cape Girardeau city charter does not allow an initiative petition for another year so the group will have to wait if it does plan another campaign.

A similar smoking ban initiative passed in Springfield, Missouri with 53% of that city’s vote according to the Springfield News-Leader.

Katie Long, KRCU

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Southeast kicks off Cybersecurity major

CAPE GIRARADEAU, MO (KRCU) - Southeast Missouri State University has joined a handful of universities in implementing a new undergraduate degree: a Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity.

To introduce their new program, they brought James Lewis, the director of the Technology and Public Policy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., to speak on campus Tuesday.

"There's a couple things going on that makes this a good time to get into the field. For one thing there's just growing demand for these sets of skills. Another thing is that we are at an early phase of figuring out what those skills are. So it's a chance to be a pioneer and it's a chance to get into a field that I think is only going to grow," Lewis said.​

Student can major in Cybersecurity beginning in Fall 2011. Lewis said that with the rapid growth of the Internet, students with a cyber-security degree can almost walk into jobs upon graduation. ​

Rachel Weatherford, KRCU

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