Lawsuit

An Ozarks school district doing battle with the American Civil Liberties Union says it will file a motion to dismiss a federal lawsuit.   This is a story we were the first to tell you about last week.     It's important first to review what happened in August before explainging what happened Wednesday night.     The ACLU filed suit against the Camdenton School District claiming its computer system blocks lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender informational websites but allows access to sites that condemn homosexuality.

  In a story you'll see only on KSPR,  the American Civil Liberties Union says an Ozarks school district is the only one in the country that has refused to comply with a national campaign against censorship.   The Camdenton School Board met Tuesday to discuss the ACLU's federal lawsuit over its internet filter.     The ACLU claims Camdenton is blocking gay, lesbian and transgender informational websites, but allowing access to sites that condemn homosexuality.  Tuesday the district talked to its attorneys; then parents talked to the district.

By Cheryl Wetzstein - The Washington Times A fierce legal battle on free speech and family values is brewing about Internet filters used by school administrators to block students' access to gay educational and advocacy websites. Gay rights groups say school systems cannot impose blanket bans on gay-related informational and cultural websites on school computers, while values groups warn that the absence of the blocking filters could leave children exposed to sexually explicit material.

Republic, MO- The Republic School District is denying claims made by a former female student and her family outlined in a federal law suit. The school district calls the suit frivolous and having no basis in fact or law. The suit claims the special needs student reported being raped twice and the school counselor and others ingnored her pleas for help. Also the plaintiffs say the district suspened the student after the first reported rape and forced her to write a hand deliver an apology to the boy she accused of raping her. Additionally the suit says the district suspended the girl again after she reported the second rape.

The Dade County Sheriff is refusing to resign in the wake of sexual harassment allegations. The Dade County Commission has asked Sheriff Steve Stapp to resign, in part because of the cost of defending him against the harassment charges. Stapp this week told commissioners he will not resign. The county of 7500 residents has spent more than 8-thousand dollars so far on Stapp's defense. In separate lawsuits, two former sheriff's department employees accuse Stapp of harassment and retaliation when they complained.

Attorney General Chris Koster is suing Alivio Foundation, Inc., based in Puerto Rico, and Steve Blood, of Georgia. They are accused of fraudulently soliciting donations through the internet to help victims of the May 22 Joplin tornado. Volunteers for catholic charities are rebuilding, feeding and providing shelter for their neighbors in need. Koster says two different organizations are using the Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri and St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Churches names to raise money the charitable organizations never got. "All of the churches in this area are trying to make every penny count as we are going out and trying to positively affect the members of this community that are the most vulnerable,” St. Peter the Apostle Reverend J. Friedel said.

No more alcohol at a Springfield theater after it dropped a lawsuit against a voter-approved law that banned booze at the theater. Last May, Springfield voters passed a ban on the sale of alcohol in family oriented theatres.  Wehrenberg Campbell 16 sued and continued selling alcohol. A spokesperson for Wehrenberg says the company's lawsuit has merit and they believed they would have won the suit. But instead, the theater chain chose to drop it because it says selling alcohol isn't the core purpose of its business.

A lawsuit is seeking to strike down a proposed constitutional amendment allowing a photo identification mandate for Missouri voters. An attorney backing the lawsuit told says it contends the ballot summary approved by legislators is misleading and asks a judge to block the measure from the 2012 ballot. Online court records show the lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Cole County Circuit Court. The Republican-led Legislature earlier this year passed a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow a photo ID mandate and set parameters for a potential early voting period.

The competition is heating up in the home-health care industry in Springfield. The president of Integrity Home Care was fired late last year and started his own company, Phoenix Home Care. But, in this weeks Springfield Business Journal report, the opening of his new business has brought along a lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed by Integrity, is against five former workers now employed at Phoenix. According to the lawsuit, Integrity claims those workers violated a breach of confidentiality contract.

A Greene County jury will hear details next week about the shooting death of a long-time Springfield attorney and book collector murdered in 2007. Rolland Comstock, who was 70, was found shot to death at his home near Springfield.  So far no criminal charges have been filed in the case.  Greene County Sheriff's Office officials have said their investigation is ongoing. The wrongful-death suit was filed by Alberta Comstock's daughter, Faith Stocker.  Stocker accuses her mother of killing Rolland Comstock "acting alone or in conspiracy with another.