August 16: National Rum Day

Suggestions flow as Missouri legislators weigh options for Medicaid

JEFFERSON CITY • Give patients with chronic diseases a health care team. Monitor a state database to spot abuse of prescription drugs. Reward pregnant teens who keep their doctor appointments.

Those were among the many suggestions that flowed Wednesday to a Senate committee examining ways to improve the quality and efficiency of Medicaid, the joint state and federal health care program for the poor.

The Senate hearing was one of two held Wednesday as Missouri legislators grapple with whether to expand Medicaid to cover an additional 260,000 people, as envisioned by the federal Affordable Care Act. A House committee, meeting in St. Louis, heard from a long list of witnesses who urged that the program be expanded.

Medicaid pays for doctor visits, prescription drugs, nursing home care and other services for about 875,000 Missourians — low-income seniors, people with disabilities, and some families with children. Missouri’s program costs state and federal taxpayers about $8.5 billion a year.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/political-fix/suggestions-flow-as-missouri-legislators-weigh-options-for-medicaid/article_0560ecb4-19fc-597a-aa13-999839f8325b.html

Cahokia Mounds receives 10 millionth visitor

Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site on Tuesday, Aug. 13, welcomed its 10 millionth visitor since achieving the rare distinction of being designated a world heritage site, according to a press release.

Michelle Miller, of Waterloo, was the 10 millionth visitor, accompanied by her mother, Lorraine Novak; daughter Gabrielle Miller; and her daughter’s friend Keira Schmitz. Miller received a personal tour of the site and a $100 gift certificate from the Cahokia Mounds Museum Society.

Miller couldn’t quite believe she was the 10 millionth visitor. Miller and her family are huge fans of Cahokia Mounds and visit the site often from their home about 25 miles away. She said her daughter practically knows the exhibits by heart.

Cahokia Mounds was declared a world heritage site in 1982 in recognition of its unique role in history. The site once served as the civil and religious center of the sprawling Mississippian Culture. Thousands of people fished, farmed, worshipped and traded with other cultures.

http://www.stltoday.com/suburban-journals/illinois/life/mounds-receives-millionth-visitor/article_60a53dd9-6e68-5f7e-90c3-f0882da9f0ad.html

August 15: Lemon Meringue Pie Day

August 14: National Creamsicle Day

'Obama rodeo clown' announcer resigns, school board launches investigation

ST. LOUIS (KSDK) - A rodeo announcer at the Missouri State Fair has resigned as president of the Missouri Rodeo Cowboys Association.

Mark Ficken stepped down Monday evening from the post and says he's been unfairly roped into a controversy involving a clown posing as President Obama.

Ficken says he's been threatened physically and fears he'll lose his job as superintendent of the Boonville School District. The school board is launching an investigation into whether Ficken was involved in any of the behavior many are calling offensive.

"He's shaking like a small dog passing razor blades," Ficken's lawyer, Albert Watkins, said.

http://www.ksdk.com/rss/article/392474/3/Announcer-resigns-after-clown-poses-as-Obama

August 13: National Filet Mignon Day

August 12: Julienne Fries Day

August 11: National Raspberry Tart Day.

August 10, 1821 – Missouri is admitted as the 24th U.S. state.

Missouri (see pronunciations)—nicknamed The Show-Me State—is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States.[6] Missouri is the 21st most extensive and the 18th most populous of the 50 United States. Missouri comprises 114 counties and the independent city of St. Louis.

The four largest urban areas are St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, and Columbia.[7] Missouri's capital is Jefferson City. The land that is now Missouri was acquired from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase and became known as the Missouri Territory. Part of the Territory was admitted into the union as the 24th state on August 10, 1821.

Missouri's geography is highly varied. The northern part of the state lies in dissected till plains while the southern part lies in the Ozark Mountains (a dissected plateau), with the Missouri River dividing the two. The state lies at the intersection of the three greatest rivers of North America, with the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers near St. Louis,[8] and the confluence of the Ohio River with the Mississippi north of the Bootheel. The starting points of the Pony Express and Oregon Trail were both in Missouri.[9] The mean center of United States population as of the 2010 Census is at the town of Plato in Texas County.[10]

Ethnically, the majority of Missourians are of German descent.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri