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African American Historical sights being recognized in southwest Missouri’s Springfield

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A 1930s church in a Springfield park is the first stop on the city’s new African American Heritage Trail.  The project was created by Missouri State University Sociology Professor Lyle Foster, who set out on a mission to educate himself.

“I don’t necessarily think of myself as a historian, more as a person who’s about community education,” Foster said. “I’ve always been fascinated, as someone who moved to the Springfield community, in understanding and appreciating the history, in particular of African Americans, in our city.”

Foster realized the Queen city is filled with stories future generations should hear about a tight-knit African American population and the places that community would frequent.

“One story will probably be where we’re kind of standing right now,” said Foster.  “That is the story of Jones alley which was a really vibrant business district for the African American community that doesn’t really exist anymore. There were houses here. Those houses were squeezed between two historic churches and their congregations,” he said.

Signs will be placed near many of the more important locations on the African American Heritage Trail, including old segregation-era restaurants, churches, and motels still standing in north Springfield.

“I think this helps to bring healing,” said Foster.  “It helps to bring awareness and some kind of understanding for those who don’t know.”

In September, the Springfield City Council allocated $14,356 to purchase four signs for the African American Heritage Trail. The money was provided through a 1/4-cent capital improvements sales tax in the city.

Foster said once those signs are up, people should be able to walk from one to the next–learning as they go about a part of Springfield history they might otherwise never hear about.

“We hope the school groups, college groups, community organizations will make this kind of a family fun activity, to not only learn but also to have some healthy recreation at the same time,” Foster said.

Foster described the stops along the African American Heritage Trail.

“Silver Springs Park, which was the original park for the African American community,” Foster said. “Lincoln School, which is on the OTC campus. That school was, of course, the public high school and elementary school for children of color in Springfield up until the court order ended segregation in our nation.”

“We are also looking at marking off historic churches,” said Foster.  “There are four historic churches. Alberta’s Hotel. We’ll be looking at Graham’s BBQ. We’ll be looking at some other sites in other parts of the city as well as in Greene County itself.”

(Missourinet media partner KOLR-TV contributed this report)

Missouri State to ask legislature for major spike in funding

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A major university in the Show-Me State will be asking lawmakers for an additional $40 million in the upcoming session.

Missouri State University (MSU) in Springfield says its enrollment is at 26,000 students, but it actually receives about $2,000 less in state funds per student than any other University in Missouri.

MSU President Clif Smart says the University has grown without receiving an increase in funding to accommodate the growth.

Therefore, the school is unable to expand programs such as Health Care, Finance, and Business along with being able to hire additional faculty.

Smart explains what’s being done to ensure MSU receives more funds for next year.  “We’ll continue to advocate both with the Governor’s Office and then through the legislative process to make sure to do our best in any way to make sure there is some equity money in the budget for higher education and that specifically, Missouri State benefits from that.”

To bring MSU up to the state average in funding, it would require a 39.8 million dollar appropriation increase.

The Governor’s budget will go through the legislative process early next year with MSU’s Fiscal Year beginning on July 1st.

(Missourinet media partner KOLR-TV contributed this report)

Southeast Missouri has most seismic activity east of Rocky Mountains

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Southeast Missouri’s Bootheel region is home to the most active seismic area in the country east of the Rocky Mountains according to the state Department of Natural Resources.

New Madrid Seismic Zone (Image courtesy of the Missouri Department of Public Safety)

Emergency management agency officials say on average more than 200 earthquakes shake the New Madrid Seismic Zone each year. Many of those we don’t feel, but they still can predict what future seismic events.

“There are gonna be big ones again these days. Whether that’ll be tomorrow or a hundred years from now, unfortunately, it’s impossible to know that,” said Jeff Briggs, Missouri State Emergency Management Agency’s Earthquake Program Manager.

He said the New Madrid Seismic Zone is still very active.  “We do know the risk is substantial enough that we do need to prepare for it,” said Briggs.

The Cape Girardeau County Emergency Management Agency’s Director, Mark Winkler, recommends being prepared. He suggests creating an emergency plan for yourself, keep an emergency kit at work or home, have a reunification plan with loved ones and participate in earthquake drills.

“Disasters are cyclical. They can happen at any time. We tend to let our guard down whenever there isn’t a tornado or there isn’t an earthquake,” said Winkler.

He recommends learning from the past on what you need to do to be prepared.

