Entertainment Archives

Missouri Capitol dome shining red; Governors Parson and DeSantis make bet involving team caps

February 5, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor has made a Super Bowl bet with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson shows Capitol reporters his Chiefs sports jacket on February 4, 2021 in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

Governor Mike Parson tells Capitol reporters in Jefferson City that the Chiefs will win the game 35-21.

“One of the discussions that me and him are having and working through right now is whoever the loser is, which will be Florida, will wear the other team’s cap to work and wear it behind the (governor’s) desk,” Parson says.

Governor Parson has also ordered the Missouri Capitol dome in Jefferson City to shine red through Monday morning, to celebrate the Chiefs return to the Super Bowl.

The Chiefs are the defending Super Bowl champions, and Parson says Missouri’s sports team unite us as fans and provide an outlet of relief in difficult times.

“As many struggles as people went through this year, it’s kind of fun every once in a while to be upbeat about things. And I think having the Kansas City Chiefs representing us in the Super Bowl is a good thing for a lot of people,” says Parson.

Kickoff is set for 5:30 central time on Sunday, from Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports.

While Governor Parson and the First Lady had an opportunity to travel to Tampa for the Super Bowl, they thought it was best to stay in Jefferson City. They’ll watch the game from the Governor’s Mansion.

The “Christmas Star” shines Monday night as Jupiter and Saturn meet in night sky

December 21, 2020 By Missourinet Contributor

Get ready for a fantastic night time spectacle as two of the solar system’s planets join to create a once in a lifetime sight. Jupiter and Saturn will be right on top of each other on Monday night in what’s known as a conjunction. Astronomer Sebastian Zamfir says the show starts just after sundown.

“If we are patient, we’ll see that in about maybe 20 minutes, half an hour, it gets dark enough for the two planets to become visible. They will stand out because they are very bright,” he says.

Zamfir says astronomers have tracked these events all the way back to the time of Jesus.

“Some of the good candidates, as natural phenomena that would be related to The Star of Bethlehem were this kind of conjunctions, planetary conjunction. An even more spectacular one in terms of brightness happened in 2 BC and that one was between Jupiter and Venus,” he says.

The last time Jupiter and Saturn got this close together in the night sky was over 800 years ago, making this a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Missouri’s skies are expected to be clear tonight to view the show beginning just after sundown.

The event coincides with today’s winter solstice – the shortest day of the year and the official start of winter.

By Raymond Neupert of Wisconsin Radio Network

Missouri recreational equipment manufacturer to expand and create 82 new jobs

December 17, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

A southwest Missouri company called PlayPower is creating 82 new positions and investing more than $2 million to expand its site in Monett by 15,000 square feet. Gov. Mike Parson’s Office tells Missourinet the company is also expanding the location to make it PlayPower’s North American Center of Excellence.

Missouri recreational equipment manufacturer to expand and create 82 new jobs

The company has other locations in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Indiana, Texas, Mexico, England, Scotland, Poland and Sweden.

PlayPower is an international manufacturer of outdoor recreational items, including commercial playground equipment, boat docks and personal watercraft.

A press release from Parson’s office says PlayPower is using the Missouri Works program, an incentive tool to help companies expand and retain workers by providing access to capital through withholdings or tax credits for job creation. In addition, PlayPower is partnering with Missouri One Start, a division of the Department of Economic Development, to provide training and recruitment assistance that is tailored to meet the specific workforce needs of the company.

U.S. Senate unanimously approves Missouri Senator Hawley’s duck boat bill

December 11, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Bipartisan legislation aimed at improving safety on duck boats and other amphibious passenger vessels was unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate on Thursday.

Missouri State Highway Patrol crews assist the U.S. Coast Guard during the duck boat recovery efforts on July 23, 2018 (file photo courtesy of the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Twitter page)

It was one of the first bills filed by U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), after he was sworn into office in January 2019. Hawley’s bill is very similar to one filed by former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D). Hawley defeated her in 2018.

During a Thursday Senate floor speech, Hawley told colleagues that the deadly 2018 incident on southwest Missouri’s Table Rock Lake should never have happened. 17 people died that day.

