Will be guest on Letterman later this week:
"Mo. zookeeper killed by elephant" Associated Press, October 12, 2013
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A longtime zookeeper in southwest Missouri was killed Friday morning when he was hit by an elephant, a spokeswoman for the city of Springfield said.
John Bradford, 62, was fatally injured when an elephant made a sudden movement inside the area where the elephants are housed at the Dickerson Park Zoo, city spokeswoman Cora Scott said....
The elephant, a 41-year-old female named Patience, had been at the zoo since 1990, according to officials for the Springfield zoo. Scott said Patience had a history of being aggressive....
How would you like being caged up for more than half your life?
Related: Circus $uit
They may need to dress her for her new job:
"Missouri governor stops execution using new drug; Move follows threats by EU to restrict supply" by Jim Salter | Associated Press, October 12, 2013
ST. LOUIS — Missouri Governor Jay Nixon on Friday halted what was to have been the first execution in the United States to use the popular anesthetic propofol, following threats from the European Union to limit export of the drug if it was used to carry out the death penalty.
Nixon also ordered the Missouri Department of Corrections to come up with a way to perform lethal injections without propofol, the leading anesthetic used in America’s hospitals and clinics. Nearly 90 percent of the nation’s propofol is imported from Europe.
‘‘As governor, my interest is in making sure justice is served and public health is protected,’’ Nixon said in a statement. ‘‘That is why, in light of the issues that have been raised surrounding the use of propofol in executions, I have directed the Department of Corrections that the execution of Allen Nicklasson, as set for Oct. 23, will not proceed.’’
Nixon, a Democrat and staunch supporter of the death penalty, did not specifically mention the EU threat in his brief statement. Nixon was Missouri’s longtime attorney general before he was first elected governor in 2008. During his 16 years as attorney general, 59 men were executed.
The leading propofol maker, Germany-based Fresenius Kabi, and anesthesiologists had warned of a possible propofol shortage that could impact millions of Americans if any executions took place.
In a statement, Fresenius Kabi applauded Nixon’s move.
‘‘This is a decision that will be welcomed by the medical community and patients nationwide who were deeply concerned about the potential of a drug shortage,’’ said John Ducker, CEO of Fresenius Kabi USA. The company said propofol is administered about 50 million times annually in the United States.
Drug makers in recent years have stopped selling potentially lethal pharmaceuticals to prisons and corrections departments because they don’t want them used in executions. That has left the nearly three dozen death penalty states, including Missouri, scrambling for alternatives....
In addition to concerns raised about how the EU would respond to the execution, Missouri’s decision to use propofol prompted a lawsuit filed on behalf of nearly two dozen death row inmates claiming use of the unproven execution drug could result in pain and suffering for the condemned man.
Koster, a Democrat, and Republican Missouri state Senator Kurt Schaefer have suggested that if the state can’t execute by lethal injection it consider going back to the gas chamber, which it hasn’t used since the 1960s....
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Related: This Post About Missouri Will Kill You
"Missouri will move ahead with two planned executions despite efforts in Europe to block a common anesthetic from being used in the procedure, Governor Jay Nixon said Monday....
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