“The main way people are gonna get injured in an earthquake is from falling debris. It’s much less likely that a whole house is gonna collapse, but that heavy things might fall on us,” said Briggs.

Both Winkler and Briggs advised making sure anything that could fall is secured, including bookcases, heavy light fixtures, and ceiling fans. Those little things could make a big difference.

“You can put a dollar price on those, but you can’t put a dollar price on a life,” said Winkler.

Briggs also said unlike any other natural disaster, you won’t get a warning before an earthquake, and that makes them uniquely dangerous.

Three earthquakes of a magnitude 7.0 or greater occurred in the New Madrid Seismic Zone between December 1811 to February 1812.

(Missourinet media partner KFVS-TV contributed this report) 

Dairy manufacturer ships first central Missouri product this week

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Cows by a fence (photo: Happy Fence Friday, Larry Brown)

Aurora Organic Dairy has rolled its first milk products out of the new Columbia facility in mid-Missouri this week. The location broke ground about 18 months ago.

“Everybody’s worked,” said Justin Stuart, the first person hired for the site north of Columbia. “Day and night to get us to this point.”

Stuart says the company will ship organic milk all over the country, especially to the eastern half of the U.S.

Boone County approved a 75 percent property tax break for the company if it meets hiring goals. Stuart says Aurora is on pace to have more than 100 workers on board in 2019. More than 60 people will be working for him by the end of the year.

“As we ramp up over the next six months to get to our full running capacity, we will continue to bring on employees and be a 24/7 milk operation.”

The city of Columbia agreed to sell the land for the site at a deep discount to Aurora.

By Brad Tregnago of Missourinet affiliate KSSZ in Columbia

Missouri man gets “Bambi” sentence for extreme case of poaching

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David Berry Jr. will spend a year in jail, lose hunting privileges for life, and must watch Bambi once a month.

(Image of the film Bambi provided by KOLR-TV)

The man at the helm of what the Missouri Conservation Department calls the worst poaching ring in state history is spending a year behind bars.

It’s a case that has generated buzz not just here at home, but across the country and even in England.

Lawrence County Prosecutor Matthew Kasper says the case of David Berry, Jr. dates back to 2015. Berry and his father, David Berry, Sr. and his two brothers Eric and Kyle were all involved in the poaching over three years — killing turkeys, foxes, 100’s of pounds of fish — but mostly targeting mature bucks.

“There were 11 counties in Missouri, three states, and Canada all involved in the charges filed for these individuals,” says Kasper. “Many of them, they just took the racks or the head. They had mounted them and left the bodies in a lot of cases. Sometimes they would take a little bit of the meat, or take none of it at all and just leave it in the field. ”

Berry Jr. originally had his year-long jail sentence suspended for a two-year probation, but was back in front of the same Judge, Robert George, a month later in November for poaching again.

His sentence: serving a year, and being forced to watch the Disney classic, “Bambi” at least once a month in that time.

“I’ve never seen a sentence quite like that. I would say it is an unusual sentence, but it was definitely an unusual case,” says Kasper.

Randy Doman is the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Protection Division Chief, who was satisfied with the additional part of Berry Jr.’s punishment.

“The judge chose to have that caveat of watching Bambi at his discretion. I applaud his creativity and his ingenuity. I think he was trying to make a point,” says Doman.

Doman says the animal parts weren’t proven to be sold, and the motive is unknown, but he says these acts were a disgrace to the respect of the animals and law-abiding hunters everywhere.

“This was more about greed, about the thrill of the hunt, and the kill, and ego,” Doman says.

Berry Jr. and Sr. have also had their hunting privileges taken away for life.

Last year, one lawmaker tried to pass a bill that would have increased poaching penalties in Missouri. It did not pass.

Doman says the bill will be refiled, and he hopes this case will be an example of why these penalties should be increased.

(Missourinet media partner KOLR-TV contributed this story)

Springfield Police meet with Me Too group after CNN reports on discarded rape test kits

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It’s been less than a month since CNN spotlighted Springfield Police for destroying years worth of untested rape kits. Since then, Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams has been on damage control, reassuring the public that those are no longer the practices of the department.

Springfield Police Department (Image courtesy of KOLR-TV)

“The number one negative perception that came out of that is that that’s how we are today,” says Williams. “It seems like people today read headlines and they listen to a thirty-second snippet and they don’t dive into the rest of it.”

