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Census field operations underway in rural Missouri

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The U.S. Census Bureau has ramped up its field operations again – trying to get an accurate count of Missouri’s most remote and rural communities via hand delivery of 2020 Census paper forms. John Shikles – with the governor’s office – oversees the Census in the state. He says Missouri is more diverse than people might think and a challenge is reaching the rural areas.

Census field operations underway in rural Missouri

“Those rural areas, this time around, with internet response – it’s been difficult to capture some of those responses because there are connectivity issues. There are a lot of people who just still are not comfortable giving information online when they would otherwise be okay with sending in a paper Census form. That mindset seems to exist more in our rural communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has really created difficulty getting those rural areas to respond to Census too,” he says.

For the first time in history, residents can complete the information online. According to Shikles, about 60.8% of Missourians have responded so far.

“It’s obvious that the pandemic has had an effect on everyone and it has really put people’s priorities into light,” says Shikles. “There’s a lot of people who feel the Census may just not be important right now, but we are here to remind them that it really is.”

The Census primarily helps Congress decide how to allocate federal funding.

“It’s a total number that includes school funding, nutrition funding, Medicaid, Medicare. Those numbers are based on our Census data and how many people that the Census Bureau estimates are living in the state of Missouri,” he says.

Shikles says the form is simple – and is not asking for certain details.

“The Census Bureau will never ask you for your social security number,” he says. “They’ll never ask you personal questions like your religion and they’ll never ask you for money. So, if you start getting requests like that, it’s definitely a red flag and you’ll want to call the Census Bureau and let them know what’s happening.”

Shikles has not heard any reports from Census takers running into problems from the recent public safety unrest.

October 31 is the new deadline to respond online or in the mail.

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Senator Hawley on SBA: “I think it’s time to consider some new leadership” (VIDEO)

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Missouri’s U.S. Senator Josh Hawley says Missouri’s farmers and small businesses have been waiting too long for help from the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.  The SBA program offers up to $10,000 in loan advances that do not require repayment.

He says he not getting anywhere with his questions about the delay of these COVID-19 disaster loans and that he has questioned the Trump-appointed SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza in person and in letters.

“They are not getting it done,” Hawley says, “Unless I see some change here, I think it’s time to consider new leadership.”

Hawley says he has shared his frustrations directly with President Trump.

Missourinet’s Ashley Byrd spoke with Sen. Hawley:

 

 

 

White House to announce COVID-19 vaccine developers this week, says Blunt (AUDIO)

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The White House is set to announce progress on developing COVID-19 vaccines this week, according to U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, chairman of a key Senate Health and Human Services budget committee.

He says it will be a handful of candidates — out of a few thousand — to have federal support to develop a sought-after immunization to the virus strain that has to date killed more than 386,000 people worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Blunt says there will be failures in the development of the vaccine, but “if some of them don’t work out, we’re not trying hard enough.’ His “shark tank” approach funds many labs in the race to slow and stop COVID-19.  Pharma companies like Great Britain’s AstraZeneca are pledging to send a vaccine to the U.S. as early as this fall.

Blunt says in the U.S. government’s public-private partnership with drug companies, the outcome must be “available to people at a price they can afford.”

Listen to details in Missourinet’s Ashley Byrd’s interview with Blunt: (3:03)

 

Missouri triggers extended unemployment benefits

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From the State Labor Department:

The Missouri Department of Labor says the state will offer extended unemployment benefits (EB) for those who have exhausted their previous unemployment benefits.

Missouri’s most recent insured unemployment rate of 5.39 percent triggered the state onto a 13-week EB program period beginning the week of May 31, 2020, joining 43 other states that have done the same in recent weeks. 

Under federal law, the EB program offers up to an additional 13 weeks of benefits to individuals who have exhausted both their regular unemployment benefits and 13 weeks of the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) assistance.

