A daily digest of headlines from KCUR.
- Former Congressman Gets Year In Prison For Helping Terrorist Organization
- Indictments For Selling Thousands Of Driver’s Licenses To Illegal Immigrants
- Missouri House Panel Endorses Spending Limits
Former Congressman Gets Year In Prison For Helping Terrorist Organization
A former congressman from Michigan, Mark Siljander, has been sentenced in Kansas City for accepting stolen money to do work for a charity with alleged ties to terrorism. Siljander represented central Michigan in the mid-1980s, but had since become a lobbyist. One of his clients was an organization based in the Sudan, with a branch in Missouri, called the Islamic American Relief Agency. Find out more here.
Indictments For Selling Thousands Of Driver’s Licenses To Illegal Immigrants
A federal grand jury in Kansas City has indicted more than a dozen people in an alleged multi-state operation to get and sell immigration documents. Charges allege the accused provided thousands of bogus identity papers to illegal aliens. Get the details here.
Missouri House Panel Endorses Spending Limits
A proposed constitutional amendmentthat would cap the size of the state’s budget has passed a Missouri House committee. The measure would prevent lawmakers from increasing state spending more than the rate of inflation. They would also have to take population growth into account when writing the state budget. Supporters also say the cap would help control state spending and smooth a "boom and bust" budgeting cycle that sometimes forces deep cuts in state programs. Critics worry it could lead to under funding for schools and other government programs. Read more here.