Fulton inmate says correctional facility has no air conditioning during heat wave
The Fulton Reception and Diagnostic Center (FRDC) was one of the correctional facilities that was approved to receive air conditioning throughout the entire facility as part of Missouri’s capital movements plan for the 2022 fiscal year.
As a result of these procurement and installation processes, the facility does not have air conditioning this summer.
Inmate Devon Hause said it’s been frustrating with the heat, and continued to say that management areas are air-conditioned while inmate areas are not.
Missouri Department of Corrections spokesperson Karen Pojmann says the facility is trying to compensate for the lack of air conditioning with additional industrial-size fans, ice, and water among other safety measures.
With the installation processes, the FRDC will not be able to have air conditioning for the rest of this summer. It does not have a strict time frame available on when air conditioning will be installed.
After loan forgiveness plan rejected, recent MU graduate feels the effects of student debt
After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that President Biden did not have presidential authority to forgive up to $20,000 in debt per student, some recent graduates feel discouraged.
Aiden Sampson graduated from MU in May 2022 with a degree in biology. He says Biden’s plan would have cut his student debt in half.
“There was always a possibility of this going through,” Sampson said of the Supreme Court’s rejection of the Biden plan. “There was a lot of backlash surrounding that (Supreme Court decision), but to see that it’s gone through entirely is quite disappointing.”
About 43 million Americans would have been eligible for student loan forgiveness in the program that would have cost over $400 billion.
LGBTQ advocacy group speaks on Supreme Court ruling limiting civil protections
With the U.S. Supreme Court’s Friday decision, the LGBTQ community was met with a loss in protections.
Robert Fischer, the director of communications for LGBTQ advocacy group PROMO Missouri, is disappointed with the blow to LGBTQ rights, but what he and the community are concerned about is the precedent this decision sets for the future.
Fischer encourages people who want to get involved with LGBTQ rights to get involved locally by supporting the Missouri Nondiscrimination Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected categories in public accommodations.
Arson suspect involved in Thursday’s manhunt refuses to appear in court for initial arraignment
A man sought by authorities for two days this week refused to appear in court for an initial arraignment Friday, with the arraignment now being rescheduled to July 5 at 1 p.m. at the Boone County Courthouse.
Brandt Feutz, 36, was arrested Thursday and charged with first-degree harassment and arson — both felony charges.
Feutz is being held at the Boone County Jail with no bond, online records show.
Columbia lead and copper water testing results show city is in compliance with EPA levels
The City of Columbia Water and Light has received the results from the first round of required lead and copper water sampling for 2023.
Results come after the city faced violations from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) for not properly testing drinking water for copper or lead in 2022. To return to compliance, the City of Columbia must submit 200 samples this year to MDNR to get tested.
The results from the testing shows the city is in compliance with the lead and copper action levels established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the city said in a press release.
Customers who would like their water tested for lead and copper can contact Deidra.McClendon@CoMo.gov to request to have a sample tested.