“It’s been 875 days, and we’ve seen investigation after investigation conclude the same thing: that lives (at Table Rock Lake) could have been saved if action had been taken. If this body (the U-S Senate) had acted, if the security measures had been put in place,” Hawley says.

17 of the 31 passengers on the duck boat died, when a storm with 70-mile-per-hour winds came through Table Rock Lake. The NTSB says the Coast Guard’s failure to require sufficient design of amphibious vessels contributed to the boat’s sinking.

Hawley’s bill requires duck boats to be equipped to stay afloat, in the event of flooding. It also mandates that duck boats remove canopies, and requires the boats to have extra life preservers and additional ways to pump water out.

Hawley notes the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) made several recommendations to the U.S. Coast Guard after a similar 1999 tragedy in Arkansas.

“In 1999, 13 people were killed when a duck boat sank during a tour of Lake Hamilton in Arkansas,” says Hawley.

Hawley also tells colleagues there have been other duck boat incidents in Seattle, San Francisco and Philadelphia.

Hawley’s bill still must be approved by the U.S. House. It’s sponsored there by U.S. Rep. Andre Carson, D-Indiana. One of Carson’s constituents is Tia Coleman, who lost nine family members at Table Rock Lake.

Congressman Carson describes the Duck Boat Safety Act as a common-sense piece of legislation.

Senator Hoskins: Missourians are currently traveling to Iowa and Las Vegas to wager on sports (AUDIO)

December 8, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A veteran Missouri lawmaker has pre-filed legislation that would authorize sports wagering.

State Sen. Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, speaks on the Missouri Senate floor in Jefferson City on March 3, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Harrison Sweazea with Senate Communications)

The bill from State Sen. Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, would allow you to place wagers on Missouri’s 13 licensed riverboat casinos and on the internet.

“They would be able to bet on a variety of not only professional sports but they would be able to bet on a variety of college sports as well,” Hoskins says. “So if you wanted to make a bet on the MU Tigers football or basketball team, you’d be able to make that bet as well.”

Senator Hoskins projects that Missouri would receive anywhere from $37 million to $50 million annually in new tax revenue, if his Senate Bill 18 is legalized.

He says 26 other states have authorized it, and that Missouri is losing revenue to other states during tight budget times.

“They (Missourians) will literally drive to the state of Iowa and go up there (Iowa) to a casino, or literally drive across the Iowa state line so they can place a legal bet in the state of Iowa, and then drive back home to Missouri,” says Hoskins.

He says other Missourians are traveling to Las Vegas to wager on sports.

The Missouri House Special Interim Committee on Gaming released a 15-page report in December 2019, which concluded that Missouri will likely lose revenue if it doesn’t remain competitive with other states. Hoskins says state lawmakers will be trying to “plug a lot of different holes” in the state budget during the 2021 session.

“I most certainly don’t want to raise taxes, but I would like to see the tax income from this new revenue stream (sports wagering) come to the state of Missouri,” Hoskins says.

The House interim committee’s 2019 report viewed the legalization of sports betting as a “legitimate opportunity to increase state revenues” for education and other programs.

Hoskins represents eight counties in western and northwest Missouri in the Senate: Caldwell, Carroll, Howard, Johnson, Lafayette, Livingston, Ray, and Saline. He served in the Missouri House from 2009-2016, before he was elected to the Senate. Hoskins was re-elected in November, to a second Senate term.

The 2021 session begins January 6 in Jefferson City.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with State Sen. Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, which was recorded on December 2, 2020:

Christmas tree from rural southeast Missouri to be displayed on Governor’s Mansion lawn in Jefferson City

November 23, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The Christmas tree that will be displayed on the Governor’s Mansion lawn this year will be from a small town in southeast Missouri.

Missouri Office of Administration (OA) staff help install the Governor’s Mansion lawn Christmas tree in Jefferson City on December 2, 2019 (file photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

Governor Mike Parson says the tree that will be displayed on the Mansion lawn is a 40-foot Norway spruce donated by Doris Baker, who’s from southeast Missouri’s Desloge. It’s a town of about 5,000 residents, near Farmington.

Ms. Baker has donated her tree because it became too large for her yard.

The tree will arrive in Jefferson City on Monday morning between 7 and 8, and it’s so big that part of Madison Street outside the mansion will be closed, when it arrives.

