Legislature

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:

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.

Missouri House Dem leader raises red flag over bidding for state contract, agency defends process

June 21, 2018 By Jason Taylor

The leading Democrat in the Missouri House says a contract awarded to the former employer of an operative in the governor’s office raises red flags.

Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty, D-Kansas City

House Minority Floor Leader Gail McCann Beatty wants the contract to review the state’s Medicaid program immediately placed on hold pending a review to find out if the Office of Administration is following proper rules in its granting process.

A bid costing three times more than three other submissions was awarded to Kinsley & Company, a firm that formerly employed Drew Erdmann, the state’s Chief Operating Officer (COO). In addition, portions of Kinsley’s bid have been redacted from the public.

McCann Beatty thinks the combination of circumstances is problematic. “It’s all of the little things that happened that led to this particular company getting this contract is what raises questions,” said McCann Batty.

Missouri COO Drew Erdmann

One of the bidding companies, Navigant, filed a protest with the Office of Administration, calling for the award to be rescinded and rebid.

Navigant said Kinsley offered pre-conditions to its bid and should have been disqualified it from the process up front. Navigant also said the redactions in the online version of the Kinsley proposal “are so pervasive and excessive” that it’s of no value in determining Kinsley’s compliance or substance.

Office of Administration Commissioner Sarah Steelman told Missourinet the protest is being reviewed.

While talking to reporters in the St. Louis suburb of Clayton Wednesday, Governor Mike Parson offered support for the bidding procedure and expressed no concern over Erdmann’s previous ties to winning bidder Kinsley.

“Right now, we believe that bid process was the right way to do it,” said Parson. “There was no ties between Drew Erdmann and that company still that we’re aware of.”

Commissioner Steelman denies Erdmann had any influence on the bidding process, saying he “has no involvement in individual procurement evaluations or decisions regarding awards of state contracts.”

Erdman was handpicked by former Governor Eric Greitens to be Chief Operating Officer, a position the ex-head of state created.

Sarah H. Steelman -Commissioner of the Office of Administration

Under Greitens, the Office of Administration issued the original request for proposal to perform the assessment of the Medicaid program. In it, the grading system for evaluating proposals was 40 percent based on cost, 40 percent on methodology and 20 percent on experience.

But that request for proposal was withdrawn within days, and then reissued with the importance of cost downsized to just 15 percent of the grading system.

In a letter to the Office of Administration, McCann Beatty said that change “seems designed to ensure that McKinsey’s high-dollar bid wouldn’t prove to be a large disadvantage.”

Missourinet examined the five bids on the Office of Administration’s bidding web pages. McKinsey’s documents had redactions spread throughout 222 PDF file pages with dozens of near full-page blackouts at the end. None of the other four bids appeared to have any redactions.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley’s office expressed concern about the redactions. “The attorney general’s office does not discern any basis for redaction in the bid proposal provided by the Office of Administration,” Hawley spokeswoman Mary Compton told the paper.

Of the other four bidders – Navigant, Accenture, Deloitte Consulting and KPMG – only Accenture outstripped McKinsey & Company’s $2.7 million price.

Accenture offered a bid “not to exceed” $2.8 million. Accenture was given a marginally lower score for cost 4.0 versus 4.1 out of 15 for McKinsey. The other three bids were all under $1 million. Deliotte offered a price of $981,000 while Navigant’s bid was $898,000 and KPMG’s was $750,000.

For her part, Democratic leader Beatty is calling into question the Chief Operating Officer position former Governor Greitens created. She says she has no idea what the purpose of the job is and wonders what services Erdmann is performing for the state in the post.

“Do we have any indication since he’s been here that, in fact, there has been any evidence of a more efficient government as a result of him being here, and I don’t know that there has been,” Beatty said.

Office of Administration Commissioner Steelman, who was appointed to her position by Greitens shortly after he became governor, told Missourinet she holds the Chief Operating Officer in high regard.

“Mr. Erdmann is working hard for the State of Missouri to improve state government for all Missourians,” said Steelman. “He is a huge asset to our state and one of the most honest and ethical people I’ve ever met.”

Governor Parson responds to Missouri Democratic Party’s lawsuit over Kehoe appointment

June 21, 2018 By Brian Hauswirth

(Missourinet St. Louis contributor Jill Enders contributed to this story)

Missouri’s governor disagrees with the state Democratic Party’s lawsuit against him and Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe (R).

