By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist

The more Jay Nixon tries to explain, rationalize, fire and suspend people because of the E. coli communications mess, the more he slips underwater.

The Missouri governor now says he received bad info from the Department of Natural Resources about the timing of beach closings because of high E. coli levels in the Lake of the Ozarks. In fact, as a furious Nixon apparently just learned, one beach wasn't closed when bacteria levels were five times higher than the standard.

Nixon has suspended Mark Templeton, the DNR director, for two weeks without pay. But this string of miscommunications is kind of shocking, especially because Nixon is known for being something of a control freak. Communications from state departments, for instance, have to be approved by his office.

So far all the personnel damage from E. coli-gate has been felt at the DNR. But Nixon's staff is looking pretty scratched up from the ongoing revelations.

Follow Barb Shelly on Twitter.