Health / Medicine Archives - Page 2 of 256

EPA grant will help Missouri schools test for lead contamination in water

July 6, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Bipartisan legislation that’s aimed at providing protections for safe drinking water in Missouri schools has been signed into law by Governor Mike Parson.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson signed two pieces of legislation on July 2, 2020 in Tipton. One involved safe drinking water in schools, and the other involved rural broadband (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

One of the key provisions in House Bill 2120 is from veteran State Sen. Gina Walsh, D-Bellefontaine Neighbors, the former Senate Minority Leader. That provision allows Missouri schools to submit a test of potable water for lead content to labs approved by state health officials.

“Getting clean water in today’s times, what we’ve seen over time, really starting to focus on that,” Parson tells Capitol reporters in Jefferson City. “Water is just so essential to us. One is lifestyle, but everything we utilize has water involved in it.”

With the governor’s signature on Thursday at a Tipton ceremony, Missouri schools and the state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) will be able to capitalize on a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant of $719,000 that will assist with lead water testing in schools built before 1996.

“So I think passing that bill, making everybody draw a little attention to it and step up a little better to deliver that is a good thing,” says Parson.

Senator Walsh notes a review found numerous schools with elevated lead levels in water.

State Rep. Bill Kidd, R-Buckner, sponsored the House bill. Under it, each school district can test a sample of a source of water in buildings constructed before 1996. If the samples tested exceed the EPA standard, the school districts would need to notify parents of enrolled students.

The Missouri Senate approved the bill by a 25-4 vote, and the House passed it 108-34.

MoDOT response to pandemic is praised by Missouri lawmakers (AUDIO)

July 4, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A Missouri lawmaker who chairs the bipartisan Joint Committee on Transportation Oversight is praising state transportation officials for their response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

State Rep. Becky Ruth, R-Festus, notes the pandemic has had an impact of between $45 million and $100 million on the state Department of Transportation (MoDOT).

State Rep. Becky Ruth, R-Festus, speaks at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City on January 30, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

“I know the department has been working very hard on trying to make up that shortfall and figure out how we can get through that and still get our road projects done,” Ruth says.

MoDOT’s response is also praised by State Sen. Doug Libla, R-Poplar Bluff, who chairs the Senate Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee.

MoDOT Director Patrick McKenna testified recently before the Joint Committee on Transportation Oversight. He testifies the impact is from several factors, including declines in license and registration fees and a decline in the motor vehicle sales tax.

During an interview with Missourinet, Director McKenna says the agency has delayed advertising on about $360 million in projects.

“We haven’t canceled those, that’s a delay,” McKenna says. “We’re just taking a cautious approach until we see the full impact of the declining revenue during mostly the April and May periods of time.”

Revenues from Missouri’s 17-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax have also been impacted by the pandemic, because of layoffs and many people working from home. Traffic volume was down by 49 percent in some parts of the state, due to COVID-19.

The pandemic has prompted seniors leaders at MoDOT to take pay cuts, and the agency has also reduced discretionary purchases for non-construction activities.

“We’ve also taken other measures to slow spending, to reduce hiring at the moment and for our entire team, participating in shared work on a reduced work week,” says McKenna.

That’s a 32-hour work week. McKenna says MoDOT placed an executive review on all new hiring in March.

Chairwoman Ruth announced at the hearing that the next meeting of the joint committee will take place during the September veto session in Jefferson City.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with Missouri Department of Transportation Director Patrick McKenna, which was recorded on June 25, 2020 in Jefferson City:

Missouri’s health director doesn’t want to see a repeat of Memorial Day weekend at Lake of the Ozarks

July 3, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s health director is urging you to wear a mask if needed, if you’re traveling to the popular Lake of the Ozarks this Fourth of July holiday weekend.

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Director Dr. Randall Williams briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on July 2, 2020, as the governor looks on (photo courtesy of Governor Mike Parson’s Flickr page)

State Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Director Dr. Randall Williams doesn’t want to see a repeat of Memorial Day weekend, where videos of people at packed Lake-area swimming pools made national news.

“If you’re a young person or anyone and you’re going out, as the governor just said, it is so important to still use hand sanitizer, to social distance and to wear a mask if you need to,” Williams says.

Dr. Williams addressed Capitol reporters Thursday afternoon, during a Jefferson City media briefing. He was joined by Governor Mike Parson.

DHSS posted Friday on its website that Missouri has now seen 22,830 confirmed COVID-19 cases. That is up 547 from Thursday’s number of 22,283. There have now been 1,026 deaths in Missouri from coronavirus.

Thousands of people from across the Midwest are celebrating the Fourth of July weekend at the Lake of the Ozarks. With Friday being a state holiday, some are celebrating a three-day weekend.

“That a situation like we had (during Memorial Day weekend) at Lake of the Ozarks where people are literally right next to each other, even though they’re outside. We really don’t want to duplicate that. We don’t want to lose ground, we’ve worked so hard to get to where we are,” says Williams.

The governor’s next media briefing is set for Monday afternoon at 3 in Jefferson City.