“It worked in Ferguson” — Sen. Blunt, Reps. Clay and Cleaver push for U.S. Attorney Gen. Barr to allow review of local police practices

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Missouri Senator Roy Blunt is urging U.S. Attorney General William Barr to allow the Justice Department to review the practices and training of local police departments in rooting out misconduct and implementing reforms.

This comes at the suggestion and support of Reps. Emanuel Cleaver from the Kansas City area and Lacy Clay of the St. Louis area.

They all agree that the Department of Justice in the past successfully used this process to address misconduct in local departments, including the Ferguson Police Department and the Baltimore Police Department.  Review DOJ Ferguson Report.

United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions abandoned the policy in 2018 and according to Blunt, it was not reinstated by Barr.

“Unfortunately, news reports indicate that the Department of Justice has walked away from pattern-or-practice reviews in recent years.  Additionally, the Department of Justice implemented a policy change in November 2018 that placed tighter restrictions on the use of consent decrees, making it more difficult to pursue reforms where they are needed.,” Blunt says in his letter.

Blunt says this is not necessary in some cases but needs to be an option. He says the current response of the Justice Department and many local jurisdictions is to investigate one officer instead of the underlying practices.

“There are some situations that the best solution is the review of the department, and the patterns and the procedures and the practices of that department,” Blunt told Missourinet.

“I attribute the success in Ferguson and the atmospheric conditions there to the Justice Department’s patterns and practices report and then Ferguson entered into a consent decree with the Justice Department to correct those things,” Cleaver told Missourinet.

U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City

“As a result of those corrections, Ferguson is now a whole different town. It used to be one of the ‘sundown towns’ in Missouri, where you have to be out of there by the time the sun goes down. And here it is now with the first female mayor and the first African-American mayor all-in-one.”

Ella Jones was elected mayor of Ferguson Tuesday.

Blunt, Cleaver and Clay have also called on Barr to investigate the practices of the Minneapolis Police Department after four officers have been charged in the murder of George Floyd. The on-video death has prompted protests in every state in the country, as well as international rallies against racism.

Cleaver says this is the time to confront police practices and training.

“We may not get another chance to do this without really having some bad things happen on the streets of this country, that I don’t think anybody of goodwill wants to happen. There are people who would like to see a race war, we’ve heard people express that. And the fact that this could happen here shows us the fragility of where we are in this country as it relates to race,” Cleaver said.

Following is the full text of the Senator Blunt’s letter:

Dear Attorney General Barr,

In the wake of the recent tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, Americans are rightfully demanding justice and accountability.  To that end, I write to urge you to use your authority as the nation’s top law enforcement officer to root out misconduct in local police departments and to help restore trust between these departments and the communities they serve.

When the Department of Justice has reason to believe that local police departments have engaged in systemic misconduct that violates the Constitution or federal law, it has a proven track record of using pattern-or-practice reviews to investigate.  If misconduct is established, the Department of Justice may act on that information by entering into a consent decree requiring court-enforced reforms.

Unfortunately, news reports indicate that the Department of Justice has walked away from pattern-or-practice reviews in recent years.  Additionally, the Department of Justice implemented a policy change in November 2018 that placed tighter restrictions on the use of consent decrees, making it more difficult to pursue reforms where they are needed.  I ask that you immediately resume the robust use of pattern-or-practice reviews and reinstate a policy that allows greater latitude for officials to enter into consent decrees.

Missouri provides an example of how valuable these tools can be.  Following the unrest that occurred in response to the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson and Anthony Lamar Smith in the City of St. Louis, three St. Louis-area police departments underwent comprehensive reviews by the Department of Justice to examine police department practices and law enforcement responses to protests.  The Department of Justice’s actions included a pattern-or-practice review of the Ferguson Police Department, which led to a consent decree to address unlawful police practices.

St. Louis-area law enforcement and community leaders have worked tirelessly to address community fear and anger since the civil unrest in 2014.  There is more work to be done, but there is a foundation for continued progress that is built on a full accounting of past violations and detailed recommendations for reform.

