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Holiday Express Train chugging through Missouri

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Kansas City Southern’s Holiday Express Train is rolling through parts of Missouri over the next week.

Photo courtesy of City of Joplin

For the 19th year, the festive six car train is bringing Santa and his elves to the Show-Me state. Guests can check out three of the cars that will be filled with holiday decorations.

The train will make a stop at the Union Depot in southwest Missouri’s Joplin from 4:30 to 8 p.m. Sunday. It will be in west-central Missouri’s Higginsville on Tuesday and make its final stop at Union Station in Kansas City on Wednesday.

The events are free and open to the public.

Since 2001, the project has raised more than $2 million for the Salvation Army.

By Ty Albright of Missourinet affiliate KZRG in Joplin

Missouri Representative wants to ease stress on foster kids

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A St. Joseph state representative wants to reduce the stress foster children experience when forced to attend court hearings. Rep. Shelia Solon is chair of the House Children and Families Committee. She says judges have told her the first year in foster care is critical for children and some state laws add to their stress.

Rep. Sheila Solon and Gov. Mike Parson (Photo courtesy of KFEQ in St. Joseph)

“A few years back, the legislature passed legislation that a lot of other states had done which was the Foster Child Empowerment Act,” Solon says. “It had a lot of really great legislation in it, but something that was in the bill was that kids were presumed to be in court for all hearings and it’s been really tough on the kids.”

Solon will sponsor a bill in the upcoming legislative session which would not require foster children to attend all court hearings.

“It’s stressful and think about these kids who have to have these court dates that they’re forced to go to and the anxiety and, again, the burden falls on the foster parents, because they have to take off from their jobs to take these kids to court,” Solon says. “So, this bill is going to just change it from the presumption that they should be in court to if it’s necessary, if a judge feels that they need their input.”

Solon adds Missouri needs to have better guidelines on when a child should be removed from their home. She says Missouri could learn from other states in how they handle taking children from the home.

“Forty other states do this and we don’t and it is a risk assessment chart,” Solon says. “Law enforcement uses this all the time when they’re dealing with domestic violence and child abuse victims and it’s kind of a list of if you see these things then the child needs to be removed or they need to be referred to a battered shelter.”

Solon says Missouri has many good social workers, but many are inexperienced and need solid guidelines on how to carry out their duties.

By Brent Martin of Missourinet affiliate KFEQ in St. Joseph

Missouri post office reopens – seven months after historic flood waters rolled through

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Residents in a northeast Missouri town finally have their post office back which had been closed due to flooding. La Grange residents are picking up their mail from their own post office for the first time in 7 months.

Photo courtesy of WGEM in Quincy, Illinois

“It’s the longest I ever remember, yeah. It did take a long time and I know they were trying very hard. I talked to the lady in charge a couple times and she said they were looking at different options but there’s only so much they can do,” resident Doug Mallet tells Missourinet affiliate WGEM.

Workers said more than 4 feet of water was inside the building at the height of the flood. The lobby has new drywall and the floors and P.O. boxes are all cleaned up.
Most residents in La Grange don’t have mailboxes and have to pick their mail up from the post office itself.

“The lobby is open all the time so if we come in late or we go out of town or something and come in late, I can get my mail,” says Mallett.

Not having it for so long caused residents and the city to travel to nearby Canton to pick up their mail.

“Not having a post office it just ends up not being any good. So having that facility in town and being able to utilize our own post office goes a long way,” says city administrator John Roach.

Meanwhile, residents say the office opened back up at the perfect time. With more packages being delivered this time of year, residents said they’ll be able to send them to the post office instead of leaving them out in the open on their front porch.

“With Christmas coming, I have a bunch of things ordered for nieces and nephews and family and you don’t want them just leaving it on their porch and a lot of times the UPS people will leave it down here which is a lot safer so it’s really nice having it back again,” says Mallett.

Workers say Wednesday was an extremely busy first day back but they are continuing to clean up and get the La Grange office all the way back to normal for at least the next couple of weeks.

By Brett Knese of Missourinet affiliate WGEM in Quincy, Illinois

GM to make ‘major announcement’ at Missouri factory

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The General Motors plant in Wentzville has about 4,600 employees, according to GM’s website (photo courtesy of GM website)

Gov. Mike Parson along with Sen. Roy Blunt are scheduled to meet with the President of General Motors for a major announcement Friday morning at the Wentzville Assembly Plant. They are expected to announce details of the plant expansion that was agreed upon earlier this year, which helped ti bring an end to a five-week-long labor strike.

