INSIDE TODAY:

EGOS IN CHECK
Tigers head to Kansas State
with their egos in check after
columbia’s morning newspaper early-season success. Page 1B
50 cents
ESTABLISHED IN 1908 n www.ColumbiaMissourian.com
Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Nixon counting on
stimulus for budget
HIGHER EDUCATION:
Governor repeats
pledge to spare
institutions from
funding cuts
By VALERIE INSINNA
news@columbiamissourian.com
JEFFERSON CITY — Although most
formal addresses to joint legislative ses-
sions by presidents and governors focus
on the triumphs of the common citizen,
Democrat Gov. Jay Nixon focused on
one of the failures of Missouri’s higher
education system in his State of the
State address Tuesday night.
Nixon introduced a Missouri native
who was forced by tuition costs to leave
the state to go to college.
Jennifer Long completed the A+ pro-
gram — which allows students to attend
a two-year state college if they meet
academic and personal qualifications
— at Longview Community College in
Lee’s Summit. Despite wanting to stay
in her home state of Missouri, she
decided to go to Pittsburg Community
College in Kansas because it gives in-
state tuition to nearby Missouri county
residents.
Long and her parents were invited
to attend the legislative session, where
Nixon introduced them to the chamber
during his speech.
“I really wanted to go to Mizzou, but
City will
not host
Tour of
THE SPEECH:
Missouri
The event would
conflict with an MU
football weekend.
Proposed budget By Ben Kleine
news@ColumbiaMissourian.com
also relies on Columbia has lost a bid for the
Tour of Missouri bike race, said
cutting jobs and Lorah Steiner of the Convention
and Visitors Bureau.
programs Officials with Columbia’s
Convention and Visitors
1 10 1Bureau 10 1 10 1
By CHRIS DUNN presented its proposal specifi-
cally for an event that would
news@columbiamissourian.com
JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri’s 2010
18 PT. HEDDER
start mid-week so the tour
would not interfere with an MU
fiscal year budget would be balanced
with more than $800 million in federal 16 PT. HEDDER
football weekend. The Tour of
Missouri could not make that
economic stimulus funds under the plan
work with its schedule,
Chatter for Steiner
bar chart goe
Gov. Jay Nixon presented to legislators
said. (9.5 on 10.13 FG medium
Tuesday night.
The Tour of Missouri will be
In addition to highlighting several job
Sept. 7-13, and Label
JOON HYOUNG KIM/Missourian
the city asked
Gov. Jay Nixon delivers his State of the State address at the creation efforts, health care proposals (9.5 during
on 10.13
for a starting event theFG demi)
state capitol on Tuesday night in Jefferson City. Nixon’s budget and education recommendations, Nixon
week because the logistics of
proposals included business and job creation programs. said 1,300 state government positions TITLE HEDDER
hotel rooms could not be han-
will be cut, 50 state programs will be (10 onweekend.
12 FG heavy)
dled during a football
reduced or eliminated and funds from a
When the tour comes to a
federal stimulus package are necessary
HOW NIXON WANTS TO SPEND STATE MONEY for the budget to be balanced.
city, either a hotel acts as a
sponsor and gives DEMIparticipants
CREDIT/MEDIUM MISSOUR
Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, proposed more funding in each area “We have every reason to believe that
discounted hotel(7 rooms
on 8 FG medium)
or the
except transportation than Republican Gov. Matt Blunt did a year a federal recovery package will soon be
city will purchase the rooms at
ago. The budget is subject to the General Assembly’s approval. passed by Congress, and money will be
a discounted rate. Steiner said
sent to the states to help create economic
GOVERNOR’S PROPOSED BUDGET the city cannot ask local hotels
growth,” Nixon said in his address.
Comparison of governors’ recommendations for 2009 and 2010 to discount their rooms when
“We’ve been working closely with the
those rooms would be in high
Elementary Obama administration and our congres-
demand on a football weekend.
$5,357,180,647 sional delegation on this matter. And I
and Hotels can charge a higher rate
have established an Economic Stimulus
secondary on football weekend because Hartsb
Hartsburg
$5,407,700,000 Coordination Council to ensure that Mis-
they know the rooms will be Jeffers
Jefferson
education souri is prepared to wisely invest the City City
filled.
assistance that comes from Washing-
“This is a tough market, right
ton.”

