Newsmakers

Court Appointed Special Advocates of Southwest Missouri received a $5,000 grant from the McKesson Foundation. The money will be used to fund a community awareness project, providing tools for recruitment, training and support of CASA volunteers. McKesson Corp., based in San Francisco, is a provider of supply, information and care management products and services designed to reduce costs and improve health care quality.

The Missouri Humanities Council awarded a grant of nearly $5,000 to the Springfield-Greene County Library District in support of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Month library project. The library will celebrate Laura Ingalls Wilder Month throughout March, with programs for children, teens and adults. The MHC is devoted exclusively to humanities education for citizens of all ages.

Education

Marilyn Kingsriter, associate professor at Evangel University, was appointed state adviser for the Student-Missouri State Teachers Association for 2004-2005. Kingsriter provides leadership to the S-MSTA state officers in planning events, including the state conferences in February and November.

Sixteen members of Southwest Missouri State University’s staff and faculty received awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education District VI during the council’s annual conference, held Jan. 9-11 in Kansas City. SMSU as a whole was runner-up for the Sweepstakes Award for universities with more than 5,000 students. Ryan Dick, former senior graphic designer in publications, won a Gold Award for Excellence in Graphic Design – Single Logo. He also won two Silver Awards. Other SMSU Silver Award winners are Stacey Funderburk, Amy Schuldt and Veronica Adinegara. Bronze Award winners are Debbie Branson, Karen Neal, Sandra Miller, Don Hendricks, Andrea Mostyn, Mike Smith, Tanya Whipple, Dennis Hickey, Tom Carter, Kevin White, Tony Dunn and Steve Wynn.

Government

Rep. Jack Goodman, R-Mt. Vernon, was sworn in to the Missouri House of Representatives for a second term. Goodman is assistant majority floor leader, behind Majority Floor Leader Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles.

Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan selected two new staff members. David B. Cosgrove, most recently chief legal counsel to former Gov. Bob Holden, is the commissioner of securities. He oversees the Securities Division, including administering and enforcing the Missouri Securities Act of 2003 and the model commodities code. Carol Russell Fischer, former Missouri Department of Revenue director, is Carnahan’s deputy secretary of state for business services. Fischer is responsible for the management of the Business Services Department, which includes corporations and commissions. She also manages branch offices in St. Louis, Kansas City and Springfield.

Health care

Dr. Larry W. Meyer, a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine, joined Missouri Eye Institute. He completed his internship and residency in ophthalmology at Louisiana State University’s Shreveport School of Medicine. At Missouri Eye Institute, Meyer provides medical services for cataract, IntraLase LASIK, retinal laser, glaucoma, oculoplastic and other general ocular surgery.

Dr. Herman A. Damek Jr. joined Cox Health Center Aurora. Damek is board-certified in family medicine. He completed medical school at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and completed his residency at the University of Missouri-Columbia.