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Missouri county is a step closer to banning wind energy projects

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Members of the Buchanan County Planning and Zoning Commission in northwest Missouri have gone beyond proposing regulations for wind farms in the county. The commission, instead, has proposed banning wind farms in Buchanan County altogether.

Missouri county is a step closer to banning wind energy projects

The commission, meeting to discuss proposed regulations for commercial wind energy development, voted 8 to 4 to ban wind turbines. Its recommendation now goes to the Buchanan County Commission to consider.

The vote comes after 13 months of study which included hiring a consultant to draft proposed wind energy regulations.

Northwest Missouri has several large wind farms, including outside of Maryville and Burlington Junction in Nodaway County and Grant City in Worth County.

A group, Friends of Buchanan County, formed to fight against wind energy. The group argued wind power turbines made for a poor fit in a densely-populated county. It advocated a ban, but also gathered more than 700 signatures on petitions that called for a mile setback from property lines for commercial wind developments if the county did adopt regulations, a requirement which would have been difficult for any wind energy company to meet.

The County Commissioners and the Planning and Zoning Commission held two nights of public hearings last month on proposed wind regulations. All who testified opposed wind power development in Buchanan County. No one spoke in favor.

Previous stories:

Campaign launches to oppose wind turbines in Missouri county
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Missouri county slowly moves toward wind farm regulations
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By Brent Martin of Missourinet affiliate KFEQ in St. Joseph

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

St. Louis County residents speak out at public meeting on search for new police chief

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-Jill Enders, St. Louis

The public is getting the chance to provide input on the search to replace retiring St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar.  Belmar recently announced he’ll retire April 30, after six years in the position.

St. Louis County Board Of Police Commissioners Photo By Jill Enders

Wednesday, the  St. Louis County Board of Police Commissioners hosted the first of a series of public meetings for feedback on the selection.

St. Louis County Police Officer Shanette Hall asked for more diversity.

“When you begin to make your choice, I ask that you remember a face that looks just like mine. And remember there are about one hundred or so African American police officers that are on our police department as well and you can ask, ‘What is it that I can do to make sure that they are also heard, like everybody else,” she said.

Paul Warden of north St. Louis County, was among about one hundred residents who turned out for the meeting.

“The current situation in north county will not get better unless we have more police on the ground,” he said, “I hope it’s somebody who will be focused on making all St. Louis County safer, especially from my perspective, making north county safer.”

Jennings Councilman Terry Wilson was among the community leaders who voiced his input.

“I think we need someone that is community-oriented and has relationships, strong relationships with all of St. Louis County. And I beleive that we need someone who is ready to lead on day one,” said Wilson.

The next meeting will be held on February 26th.

 

Missouri Lieutenant Governor discusses feral hog controversy

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The state Department of Conservation has agreed to ban feral hog hunting on federal land, including the Mark Twain National Forest. Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe says he understands the problems feral hogs are causing farmers in southern Missouri. Twelve years ago, Kehoe had 80 feral hogs on his farm – where they trapped 32 and killed 32.

Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe (R-Jefferson City). Photo courtesy, Missouri State Senate Communications.

“They can destroy property overnight,” he says.

Kehoe says he also understands the federal government has concerns about hunting feral hogs on public lands. He says it’s a fine line and an emotional discussion.

“How much of these are people who want to hunt (feral hogs) for the sport and how many of these people interested in this issue are farmers trying to protect, in my case, hay fields? Other cases might be soybeans, corn, etc,” says Kehoe.

Farmers who border the national forest are upset about the ban but Kehoe says everyone needs to give the Conservation Department a chance to see if its new plan of stepping up trapping and hunting works.

“They (Conservation) feel like they have a solution that might work. The average rural Missourian who understands what wild hogs are like feel like their solution will never work,” he says. “And that’s where the rub is right now.”

Kehoe says government should show the data and be held accountable if it doesn’t.

By Julie Harker of Brownfield Ag News

Missouri law enforcement could lose tools in their drug enforcement toolbox this week

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America’s war on drugs could get even more difficult this week, including in Missouri. Unless Congress takes action, a federal law will expire that allows law enforcement officers to go after criminals trafficking any drugs with fentanyl. Butler County Prosecutor Kacey Proctor tells KFVS-TV in southeast Missouri’s Cape Girardeau that he wants Congress to renew the “Stopping Overdoses of Fentanyl Analogues” law.

