http://www.joplinglobe.com en-us Copyright CNHI All Rights Reserved. 5 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:01:00 +0000 http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_324000138.html http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_324000138.html JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — On an Internet site, 15-year-old Alyssa Bustamante listed her hobbies as “killing people” and “cutting.” It may have sounded like a teenage exaggeration, but authorities say she fulfilled her words. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_324000050.html http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_324000050.html WICHITA, Kan. — Some of the nation’s best hunting for pheasant, quail, turkey and deer today can be found in the vast Kansas prairie. With nearly 97 percent of the land in the state privately owned, the 271,000 hunters who come here each season have had to depend mostly on a popular state walk-in program that pays landowners to let people hunt on their land. Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:59:00 +0000 http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_323235951.html http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_323235951.html OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Senate Republican Caucus on Thursday urged Gov. Brad Henry to convene a special session of the Legislature in December, a month earlier than the Democratic governor had proposed. Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:29:00 +0000 http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_323002934.html http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_323002934.html JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Blessed with a Friday off school, 15-year-old Alyssa Bustamante dug two holes in the ground to be used as a grave, authorities said. For the next week, she attended classes, all the while plotting the right time for a murder, they said. Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:27:00 +0000 http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_323002748.html http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_323002748.html TOPEKA, Kan. — Two members of the board overseeing Kansas’ higher education system said Wednesday that the state needs to consider raising new tax revenues because of its budget problems. Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:21:00 +0000 http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_323002250.html http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_323002250.html OKLAHOMA CITY — Police found guns, knives and a small amount of marijuana in the burned home where four people — including a prostitute featured on an HBO reality series — were found shot to death earlier this month, a search warrant affidavit filed Wednesday says. Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:45:00 +0000 http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_321234530.html http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_321234530.html LEXINGTON, Mo. — If the tales they told police are true, a group of children in rural Missouri grew up in a house of horror, where some were raped by relatives, then told to write down their memories in little glass jars and bury them in the ground. Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:44:00 +0000 http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_321234425.html http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_321234425.html TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas’ governor said Tuesday that the threat of a lawsuit over education funding won’t influence the spending cuts he’ll make to keep the current state budget in balance. Gov. Mark Parkinson plans to announce next week how he’ll make nearly $260 million in cuts and other budget adjustments. Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:42:00 +0000 http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_321234313.html http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_321234313.html OKLAHOMA CITY — Cuts in state funding for education mean teachers at one northeastern Oklahoma school now must clean their own classrooms while their superintendent scrubs the toilets. A superintendent in a neighboring county is considering laying off five teachers. Yet another is asking veteran teachers to consider early retirement. Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:21:00 +0000 http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_320002130.html http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_320002130.html JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri lawmakers this year have been away from the Capitol longer than normal when there is a rookie in the governor’s office. That’s because unlike nearly all his immediate predecessors, Gov. Jay Nixon has not ordered the Legislature to come back for a special session. Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:20:00 +0000 http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_320002049.html http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_320002049.html TOPEKA, Kan. — A debate over raising taxes appears inevitable next year for Kansas legislators because of the state’s ongoing budget problems. It’s most likely to focus first on eliminating exemptions to the state’s 5.3 percent sales tax, then on rolling back tax breaks legislators granted in previous years. It’s possible the debate could broaden further. Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:19:00 +0000 http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_320001957.html http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_320001957.html OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Bob Blackburn got to know Jack Zink in 2001 when Blackburn, looking for interesting exhibits for the new Oklahoma History Center, needed to fill an area devoted to sports and decided it needed a race-car and not just any race-car. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:40:00 +0000 http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_317004054.html http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_317004054.html LEXINGTON, Mo. — Authorities say they have identified additional victims and arrested a sixth adult in a child sex abuse case in western Missouri. The Missouri State Highway Patrol says the suspect arrested Thursday night is a 55-year-old Kansas City man not related to the other five defendants. He is described as an “associate” of the others. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:39:00 +0000 http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_317003957.html http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_317003957.html TOPEKA, Kan. — The chairmen of the Kansas Legislature’s budget committee believe furloughs of government employees are growing more likely because of the state’s persistent budget problems. Aides to Gov. Mark Parkinson declined Thursday to discuss what steps he is considering to keep the current state budget balanced, although they did not rule out unpaid leave for state workers. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:38:00 +0000 http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_317003859.html http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/local_story_317003859.html OKLAHOMA CITY — An audit of the School Land Office found accounting weaknesses in a division of the agency where a former employee is accused of embezzling nearly $1.16 million, an auditor told the agency’s commissioners Thursday.