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Missouri legislator: Local sports referees need more protection from being threatened or attacked

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Barnes, D-Raytown (Tim Bommel, House Communications)

Sports officials acknowledge that their task is challenging on the field and from the sidelines, where disgruntled coaches and fans yell and jeer about calls they do not like.

But lately, says former referee and now state Representative Jerome Barnes, game environments are getting more violent.

He says in his own town of Raytown, outside Kansas City, a basketball official was hit and knocked out by someone coming out on the court. The victim had to get medical care and miss work.

“Referees are getting attacked, yelled at, cursed at, threatened before during and after the game and nothing is really being done about it,” says Barnes.

So Barnes has been repeatedly tackling the topic in the Legislature, and this year is sponsoring two bills this session:

H.B. 1570 which expands the definition of “special victim” under Section 565.002, RSMo, to include sports officials at a sporting event while performing their duties as sports officials, and

H.B. 1803, which creates a penalty for verbally harassing officials and defines “recreation athletic contest official.”

Barnes says emergency workers are legally protected as “special victims,” which also includes MoDOT workers and utility or cable service technicians.

“When the guy comes out to cut your utilities or cable off, it’s not because they want to do that, he’s following the company rules. If you hit him or do something to him, he’s in that special victims group. Same thing with the officials, they are not out there enforcing the rules because they like them, they are out there enforcing the rules of the basketball or football game and should be protected as well,” Barnes tells Missourinet.

Barnes says college and pro sports officials have escorts and protection before, during and after the games. Not so for high school and youth sports. He hopes adding a layer of legal protection will help.

He says most officiating is a “thankless job” and now there is a shortage because of the increasing stress.

Barnes cites a recent study by the National Association of Sports Officials that shows the median age of officials in all sports is more than 50 years old. Almost half of the male officials feel unsafe on the job because of spectators.  Most say they stick with it because of the love of the game itself. The survey also shows that 57 percent of officials say that sportsmanship is getting worse, mostly at the youth competitive level.

Barnes said he heard from an active referee about how to solve the problem:

“He says that if you assault a referee, then after you serve your sentence, it should be mandatory that you become a referee for three years–as punishment,” Barnes laughs.

More seriously, he says he is worried about the rise of violent crime among youth in general and what it may mean for sports.

“The way things are happening, you can see it coming,” Barnes says. “Once the word gets out about stiffer prosecutions, this will slow things down.”

Missouri Department of Agriculture gives grants to projects in “food deserts” around state

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There are areas of Missouri — both rural and urban — without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.

That is called food insecurity and according to the Missouri Department of Agriculture, this lack of nutrition affects one in five children in the state. The agency has recognized 12 projects to support and awarded matching grants to:

  • A Red Circle, St. Louis – contributing to the construction of the North County Agricultural Education Center
  • Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture, Columbia – purchasing greenhouse supplies to grow to produce for donation to an area food bank
  • Community Action Agency, St. Louis County – expanding the Seeds of Hope Farm, which will include a caterpillar tunnel kit and other growing supplies
  • Dirt Beast Farm, Kansas City – clearing unused urban land for vegetable production, and purchasing supplies for irrigation and development of the land
  • Drew Lewis Foundation, Springfield – constructing a wash and pack facility for produce grown on-site
  • Green Acres Urban Farm, Kansas City – increasing production of greens and adding shrimp production
  • Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council, Kansas City – assisting with the construction of a commercial kitchen, which will increase access to local food
  • Jewish Vocational Service Global Gardens, Kansas City – increasing the number of raised beds used by low-income residents to grow food for personal use and sale at farmers’ markets
  • Lettuce Dream, Maryville – adding lighting, which will allow for an increased growth of hydroponic lettuce that will be donated to a local food pantry
  • The Fit and Food Connection, St. Louis – purchasing equipment which will increase food delivery to low-income residents through the Food Assistance Program
  • West Plains Community Garden, West Plains – increasing the number of community garden beds used by low-income residents
  • Stoddard County Senior Citizens Agency, Dexter – purchasing a walk-in freezer, allowing for an increase in food storage.

The sites were chosen for their potential to grow and sustain the local economies as well as the health of each community.

According to the MDA, the appropriation from the General Assembly totaled $200,000. The cap for each project match was $25,000 maximum.

