Missouri Governor Mike Parson

MoDOT: Expect delays next weekend on and near I-70’s Rocheport bridge

June 8, 2023 By Brian Hauswirth

Mid-Missouri commuters and truckers should be prepared for delays if they’re traveling near I-70’s Rocheport bridge next weekend.

Rocheport is about 14 miles west of Columbia.

The state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) says traffic on I-70 and the Route BB exit 115 interchange in Boone County will be impacted starting next Friday, as westbound I-70 traffic is moved onto the new $240-million dollar I-70 Rocheport bridge over the Missouri River. MoDOT says this will be the first traffic to use the new westbound bridge.

The shifting of westbound I-70 traffic to the new bridge and the demolition of the Route BB overpass will require around-the-clock narrowing of I-70 to one lane and the rerouting of I-70 traffic from next Friday June 16 at 7 pm until the following Monday, June 19 at 5 am.

Governor Mike Parson tells 939 the Eagle that four-million trucks cross the aging I-70 Rocheport bridge annually. The current deteriorating bridge was built in 1960.

Convicted central Missouri murderer Tisius executed; expresses remorse for 2000 killings

June 7, 2023 By Brian Hauswirth

A convicted double killer from mid-Missouri has been executed by lethal injection, about 23 years after he killed two Randolph County jailers in Huntsville.

Michael Tisius was executed at the state’s maximum-security prison in southeast Missouri’s Bonne Terre on Tuesday evening. The Associated Press (AP) reports Tisius breathed hard a few times as the drug was administered, then fell silent. The AP reports Tisius’ spiritual adviser was in the execution chamber with Tisius.

In his final statement, Tisius says he tried hard to become a better man and expressed remorse for the killings. “I am sorry. And not because I am at the end. But because I truly am sorry,” the AP quotes Tisius as writing.

The 42-year-old Tisius was convicted and sentenced to death for shooting jailers Jason Acton and Leon Egley to death in Huntsville in June 2000. Missouri Governor Mike Parson denied a clemency request from Tisius.

“Missouri’s judicial system provided Mr. Tisius with due process and fair proceedings for his brutal murders of two Randolph County jail guards,” the governor says, in a written statement.

Attorneys for Tisius had urged the U.S. Supreme Court to block the execution, alleging that a juror at a 2010 sentencing hearing was illiterate, in violation of state law.

Convicted mid-Missouri murderer Tisius set to be executed tonight

June 6, 2023 By Brian Hauswirth

Barring intervention from a federal judge or the U.S. Supreme Court, a convicted killer from mid-Missouri will be executed this evening at the state’s maximum-security prison in Bonne Terre.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson has denied a clemency request from 42-year-old Michael Tisius.

“Missouri’s judicial system provided Mr. Tisius with due process and fair proceedings for his brutal murders of two Randolph County jail guards,” the governor says, in a written statement.

Tisius was convicted and sentenced to death for killing Randolph County jailers Jason Acton and Leon Egley in Huntsville in 2000 in an effort to help Tisius’ former cellmate try to escape from jail. The inmate was unable to escape.

State Rep. Peter Merideth (D-St. Louis) had requested clemency for Tisius. Death penalty opponents wanted the governor to commute Tisius’ sentence to life in prison without parole. Governor Parson notes the Missouri Supreme Court scheduled the execution, and that he will follow the law and the court order “to ensure the family members of Mr. Acton and Mr. Egley may finally receive justice for the loved one they lost.”

Tisius will be executed by lethal injection after 6 pm in Bonne Terre, barring court intervention.

Missouri’s governor touts new website for suicide and crisis calls

May 16, 2023 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor says a new website provides critical information for anyone who may be experiencing a mental health, suicide or substance use crisis.

The website is missouri988.org and it’s been launched by the Missouri 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Governor Mike Parson says the 988 crisis call line created a more streamlined and effective resource for Missourians in behavioral health crisis.

The 988 phone number went live nationwide in July 2022. Governor Parson says it has routed thousands of individuals to local, trained crisis specialists at Missouri’s 988 centers.

Hoskins: Missouri gaming legislation would be impacted by Hammerschmidt; final day of session is today

May 12, 2023 By Brian Hauswirth

Sports wagering could be dead for Missouri’s 2023 session, which wraps up at 6 this evening in Jefferson City.

Senate Economic Development and Tax Policy Committee chairman Denny Hoskins (R-Warrensburg) tells 939 the Eagle that there are no bills currently under consideration that have Sportsbook on them. Senator Hoskins says any bill that passed with Sportsbook on it would be a clear Hammerschmidt multiple subject violation and would be thrown out by the courts. Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden (R-Columbia) and House Speaker Dean Plocher (R-Des Peres) have been trying to get the bill through. The clock is the biggest factor facing them now.

Lawmakers have approved a total of 23 bills, which include budget bills. The governor has already signed bipartisan physical therapy legislation. Missouri lawmakers have also passed bipartisan distracted driving legislation, a crime package and two transgender bills. The texting while driving bill heading to Governor Mike Parson’s (R) desk would create a hands-free driving requirement for all Missourians.

Anti-hazing legislation appears to be dead at the Missouri Capitol for the 2023 session, due to language concerns about the bill. House Speaker Plocher tells “Wake Up Mid-Missouri” that he doesn’t like fellow State Rep. Travis Smith’s (R-Dora) bill that says any person who renders aid to a hazing victim or the first to call 911 is immune from prosecution. Speaker Plocher notes that under the bill’s language, you could haze someone before calling 911 and be immune. The Speaker says it should be a duty for people to help each other.

Former Mizzou student Danny Santulli’s family members say that he’s blind and unable to walk, after an alleged October 2021 hazing incident at a Mizzou fraternity house.