Missouri Governor Mike Parson (center) waves at his address to a joint session of the Legislature on June 11, 2018. House Speaker Todd Richardson (left) and Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard (right) applaud (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

The lawsuit involves Governor Mike Parson’s (R) appointment of Kehoe to the post. The lawsuit says Missourians should elect the state’s lieutenant governor.

Governor Parson was asked about the issue during a Wednesday press conference in Clayton, with St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger.

“I think it was very important to make that appointment and I think I had every ability to do that under the Constitution and the laws of the state of Missouri to make that appointment,” Parson says.

Parson says Democrats who are challenging his authority to appoint a lieutenant governor are wrong.

“We’ll let the courts decide that (the legal question) and it probably needs to be done at some point so we’ll see how that moves forward, but right now I think it’s more important that we do have a lieutenant governor in place to do the duties that the Constitution asks him to do,” says Parson.

Parson appointed Kehoe to the post on Monday.

The lawsuit was filed this week in mid-Missouri’s Cole County Circuit Court by the Missouri Democratic Party, with lead plaintiff Darrell Cope of Hartville, a World War II veteran.

Cope is quoted as saying he fought the Nazis to defend freedoms, including the freedom to elect leaders. He says as a World War II combat veteran he’s earned that right.

State Democratic Party Chair Stephen Webber, a former state representative, says that when Parson served in the Missouri Senate, he “voted to hold an election in this exact situation.”

REPORT: Former Missouri Secretary of State considering run for Kansas City mayor

June 21, 2018 By Alisa Nelson

Former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander is reportedly laying the groundwork to succeed Sly James as Kansas City’s mayor. Several sources have told the Kansas City Star the Democrat could officially launch his candidacy as early as next week.

Jason Kander

Kander is currently the head of Let America Vote – a national voting rights organization.

If he enters the mayor’s race, the move would ease speculation about Kander making a run for president in 2020. He’s been traveling the country since 2017 making several stops in key presidential states like Iowa and New Hampshire.

According to the Star, Kander would join a crowded field of eight other candidates who have already announced a run for mayor.

Kander, an Army veteran, served two terms in the Missouri House of Representatives and then as secretary of state. In 2016, he lost the U.S. Senate race by a tight margin to Republican incumbent Roy Blunt.

The Star says Kander has not organized an official campaign committee with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Judge tosses case over AG Hawley’s residence outside Jefferson City

June 21, 2018 By Jason Taylor

A mid-Missouri judge has decided against a plaintiff challenging the attorney general’s residence outside Jefferson City, the state’s capital.

April 2018 file photo, courtesy of Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley’s office

Cole County Circuit Judge Dan Green issued a written ruling last week dismissing a case brought against Attorney General Josh Hawley by a private citizen.

The Jefferson City News-Tribune reports Green told Donna Mueller she lacked legal standing to file a lawsuit on where the Attorney General lives.

He said the legal procedure can be launched only by the attorney general or a county prosecutor — and Mueller, “as a private party, has no authority to initiate an action seeking to remove the attorney general from office.”

The News-Tribune reports Mueller’s attorney, Gaylin Rich Carver, is considering whether to appeal the decision which disallowed the case from being refiled in Cole County.

Mueller brought her lawsuit last November, arguing the attorney general is required to reside at the seat of government which is defined in the Missouri Constitution as Jefferson City.

Hawley has rented an apartment in Jefferson City, but he and his family continue to live in a family home in Boone County with a Columbia address.

The News-Tribune reports Judge Green concluded the court had no authority to remove Attorney General Hawley from office. The residency requirement in Missouri law does not apply to any of the other five statewide elected offices outside of the attorney general.

Democrats had questioned the residency of Hawley, a Republican, who is the GOP front-runner against Democratic U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill in her bid for a third term in November’s election.

Republicans filed a proposal in the state Legislature this year to remove the residency requirement, but the measure failed to pass.

The bill from GOP House member Lindell Shumake of Hannibal would have eliminated what he called “the obsolete requirement” that the Attorney General “reside” in Jefferson City.

The measure did not modify the requirement for the Office of the Attorney General to be located at the Supreme Court which is in Jefferson City.

Shumake contended the residency requirement was out of date, saying it was “enacted prior to both the advent of modern telecommunication and automobile travel”.

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.

Ex-Stepfather of murdered, raped 10-year-old pleads guilty to child porn

June 20, 2018 By Jason Taylor

The former stepfather of a Springfield girl who was killed in a high-profile murder and rape case has pleaded guilty to child pornography charges.