The projects must be completed by May 1, 2020.

Preservationist maps a path for lovers of rural Missouri

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Over the river and through the woods might be the way to Grandma’s house this holiday– but it’s also a great way to see Missouri, says writer and preservationist Bill Hart.

The second edition of his book “Historic Missouri Roadsides” targets a certain type of traveler, someone willing to take the time to explore.

“I think a unique experience is what most travelers are looking for. They can go to an amusement park anywhere, but discovering little towns and their rich history and the historic sites that go with them are incomparable, ” says Hart.

Are these small towns looking for travelers? Hart says as some are losing population, they see their own past as a catalyst for heritage tourism, and are “capturing the past to capture dollars.”

Hart was originally hired by the Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation as its first field representative as he says “to preach the gospel of historic preservation to small town Missouri.” Along the way, he kept noticing — and photographing — ramshackle and distinctive buildings.

Now, as executive director of Missouri Preservation, he continues to focus on the fate of small-town Missouri.

“When railroads leave small towns, people leave small towns. When agribusiness buys up small farms, people leave those farms in those small towns. When big-box business stores replace small retail stores, those places close,” Hart told Missourinet. “I do think that by their reinventing themselves as tourist destinations, we can again try to attract some kind of business back to our small towns.”

In this newest edition of Historic Missouri Roadsides, Hart maps out day trips.

“I first had to consider what towns I thought were really fun and interesting to people which also had nice, interconnecting landscapes and contiguous routes,” he explained.

One of those routes is “very out-of-the-way, and ends in the French-founded town of Bonnots Mill…on bluffs overlooking the confluence of the Missouri and Osage rivers.”

Another trip features the Arcadia Valley towns of Arcadia, Pilot Knob and Ironton, all within a mile of each other. The area has historic buildings, production of Pink Missouri granite and the highest bluff in the state.

House impeaches President Trump, despite protests of Missouri Republicans

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In a historic vote, the U.S. House has impeached a sitting president. As expected, Missouri’s delegation voted along party lines in making President Donald Trump the third U.S. president in history to get impeached by the lower chamber.

Some took their turn to speak on the measure to put Trump on trial in the Senate on the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.  Comments became more contentious as the afternoon wore on.

In defending the case against the president, St. Louis Rep. Lacy Clay told his colleagues, “Our founders feared a lawless, amoral president would willfully put national security at risk for his own personal gain.”

Rep. Long listens to Rep. Smith on House floor December 18, 2019

Six of the eight House members from Missouri are Republicans.

East-central Missouri Republican Blaine Luetkemeyer says the whole process has been political: “Awhile ago the speaker spoke of the Pledge of the Allegiance,” says Luetkemeyer. “The last phrase of the pledge is justice for all. Justice is not something afforded to the president during the investigation. He was denied due process.”

Rep. Jason Smith of southern Missouri said, “I’m from the Show Me State, you have to show me. the only thing that you all have shown is that you are about to impeach a duly-elected president who has done nothing wrong.”

Southwestern Missouri Rep. Billy Long had 30 seconds to speak and said Trump has been a victim since he was sworn in. “He’s had his head held underwater for almost three years now, never coming up for a breath of air, just keep pushing him down. Lowest Black unemployment ever, lowest Hispanic unemployment ever, highest stock market ever, lowest unemployment in years.”

West-central Missouri Rep. Vicky Hartzler issued a statement before the vote: “Today’s vote is a gross abuse of power by Congress. This entire process to impeach President Trump is nothing more than a political calculation being made to undo the voice of nearly 63 million Americans. House Democrats fear they cannot beat him fairly at the ballot box, so they are intent in removing him at all costs.”

The case against Trump is likely to end in the Senate, Missouri’s senior Sen. Roy Blunt told Missourinet.

“If you can’t convince all of the Democrats in the House to be for the impeachment charges, it is highly unlikely that you’re going to convince any number of the Republicans in the Senate to be for that.”

Blunt says the charges are too weak and vague.

 

Grain Belt Express Transmission line wins in appeals challenge against landowners, Missouri Farm Bureau

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The Grain Belt Express Transmission line project cleared another legal hurdle today.

The Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District ruled in favor of the multi-state power lines, rejecting the argument of landowners and the Missouri Farm Bureau, who appealed state Public Service Commission’s deeming the Grain Belt to be in the public interest and allowing the use of eminent domain to run power lines across private property. In its decision, the PSC stated “There can be no debate that our energy future will require more diversity in energy resources, particularly renewable resources,” said the Commission. “We are witnessing a worldwide, long-term and comprehensive movement towards renewable energy in general and wind energy specifically. Wind energy provides great promise as a source for affordable, reliable, safe and environmentally friendly energy. The Grain Belt Project will facilitate this movement in Missouri, will thereby benefit Missouri citizens, and is, therefore, in the public interest.”

The appellate court agreed, saying “Grain Belt’s project will serve the public use, and Grain Belt qualifies as a public utility.”

Read the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Grain Belt ruling

The project is owned by Chicago-based Invenergy. The company plans to run wind-generated energy from Kansas through Missouri and into Eastern states. It has also promised an estimated $9.5-$11 million in annual savings for customers of the Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission, which will receive up to 250 MW of capacity from the project.  Read more from Missourinet.

Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst issued this statement after today’s ruling:

“We vigorously disagree with the court’s ruling upholding the Public Service Commission’s decision authorizing the use of eminent domain for the Grain Belt Express merchant transmission line. Grain Belt Express is not a public utility. Investors who want to negotiate rates privately and enter into contracts to sell electricity to the highest bidders should not be able to condemn land in order to build their dream project. Contrary to the court’s assertion, the Missouri Supreme Court has not suggested otherwise.”

Missouri House leaders tried to block the project in 2019, but the bill died in a Senate filibuster.

Storm continues Monday, hazardous driving conditions

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The National Weather Service out of St. Louis says a second round of snow is expected on Monday during the late morning and afternoon hours with an additional 2 to 5 inches possible along I-44 in Missouri and along and just north I-70 in Illinois.

Storm continues Monday, hazardous driving conditions

Further south, freezing rain will accumulate up to 0.25 inches of ice. Hazardous driving conditions can be expected on Monday for both the morning and evening commutes.

The snow and ice have affected a swath of mid and northern Missouri running east to west along the Missouri River. The National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill predicts one to three inches of snow, mainly along and south of the Missouri River with the Monday round of snow.

The Missouri Department of Transportation is recommending that people delay their Monday morning commute or stay home if possible.

MoDOT says its crews are treating roads and bridges and will remain on duty until the winter weather is finished and the roads are clear. To check current road conditions, go to MoDOT’s Traveler Information Map at traveler.modot.org.

The Missouri Highway Patrol headquarters reports that as of 8 p.m. Sunday there were:

1668 calls for service

525 stranded motorists

559 traffic crashes

506 non-injury crashes

53 injury crashes

4 weather-related fatalities

 

 

Blunt: People will want to know why did the House take all this time on impeachment (AUDIO)

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The Senate may have a trial of the president right after the first of the year, according to Missouri’s Roy Blunt. But he does not expect it to result in the removal of President Donald Trump.

Missourinet spoke with Sen. Blunt Friday after the House Judiciary Committee voted to approve impeachment articles against the president.

Blunt has said that he will be an impartial juror if the Senate has put Trump on trial. We asked him if that holds true now that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Fox News he has made up his mind: “I’m coordinating with the White House counsel. There will be no difference between the president’s position and our position as to how to handle this to the extent that we can.”

Blunt said, “I do think we’re closer and closer to the point where the Senate can reach conclusions. The House is done. There are two articles of impeachment that are about as boiled down as they can possibly be to not very much. The bribery thing they talked about appeared to go away, the obstruction charge is something we’ll deal with.”

Missourinet: “Like McConnell, have you made up your mind?”

Blunt: “The likelihood that 20 Republicans would join every Democrat is pretty slim, and we’ll see. As I predicted for some time, a partisan determination to impeach by the House will almost certainly lead to a largely partisan vote in the Senate which means you would not have the votes you need to get this done.”

LISTEN TO INTERVIEW (3:15)

Blunt says the Senate, in the next few days, will decide on a trial date for after the first of the year.

