The Kansas City Star from Kansas City, Missouri • 67

MID-AM ERICA METROPOLITAN THE KAN8A8 CITY 8TAR Thursday March 11 1999 i MID-AMERICA DIGEST House letter criticized MISSOURI Lobbyists queried about their stand on concealed guns rilUi 1 Proposition disagreed lawmakers send out a letter demanding a public pronouncement of position on a public referendum pretty intimidating for people who have business before the Fitzgerald said The opponents also criticized the use of an official-looking letterhead and the use of Capitol office as the return address for replies Fitzgerald also noted that there was no disclaimer on the letter as required by state law saying who paid for the mailing are asking our lawyer to study whether election law was Fitzgerald said Amy Pennington spokeswoman for Missourians Against Crime acknowledged that a disclaimer was missing was an oversight and it will not happen in the she said Crump said his office had received about a half-dozen responses from lobbyists by Wednesday The letter set a Friday deadline Jim Russell whose clients include Louis Post-Dispatch reported Missourians Against Crime produced the letter modeled on a legislative letterhead and paid for the postage Crump and Scott said Wednesday The group is supported by the National Rifle Association Crump sponsor Of the legislation that put Proposition on the ballot denied that the letter was intended to intimidate lobbyists or squelclt critics As majority floor leader Crump controls which bills are called up for debate Several lobbyists said they would be foolish to cross him But Crump said: plan to use any of my authority to punish anyone who is opposed to Proposition Scott said the letter was an information-gathering He said: people are blowing this out of proportion We intimidate anybody We don't try to strong-arm anybody" Gwen Fitzgerald spokeswoman for Safe Schools and Workplaces which is leading efforts against Hallmark Cards Station Casjos and the Missouri Agriculture frujis-tries Council was one of the lobbyists willing to speak for record think they have a right to sk anything they want Rusell said ask them questions all te Another lobbyist who insisted anonymity because of fears abejit offending Crump or Scott said te letter carried authority becaue both men signed it with thlr House titles pay attention to people wb are in leadership tfc lobbyist said puts a more urge! tone to it when it comes from tiro? Proposition would amend th Missouri Constitution to allow arrj one 21 or older to apply for a perm to carry a concealed weapon Ther would be a permit fee starting a $80 and those receiving the licens would have to undergo 12 hours a training and renew the license every three years By PAUL SLOCA The Associated Press ti Air JEFFERSON CITY Two top Jil6use officials call it a matter of in-" formation Opponents of a ballot measure to legalize concealed guns say intimidation Hie Democratic and Republican floor leaders co-signed a letter sent statehouse lobbyists asking whether their clients supported or opposed Proposition which will appear on the April 6 ballot Majority Leader Wayne Crump a Potosi Democrat and Minority Leader Delbert Scott a Lowry City Republican back the measure that would allow Missourians to apply for a permit to carry a concealed gun 1 Their letter was printed and A mailed by a campaign committee that supports Proposition the St We have the answer ri Oz bill Bribery bill JEFFERSON CITY The Senate approved a bill Wednesday that would make bribery laws apply to volunteer public officials A quirk in Missouri law that prohibited bribery only when it involved paid public officials was discovered last year by then-Prose-cutor Claire McCaskill of Jackson County The bill sponsored by Democratic Sen Ronnie DePasco of Kansas City makes it illegal to pay a bribe to unpaid appointed or elected officials or for such officials to accept a bribe The bill was approved 29-0 and now heads to the House which passed a virtually identical bill last month Roberts executed POTOSI Mo Pleas from religious leaders and protests by death-penalty opponents stop the execution of Roy Roberts convicted of killing a prison guard in 1983 Roberts 46 died by injection at 12:07 am Wednesday at the Potosi Correctional Center I Iis last words repeated a refrain he's made for the past 16 years killing an innocent man" Roberts said I le also uttered a profanity