CNN reported that Williams told the rape victim advocacy group Me Too that the department will review sex crimes cases in which the agency destroyed rape kits.  The chief said the department’s review will focus on the 108 rape kits that CNN identified as being destroyed since 2010.

In early December, Williams apologized to sexual assault victims and invited them to contact him if they felt their cases were mishandled.  He says the Me Too group has been looking for an explanation.

Kelsey Nichol, Vice President of Springfield Me Too, says her team was looking for justice when it met with the department.  “We walked in really apprehensive. Really prepared to, honestly prepared to start a war,” Nichol says.

Perhaps to the surprise of both police and Me Too, the meeting ended with an agreement.

“I certainly walked away very happy with the response from the group,” Chief Williams says.

Williams says he listened to a Me Too suggestion to change one department practice.

“They had a ‘rape prevention’ list and it wasn’t very victim-centered,” Me Too’s Nichol says. “There’s really no way to prevent rape.”

Chief Williams said the two sides were able to compromise on issues that separate them.

“They had some good suggestions on things they’d like to see. Some things I agreed to,” Williams says.  “Other things I said, ‘No, we are not going to do that.’ The suggestion that we contact the victims whose kits had been disposed of and let them know that, that’s absolutely not a victim-centered approach.”

Nichol accepted that it would not be productive to revisit sexual assault experienced by the victims.

“Bringing this back up brings a lot of secondary trauma,” Nichol says.  “So, we now know that this wasn’t necessarily the best request.”

She noted the police department has offered to take other steps in the fight against rape.

“So, we’re excited about their plan,” Nichols said.  “They’re working with the victim’s center to set up a hotline for victims to call in and contact them about cases.”

Williams also says he’ll add a Me Too representative onto his Chief’s Community Advisory Group who will provide a victim-centered perspective on community discussions with the chief in the future.

(Missourinet media partner KOLR-TV contributed this report)

Missouri film crew shooting documentary gets detained at southern border

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A Springfield-based production crew was recently detained by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Department after interacting with kids who have been separated from their families at the border.

Undocumented children being housed at U.S. border in Texas (Image courtesy of KOLR-TV)

Professor Andrew Cline of Missouri State University in Springfield and his Carbon Trace Production team traveled to Texas to document the conditions of kids being held at a camp.

“I’m appalled by what we’re doing to these families and I want to show that, I want to show that people are appalled,” he said.

Cline’s production team captured a man holding a sign saying “Free Them” during their visit to the Tornillo Camp. At the camp, his crew filmed a line of kids walking in the fenced in area.

“I want to point cameras at these kids inside this camp and see what their lives are like and I want to point cameras at those guards and see their faces. I think it’s important for people to see it’s an internment camp. I thought we saw the last of that on American soil in the early 1940s with the Japanese Americans,” said Cline.

After filming the kids, Cline’s crew was detained for an hour by law enforcement for talking to them until the sheriff determined the crew did nothing wrong.

“The guards came and put a stop to that immediately and in fact, before the day was over, the facility put out a black plastic sheet along the whole back of the fence to prevent us from shooting anymore video through the fence,” said Cline.

Cline isn’t the only one using film to try and spark a change. Back in June, he shot protesters participating in the Families Belong Together March as police looked on.

“We had a hard time finding anybody who was happy about these kids being separated from their families,” said Cline.

And Cline is concerned that the separation will continue because of what he’s captured on video at the Tornillo Camp.

“Construction material moves in constantly, temporary trailer housing moves in constantly, it is growing like crazy despite the government saying it’s supposed to close down by the end of the year. Not sure how that’s going to happen when you’re still building it,” said Cline.

Cline wants to finish his documentary by February with the hope of showing it at the non-profit Moxie Cinema in Springfield, which screens independent films.

(Missourinet media partner KOLR-TV contributed this report)

Survey: 17% of Missouri businesses to add workers in first quarter of 2019

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Many Missouri businesses plan to add workers over the first three months of 2019. That’s according to a new survey by staffing firm ManpowerGroup. Spokesman Dave Wheeler says 17-percent of Missouri businesses expect to hire new employees between January and March.

Survey: 17% of Missouri businesses to add workers in first quarter of 2019

“As you compare that to fourth quarter of 2018, our current period, we were projected at 15 percent growth and we are going up to a 17 percent growth for fourth quarter,” Wheeler says.