 

Missouri Rep. Smith: Senators running for president are not impartial jurors

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If the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump reaches the U.S. Senate, Missouri Congressman Jason Smith asks that some senators step back from voting.

Eighth District Republican Jason Smith filed a resolution to require senators who are running for office to recuse themselves.

“To be an impartial juror, that means you cannot have your mind made up; you have to listen to the facts. And I can tell out right now there are five members of the United States Senate who are all presidential candidates who have stood on national TV saying that they would vote right now to impeach the President of the United States. Those aren’t impartial jurors,” he told Missourinet.

Smith has introduced House Resolution 774, which would compel the U.S. Senate to amend its Rules of Procedure and Practice When Sitting on Impeachment Trials.

Congressman Smith has also written a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, calling for the change. More than two dozen members of Congress have signed the letter.

He says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is “not giving the president his due process and fairness.”

“When you look at the Constitution, the Vice-President of the United States has to recuse himself from presiding over the Senate because of the conflict of interest. He’s next in line for president if the impeachment happens. Well, every senator has to take an oath of office during the impeachment process that they will be impartial jurors, basically. To be an impartial juror, that means you can’t have your mind made up; you have to listen to the facts.”

Smith calls the impeachment hearings “a sham” and says Speaker Pelosi is “abusing her power.”

“The first impeachment vote we had in the House happened in December of 2017. That was a year and a half before the Ukraine telephone call that everyone has seen the transcript of. Nancy Pelosi is only doing what her left-wing squad in the House of Representatives has pushed her that far.”

President Trump says the impeachment effort is bogus and has declined to participate in the current phase of House impeachment hearings.  He has refused to cooperate or allow cabinet witnesses or documents to be released.

Judge: Missouri Auditor can protect the indentity of whistleblower in Greene County complaint

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In a challenge to whistleblower protection in Missouri, a Cole County circuit judge ruled against the Greene County Sheriffs office, in favor of State Auditor Nicole Galloway.

This comes from a 2017 case of whistleblower complaints about the use of public resources in Greene County in connection with a tax ballot issue.

In answer to a records request,  the auditor did not share documents that would reveal whistleblower identities. Sheriff James Arnott sued.

The brief decision upholds the state whistleblower law that says, “Individuals who make a report under this section may choose to remain anonymous until the individual affirmatively consents to having the individual’s identity disclosed.”

In her response to the court’s ruling, Galloway stated, “Without the information provided by whistleblowers and the legal safeguards that shield those individuals, the audit of Greene County may not have happened.”

 

Missouri’s commercial hemp program underway, applications available Dec. 16

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Missouri’s new commercially regulated hemp program is moving forward, with sample applications available here.

Official applications will be available Dec. 16 and the Missouri Department of Agriculture will begin taking applications Jan. 2. Interested producers must complete a written application, create parcel maps and complete a fingerprint criminal history background check within 30 days of submitting their application.  It costs $750 to apply and that fee helps fund the state’s program.

Department spokesperson Sami Jo Freeman says Missouri will be operating under an extension of the 2014 Farm Bill rules, allowing farmers to get seed in the ground in 2020 with no restrictions to acreage or number of permits. Once approved, a producer can grow industrial hemp in Missouri for three years. Freeman recommends that producers stay flexible under state protection as the federal government decides its final requirements and makes further changes. Interested and approved growers can give input to the USDA about the regulation process. The full federal rule text is available from USDA’s website here and is open for public comment Nov. 1 – Dec. 30, 2019.

She says the 2020 crop will yield important information for the Missouri Department of Agriculture.

“We’re going to be able to determine producers’ interests, we’re going to be able to collect data. It’s going to allow producers the opportunity to figure out how hemp grows best in Missouri because it’s been 70 years since we’ve had a successful hemp crop,” Freeman told Missourinet.

She also urges growers to find the processors and establish their costumers before they plant.  Markets are opening nationwide from textile-replacing fibers to CBD oil.  For example, Levi’s is aggressively exploring hemp as a substitute or supplement to cotton.

“As a regulated crop, it is different than corn and soybeans,” Freeman says, “and we have to phase it back in. Whenever you see new opportunities like this our producers in rural Missouri are going to take advantage of that and whenever our rural communities thrive, our urban communities thrive as well.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kyle Hill, KWIX, contributed to this report.