Missouri Office of Administration (OA) staff will install the Mansion lawn tree.

The governor’s office has also announced that the annual lighting of the tree will take place on Friday December 4, at 6 p.m. That will be followed by candlelight tours that evening until 8. This year’s candlelight tours will be by reservation-only, due to COVID concerns.

Governor Parson’s office says it will announce additional details about the tours early next week.

National Weather Service’s Springfield office issued nine tornado warnings on Saturday night (AUDIO)

November 15, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

(News directors J.T. Gerlt and Patty Burns at Missourinet affiliates KTKS and KBNN contributed to this story)

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Springfield says it appears that straight line winds caused the significant damage Saturday evening to a popular Osage Beach shopping center.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Springfield says straight line winds caused the significant damage at the popular King’s Plaza shopping center in Osage Beach on November 14, 2020 (photo from Daniel Carnahan Jr., through J.T. Gerlt at Missourinet Versailles affiliate KTKS Radio)

NWS Springfield meteorologist Justin Titus tells Missourinet that they’ve checked drone footage and have spoken to Osage Beach’s emergency management director.

“And so that’s something that we can still receive new information on and update as we go, but right now preliminarily it looks like straight line winds,” Titus says.

Osage Beach Police Chief Todd Davis tells us the storm damaged at least seven to eight businesses in the King’s Plaza shopping center, which has a Randy’s Custard location. The shopping center is a popular spot for Lake-area tourists and local residents.

Drone photos show that the storm blew roofs off many of the businesses. Walls have caved-in as well, and Missourinet Versailles affiliate KTKS reports vehicles in the parking lot were also damaged during the storm.

The NWS’ Springfield office issued nine tornado warnings and 21 severe thunderstorm warnings on Saturday evening. The thunderstorm warnings were across their entire forecast area.

The NWS had warned Friday that severe storms and hail were possible Saturday afternoon and evening, across the Ozarks.

There are no reports of any serious injuries from the storms.

Titus says the storms also caused damage in the small town of Dixon, which is about 100 miles northeast of Springfield. The town has about 1,400 residents.

“But that Dixon area, north of Waynesville, got hit pretty hard. Had some mobile homes flipped over and some other damage up in that area,” says Titus.

He says while the damage in Dixon appears to be from straight line winds, it’s still under investigation.

Titus says their office is still deciding whether to send survey teams to impacted areas.

“We base that on what we’re seeing out in the field, as far as evidence. So we’ll be making that determination coming up too,” Titus says.

Missourinet Lebanon affiliate KBNN reports the storm brought 65-mile-per hour winds and one-inch hail in some locations, knocking power poles down in Springfield. KBNN reports trees were knocked down in southwest Missouri’s Jasper County.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with National Weather Service (NWS) Springfield meteorologist Justin Titus, which was recorded on November 15, 2020:

Haahr anticipates addition of COVID liability to Missouri’s special session (AUDIO)

November 11, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s House Speaker anticipates that the governor will expand his special session call to include COVID-19 liability.

Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, presides over the House on November 10, 2020 in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, made his comments to Missourinet, during a Tuesday afternoon interview in his Capitol office in Jefferson City. He expects the Missouri House to be in session in December to work on COVID liability.

“We’ve been in long talks with the (Capitol’s) second floor (the governor’s office) on that for several weeks now and those talks have gotten pretty serious, and I think we’re at a place where we’re comfortable moving forward,” Speaker Haahr says.

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry is also urging the governor to include COVID liability in his special session call, saying January is too long to wait to shield businesses, schools and hospitals that follow public health guidelines from COVID suits.

Chamber President Dan Mehan describes COVID-19 liability protection as an important step towards re-opening the economy.

“There’s a lot of employers out there that are a little bit concerned about opening for fear of being sued on frivolous grounds for COVID, by customers, by employees, that sort of thing,” says Mehan.

Mehan says more than 800 Missouri employers, mostly small businesses, have signed a letter requesting it. He says that includes a skate park and a pizzeria.

Mehan also says many of Missouri’s neighboring states have passed similar legislation.

“We’ve seen six of the eight contiguous states, the border states, adopt something in this light. Most recently Iowa signed it into law,” Mehan says.