Parson offered GM a $50 million tax credit if the company promised to invest in the eastern Missouri plant. The tax breaks would be spread out over the next ten years and depend on how many jobs the plant retains during that period. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the investment could total over $1.5 billion.

The factory has about 4,600 workers.

Missourinet will be covering Friday’s press conference and will have more on the story afterwards.

By Ryan Hart

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Attorney wants judge to drop abandonment charge against Missouri lady who stuffed dead husband in freezer

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Barbara Watters

The attorney for a woman from Joplin charged with keeping her husband inside a freezer for more than a year wants a judge to drop the abandonment charge against her.

Barbara Watters, 67, is charged with abandoning a corpse.

Her attorney says she never broke the law because she never abandoned her husband when he died.

But the prosecutor says Watters should have reported the death in case it needed to be investigated.

By Jason Rima of Missourinet affiliate KSGF in Springfield

Congressional delegation presses feds to be more responsive to northwest Missouri flood victims

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Some northwest Missouri flood victims have received no federal disaster assistance…and a few who did receive assistance have been asked to return the money. Congressman Sam Graves of Tarkio says it has become a big problem, stemming from the fact that there is a 15-day gap between the two presidential disaster declarations issued after the mid-March and late May floods. Graves says the Missouri Congressional delegation is working to convince FEMA to cover all flood victims, no matter when the flooding occurred.

Congressman Sam Graves

“We sent a delegation letter just last week,” Graves tells Missourinet affiliate KFEQ in St. Joseph. The entire Missouri delegation is unified on this – Democrats and Republicans – to get this fixed. And so we’re working on that. We’re trying to get that solved.”

Graves says the Missouri delegation wants FEMA to revisit those cases.

“When you have water moving down south from significant rain events, you can’t pick and choose what day your levy is going to break and what’s going to happen,” he says. “It’s still a flood. It’s still a disaster.”

A report surfaced late last week that FEMA demanded a $12,000 assistance check to a flood victim in Craig be returned, because the agency determined his flood damage didn’t meet federal disaster guidelines. Graves says FEMA has been rigid and hard-nosed in their assessment of flood damage. He says FEMA needs to be more sensitive to residents who have lost everything.

Missouri’s battered and broken levee system along the Missouri River is slowly being repaired. Graves says widespread flooding this year did incredible damage.

“We’re seeing dirt being moved. We’re seeing holes being closed,” says Graves. “It’s happening. It’s just the sheer amount of devastation that we had and the number of levee breaches that we have had on the Missouri River from Omaha south to Kansas City is just overwhelming.”

Graves says work on some levees must wait until the Missouri River level drops low enough to fully assess the damage. The Army Corps of Engineers has been reducing water releases from Gavins Point Dam, preparing for lower releases during the winter. That has allowed the Missouri River to drop enough to be below flood stage for the first time since March.

By Brent Martin of Missourinet affiliate KFEQ in St. Joseph

Missouri Cold Weather Rule underway to help customers from getting heat shut off

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Missouri’s Cold Weather Rule is in place and aims to keep customers from having their utilities shut off during the winter months. State Public Service Commission Chairman Ryan Silvey says people should not be freezing when they’re in a bad financial situation.

Missouri Cold Weather Rule underway to help customers from getting heat shut off

“We’d be happy to assist you in working with your utility on those things,” says Silvey. “We are just simply trying to keep them from having their utilities shut off.”

The measure has been a part of the Commission’s rules since 1977.

“It’s been in effect essentially to help elderly, and particularly lower-income or disabled individuals through the winter not to have their heat utilities shut off and to options to allow them to stay on. So, that’s essentially what it’s designed for. That’s worked pretty well for the last 42 years,” says Silvey.

Silvey tells Missourinet affiliate KWIX in Moberly that utility companies regulated by the commission are required to follow the rule, including Ameren.

“We’re making the utilities essentially work with them on a payment structure, spreading it out over twelve months, for instance. But we don’t want people freezing when they’re obviously in a bad situation financially,” says Silvey. “It makes the utilities do some additional notice before they just shut it off. They have to contact you 10 days before. Then they have to make personal contact 96 hours before and then they have to provide options for you or make you aware of options for how to get that bill into a more manageable state so that you won’t have your utilities shut off.”