Another 75 percent of Missouri employers say they plan to maintain current staffing levels over the first quarter of next year.

“This number is only offset by six percent of employers who plan to reduce payroll,” he says.

More than 12,500 businesses nationwide participated in the survey.

By Pat Curtis of Radio Iowa

Branson restaurant owner named number one barbecue cook in the world

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A restaurant owner in Missouri’s tourism capital of Branson is being called the world’s number one barbecue cook.

His restaurant is called “Gettin Basted”, and the cook was given the honor by the Kansas City Barbecue Society, which provides oversight to hundreds of competitions and is the largest competitive barbecue organization in the world.

“Gettin Basted” owner, former college football player Brad Leighninger, says he’s been in 50 barbecue competitions this year, with one more to go. He shared the technique that he says makes him a stand-out.

“You always here low and slow, low and slow…we don’t do that,” said Leighninger.  “We cook hot and fast. We get everything done in about a 3rd of the time as everyone else, and I think that turns out a superior product.  That’s what we do at the restaurants, do at the competition circuit, and it’s definitely the new thing in barbecue now.”

Leighninger explains how a college football player goes from competing on the grid to the grill?  “You eat a lot and you cook a lot ..and you get out of shape..and then you realize you still want to compete,” Leighninger joked.

It all started back in 2012 when Leighninger’s friend dropped out of the “Rockin Ribs” competition in Springfield and asked him to step in. Leighninger and his brother-in-law went in together.

“We ended up doing really well,” Leighninger said.  “We won $1000 and a trip to Las Vegas, by cooking potato salad of all things.  It wasn’t even a barbecue. It was potato salad.  Then in the meat categories, we did really well. We ended up finishing 7th overall, out of about 70 or 80 teams that day.  And for better or worse, we were pretty much sucked in at that point.”

“Gettin Basted” manager Sterling McGregor told KOLR-TV the best part of his job is nibbling on the food.  “The food, by far. Get to snack on it all day long. I mean pay for it all day long.. of course,” said McGregor.

Leighninger has one more competition to go before the year is out.  He’s currently ranked at number one, with just one point ahead of second place.

(Missourinet media partner KOLR-TV provided this report)

Missouri GOP Senator alarmed by ‘right to work’ bill making quick return after major defeat

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In the August primary election, Missourians overwhelmingly opposed a “right to work” measure that would have banned workers from having to join a union as a condition of employment. State Senator Gary Romine, R-Farmington, says he’s disappointed his fellow Republicans and the governor are bringing back a “right to work” bill next year.

Senator Gary Romine, R-Farmington

“It’s frustrating because the citizens did speak in an astounding way – beating it by close to 70 percent. That’s a strong statement by the will of the people,” Romine tells Missourinet affiliate KREI in Farmington. “I’m disappointed that we’re going to be having to deal with this issue again.”

State Senator-elect Eric Burlison, R-Springfield, has filed the bill. He has filed similar measures during his previous days in the Missouri House of Representatives. Supporters of such laws contend that such labor regulations would improve Missouri’s economy and create jobs.

Opponents say a “right to work” law would lower wages for all Missourians, not just union workers. Romine, whose district includes a large number of union workers, has opposed making “right to work” the law of the land.

“I think the voice of the people is going to be very important at this point that they call their legislators,” says Romine. “It’s going to have to be interaction between the people and the legislators.”

A report by KSDK-TV in St. Louis says staff members in Governor Mike Parson’s office, including Policy Director Kayla Hahn, started looking at options before the August Right to Work ballot measure was rejected by voters. The TV station says it obtained nearly 80 pages of often redacted documents through an open records request that spell out the plans.

KSDK reports that one day before the August election, Hahn emailed Parson’s Chief of Staff Aaron Willard to discuss how municipalities in other states have passed local “right to work” statutes. She also provided links to “model ordinances” developed by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an organization funded by the Koch network that crafts legislation for mostly Republicans to introduce at the state and local level.

Nine days after the ballot measure was defeated, Governor Parson told reporters at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia that he would not make “right to work” a priority before the first of the year, saying, “The voters have spoken”.

The Missouri General Assembly will start a new session at the Capitol in Jefferson City on January 9 at noon.

Story written by Alisa Nelson, Jason Taylor and Missourinet affiliate KREI in Farmington

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