Missouri law enforcement could lose tools in their drug enforcement toolbox this week

“Otherwise, the criminals could just change the substance ever so slightly and then all of the sudden fentanyl is no longer illegal,” says Proctor.

Fentanyl is a powerful and highly-addictive painkiller often found in heroin and many times leads to overdoses.

Special Agent William Callahan of the St. Louis division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, says without the law, it’s like losing your tools out of a toolbox.

“Anything that is taken out of our toolbox makes our job just a little more difficult. I think where it will make it for us is being able to arrest and prosecute traffickers who are changing up the analogues of fentanyl,” he says.

Poplar Bluff police chief Danny Whiteley says the law helps to reduce the number of opioid overdose deaths.

“We are going to hone down and find them,” said Whiteley.

Whiteley will be southeast Missouri Congressman Jason Smith’s guest at the president’s State of the Union address in Washington on Tuesday.

Story courtesy of Missourinet television partner KFVS in Cape Girardeau

New Missouri bill would allow St. Louis Police to turn over cases to Schmitt’s office; Roorda blasts Gardner

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(This story is written by Missourinet St. Louis contributor Jill Enders)

ST. LOUIS- A state lawmaker from eastern Missouri’s St. Charles County is calling for tougher penalties for violent crime and is also calling out the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s office.

State Rep. Nick Schroer, R-O’Fallon, speaks to reporters on January 31, 2020 at the St. Louis Police Union Hall (photo from Missourinet contributor Jill Enders)

State Rep. Nick Schroer, R-O’Fallon, held a Friday press conference at the St. Louis Police Union Hall, outlining three bills aimed at combating crime.

Schroer, who serves on the House Judiciary Committee, was joined by law enforcement officers. He was also joined by State Reps. Ron Hicks, R-Dardenne Prairie, and Jim Murphy, R-St. Louis County.

“These three bills are geared at combating violent crime in our state, protecting the men and women who put their lives on the line for the betterment of our citizenry, and ultimately, to make this state safer,” Schroer says.

One of the bills toughens penalties for armed criminal action.

“Felons in possession of firearms using those weapons to further commit more crimes will have to serve mandatory (prison) time under this bill. Moreover, armed criminal action under this legislation will become a dangerous felony, meaning they will have to serve 85 percent of their sentence. These dangerous felons have proven they have no regard for our laws and our Missourians,” Schroer says.

Schroer has also filed a new bill, House Bill 1900. It calls for Missouri’s Attorney General to assert jurisdiction to prosecute criminal cases.

“This would allow law enforcement officers to turn over cases to the (Missouri) Attorney General’s office that the Circuit Attorney’s Office refuses to prosecute,” Schroer tells reporters.

“Last year of the 7,045 charges requested by police, the Circuit Attorney’s Office only took action on 1,641 of those. Those which the Circuit Attorney has refused to take action on are back on our streets committing further crimes,” Schroer tells reporters.

Former State Rep. Jeff Roorda (D), who’s the business manager for the St. Louis Police Officer’s Association, joined Schroer at the press conference. He blasted Circuit Attorney Gardner, during an interview with Missourinet.

“She’s not doing her job. She’s not the Circuit Attorney. She’s the circus attorney and she’s made a mockery of herself. She is a clown and people know it, and nobody cares what she thinks,” Roorda says.

Missourinet reached out to Circuit Attorney Gardner’s office, for reaction to the legislation and press conference comments.

“Public safety in our community, and communities around the state, is a key priority. Poverty and hopelessness fuel crime in our communities and we must address the root causes. In order to improve as a community, we must all work together. However, these issues must be addressed at a local level. The CAO (Circuit Attorney’s Office) continues to be committed to providing justice for all,” the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s office statement reads.

Schroer’s third bill is House Bill 1889, which would create the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights. It would require that any law enforcement officer who is suspended without pay, demoted, terminated, transferred or placed on a status resulting in economic loss is entitled to a full due process hearing.

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Missouri health care system to begin screening for coronavirus

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Mosaic Life Care in northwest Missouri’s St. Joseph will begin screening for the coronavirus, which has caused more than 100 deaths in China.

Missouri health care system to begin screening for coronavirus

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have confirmed five cases in the United States and is keeping track of 110 potential cases, all from people who recently visited Wuhan, China. One patient is under investigation in Missouri after testing negative for the disease with flu-like symptoms.

Director of Infectious Diseases at Mosaic Life Care in St. Joseph, Dr. Scott Folk, says the virus has the attention of the medical community.