I have seen firsthand how the federal government can play an important role in addressing failures in the local justice system, rebuilding trust in police departments, and restoring confidence in government institutions.  I am not advocating for any action that would allow for federal control of local departments or place undue burdens on them.  We need to be mindful of concerns about federal overreach that would be counterproductive to implementing needed reforms at the local level.  However, these principles can coexist with policies that give the Department of Justice the ability to address injustice in full measure.

I appreciate your attention and consideration.  Your leadership is indispensable as the federal government responds to unlawful actions across the nation and upholds justice and the rule of law.

 

A confederate flag, a van and a crowd: a moment of fear in Jefferson City protest

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Collective and personal moments of fear have flared up in almost every protest across Missouri: bottles hurled, police press in, shots fired, tear gas launched and angry words spat in the faces of state troopers. Even as thousands filed onto Jefferson City streets in a peaceful march, a flashback to Charlottesville, Virginia and a car moving through the crowd, stopped one would-be protester in his tracks.

With the street filled, a van moved into the rally crowd with a confederate flag hanging from its rear-view window. Jefferson City resident Michael Mayes parted the crowd, frantically pleading with marchers to stay clear of the car and then returned to his own car and wept.

We spoke to him and his companion Dorothy  — both African-American — as they chose to stay in their car and Michael tried to regain his composure.

LISTEN TO THEIR FULL COMMENTS:

“Before this, I was all for this in a peaceful order, but it’s just very hard to maintain the feelings,” Mayes said. “He knows what that flag means.”

Dorothy offered a historical perspective, “It always takes something like this. We’re an after-the-fact society. We didn;t get guard rails until one hundred people flew off [the road], we didn’t have Amber Alerts until we lost a thousand kids. And we’re not going to have anything here until society deems enough is enough and then we’ll have some things in place, but I don’t know. I don’t know if we can even win this.”

Later that night, two protesters were hit by cars in nearby Columbia.

 

 

Kansas City mayor loosens business restrictions, promises enforcement of social distancing violations

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Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas is relaxing COVID-19 – prompted restrictions in his city this weekend, with new rules for bars, restaurants and businesses lasting through July 5.  READ RULE FAQ

“The rule this weekend will change from your 10 percent capacity limit and threshold t a 50 percent capacity threshold. We’ll ask everyone to follow social distancing guidelines. We’ll ask everyone when they are going into a public institution, some business, the grocery store, to wear a mask,” the mayor said in a press conference Thursday.

In this rule, businesses can still refuse service to customers who won’t wear a mask.

Lucas says workers do have some legal protections in the new rules. During this new order, employees can be excused from work who have underlying health conditions that put them at greater risk of death, who are caregivers for family members with COVID-19, or who must stay home with their kids because of the closure of a childcare facility due to COVID-19.

Kansas Citians can now call 3-1-1 locally to find out where to get tested, even if they have no symptoms.

According to the mayor’s office, “the order will be primarily enforced by the Health Department, with support from other city regulatory agencies such as the Kansas City Police and Fire Departments and the City’s Regulated Industries Division.”

Mayor Lucas says his news rules are prompted in part because areas around Kansas City have many different guidelines. He says it is a tough choice:

“There are people that are on one side that say, ‘You should have everything open and we should all be free and you’re terrible and a tyrant.’ And then there are people on the other side who say, “Bloof will be on your hands, you’re terrible and not doing enough.’ Both have their points.

I think what we’re trying to do is say, ‘How do we come to a balance?’ But part of that balance also requires everybody out in the world to be part of that,” Lucas said.

He thanked city residents for helping to keep numbers down and listed statistics showing Kansas City Missouri is doing better than some other midwestern metro areas of similar size or smaller.

Kansas City has had 1086 reported cases since March.