As for Governor Parson, he supports the COVID-19 liability proposal and has publicly stated at several Capitol press conferences that he would include it during the special session, if there’s a path for it to pass.

House Majority Floor Leader Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, who will be Speaker in January, has also written a letter to the governor, asking him to expand the special session call.

“Right now there are numerous small businesses afraid to open because of the threat of litigation tied to COVID-19,” Leader Vescovo writes. “Additionally, many of our hospitals and health care professionals are asking us to help them to better be able to do their jobs by passing commonsense COVID-19 liability protections.”

Speaker Haahr tells Missourinet that many businesses across the state have reached out, adding that lawmakers are working to keep the language tight.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Dan Mehan, which was recorded on November 6, 2020:

Missouri’s Hawley is ready to go to Senate floor to seek unanimous consent on duck boat bill (AUDIO/VIDEO)

October 2, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A Missouri senator who serves on the Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill is frustrated that his duck boat legislation remains stuck in the Commerce Committee.

Missouri State Highway Patrol crews assist the U.S. Coast Guard during the duck boat recovery efforts on July 23, 2018 (file photo courtesy of the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Twitter page)

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R) says the bill is bottled up in committee. The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation is chaired by U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi.

“I think the time has probably come to try and force it out of committee and for me to go to the (U.S. Senate) floor and to try and pass it myself,” Hawley says.

His legislation, called the Duck Boat Safety Enhancement Act, would require the U.S. Coast Guard to implement recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), including requiring duck boats to remove canopies. 17 people were killed in the July 2018 duck boat tragedy on southwest Missouri’s Table Rock Lake.

During a Thursday interview with Missourinet, Senator Hawley says he’s trying to prevent a repeat of the deadly 2018 tragedy. He also indicates his patience is wearing thin, saying he’s ready to go to the floor.

“And if there’s not movement in coming days on the bill, that’s exactly what I will do. I will go to the floor of the United States Senate and I will seek unanimous consent to have this bill passed, and then we’ll have to see who objects to it,” says Hawley.

Hawley’s legislation would also require amphibious passenger vessels to be equipped to stay afloat, in the event of flooding. It would also impose new security requirements on every single duck boat, in Missouri and nationally. It would also require new reporting efforts.

The bill was one of the first filed by Senator Hawley, after he was sworn-in. It’s very similar to legislation filed by Hawley’s predecessor, former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D). Her bill also was stuck in committee.

17 of the 31 people aboard the boat called Stretch Duck 7 died, after a storm with 70 mile-per-hour winds came through. The NTSB says the Coast Guard’s failure to require sufficient design of amphibious vessels contributed to the boat’s sinking.

Western Missouri judge decides on key slot machine case

September 24, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The controversial issue of slot machines could end up going to the Missouri Supreme Court in Jefferson City.

The “St. Joseph News-Press” reported today that a judge in western Missouri’s Platte County ruled that two “no chance” slot machines found at a Parkville convenience store violate state gambling laws. Judge Thomas Fincham found the company, Integrity Vending of Kansas, guilty of felony promoting gambling by setting up and operating a slot machine.

That’s a class E felony. Judge Fincham has scheduled a November 23 sentencing hearing in Platte City. The “News-Press” reports Integrity Vending could face a fine of $10,000.

Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd prosecuted the case. He says despite the fact that the slot machines are seen in many Missouri convenience stores and gas stations, they are illegal slot machines, from his perspective.

Zahnd, who was first elected in 2002, has the longest tenure of any elected prosecutor currently serving the Kansas City metro.

The slot machine issue was the subject of at least three hearings in late 2019 by the Missouri House Special Interim Committee on Gaming, which was chaired by State Rep. Dan Shaul, R-Imperial.

During an October 2019 hearing, Chairman Shaul predicted that whichever sides loses the Platte County case would appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol testified at that hearing, saying the number of complaints about illegal gambling in Missouri quadrupled in 2019. Most of those complaints were about alleged illegal slot machines.

The Missouri Gaming Commission testified in 2019 that any illegal gaming machines used in Missouri negatively impact casinos and the state Lottery, reducing taxes and funding for education and veterans.