The owners of a rural #Christian boarding school for "troubled" boys have been arrested and charged with kidnapping as an investigation into further criminal allegations continues.
Five boys have run away from the school, Lighthouse Christian Academy, this year, with some escapees asking a neighbor to call 911. Lighthouse previously accepted girls, until a former principal was accused of sexually abusing a female student.
A new bill introduced in the Missouri legislature makes it even less likely that people will see the state as a desirable destination. It would put teachers on the sex offense registry if they “contribute to social transition” of a trans youth- including pronouns, haircuts, information, and more. It would make the actions of the teacher “contributing to social transition” a class E felony. https://www.losangelesblade.com/2024/02/29/missouri-teachers-using-affirming-pronouns-could-face-felony-crime/#Missouri#Bill#Trans
Missouri Girl Scout Troop Leaves Organization After Scout Leadership Banned Their Gaza Fundraiser
In #Missouri, a Girl Scout troop has split from the organization after the group made legal threats against the girls for running a fundraiser benefiting Palestinian children. Girl Scout mother Nawal Abuhamdeh said that instead of selling cookies this year, her 10-year-old daughter and sister troop members decided to make and sell bracelets with beads in the colors of the Palestinian flag, spelling out “Gaza” and “Palestine.” The Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri deemed the move “political,” banning them from continuing their fundraiser for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. In response, the girls decided to part ways with the Girl Scouts organization. They are continuing their fundraiser, which has raised over $10,000 so far.
“ A court employee and a police officer were fatally shot Thursday after the court process server tried to serve an eviction notice at a home in Independence, #Missouri, authorities said.” #GunViolence
GOP candidate for governor outed as KKK member after cross burning photo emerges
In Missouri, far-right activist Darrell Leon McClanahan III has been seeking the GOP nomination in Missouri's 2024 gubernatorial race. But the Missouri Republican Party has announced that it is taking steps to remove McClanahan from the ballot in response to reports that McClanahan has been active in the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).
According to Riverfront Times reporter Ryan Krull, a 2019 photo shows McClanahan standing next to a KKK member in front of a burning cross. McClanahan was wearing street clothes in the photo, while the person standing next to him was in full KKK attire.
McClanahan has filed a lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which published the photo on their website in 2022 along with an article. McClanahan argued, in the lawsuit, that he was strictly an "honorary" KKK member — not a full member — and that the photo showed a "Christian Identity Cross lighting ceremony" instead of a full-fledged KKK cross burning ceremony.
#Republicans in #Missouri want to imprison teachers on felony charges for using students' preferred pronouns:
"A new bill introduced in the Missouri legislature would put teachers on the sex offense registry if they 'contribute to social transition' of a trans youth" -- an offense defined to include providing "support or information" for trans students, including "pronouns."
"Missouri has some of the weakest gun control laws in the country, with no universal background checks, no assault weapon restrictions, no ban on large-capacity magazines, no waiting periods to purchase a gun and no domestic violence gun laws. Last year, Kansas City set a new high for gun violence, and the city has one of the country’s highest murder rates."
Missouri is a state where, unfortunately, pregnant people are not allowed to have any autonomy over their bodies, and yet we don’t trust those folks to make decisions about their bodies, but we do trust folks to be able to purchase a gun without a permit and wield it almost anywhere.
“Police are responding to a #shooting near Union Station in Kansas City, #Missouri, on Wednesday, where revelers gathered to celebrate with a parade and rally for the Chiefs' Super Bowl win.
Two armed people have been detained, according to Kansas City police.” #GunViolence
State-level efforts to beat back #WomensReproductiveRights restrictions continue: #Missouri is the latest state where organizers have announced a drive to put the matter directly to voters.
If successful, the ballot measure could undo the state's near-total #abortion ban.
As nine anti-trans bills come before the Missouri legislature in a single day in this new year, perhaps the New York Times will want to send a team into this heartland state to help us "understand" Trump voters better and figure out why "economic anxiety" is driving them to craves authoritarianism dressed up as religion, in which they'll be given free rein to attack their "enemies"? Just a thought.