 

Missouri man begins randomly shooting on Centennial Bridge in Leavenworth, stopped by heroic driver

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A Missouri man got out of his car and began shooting in random directions on the Centennial Bridge in Leavenworth, Kansas Wednesday. He shot one person before another driver drove into him. The shooter and one victim are in serious condition.

The heavily-armed shooter is from Platte County, Missouri, and at this hour, Leavenworth police do not know a motive behind the attack.

Television station KMBC reports an active-duty soldier at Fort Leavenworth intervened by driving his car into the shooter and “saved countless lives.”

Leavenworth police chief Patrick Kitchens said they initially believed the case to be road rage. But after further investigation, police found it was an active shooter situation with a suspect randomly firing at vehicles passing by with a handgun and a semi-automatic rifle.

Our TV partner KMBC has more details on the incident.

Missouri Rep. Wagner’s plan punishes China — inside the U.S.

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There have been efforts to sue and admonish China for its role in the coronavirus spread worldwide. American leaders say China hid the growing virus threat, which began in Wuhan Province in late 2019.

The congresswoman from the St. Louis region, Ann Wagner, says she is taking an approach that is more realistic — in a bill that she filed last week to take away Chinese-owned assets in America.

Wagner is the vice ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Her legal staff has been working for months with experts and international lawyers to develop the bill.

“I think it’s a little more realistic in terms of actually getting justice and compensation for Americans because what the Chinese did to mislead and lie to the international community and the harm that is has caused both from a health and an economic standpoint is beyond egregious,” she told Missourinet.

“These reckless acts directly contributed to the deadly pandemic that has killed nearly 100,000 Americans and unleashed an economic tragedy that has impacted communities in every corner of the United States. It is not enough to just publicly rebuke the Chinese Communist Party, they must pay for the loss of life and economic injury they caused.”

The proposed Compensation for Americans Act directs the president to employ a series of measures including creating a public repository of Chinese assets and holdings in the United States, imposing travel restrictions on government officials and medical equipment suppliers, and removing China from its status in the United Nations and World Bank.  Read the summary.

The legislation instructs President Trump to seek a bilateral agreement on with China on compensation to America.

Missouri offers free community sampling COVID-19 tests for 6 more counties

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As part of the state’s COVID-19 community sampling efforts, six additional counties will host testing events. The goal is to test nearly 10,000 people over a 10-day period in Boone, Cape Girardeau, Greene, Jackson, Jefferson and St. Charles Counties.

  • Jackson County
    • May 26-30, 7 a.m.-7 p.m., Silverstein Eye Center Arena, Independence
  • St. Charles County
    • May 26-28, 7 a.m.-7 p.m., St. Charles County Public Health Department, St. Charles
    • May 29-30, 7 a.m.-7 p.m.. The Youth Activity Park, Dardenne Prairie
  • Boone County
    • June 1-2, 7 a.m.-7 p.m., Hickman High School, Columbia
  • Cape Girardeau County
    • June 5, 7 a.m.-7 p.m., Arena Park, Cape Girardeau
  • Greene County
    • June 4-5, 7 a.m.-7 p.m., Ozark Empire Fairgrounds, Springfield
  • Jefferson County
    • June 1-2, 7 a.m.-7 p.m., Faith Community Church, House Springs
    • June 3, 7 a.m.-7 p.m., Hillsboro Civic Center, Hillsboro

DHSS urges online pre-registration to allow for the testing event to run efficiently for patients. The phone number for registration assistance is 877-435-8411.

Any Missouri residents who wish to be tested with a nasal swab to see if they have an active COVID-19 infection can do so at the specified sites in each region at no cost to the individual. Missouri residency is the only requirement; individuals do not have to live in the county in which they are tested, and they do not have to be experiencing symptoms. 

CARES Act funding will be used for community sampling. Some counties have also elected to provide community sampling using local funding. The community-based testing will be operated by the Department of Health and Senior Services and Missouri National Guard in coordination with the local public health agencies.