The rule does not apply to companies run by cities, cooperatives or propane delivery companies, but they might still work with customers having money problems.

By Bob Ehle of Missourinet affiliate KWIX in Moberly

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Will gas tax proposal make it to the ballot in 2020? Missouri legislator not so sure

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Since 2020 is a major election year, the chance of a proposed gas tax hike making it to the ballot might have an uphill battle. State Representative Chuck Bayse, R-Rocheport, hopes that’s not the case.

Photo courtesy of MoDOT

“Something that is very disappointing to me is when I hear folks in leadership say that we can’t do that because it’s an election year,” Basye tells Missourinet affiliate KWIX in Moberly. “But, I’m afraid that’s going to be the fate this year – I might be wrong. But, I would love to see us put forth a significant proposal for a fuel tax and get that in front of the people.”

Last November, Missouri voters rejected a proposed 10 cent gas tax increase that would have raised the state’s 17 cent gasoline tax for the first time in more than 20 years.

“The constituents that I serve three times now overwhelmingly favor a gas tax proposal and one that would be very easily read, not to be confused with a lot of other information involved like the last ballot issue,” Basye says.

Passage of the measure Basye is referring to would have helped to fund maintenance to Missouri’s roads and bridges, among other things.

“The last ballot issue we had, ya know, we had the law enforcement language and the Olympic medal tied into that same thing,” says Basye. “They would like to see a stand-alone gas tax proposal that would go to roads and bridges only.”

Prefiling of bills starts December 1 for the next session of the Missouri Legislature beginning in January.

By Bob Ehle of Missourinet affiliate KWIX in Moberly

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Survey breaks down Thanksgiving no-nos for Missourians

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A national survey says smart phones and politics are two things Missourians should not bring to the Thanksgiving table. Doug Jeske, president of Des Moines branding and marketing agency Meyocks, says the survey finds Thanksgiving is a time for family, not Facebook.

Survey breaks down Thanksgiving no-nos for Missourians

“About 70% of Americans say they find the use of mobile phones and other devices at the Thanksgiving table annoying,” Jeske says, “yet 43% still allow it.”

The survey suggests the Thanksgiving dinner hosts make a rule before the feast begins that anyone caught using their phone during the meal has to wash all of the dishes.

We as Americans profess to wanting to be with our families at Thanksgiving yet some of us find ways to disconnect from them when we’re together. Maybe if there was a disincentive of having to help with cleanup, it might keep us focused on the conversation at hand.”

It’s long been said that polite conversation should not include politics or religion. The survey found politics is declining as a popular topic on Turkey Day.

“Four years ago, one in four Americans said that politics typically came up at the Thanksgiving table,” Jeske says. “This year, it’s down to one in six. We’re a little divided as a nation, perhaps a lot divided, so it’s easier to talk about the good things that are going on or how good mom’s pecan pie is, rather than talk about things like impeachment.”

While mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce remain a constant on the Thanksgiving menu, the latest survey found one change from tradition.

“Turkey still dominates as a Thanksgiving dinner item, but mac and cheese, for the first time since we’ve been doing the survey, made the top ten list of dishes,” Jeske says.

As for religion, one in five of those surveyed say they never say a prayer at the Thanksgiving table. That’s up slightly from 17% in 2016. Also this year, nearly one in five surveyed say they’ll have groceries delivered for Thanksgiving.

By Matt Kelley of Radio Iowa

Missouri Thanksgiving travelers expected to pay less in fuel

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Fuel prices are expected to drop, but not by much for Thanksgiving drivers. Gasbuddy projects unleaded gas to decline by roughly five-cents. Tristan Wheelan tells WGEM-TV in Quincy that he won’t complain.

Missouri Thanksgiving travelers expected to pay less in fuel

“You know everybody’s gotta buy gas and if I’m traveling around, I gotta buy it anyway, so might as well get it while it’s cheap,” says Wheelan.”

Samantha Walker says every little bit helps this time of year.

“Who knows, I might be able to buy a few more presents,” she says.

Gasbuddy’s projected national average is $2.56 a gallon. The average is about five-cents less than a few weeks ago but is the most Thanksgiving travelers have paid for in five years. In Missouri, the average price is $2.27 per gallon.

Triple-A Auto Club predicts nearly 50 million people will be driving more than 50 miles for Thanksgiving, with the most drivers out on the roads on Wednesday.

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet