Business

Missouri’s Nasheed: “SuperFly exemplifies everything that’s wrong within the African-American community” (AUDIO)

June 22, 2018 By Brian Hauswirth

A veteran Missouri state senator is calling on St. Louis-area residents to boycott a new movie called “SuperFly”, alleging it glorifies sex, murder and drug dealing.

State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed speaks at the Missouri Capitol on January 23, 2018 (file photo courtesy of Missouri Senate photographer Harrison Sweazea]

State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, the Senate Minority Caucus Whip, led a protest Friday afternoon outside the Chase Park Plaza Cinemas in St. Louis.

“The last thing we need in our city is a movie perpetuating and glorifying again, drugs, gangs and violence,” Nasheed says.

Senator Nasheed is calling on the theatre to remove the film and she’s urging young people to watch movies that will give them a sense of hope and pride.

She says people should be working to end violence in the Gateway City, not glorifying it.

“SuperFly exemplifies everything that’s wrong within the African-American community,” says Nasheed. “And so what we’re saying is enough is enough.”

Nasheed and some clergy members involved with the “Concerned Citizens Coalition” led Friday’s protest outside the theatre, which is located at Lindell and Kingshighway in the Central West End.

“When I turn on the news (in St. Louis) I hear a story about a young man or a young woman that was gunned down in the streets of the city of St. Louis, and we have a gang problem that no one’s really paying attention to,” Nasheed says.

St. Louis Police spokeswoman Schron Jackson tells Missourinet there were 205 homicides in St. Louis in 2017, and there were 188 in 2016.

The Chase Park Plaza Cinemas management team has not responded to Missourinet’s request for comment yet.

The theatre website indicates “SuperFly” is being shown five times a day at the Chase Park Plaza Cinemas.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet news director Brian Hauswirth and State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, which was recorded on June 22, 2018:

Business environmental coalition bullish on clean energy in Missouri

June 22, 2018 By Jason Taylor

A group that backs clean energy says Missouri has seen a 5% increase in green jobs over the past two years.

Business environmental coalition bullish on clean energy in Missouri

Environmental Entrepreneurs is a coalition of business owners and investors focused on the environment and the economy. Its Clean Jobs Midwest report provides a breakdown of clean energy across a 12-state region – Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Tony Wyche, the Missouri based consultant for Environmental Entrepreneurs, says the Show-Me state performs well among its peers in the Midwest.

“Missouri has actually, usually been fairly high among Midwest states for our rate of job growth,” says Wyche. “We’re actually seeing a lot of new generation and energy efficiency job that have been created in the state.”

According to the report, Missouri has 55,251 clean energy jobs. About 72.5% of those positions are in the energy efficiency sector, which includes contractors who handle heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and system technicians.

Advanced transportation is the state’s second-biggest sector for clean jobs, providing 9,806 positions, accounting for 18% of the state’s total.

The advanced transportation industry includes hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles, plus those that are powered by fuel cells or alternative fuels. Missouri’s advanced transportation sector grew faster than any other state in the Midwest.

Renewable energy generation jobs also grew quickly, increasing 14.5% in the state, although the sector accounts for only 6.7% of the clean energy positions.

Missouri is particularly dependent on coal which fueled 81% of its electricity generation in 2017. Also, more coal is consumed for electricity generation in Missouri than in all but two other states.

In addition, a massive wind energy transmission line that would run through the state, the Grain Belt Express, is tied up in litigation in the courts.

According to Wyche, the construction and maintenance of the Grain Belt project would help boost renewable energy job numbers, as would the 39 cities in the state that have committed to purchasing wind power that would be passing through. Those communities include Columbia, Rolla, and Hannibal.

Springfield is in the process of acquiring 30% of its power from wind that’s coming from wind farms in Oklahoma.

But Wyche claims clean energy generation is actually growing very rapidly in the state, particularly in rural economies.

“What we’re seeing is that 99% of all wind generation, wind energy generation, comes from rural areas,” says Wyche. “And here in Missouri, the wind farms that we have are all in rural parts of the state in northwest and northeast Missouri.”

Even with the increase in clean power generation coming from rural areas, the coop power companies that largely provide electric energy to the low population areas are still 80% dependent on coal-fired plants.

Still, according to the report from Environmental Entrepreneurs, renewable energy generation is the third largest clean energy job sector in Missouri with 3,707 jobs. And like the rest of the 11 state Midwest region, Missouri renewable energy generation jobs grew the fastest of any sector, expanding by nearly 15% between 2015 and 2016 and adding 470 jobs.