“The uncertainty, right now, with the Wuhan coronavirus, is how well the virus will adapt to human-to-human transmission,” Folk tells reporters during a news conference at Mosaic. “We know it can occur, but we don’t know well and how long that’s going to happen. And that’s why everyone is on edge right now.”

The virus has spread quickly since first reported in Wuhan last month. The number of confirmed cases jumped to 5,974 Wednesday, surpassing the 5,327 in mainland China during the SARS outbreak of 2002 and 2003.

Wuhan is a city of 11 million in east-central China.

Folk says much is unknown about the virus, including whether patients are contagious during the incubation period.

“Their risk of acquiring this infection is going to be based on exposure, that’s the bottom line,” Folk says. “So, exposure determines risk. If someone has been to Wuhan in the last two weeks, then yes, they are at risk. It doesn’t mean they necessarily have the infection, but they are at risk for sure.”

Folk says Mosaic will begin asking those admitted to the hospital whether they have traveled to Wuhan, China in the last two weeks. If no, Mosaic will ask if the patient has been in contact with someone who has been to Wuhan in the last 14 days.

Folk says it is the unknown about the coronavirus, which concerns the medical community.

“And that’s why people are on edge and there’s a lot of uncertainty about this,” according to Folk. “That’s why the markets are being rattled right now, because there’s still a lot of uncertainty about this. There’s a lot of certainty, on the other hand, about the flu, but there’s a lot of uncertainty about this. That’s why everyone’s still pretty nervous.”

Folk says he is waiting on information from the Centers for Disease Control before deciding how best to fight the coronavirus.

By Brent Martin of Missourinet affiliate KFEQ in St. Joseph

Missouri gets another $61 million in federal broadband money to connect rural areas

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USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Donald “DJ” LaVoy. Photo by Jeremy Shields KKWK

Compiled from press release and on-site reports

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Donald “DJ” LaVoy joined Governor Mike Parson in Trenton, Missouri to announce another $60.9 million for high-speed broadband infrastructure that will create or improve e-Connectivity for more than 11,000 rural households, 81 farms, 73 businesses, 16 educational facilities, 12 critical community facilities, and two health care facilities in rural Missouri. The USDA’s ReConnect Pilot Program will support another five projects in Missouri:

  • Mid-States Services LLC will use a $3 million loan to provide unserved and underserved members in and around Trenton, Mo., with Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) broadband services. This investment is expected to reach 566 households, a highway patrol office, and an elementary school.
  • Total Highspeed LLC will use a $20.1 million loan and a $20.1 million grant to build a Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to improve broadband services to families and businesses in rural Greene County. This investment is expected to reach 8,683 households, 20 pre-subscribed farms, 15 pre-subscribed businesses, eight critical community facilities, 12 educational facilities, and a health care center.
  • Gascosage Electric Cooperative, serving Camden, Maries, Miller, Phelps, and Pulaski counties, will use a $7 million loan and a $7 million grant to develop a Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network for its most rural areas. The investment is expected to reach 20 pre-subscribed farms, 20 pre-subscribed businesses, 1,177 households, and two fire protection districts.
  • Green Hills Telephone Corporation will use a $2.6 million grant to expand its Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to rural areas in Caldwell and Livingston counties. This investment is expected to reach 20 pre-subscribed farms, 20 pre-subscribed businesses, 546 households, a fire protection district and two educational facilities.
  • Marshall Municipal Utilities will use a $575,000 loan and a $575,000 grant to provide high-quality internet access to rural areas of Saline County. By expanding its current service area, an additional 21 pre-subscribed farms, 18 pre-subscribed businesses, 763 households, a private school, and a nursing home will have access to broadband.

In November of 2019, USDA awarded about $42 million to the Grand River Mutual Telephone Corporation to serve rural areas of Missouri and Southern Iowa.

Missouri U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt has pushed for broadband funding in the federal budget, supporting the $600 million for the program in 2018. The Blunt-backed FY2019 and FY2020 agriculture funding bills provided a total of $1.1 billion for the ReConnect Pilot Program.

Blunt said in a press statement, “The investment announced today marks another important step toward ending the digital divide that has left about one-third of rural Missourians without access to broadband. I’ll continue working with local, state, and federal officials to ensure every community has access to high-speed internet.”

Governor Mike Parson at the announcement in Trenton reiterated that there are ten school districts in Missouri that do not have broadband yet.

The state has given $5 million to match construction costs for broadband connections in Missouri. He has asked for another $5 million in the new state budget.

“If the rural coops can get electricity to every house in the state of Missouri, then we can get broadband to every house and every business in the state of Missouri,” he said.

Jeremy Shields of KKWK radio contributed to this report. 

 

Remains identified of missing Missouri WWII soldier

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A southwest Missouri soldier, who was captured and killed as a prisoner of war during World War II, has been accounted for. The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) has announced that that the remains have been identified of U.S. Army Sgt. John V. Phillips, 25, of Cassville.

U.S. Army Sgt. John V. Phillips

In 1941, Phillips was a member of Headquarters Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.

Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Phillips was among those reported captured after the surrender of Corregidor and held at the Cabanatuan POW camp. More than 2,500 POWs died in this camp during the war.

According to prison camp and other historical records, Phillips died July 27, 1942, and was buried along with other deceased prisoners in the local Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery, in Common Grave 225. Following the war, American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) personnel exhumed those buried at the Cabanatuan cemetery and relocated the remains to a temporary U.S. military mausoleum near Manila.

In late 1947, the AGRS examined the remains in an attempt to identify them. Due to the circumstances of the POW deaths and burials, the extensive commingling, and the limited identification technologies of the time, all of the remains could not be individually identified. The unidentified remains were interred as “unknowns” in the present-day Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.

In March 2018, remains associated with Common Grave 225 were disinterred and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.

To identify Phillips’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Phillips’ name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) site along with others missing from WWII. Although interred as an “unknown” in Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Phillips’ grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the ABMC. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Phillips will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. The date has yet to be determined.

By Ty Albright of Missourinet affiliate KZRG in Joplin

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Parson: Missourians waiting for tax returns mostly filed extensions or have tax issues

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State Auditor Nicole Galloway

Thousands of Missourians are still waiting for their 2018 tax returns. State Auditor Nicole Galloway is blaming dysfunction in the Parson administration and at the State Revenue Department.

“Taxpayers deserve assurances that this dysfunction will not carry over into another tax year. Missourians rely on their refunds to pay bills and afford necessities. They are tired of excuses,” Galloway says in a written statement.

Gov. Mike Parson tells Missourinet affiliate KSSZ in Columbia that his administration is aware some Missourians still have not gotten their returns. But he says the small number of taxpayers waiting mostly filed for extensions in October, or have issues with their taxes.

Gov. Mike Parson

“There’s nobody trying to hold up tax returns here in the state of Missouri,” says Parson. “For us, it makes no sense to do that. We want to get it out so we can clear up the books and go to the next side.”

Parson, a Republican, says Galloway, a Democrat, is just trying to score political points.

“We’ve been watching that issue,” says Parson. “But, she’s been pounding that drum for a long time and I just think she’s off beat.”

Galloway is running against him for governor this year.

Brad Tregnago of Missourinet affiliate KSSZ in Columbia contributed to this story.

Missouri Farm Bureau wants state’s newly-created broadband program to be permanent

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The Missouri Farm Bureau says the state’s broadband grant program should stick around. Unless the legislature takes action, the newly-created effort expires in August 2021. In 2018, state lawmakers passed legislation to create the program and in 2019, they funded the effort with $5 million.

Missouri Farm Bureau wants state’s newly-created broadband program to be permanent

The Missouri Farm Bureau’s director of public affairs and advocacy, Eric Bohl, tells Brownfield Ag News it is asking the legislature to continue to fund rural broadband in the state.

“Hopefully we’ll also be able to remove a sunset that was in that initial bill that set up the office so that that office can move forward indefinitely because it’s going to be something that we need for the indefinite future,” he says.

Bohl says the $5 million is solely for the grant program, not the office. The office is funded within the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

He says the $5 million in matching grants will lead to at least $10 million in broadband internet upgrades.

Missouri is one of the worst states in rural broadband reach. Bohl says rural broadband is critical to making farming more efficient and improving the quality of life for rural residents.

“Unfortunately, there are over a million people in rural Missouri that do not have broadband internet access and there’s only two other states that have more than a million people, and those are California and Texas,” Bohl says.

He says the lack of broadband in rural areas hinders the economic development of rural communities and makes them less attractive for younger people to return to the farm.

For internet service to be considered broadband, it must have speeds of at least 25 megabits per second download and three megabits per second upload.

Will Robinson of Brownfield Ag News contributed to this story