Jeffrey Barfield – Courtesy of Greene County Sheriff’s Office Feature

39-year-old Jeffrey Barfield, who pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday, is the ex-stepfather of Hailey Owens, who was abducted from a street near her home in February of 2014.

Craig Wood was convicted of first-degree murder in Owen’s death during a widely covered trial in Springfield last October and was sentenced to death in January.

Barfield and then wife Stacey, Hailey’s mother, had traveled to Jefferson City in 2017 to advocate for legislation that would speed up Missouri’s Amber Alerts, which are issued for abducted children. At the time, they had teamed up with Craig Wood’s parents to support legislation which was dubbed Hailey’s Law.

An investigator in the case against Barfield had previously said Hailey, who was 10 years old at the time of her murder, was not a victim of Barfield’s child pornography activity. The investigator also noted there was nothing to suggest a connection between Barfield’s activities and Hailey’s abduction.

Federal prosecutors say he posted child pornography photos in March 2016. Barfield could face up to 20 years in federal prison where there is no chance for parole.

The bipartisan Hailey’s Law legislation has still not cleared the state Legislature after three years of efforts from Springfield Republican lawmakers.

The measure actually passed both the House and Senate in 2017 but was sidelined because it was approved in each chamber under different pieces of legislation. Any bill must be approved in the exact same form in both bodies in order to advance to the governor’s desk.

Hailey’s Law would accomplish two things. First, it calls for AMBER Alerts to be integrated with the state Highway Patrol communications service (MULES). The service interacts with all law enforcement agencies, and the region’s criminal justice database (REJIS).

Secondly, the bill would require Missouri’s AMBER Alert Oversight Committee to meet on a regular basis. The current state law has no frequency requirements. When Hailey Owens was abducted in 2014, there was a two-hour delay before an AMBER Alert was issued statewide.

Missouri Senate leader backs governor’s move to fill lieutenant governor vacancy

June 20, 2018 By Alisa Nelson

The state Democratic Party and a Missouri military veteran have filed a lawsuit arguing that Governor Mike Parson does not have the power to appoint someone as lieutenant governor. The party wants the position to be filled by voters electing someone to the spot. State Senate President Ron Richard, R-Joplin, tells Missourinet affiliate KZRG in Joplin he agrees with Parson’s decision to fill the position this week with fellow Republican Mike Kehoe.

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)

“I think the governor is correct that that position needs to be filled,” says Richard. “I think they made the right move. However, like everything else in Jeff City, it’s subject to someone filing a protest or lawsuit.”

Many lawmakers and their attorneys have been studying to see if the governor has the authority to appoint someone to the elected position. The Missouri Constitution does not state a clear course of action to fill the office when it becomes vacant.

Until Monday, Kehoe worked alongside Richard as the Senate majority floor leader.

“Governor Parson wants someone that’s very knowledgeable of infrastructure and we’re going to have to do something to our highways and ports one of these days,” says Richard. “Mike Kehoe is an expert on that.”

Some Democrats back Kehoe serving as lieutenant governor, including state Sens. Gina Walsh of Bellefontaine Neighbors, Kiki Curls of Kansas City and Jamilah Nasheed of St. Louis. Former Govs. Jay Nixon and Bob Holden, both Democrats agree that the governor has the power to appoint someone to the Lieutenant Governor’s seat.

Missourinet’s requests for comment from the Democratic Party have not been returned.

State lawmaker on special committee investigating former Gov Greitens resigns

June 20, 2018 By Jason Taylor

A Missouri State Representative from a district bordering Arkansas has resigned. Republican state House member Shawn Rhoads has left office without stating a reason.

Former Missouri Republican State Representative Shawn Rhoads of White Plains

Rhoads most recently served on the high profile Special Investigative Committee on Oversight which looked into allegations against then-Gov. Eric Greitens.

He was one one of seven original members of what became a 10 person panel, although he wasn’t present for several contentious hearings over the possible impeachment of the former governor during a special session.

Rhoads was in his third of four possible two-year terms in the House. He announced in April he wouldn’t seek reelection while addressing a Lincoln Days gathering in south Missouri’s West Plains.

According to media accounts, Rhoads said he had a desire to spend more time with his family and pursue an opportunity that became available but did not elaborate further.

He told the Daily Quill newspaper he would “absolutely not” be taking over leadership of the West Plains Police Department upon the outgoing chief’s retirement.

While serving on the force as a detective, Rhoads organized the Shop with a Cop program, served as a member of the HAZMAT team, and helped form the Child Advocacy Center.

41-year-old Rhoads served in District 154 of the Missouri House which covers most of Howell County, including the city of West Plains.