as part of his final statement Roberts became the third Mis souri inmate to be put to death in what figures to be a record year for executions in the state Death-penalty lawyers contend on track to execute as many as 12 prisoners in 1999 Since the death penalty was revived in 1989 Missouri has never executed more than six men in a year On Monday the Missouri Supreme Court set April 14 as the execution date for Roy Ramsey Jr convicted of shooting to death a Grandview couple in 1988 Tax for bridges JEFFERSON CITY Efforts to pass a new tax increase for Missouri roads and bridges died Wednesday The Joint Committee on Transportation Oversight concluded it have enough support to pass such a measure this year Lawmakers had discussed tax increases of up to $608 million a year to rescue 15-year road-building plan which died in November because of inadequate funding But even if legislators approved a new highway tax increase the measure would have to be endorsed by voters Rep Cindy Ostmann a St Peters Republican echoed comments by several committee members when she said her constituents were firmly opposed to raising taxes rgain for highways timing is not right" Ost-nann said moves forward Proposal calls for tax increase for area of park psychological exams by a pair of doctors and is scheduled to go to trial Nov 22 for the shooting rampage that shut down the interstate west of Reno for four hours on Jan 4 reports say he understands the nature of the criminal charges against him and has the capacity to aid in his Washoe District Judge Steven Kosach said Wednesday One man was shot in the chest and several other vehicles were hit by the gunfire on the outskirts of town Merritt a part-time hog farmer from Missouri who studied astronomy and philosophy at a college in Mankato Minn had rifles a knife and 3000 rounds of ammunition in a pickup truck when he was arrested near Las Vegas KANSAS Tax cul advances TOPEKA The Kansas House on Wednesday voted 92-32 to remove die 49 percent state tax from grocery sales of food The measure now goes to the Senate where its fate is in doubt The measure would diop the 49 percent food sales tax to 33 percent on June 1 and to 22 percent on June 1 2001 and then eliminate it a year later rate ranks seventh among the 1 8 states that impose a sales tax on food Tobacco money TOPEKA Kansas is in line for an additional $1336 million from the national tobacco settlement Attorney General Carla Stovall said Wednesday The money in addition to the $15 billion the state already is scheduled to receive is the share of the national effort that led to the settlement "This demonstrates the tremendous amount of work done by our attorneys" Stovall said The money is not scheduled to be paid to the state until 2008 Murder charge NEWLON A Newton man who authorities say accidentally killed an acquaintance with an assault rifle was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder Brian Krotz 18 was charged Tuesday in Harvey County District Court with one count of reckless second-degree murder Daniel Trail 18 died shortly before midnight Saturday He was struck in the head with a bullet fired from a weapon Krotz fmr-chased for $400 at a gun show a semiautomatic copy of a Russian AK 47k officials said A preliminary hearing is March 17 know how 18-year-olds were able to purchase an assault rifle on a cash-and-carry basis" said Kenneth Trail the brother understand why they were handling the gun to begin with An assault rifle is not something you play around Newton Police Lt Randy Stults said it appeared that the transaction was conducted properly by a licensed firearms dealer By JIM SULLINGER The Kansas Cily Star i-1 FRANCINF ORRThe Kansas City Star Fort Osage High School students Mindi Ramey 17 of Buckner Stephen Hayes (center) 16 of Independence and Billy Gooch 16 also of Independence answered quiz questions Wednesday at Maple Woods Community College at the 15th annual Scholar Bowl Contest Area high school teams are competing in a variety of subjects including English history math science and art The competition which began Monday concludes Friday Hotel tax increase advances Reno sniper Richard Adie immediate past chairman of the Hotel and Motel Association of Greater Kansas City said he supported the increase Kansas City would still have a lower hotel tax than Midwestern competitors Adie said To reach Gromer Jeffers Jr City I lall