E.Coligate Evolves

"It's Like Jaws" Minus Sharks

The latest development in E.Coligate has the Governor angry, a top official sidelined, the opposition salivating, the tourism industry fearing fallout and the public increasingly skeptical.

WATCH THE KY3 NEWS @ 10 REPORT HERE

ALSO: LISTEN to the audio of Nixon's conference call included in this story at KY3.com

Back in May, water at Public Beach 1 tested positive for E.Coli levels five times higher than allowable. State officials did not let the public know. Documents showed the beach was closed, but it never was. And it's still unclear who in Governor Nixon's administration was aware of it all.

"I'm going 'Oh My Gosh', it's Jaws. It's not sharks but it's a cover up because they don't want tourism not to come to the lake," said Bonnie Wiltrout, a Kansas City resident visiting Public Beach 1 (pictured above) at Lake of the Ozarks Wednesday. "There's got to be a reason for concern anytime you find out there's been a cover-up," she added.

Tourism officials stress there's been no locally reported cases of water born E-Coli illnesses all year, but worry about fallout from the ongoing controversy.

"In the public's mind, they're still looking at Lake of the Ozarks as being unsafe, unhealthy waterway. And it just rehashes the point. And the Lake of the Ozarks, the water quality is good here at the lake," said Lake Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Trish Creach.

"Because of this, the reporting procedures have been changed significantly as the outcome. And as you did see in July, August and September and then again in October -- you'll see those results in a timely fashion," said Creach.

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"If we had issues to the extend that they're discussing, then we would certainly have people standing in line in the emergency room at Lake Regional Hospital. And they have not reported one water born E.Coli case in the last two years, according to their records," said Jim Divincen of the Lake Area Lodging Association. "Nor have our health departments -- in the three counties, Camden, Miller and Morgan counties didn't have any reports of water born E.Coli."

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"On six separate occasions I have requested meetings with Gov. Nixon to voice my concerns and frustrations with these roadblocks. Unfortunately, those meetings have never occurred nor have I been given a response to my requests," said Sen. Brad Lager, who chairs the Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy and Environment Committee. "I am grateful that the governor has finally decided to join the committee’s efforts in getting to the truth surrounding this willful disregard for public safety, which placed countless Missourians at risk. I am hopeful that the governor will direct every DNR employee to work in conjunction with the committee, in an open and honest manner, as we continue our thorough review of this unfortunate situation."

"Fishing Expedition, Witch Hunt or Inquisition"

OUT OF AFRICA

BRAY CRITIQUES DNR INQUIRY

LAGER CAN'T SAY WHETHER BIEDENBEUTEL MADE DECISION

St. Louis Senator Joan Bray says a Senate committee looking into the way E-Coli reports are released at the Department of Natural Resources has turned its inquiry into "a fishing expedition, a witch hunt or an inquisition."

Bray penned her letter from South Africa to committee chairman Brad Lager and released it to the news media Thursday.

"I would like to see the committee focus on helping DNR meet the goal of disclosing the data in a timely manner that will aid the public. The committee’s process has yet to do that," Bray wrote in a letter. The fact that a former deputy director of DNR, Joe Biedenbeutel, has taken responsibility for the slow disclosure from the beginning of this controversy, and the director, Mark Templeton, has expressed an eagerness to reach an accord with the Senate on making sure the disclosure process is more transparent and timely should make our originally stated goal easily and quickly attained," she added.

"I would assert that the gathering of information from the past would be as absurd as what the committee has already done in requiring DNR employees to spend hundreds – perhaps a thousand -- of people hours compiling the information already requested. And to what end? The Senate doesn’t have the time or staff – and certainly not the taxpayers’ money – to sift through hundreds of thousands of documents. And I have yet to be told exactly what is being sought," Sen. Bray said.

***

LAGER RESPONSE:

"This is a public policy review," said committee Chair Brad Lager in an interview with The Notebook Thursday night. "Part of the review is whether public policy needs to be changed. For me, it's about understanding why this particular report wasn't sent, why the press release wasn't sent, while other reports were," Lager said.

"I believe we have a responsibility to understand the process and where the process broke down," he added.