Wyche thinks rural areas stand to benefits from the expansion of clean energy and believes elected office holders will play a key role in how it unfolds.

“Policymakers in Jefferson City and Washington D.C. need to remain committed to investment in policies that benefit rural Missouri and rural America through investment in green energy technology and energy efficiency.”

Wyche says two key federal programs support the development of clean energy in rural communities – the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Energy Assistance Program and the same agency’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program.

Environmental Entrepreneurs was founded in 2000 and is a partner of the Natural Resources Defense Council, which is a non-profit international environmental advocacy group.

Missouri brick and mortar stores happy with U.S. Supreme Court decision

June 22, 2018 By Missourinet Contributor

If you shop online, you may notice something extra when you check out. The United States Supreme Court made the decision for states to be able to charge online sales tax in a 5 to 4 ruling Thursday.

U.S. Supreme Court (courtesy; Wikimedia commons)

Business owners are happy with the decision, saying it’s long overdue.

“I’m surprised this decision wouldn’t have been made a decade ago, I mean to me it’s a no-brainer,” says Joseph Gidman, co-owner of Tea and Spice Market in southwest Missouri’s Springfield.

Gidman is reacting to online retailers that have been dodging sales tax for years.

“It has been a very unfair advantage that the online community gets these breaks and so many people have gone to online then the responsibility to collect sales tax and fuel the local government has been put on the brick and mortars that are already hurting. It’s nice to have the playing field leveled,” says Gidman.

The ruling overturned a 1992 Supreme Court precedent that had barred states from requiring online businesses with no physical presence in that state to collect sales tax.

Although it’s still unclear exactly what the decision means for our local economy, Greene County Commissioner, Harold Bengsch says it could have a positive impact here in Missouri.

“We think it is a good thing because these are tax monies that were escaping from Missouri that should have been received by Missouri and that now has been addressed by the Supreme Court so in that regard, I think it’s a good thing,” says Bengsch.

Tea and Spice Market’s Gidman thinks consumers will benefit from a more level playing field.

“A lot of people may go online to order teas and spices just because it’s cheaper, but if they realize there’s not going to be a cost difference then they can come out and actually smell the spices and taste the teas,” says Gidman.

According to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Kennedy, last year e-commerce retail sales alone were estimated at $450 billion.

Missourinet media partner KOLR-TV contributed this story

UM System President emphasizes jobs, research and health care with governor (AUDIO)

June 22, 2018 By Brian Hauswirth

The UM System President says Governor Mike Parson (R) is committed to Missouri and to public higher education.

UM System President Dr. Mun Choi

System President Dr. Mun Choi accompanied Parson during the governor’s recent tour of the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Choi says he and his team had a great conversation with the governor about the value the System can provide for economic development and workforce infrastructure.

“But most importantly, how we leverage the educational research into opportunities to create new businesses right here in Columbia in areas in which we can save lives,” Dr. Choi says.

He’s referring to areas like cancer and cardiovascular disease.

President Choi has said that the UM System is working to train more doctors, dentists, engineers and pharmacists in the state.

Dr. Choi says Governor Parson reached out to his office, before last week’s tour at Mizzou.

“Which goes to show that he sees the value of our university, but we have to be now accountable, we can’t take that for granted,” says Choi. “We have to really deliver on our promises of creating excellence in everything that we do.”

Dr. Choi told the governor that the UM System and its four campuses have a $5.4 billion impact on the state, and that 61,000 people have jobs either directly or indirectly because of the university system.

Governor Parson says businesses must be involved in partnerships with colleges and universities.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and UM System President Dr. Mun Choi, which was recorded at the University of Missouri-Columbia campus on June 13, 2018:

Southeast Missouri nail company gets hammered by Trump’s tariffs

June 22, 2018 By Alisa Nelson

President Trump’s tariff on steel imports that took effect June 1 has caused a southeast Missouri nail manufacturer to lose about 50% of its business in two weeks. Mid Continent Nail Corporation in Poplar Bluff – the remaining major nail producer in the country – has had to take drastic measures to make ends meet. The company employing 500 people earlier this month has laid off 60 temporary workers. It could slash 200 more jobs by the end of July and be out of business around Labor Day.

Photo courtesy of Mid Continent Nail Corp.