reporter for The Star call (81 6) 234-4316 or send e-mail to gjefferskcstarcom RENO Nev A former Missouri esident accused of opening fire on nterstate 80 near Reno was found ompetent to stand trial and ileaded innocent Wednesday to 1 3 riminal charges including six ounts of attempted murder Christopher Merritt 20 passed Plan could raise $18 million a year mostly from visitors By GROM HR JEFFERS JR The Kansas City Star Visitors to Kansas City could pay more for their accommodations if voters approve a plan to increase the hotel and motel tax The proposal calls for the tax to be increased to 65 percent from 55 percent The City Council's Finance and Administration Committee voted Wednesday to send it to the full council If approved by the council the proposal would have to win the state approval to go to voters in August The increase would generate $18 million annually Fifty percent would go tr Bartle Hall and other city complexes such as Kemper Arena and the American Royal complex: 40 percent would go to the Convention and Visitors Bureau: and 10 percent would be allocated to the Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund would obviously help the Convention and Visitors said Councilman George Blackwood the sponsor of the ordinance and a candidate for mayor percent of the taxes are collected from people who do not live in Kansas A bill that boosts the chances for a $771 million Wonderful World of 1 'Oz theme park and resort complex jnear De Soto won preliminary ap-' proval Wednesday in the Kansas 1 House A final vote is scheduled for to-' day and passage is expected The ''bill would then go to the Senate is a project of major proportion to this said Rep Bill Mason a Wichita Republican who carried the bill on the House floor said the project would increase the attractiveness to tourists He cited a study last year by the Mid-America Regional Council that forecast 7455 more jobs and 'an increase in the gross regional product of $237 million a year The bill would give Oz developers a 1 percent sales tax increaseon the 9065-acre Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant land bringing the total sales tax authority to 8375 percent The money would be used to pay off $250 million in bonds La The measure also would extend the life of those bonds from 20 years to 32 years with state officials able to extend that period if necessary Several amendments were attached to the bill which legislators said would protect taxpayers and make their support of the bill nlore likely State Rep John Ballou a Gardner Republican attached two amendments The first would guarantee that property tax revenue from the Oz project would flow to the De Soto School District even if Oz officials win a future property tax abatement from the county The second would require Oz to purchase insurance or a financial that guarantees a cleanup of contamination on the Sunflower plant site even if tHe theme park fads An amendment offered by Mason placed all future planning and zining at the site under the authority of Johnson County government jAn amendment from Rep Tom Burroughs a Kansas City Kan Democrat would require Oz to submit a detailed development plan to the Kansas Development Finance Authority by July 1 200 1 Ifja substantial change in the plan is made Oz would have to seek nfcw authority from the slate before issuing STAR bonds Mason acknowledged the legislation didn't guarantee that the pioject would be built He said that the bonds made up 42 percent of the funding and that developers still had to come up with more than $400 million i 1b reach Jim Sullinger call (816) 234-7701 or send e-mail to jsillingerk cstarcom Absolute savings JtSftoj the coupons! Eve' ivaek in lloe Star LOSE AMERICA BEST WARRANTY THE HYUNDAI ADVANTAGE 10 YEAR 10(1000 MILE POWER TRAIN 5 YEAR6C 000 MILE BUMSER TO BUMBER 5 YEAR ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE THE NORTHtDWNE HYUNDAI OFFER: FACTORY FRESH I RTHTOl NEW 99ELANTRA 4-DOOR AIR CONDITIONING PUIS MIGHT vntiEun WHAT WHY BU VALUE! WHAT A GREAT BUY! A USED CAR! BUY BRAND NEW! CAU US TODAYS 468-2224 68TH NORTH OAK KC NORTH GLADSTONE VISIT US AT wwwDnVenetnef NO Calorie Counting NO Pre-Packaged Food NO Medical Fees or Shots Your Results Are Guaranteed! Call today for a FREE consultation by Easter wwwkcstarcom wwwkansascltycom For theater or music reviews point your browser to The Kansas City Star's site.