Eight Missouri jobs centers reopen to in-person help

July 3, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Missouri’s 29 job centers temporarily closed due to coronavirus concerns are starting to reopen to in-person help. A press release from the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development says the Branson job center in southwest Missouri opened Monday and Job Centers in Kennett, Park Hills and Poplar Bluff in southeast Missouri reopened with Office of Workforce Development (OWD) staff returning to in-person work on Wednesday.

Eight Missouri jobs centers reopen to in-person help

Job centers in Springfield, St. Charles and St. Louis County opened back up in June. The St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment (SLATE) also began in-person services in June, by appointment only. It plans to open to walk-ins on July 6.

The release says the centers will follow social distancing and other health guidelines. They are critical sources for jobless people who don’t have access to computers and/or internet access.

The state’s other 21 job centers remain closed. They are expected to open up again in the coming weeks.

Since COVID-19 hit the state in mid-March, more than 686,000 unemployment claims have been filed. The most recent week’s claims, the week ending June 27, shows a slight increase of nearly 2,000 claims filed compared to the previous week.

Job seekers and displaced workers can still get help by phone at 1-888-728-5627, or online at jobs.mo.gov.

Missouri announces $50 million program for broadband expansion, including telehealth

July 2, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor announced a $50 million dollar project to expand broadband across the state, during a Thursday media briefing at the Statehouse in Jefferson City.

Missouri Department of Economic Development Director Rob Dixon (left) and state broadband development office director Tim Arbeiter brief Capitol reporters on July 2, 2020 in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

The expansion will include support for telehealth and libraries. Governor Mike Parson says the money will come from federal CARES Act funding. He says broadband is critical for Missourians.

“The digital divide in rural Missouri limits growth in many sectors of our economy, including education, workforce development, health care, business retention and attractions, just to name a few,” Parson says.

Parson says the project earmarks $20 million to establish a reimbursement program for broadband providers, to assist them with construction costs for new broadband expansion to households with students or vulnerable populations.

The governor was joined at the briefing by state Department of Economic Development (DED) Director Rob Dixon and state broadband development office director Tim Arbeiter. Arbeiter’s office is within DED.

Director Dixon says the project to expand broadband will help thousands of Missourians go to school, work and to the doctor. He tells Capitol reporters that today, “broadband internet is the backbone of a resilient economy.”

“Some 300,000 households, 195,000 k-12 students and 54,000 businesses and farms lack high-speed internet access,” says Dixon.

Under the project, the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) will provide $10 million to local education agencies, to seek reimbursement for eligible costs to increase student connectivity.

Arbeiter says the project will also provide $5.25 million for telehealth.

“It was estimated just over 90,000 Missouri citizens could not access medical care during this time. It’s a continued issue that, again as we faced with the pandemic, facilities closed down,” Arbeiter says.

The $5.25 million will support connectivity for telehealth services for vulnerable populations. The state will partner with the Missouri Telehealth Network at Mizzou to secure about 12,000 hotspots for the state’s 29 federally qualified health centers and the 26 community mental health centers.

Governor Parson traveled to mid-Missouri’s Tipton earlier in the day, to sign legislation extending Missouri’s broadband grant program through 2027. Missouri’s broadband internet grant program is for unserved and underserved areas in the state.

Mandatory job hunting to begin again next week for Missourians out of work

July 2, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Beginning the week of July 5, Missourians who want to continue getting unemployment benefits will be required again to do work searches. The mandate had been suspended temporarily for those who had filed a COVID-19 related unemployment claim.

Mandatory job hunting to begin again next week for Missourians out of work

A press release from the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations says work search activities will be required of anyone on regular unemployment, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program, Extended Benefits and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program.

Unemployed individuals will be required to do three work searches per week to remain eligible for benefits, including a $600 federal supplement available through July 25.

Workers with an employer-submitted recall date, in approved training, and those employees on the Shared Work program are exempt. Union members with a hiring or referral hall may contact their hall three times per week or attend training for the required number of work search activities.

Missouri’s governor to sign bipartisan broadband legislation on Thursday in Tipton

July 1, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Legislation extending Missouri’s broadband grant program through 2027 will be signed into law by the governor on Thursday morning in central Missouri’s Tipton.

Governor Mike Parson (R) will travel to Co-Mo Connect in Moniteau County for Thursday’s 10:15 a.m. ceremonial signing. The bipartisan bill is sponsored by State Rep. Louis Riggs, R-Hannibal, who will join the governor in Tipton.

State Rep. Louis Riggs, R-Hannibal, speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on March 9, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Missouri’s broadband internet grant program is for unserved and underserved areas in the state. The grant program is currently scheduled to expire in August 2021. House Bill 1768 extends the program until June 2027.

In addition to extending the broadband grant program, the Riggs legislation requires the state Department of Economic Development (DED) to maintain a record of all federal grants awarded to entities to provide, maintain and expand rural broadband in Missouri.

Representative Riggs’ legislation was approved by the Missouri Senate in May by a 31-0 vote. The House approved it in May, on a 143-3 vote.

Governor Parson emphasized the importance of rural broadband, during a February address to the Missouri Farm Bureau in Jefferson City. At the time, the governor noted there were about ten Missouri school districts that didn’t have broadband.