During a Finance Committee hearing this week on Capitol Hill, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, sounded the alarm about the company going downhill and fast.

Mid Continent is one of the largest employers in Butler County and the second largest manufacturer in Poplar Bluff. If push comes to shove, slicing the remaining 440 jobs that pay an average of $12.50 an hour would add to the Bootheel’s struggling reputation marked by several of the poorest counties in the state.

Mid Continent is owned by Mexico-based Deacero. The parent company produces steel and ships the material to its Poplar Bluff plant. Spokesperson Elizabeth Heaton tells Missourinet Deacero is being hit with the 25% tariff for importing steel to its own company.

The manufacturer’s existence in Missouri is riding on whether the federal government will grant a tariff exemption on the steel wire it gets from Mexico. The U.S. Commerce Department is holding the fate of several American companies in its hands. The agency is dealing with a backlog from its more than 20,000 exemption requests.

“Something would have to happen very fast, within days in order for us to know that things were going to improve. We’re hoping that this could get pushed through very quickly,” Heaton says.

The company has also requested a meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Heaton says.

“There are only about 15 of these companies left and Mid Continent produces about 50% of the nails out of those 15. If you could imagine, if it were to go out of business and that is of course worse case scenario, we want to do everything that we can to make sure that does not happen, that would be a huge blow to that segment of the industry. It’s a big deal, not just for Missouri and for the economy there, but for the whole industry.”

Heaton says the company is currently focused on trying to keep the Missouri plant open and does not believe there have been discussions on whether to move the Poplar Bluff operation to Mexico.

State Treasurer Schmitt: one in ten Missourians have unclaimed property (AUDIO)

June 21, 2018 By Brian Hauswirth

The approximately 100,000 Missourians who have unclaimed property will soon see their name in newspapers across the state.

Missouri State Treasurer Eric Schmitt (photo courtesy of the Treasurer’s office)

State Treasurer Eric Schmitt (R) is launching the office’s annual effort to find the owners of that unclaimed property.

Schmitt’s office holds $988 million in unclaimed property for Missouri.

“Most of the time it’s bank accounts or last paycheck, that’s another thing that kind of finds its way to us, safe deposit boxes,” Schmitt says.

The names are being published in newspapers in all of Missouri’s 114 counties.

Missouri state law requires the notices to be published in newspapers annually.

You can also visit ShowMeMoney.com to see if you have unclaimed property.

Schmitt says he’s trying to reconnect Missourians with their money.

“It’s a good time for us to remind people not just to look for their name or a loved one or a friend in those newspapers but also, you know, online when they search showmemoney.com,” says Schmitt.

Schmitt’s office returned $45 million in unclaimed property in 2017.

He notes one in ten Missourians have unclaimed property, and the average return is about $300.

Schmitt says one St. Charles family last year discovered they had $3,000 in unclaimed property.

He says the average processing time for claims has dropped from 14 to eight days, since he took office in 2017.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Missouri State Treasurer Eric Schmitt, which was recorded on June 19, 2018:

Trump tariffs blamed for potential closure of major southeast Missouri employer

June 20, 2018 By Alisa Nelson

The last major U.S. nail manufacturer – located in southeast Missouri – could be out of business by Labor Day. George Skarich of Mid Continent Nail Corporation in Poplar Bluff says President Trump’s 25% tariff on steel imports is pricing the company out of the market. If it closes, about 500 workers would be in the unemployment line in a region already suffering from serious economic hardships.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri

“Cheap nail imports from China and other countries don’t face this tariff and are increasing every day. We need our wire to be excluded from this tariff or we will have to increase the layoffs we’ve already begun,” Skarich says.

Mid Continent Nail Corporation is one of the largest employers in Butler County and the second largest one in Poplar Bluff. It launched in 1987 under the direction of David Libla and Republican State Senator Doug Libla of Poplar Bluff.

In a live Missourinet interview last week, Libla indicated he was working on the tariff issue but he did not provide specifics.

During a U.S. Senate Finance committee hearing today in Washington, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, says the manufacturer has already endured severe losses.

“The company has 500 workers in a town of only 17,000. They’ve now laid off 60 of their 500 employees,” she says. “They’ve idled their most sophisticated production facility in Poplar Bluff. They are expected to cut 200 more jobs by the end of July and the company that has visited with us at length believes they’ll be out of business by Labor Day.”