BROADWAY
$1,282,470,055 Fiscal year 2009 now, for hotels,” Steiner said. MAPLEWOOD
the prices were kind of crazy,” Long $22,939,976,570 Congress has yet to take final action on
Higher “We can’t ask them to sellP RusO V I D E N C E
said later in an interview. “My whole the bailout package. Although Republi-
those rooms for $45 or give

CT.
education Fiscal year 2010
family’s huge Mizzou fans. I grew $1,344,900,000 can budget leaders said the $809 million
$23,083,090,802 them to us for free.”
up watching Mizzou basketball, Miz- figure was in the ballpark for what the 00

RT
Steiner also said holding
SH
O the
zou football ... Mizzou was my dream state can expect, they questioned how the
event on a football weekend
school.” Judiciary and $378,308,245 governor proposed using the money. City MAP AREA
puts a greater strain on the
Nixon’s communication director, Jack Both House Budget Committee Chair- U.S.
elected resources of the city and Xx MU.County
Cardetti, said Nixon met Long the day man Allen Icet, R-Wildwood, and Sen-
officials $383,600,000 In 2007, Columbia
X X X X Shosted
T. a
before the election. ate Appropriations Committee Chairman
weekend stretchSof T Athe
T E TourS T A TofE
“For the release of the state budget, Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, said the funds
Missouri. Steiner said despite
he couldn’t think of anyone better to should be limited to one-time expen- Lake partOinC E AN/SEA/M
Corrections $1,193,946,897 being unable to take the
come to show the need to provide Mis- ditures -- not built into the core of the
tour this year, Columbia would
souri students with a four-year degree, and public budget since there is no guarantee Con-
still like to participate in the
debt free,” he said. “Of all the people safety $1,202,000,000 gress would continue the state support in
future.
the governor met during the campaign, future years.

Men plead
her story stuck out.” The Republican House Speaker, Ron Lake effect
Nixon said because of students like $9,324,153,954 *Includes mental health, health Richard, R-Joplin, was more blunt in his
Human
Long, his budget includes funding for and senior services and social criticism.
Missouri Promise, a program that will services* services “2010 — we’re still operating on a check N

guilty in
$9,486,400,000 Lake effect
allow students who complete the A+ card, a credit card, hoping for $800 mil-
program to continue at a Missouri four- lion from the Fed,” Richard said. “We’ll 00 MIL
year college or university without hav- see. We’ve got to balance a budget, so
$2,458,638,934 1 / 2 MI
ing to pay tuition. I’m not going to count on dollars that we
“Now, as long as they keep a B aver- don’t have.”
fraud case
Transportation **Includes revenue, Office of
Administration; employee 000 00
age and give back to their community, $2,274,200,000 In a pre-speech budget briefing with
benefits; agriculture; natural
students like Jennifer Long will have a resources; conservation; the press, Nixon’s deputy counsel Paul 000 00
pathway to earn a four-year degree and economic development; Wilson justified the risks involved in By Jonathan Randles 000 00
graduate debt free, right here in Mis- $2,945,277,838 insurance, financial institutions including the federal stimulus package. news@ColumbiaMissourian.com
souri,” he said. and professional registration; He said, if the state did not take advan-
All other** labor and industrial relations Two former Columbia resi- EEE EE
Besides implementing the Missouri tage of a package that Congress might
$2,984,290,802 and real estate dents each pleaded guilty
Promise program, Nixon repeated his pass, “we’ll have missed a tremendous
on Tuesday to Site one ofcount
Xxxx of
recommendation that the higher educa- opportunity.”
investment fraud conspiracy
tion budget not be cut and in exchange, Source: MISSOURI OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION, MISSOURI DIGITAL NEWS Wilson and Budget Director Linda
for their role in defrauding Solid
olid (1.0)
Solid

Dotted
d (0
(0.5)
Solid (0.3)
Do (0.6)
(0.0)

Please see PLEDGE, page 6A CATHERINE McCOMB/MISSOURIAN Please see Address, page 6A investors of approximately $3
Pointer
million, said Don Ledford, pub-
lic affairs officer for the U.S.
Pointer
Attorney’s Office Western Dis-

Program aims to bolster neighborhoods

trict of Missouri.Pointer
William Colwell McNeely, 77,
Pointer
now of Millersburg, and Craig
F. Swoboda, 73, TOPIC:
of LakeI am a label
Ozark,
cleverly contained
pleaded guilty in Federal Court to
committing wiredirectly
and mailin the text.
fraud
By BRITTANY MARCH hopes the initiative will help During the program, Wade
news@ColumbiaMissourian.com build a new generation of lead- will be speaking from his per- Neighborhood Leadership Program while running United
XXXX Manage-
XXX
ment Group, Inc. (UMI) in Colum-
XXX X

Fourth Ward Councilman
Jerry Wade wants to see a com-
munity that is grounded in its
residents and supported by
strong neighborhood organiza-
tions.
“One of the things that I
wanted to do when I got on the
council was to help Columbia
develop a strong neighborhood
leadership program,” Wade
said. “I think that it is the city’s
responsibility to provide oppor-
tunities for people who want to
make a contribution in the civic
arena to develop their capabil-
ity and skills.”
The city will begin its first
Neighborhood Leadership Pro-
gram on Feb. 17, and Wade
ers. The program, with six
sessions that span 10 weeks, is
open to all Columbia residents.
It was designed to provide
information and resources for
those who play an active role in
their neighborhoods as well as
for those who would like to get
more involved.
Space is limited to 25 partici-
pants, and 20 had registered by
Tuesday.
If neighborhood associations
are going to be effective, Wade
said, “there have to be people
that can provide leadership,
can have an understanding of
how organizations like that can
work and how you can make
them successful.”
spective on the city council
about how to work with the city
to address neighborhood issues.
Other speakers include elected
officials, city staff and neigh-
borhood leaders. Paul Leistner,
neighborhood program coordi-
nator for the City of Portland’s
Office of Neighborhood Involve-
ment in Portland, Ore., will be
speaking via teleconference on
the strengths and weaknesses
of Portland’s 34-year-old neigh-
borhood system.
Leistner also plans to share
three goals for the community
of Portland and how they can
be applied to other communi-
ties wanting to strengthen their
Please see LEADERS, page 6A
Xxxxxx
bia from 1997 through 2006.
00 00
Columbia’s Neighboorhood Leadership Program begins Feb. McNeely said Xxxxxx
he took 00inves- 00
17. The program consists of six sessions over the course of 10 tor money creation of vending
TOTAL 000 000 0
weeks. machine technology for him-
self. One investor lost as much
as $400,000.
n Feb. 17 – Overview of our municipal government, Columbia’s history Ledford said McNeely and
and demographic trends Swoboda lied to potential inves-
tors saying that UMI was worth
n March 3 – Neighborhood organization structure and neighborhood
$150 million and that the com-
efforts success panel pany had struck deals with sev-
n March 17 – Developing personal leadership skills eral distributors.
On Nov. 17, 2007, McNeely
nTuesday, March 31 – Navigating local government: getting the infor-
and Swoboda were indicted on
mation and answers you need 16 counts related to the scheme.
n Tuesday, April 14 – Understanding the development process and the Under federal statutes, they
role of neighborhood organizations could face 20 years in federal
prison without parole, be fined
n Monday, April 27 – Developing the resources to help your neighbor- up to $250,000 and ordered to
hood and recognition ceremony for those completing the course pay restitution.

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