Talking Politics

In this week's Talking Politics we tackle the difficult and commonly misunderstood interaction between city, state and federal laws.  Ginny Chadwick voted against an ordinance that would have decriminalized the cultivation of marijuana plants at a city council meeting in October after saying she would vote for the measure during her campaign.

In this episode of Talking Politics, Prof. Terry Smith gives us an overview of what to expect from next week's midterm elections.

Eli Yokley of PoliticMo joined us this week to discuss Amendment 2, Amendment 6 and Amendment 10, which will each appear on ballots across Missouri next week.  They deal with everything from the use of certain types of evidence in court to the governor's ability to limit spending.

In this episode of Talking Politics, Prof. Terry Smith of Columbia College gives us an overview of the upcoming 2014 election.  Marshall Griffin gives us a look at Tom Schweich’s bid for state auditor that appears to be turning into a bid for governor. Finally, KBIA’s Bram Sable-Smith will walk us through the Columbia Police Department’s implementation of body cameras.

This week two Missouri political consultants joined the show to talk about how campaigns in Missouri utilize data. John Hancock, a Republican, is starting a Super PAC that will focus on micro-targeting voters through consumer data in 2016.  Patrick Lynn, a Democrat, is a consultant with Show Me Victories.  Hancock and Lynn discussed the advantages of this new method of voter targeting.

Eli Yokley of PoliticMo joined the show this week to discuss an unusually large amount of spending in the race for the Cole County 19th Judicial Circuit Court.

  The Washington D.C.-based Republican State Leadership Committee has contributed $200,000 to its Missouri-based political action committee.  $100,000 of that money was passed along to Brian Stumpe, Republican candidate for the Cole County 19th Judicial Circuit Court, and the other $100,000 is on its way.  Stumpe hopes to unseat Democrat Patricia Joyce, who has served on the court since 2002.

The legislature reconvenes this week to attempt to override several of Gov. Jay Nixon vetoes of bills they passed last spring.  Chris Kelly sat down to talk with us about what he thinks the legislature should and will do in this edition of Talking Politics.

Missouri lawmakers are scrambling this week to finalize and pass legislation before the end of the legislative session on Friday, May 16.

As Missouri senators and representatives put the finishing touches on their work, we took a look at some of the biggest bills this legislative session. This edition of Talking Politics looks into the abortion wait-time bill, the student transfer bill and the override of Nixon's veto on an income tax decrease.

KBIA's Hope Kirwan sits down to talk with Nadege Uwase to talk about what it was like growing up in Rwanda during the genocide and what the international community has learned from this tragedy.

And later on the program, a bill proposed in the state House to begin discussion on the Missouri state flag’s design has some historians worried. One flag expert, though, says the state’s a long way from a redesign process. ­Jack Howard reports.   

Mid-Missourians headed out to the polls today to cast their votes on school board, city council, and mayoral candidates and a range of issues on ballots in the municipal elections.

KBIA's news team captured some of the sights and sounds on election day in this edition of Talking Politics, hosted by Kate Grumke.

Since the early 1800s in Missouri, there have been laws against selling certain items on Sundays. These laws are called Blue Laws, and they were originally designed to give citizens and businesses a day of rest. But a motorcycle dealer in Kansas City is pushing to knock down one of the state's last remaining blue laws. KBIA's Justin Paprocki reported on how Sunday motorcycle sales could soon be allowed, with producing by Matthew Zuzolo.

 This week on Talking Politics, there are three candidates running for the First Ward Columbia City Council seat. Bill Easley, Ginny Chadwick and Tyree Byndom will be on the April 8 ballot.

Also on the show, a freshman state representative from St. Louis County wants to make the high five the official greeting of Missouri.

  Last week, it was hard to miss the huge news coming out of Columbia.

Former University of Missouri defensive lineman Michael Sam came out to ESPN last week. He could be the first openly gay NFL player after the draft in May.

"I'm not afraid to tell the world who I am. I'm Michael Sam: I'm a college graduate. I'm African American, and I'm gay," Sam said. "I'm comfortable in my skin."

U.S. Senator Roy Blunt was in Missouri on Thursday to promote legislation that would reduce the number of so-called "boutique" fuels.

Under the Clean Air Act, different cities use different blends of fuel. Blunt's bill reduces the number of boutique fuels and broadens the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency to give a waiver to a city to use whichever fuel they want in times of supply disruption.

At gas station in Cape Girardeau, the Republican Senator says before the Clean Air Act, the refineries were not the profit centers of the oil industry.

This week on the show: what information does the government have about you… and how is it using it? Plus, hundreds of MU faculty members finally get a vote.

On this week’s Talking Politics, we hear from Columbia’s Mayoral candidates. We’re just two weeks away from the Municipal election on April 2nd. Republican Mayor Bob McDavid is running for re-election, and is being challenged by Sid Sullivan.