A closure would be a drastic shift from the company’s 2015 expansion that included the addition of a new line, the hiring of nearly 100 workers and a $5 million investment.

According to McCaskill, the manufacturer produces about 50% of the nails made in America.

“So far, in response to the tariff, they have lost almost half of their business in one month due to price,” McCaskill says. “They went from an average of 9,000 tons of nails sold every month. In June, that dropped to 5,500 (tons). In July, the company will sell fewer than 4,000 tons. The customers can easily source nails manufactured in other countries.”

Some U.S. companies, including Mid Continent Nail Corporation, are seeking tariff exemptions from the federal government if they can’t get the goods they need from a domestic metals supplier. The U.S. Commerce Department is experiencing a huge backlog of exemption requests – leaving many of the companies in a major predicament.

During today’s hearing, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says the department has so far received more than 20,000 requests for product exemptions. Of those, 98 requests have been processed, 42 exemptions have been approved and 56 have been denied. McCaskill railed against the department’s red tape.

“In a chaotic and frankly incompetent manner, you’re picking winners and losers on a very technical basis, according to all the reporting we have, without a great deal of training,” McCaskill says. “The regulatory burden is so extreme on small businesses. Many of these companies are filing dozens of waivers based on having to file a different one for every slightly different product. You are requiring that these waivers be filed every year.”

Ross says the Commerce Department is working through the backlog of exemption requests and disputes claims that the process is chaotic.

Mid Continent Nail Corporation is seeking 24 exemptions but McCaskill says they likely wouldn’t be granted in time to save the business.

Missouri Lt. Governor Kehoe: “I believe public service is a privilege that no one should take lightly”

June 19, 2018 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor appointed Senate Majority Leader Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, as Lieutenant Governor on Monday in Jefferson City.

Cole County Judge Patricia Joyce administers the oath of office to Mike Kehoe as Lieutenant Governor on June 18, 2018 (photo courtesy of Missouri Senate photographer Harrison Sweazea)

Governor Mike Parson (R) made the announcement at the Statehouse, saying the lieutenant governor position reassures Missourians that all operations of state government will continue.

Parson also praises Kehoe’s background.

“Throughout my career, I have witnessed the importance of steady, predictable and selfless leadership,” Parson says. “Being prepared and having experience matters.”

While the Missouri Constitution doesn’t specifically address how the lieutenant governor should be replaced when there’s a vacancy, former Attorney General and Governor Jay Nixon (D) says the Governor “has the authority to fill a vacancy in this office by appointment.”

Former Governors Matt Blunt (R) and Bob Holden (D) agree with this interpretation.

Governor Parson brought in attorneys Joe Bednar and Lowell Pearson for the announcement. Bednar served as chief legal counsel to Governor Mel Carnahan (D), and Pearson was chief legal counsel to Governor Blunt (R).

Parson says both men believe he has the authority to make the appointment.

Governor Parson told Missourinet earlier this month that he didn’t like the state being without a Lieutenant Governor.

The Bolivar Republican says infrastructure will be a top issue for Kehoe.

“He has served as a former commissioner of (the) Missouri Department of Transportation, and has a strong sense of the infrastructure challenges our state is facing,” says Parson.

Kehoe is a former chairman of Missouri’s Highways and Transportation Commission. He tells the Capitol Press Corps he agrees with the governor’s emphasis on infrastructure.

“I will do all I can to help him in that conversation and work with community leaders from urban and rural areas as well as MoDOT and others on the transportation infrastructure as well as, you know, other infrastructure that is out in our state,” Kehoe says.

Kehoe is pledging to work tirelessly, and tells Capitol reporters he’s grateful for the opportunity.

“When Governor Parson called and asked me to assist him in this role, it was one of the most monumental experiences of my life,” says Kehoe. “Like the governor, I believe that public service is a privilege that no one should take lightly.”

Kehoe grew up in north St. Louis, and has represented Cole County and several other mid-Missouri counties in the Senate since 2010.

He served as Senate Majority Leader from 2016 until Monday. He also owned and operated the Ford and Lincoln-Mercury dealership in Jefferson City for about 20 years.

Kehoe says “we are one Missouri” and that we can only move forward together.

You can listen to Kehoe’s comments here.

Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce (D) administered the oath of office to Kehoe. Both are parishioners at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Jefferson City.

Kehoe’s wife and children also attended the ceremony, as did his Senate staff and Monsignor Kurwicki of the Cathedral of St. Joseph.