Parson says broadband ties-in with education and workforce development.

St. Louis metro areas join Kansas City in requiring masks, state health director advises mask-wearing

July 1, 2020 By Ashley Byrd

St. Louis City and St. Louis County have joined the state’s other major metro, Kansas City, in requiring masks in public to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Other cities are considering a similar rule as they watch virus cases increase in their areas.

“It’s a level of precaution that the scientists and the doctors really believe will help to continue to protect us, St, Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson said in a press briefing Wednesday.

Mayor Lucas before taking the podium at a press conference

“We don’t want happening here what’s happening in other parts of our country where they have to pull back on their reopening,” Krewson said.

Governors in Texas, Florida and Arizona and others have had to pause reopening plans because of a surge in cases.

Gov. Mike Parson says he will not mandate face covering but will wear one on official visits when asked.

“Whether you wear a mask has nothing to do with whether you are Republican or Democrat, whether it’s he-man or not, all that spin that everybody wants to put on it,” Parson said at his Tuesday briefing. “You have to make a decision as individuals. You know the facts.”

The facts are that within six feet or in close quarters indoors, spittle and breath spread the virus.

That is why State DHSS Director Randall Williams is one of the doctors urging the wearing of facemasks.

“The more we learn, the more important we realize that (masks-wearing) is,” he told reporters at the Capitol. “If I’m around somebody and I’m within six feet, I put on a facemask.”

Many legislators wore masks during the remaining few days of the session this spring.

Williams warns that social distancing is just as important, and it’s not happening. He says a new CDC study released Tuesday shows that 50 percent of infected people do not know who gave it to them, especially because so many people do not show symptoms at first.

In Kansas City, Mayor Quinton Lucas says his order was not politically-driven, but it brought an unexpected personal repercussion, he says. Racist messages and threats directed at him have increased.

“We are talking about masks because we want to protect people. It has nothing to do with race, frankly, it has nothing to do with needing to be divisive or political. It’s really everything to do with let’s have a city that functions, a city that’s trying to keep people safe,” Lucas said.

Free online classes available to Missourians unemployed by coronavirus outbreak

July 1, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Missouri workers who have lost their jobs during the rash of COVID-19 cases can now enroll in free online classes. The Missouri Department of Higher Education & Workforce Development has partnered with Coursera, an online learning platform with 3,800 courses.

Free online classes available to Missourians unemployed by coronavirus outbreak

Through the partnership, Missourians can also earn professional certificates from leading companies like IBM and Google that are designed to prepare people for entry-level careers like IT.

“I truly believe education changes lives,” Zora Mulligan, commissioner of higher education, says in a press release. “Coursera provides another avenue for Missourians to learn new, marketable skills and, even during this period of economic uncertainty, advance their careers.”

The registration deadline is September 30 and courses must be completed by the end of this year to receive the credential or certificate at no cost.

To register, an account in the MoJobs system is required. Anyone without a MoJobs account can create a login at jobs.mo.gov. MoJobs users will have access to a link within the site to receive an invitation from Coursera.

For more information, click here.

Hundreds of Missouri’s state workers are getting laid off

July 1, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

About 300 state workers are getting laid off and another 200 vacant positions will be eliminated. During a press conference Tuesday, State Budget Director Dan Haug shared the details.

“That’s out of a state workforce of over 50,000. We did certainly try to protect our state employees as much as possible,” says Haug.

Gov. Parson signing budget bills (Photo courtesy of his Flickr account)

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports about 200 middle managers in the Department of Social Services and 30 in the Department of Mental Health are getting their jobs cut.

“In the 25 years I’ve been working on state budgets, this is the most difficult budget that I’ve seen. Revenues declined much quicker and sharper during this downturn than even during the Great Recession,” says Haug. “Just to put that in a little bit of perspective, currently the unemployment rate in Missouri is about 10%. The high point at the Great Recession for the unemployment rate was 9.8%. So we have, in three or four months, have hit a bottom even lower than what we saw during the Great Recession.”

Gov. Mike Parson says the coronavirus continues to take a toll on the state’s financials.

“We will continue to face budget shortfalls in fiscal year 2021,” says Parson.

Parson also signed Missouri’s $35.3 billion state operating budget for the fiscal year beginning today. Haug says the governor is freezing some spending to deal with the revenue shortfall caused by the coronavirus.

State Budget Director Dan Haug

“We feel that the amount that we’ve restricted – $448 million – is sufficient to balance the FY21 budget based on our most current projections,” says Haug. “We will monitor revenues throughout the year and if we feel confident that revenues will finish the year above our current projections, we have the ability to release some of these restrictions.”

The largest state budget restriction is more than $123 million in state aid to K-12 public schools. Four-year colleges and universities are getting nearly $28 million withheld. Missouri community colleges are having $18.4 million restricted and $9.4 million in temporary assistance for needy families work programs are also getting a spending freeze.

The governor announced $11 million dollars in vetoes, including $5 million for maintenance of some low-volume highways and $1 million for the Harry Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Independence. Another $267,000 for the Missouri State Public Defender’s Office to hire six more legal assistants has also been vetoed.

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