When asked about Joe Biedenbeutel's interview with the Kansas City Star, and whether his revelations would help Lager reach his intended goal, he said Biedenbeutel's remarks just raised more questions: "I don't have enough factual information in front of me to say Biedenbeutel did or didn't make those decisions. There are all kinds of e-mails from lifetime staffers that say, 'this needs to be public, it can't be sat on.,'" said Lager.

"Karen Dillon's article underscores exactly the reason why we need to be very methodical in this process," he added.

Lager's committee is charged with looking into the Department of Natural Resources' delay of E-coli results before the Memorial Day weekend.

Dems Fear Ecoli Inquiry Is Becoming "Investigation"

SHOW ABOUT NOTHING?

A Senate committee looking into the Department of Natural Resources' (DNR) handling of E.coli test results made little progress during their second public hearing Friday, with Democratic members questioning the scope of the inquiry and Republicans expressing frustration with the agency's cooperation.

Democratic Sen. Joan Bray dominated much of the hour long hearing, asking Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy & Environment Chair Brad Lager about the goal of the inquiry and suggesting it has become a full-blown investigation.

"I think we've really gone off the deep end in terms of making this look like an investigation," Sen. Bray said. "This has all the markings of a criminal investigation and I want to hear the justifications for that," she went on, noting that no laws have been broken.

Lager repeatedly stressed that an investigation is "not what this committee is here for."

A major sticking point is the committee's efforts to interview DNR staffers. The department has blocked interviews by the committee thus far because of a dispute over whether workers can have attorneys present.

Senator Tim Green, another Democrat, strongly suggested that Lager call a public hearing so that elected Senators could do the questioning, rather than committee staffers. But he also said the committee is heading towards a "fishing expedition," and has made little progress towards its goal of a "policy review."

"It's starting to drag on a little too long," Green said.

To which Lager replied, "I want to do it right, not do it fast."

Sen. Matt Bartle, a Jackson County Republican, suggested that DNR is making the inquiry more like an investigation, taking it to "def con 4" by "insisting lawyers be present."

Bartle urged committee members to work together and show unity towards their effort, rather than Republicans trying to investigate Gov. Jay Nixon and Democrats attempting to protect him.

"I think this needs to be bi-partisan -- let's get to the bottom of this and see if we need policy changes," Sen. Bartle said.

The committee said it was in the middle of reviewing 200,000 pages of documents obtained from DNR, including agency protocols, testing procedures, press releases and e-mails. A Senate staffer said he could not estimate how long it would take to go through the material.

The committee is expected to meet again in mid-September.

Before You Head To The Lake This Weekend . . .

The Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy and the Environment Committee holds its second hearing looking into the Department of Natural Resources handling of E.Coli-gate at 9 a.m. Friday morning.

A conference call is happening NOW . . .

The call is open to the public . . .

DIAL IN @ 1-866-630-9352 OR 573-526-5904

The hearing is scheduled to update the committee and the public on the progress of the review the committee is conducting.

E.Coli --- With Legs (!) (?)

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

The Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection & Energy and the Environment Committee will hold its organizational meeting for its E.Coli investigation via conference call Thursday.

Committee Chair Sen. Brad Lager announced the call would take place at 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

Larger has said it is appropriate to investigate the matter because of "public concern, the possible danger to public health as well as the impact on Missouri tourism."

WATCH THE KY3 NEWS @ 10 REPORT HERE

EARLIER: Gov. Jay Nixon denied knowing anything about the withheld report until July. (See below posts)

Tax Credit Talk Stalls Jobs Bill

INCENTIVE or ENTITLEMENT?

WATCH THE KY3 NEWS @ 10 REPORT HERE

LOCAL DEVELOPER SAYS DOWNTOWN RENEWAL WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE WITH HISTORIC TAX CREDITS
"They shouldn't mess with it," says Springfield developer Dan Scott

SEN. LAGER PROPOSES REFORMS
"If the business plan is so poor that the private sector won't do it, I don't believe the taxpayer should have to fund it," says Sen. Brad Lager

The entire tax credit debate is tied to Gov. Jay Nixon's Quality Jobs expansion. The bill has been passed by the House, but the Senate is still debating it. The tax credit issue is why a group of Republican Senators are holding it up.