Missouri Senator Blunt praises federal tax cut; hears concerns about labor shortage

June 18, 2018 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s junior senator says the tax bill signed by President Donald Trump (R) in December is the most pro-growth tax bill ever passed by Congress.

Senator Roy Blunt addresses the Missouri House on April 4, 2018 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

During a recent roundtable discussion in Jefferson City, mid-Missouri business leaders said the tax cut has helped their companies. But they also told U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) that they are facing labor shortages.

“You know I think in the middle of the country it is particularly a problem right now, but we’re very close all over the country where there are more jobs available than the total number of people on the unemployment rolls. That’s never happened before,” Blunt says.

Missouri Retailers Association President David Overfelt says there’s currently a shortage of truck drivers, and another businessman told Senator Blunt there’s not enough workers in mid-Missouri for collision companies.

Blunt says the United States is in a “dynamic moment” in our economy.

Blunt, who serves on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, says the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017” has allowed numerous Missouri companies to reinvest in their workforce with bonuses and higher wages.

Senator Blunt tells Missourinet people have “a lot of confidence.”

“We doubled the child tax credit for a family of four that makes $75,000,” says Blunt. “That’s $2,000 more a year of their money that they get to spend.”

While he voted for the bill, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) was one of 48 senators who voted against it.

McCaskill told reporters in Jefferson City in late March that “the pharmaceutical industry took a $50 billion windfall from that bill, gave it to their shareholders and didn’t lower the price of prescription drugs a penny.”

Senator McCaskill says 83 percent of the money will go to one percent of the country, under the bill.

She also says gains by working families will be offset by higher prescription drug prices.

Man attacked on St. Louis MetroLink; Missouri House committee has been investigating safety issues

June 15, 2018 By Brian Hauswirth

The St. Louis County Prosecutor has filed criminal charges against three suspects accused of this week’s assault on a MetroLink train.

MetroLink Map – Image courtesy of Metro St. Louis

Court documents say the victim was attacked by at least six suspects while riding the train between the Rock Road and UMSL South stations.

Court documents say the suspects allegedly kicked, punched and beat the male victim, who suffered an orbital bone fracture and other facial fractures.

The attack was recorded on surveillance video.

County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch (D) has charged Eddie Price, Jody Dale and Jahma Swanigan with first degree assault.

Court documents quote Dale as telling detectives that the assault was in retaliation for the victim allegedly stealing money and a gun from Dale’s aunt.

Online court documents show Price was arraigned this morning in Clayton, and that his bond has been set at $150,000.

Dale’s bond is $100,000 cash-only, and Swanigan’s bond is $75,000 cash-only.

Three additional suspects are being sought.

Monday’s assault on the MetroLink highlights the issue of crime and violence, an issue that was addressed during a March hearing of the Missouri House Subcommittee on Mass Transit Security in Jefferson City.

Thousands of people use the MetroLink to get to work daily, as well as to St. Louis Cardinal baseball and Blues hockey games.

MetroLink is a 46-mile, 37-station light rail system that stretches from St. Louis Lambert International Airport to Illinois.

Testimony from the March hearing in Jefferson City shows that ridership on the St. Louis system has plummeted from 17.5 million in fiscal year 2014 to 14.9 million in fiscal year 2017.

Bi-State Development President and CEO John Nations testified during that March hearing in Jefferson City, and was asked numerous questions from lawmakers about crime and safety concerns.

“There’s no question we saw an uptick in the incidents on our system, and security has been labeled by our passengers as their number one concern on the system,” Nations testified in March.

State Rep. Mark Matthiesen (R-Maryland Heights) speaks on the Missouri House floor on February 1, 2018 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Missouri House Subcommittee on Mass Transit Security Chairman Mark Matthiesen, R-Maryland Heights, issued a statement on Friday to Missourinet.

“I am deeply concerned about the man who was brutally attacked on MetroLink earlier this week. The St. Louis County PD has put forth an honest effort to better protect the riders on MetroLink, however it is obvious that more work needs to be done. A thorough investigation is underway to determine the motive for the attack. I anticipate that this crime will only be prevented when all law enforcement agencies are working together on every aspect of transportation security across the metro area.”

Chairman Matthiesen’s last sentence refers, in part, to testimony in March from Bi-State officials, who said that St. Louis County officers had threatened to arrest MetroLink light-rail officers.