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Nearly 1,000 St. Louis area hotel workers losing their jobs next week

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LMS Services Corporation has notified the state that it is putting about 979 St. Louis area hotel workers out of jobs on June 12. In a letter to the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development, the company says it is permanently reducing its workforce due to the unforeseen consequences of the coronavirus.

Nearly 1,000 St. Louis area hotel workers losing their jobs next week

Workers affected include ones who work at:

Hilton Garden Inn St. Louis Airport – 19 jobs
Hilton Garden Inn St. Louis – Chesterfield – 16 jobs
Hilton Garden Inn St. Louis – O’Fallon – 14 jobs
Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark and 360 Rooftop Bar – 300 jobs
Hilton St. Louis Airport Hotel – 130 jobs
Doubletree St. Louis at Westport in Maryland Heights – 60 jobs
Doubletree Hotel & Conference Center – Chesterfield – 80 jobs
Embassy Suites St. Louis Airport in Bridgeton – 33 jobs
Homewood Suites St. Louis Westport in Maryland Heights – 20 jobs
Sheraton Westport Hotel in Maryland Heights – 190 jobs
The Cheshire – 23 jobs
St. Louis Union Station Hotel – 300 jobs

Many of the types of hotel jobs impacted are unknown.

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

National Weather Service urges Missourians to drink plenty of water on Saturday (AUDIO)

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The National Weather Service (NWS) says the Lake of the Ozarks and southwest Missouri will see the state’s hottest temperatures on Saturday, with heat index values reaching about 100 to 105 degrees.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Springfield says heat index values will reach 100 in Osage Beach on Saturday June 6, 2020 (map courtesy of NWS Springfield Twitter page)

NWS Springfield meteorologist Eric Wise says it will be hot and humid across the Ozarks.

“We’re going to see highs probably in the low to maybe even the mid 90’s and with the humidity, the heat index or the feel-like temperature is probably going to approach 100 to 105 degrees in spots,” Wise says.

The NWS Springfield office says heat index values on Saturday will reach 100 in Osage Beach, and 105 in Warsaw.

“Take frequent breaks, if you have to be outside, get in the shade,” says Wise. “Air conditioning would be good, and check on people, the elderly and especially people without air conditioning.”

Wise also urges you to drink plenty of water and to avoid alcohol and caffeine tomorrow.

Saturday’s heat index will also make it feel like 105 degrees in Joplin, Springfield, Rolla and Salem.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with National Weather Service (NWS) Springfield meteorologist Eric Wise, which was recorded on June 5, 2020:

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Bankrupted JCPenney announces Missouri store closings

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Clothing retail giant JCPenney is permanently closing 154 stores across America this summer, including two in Missouri. The ones targeted for closure are in northeastern Missouri’s Kirksville and the Kansas City suburb of Independence.

Bankrupted JCPenney announces Missouri store closings

The two Missouri stores might not be the only ones to go. The company says it will announce additional closures in the coming weeks.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, JCPenney was forced to temporarily close its stores, taking a giant toll on the company’s financials. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 15.

Since coronavirus restrictions have been eased, the retailer has reopened nearly 500 stores nationwide. Some Missouri stores remain closed.

See the full list of permanent closings by clicking here.

James Cash Penney, the store’s founder, grew up in northwest Missouri’s Hamilton near St. Joseph.

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Parson signs plan expanding absentee voting during the coronavirus outbreak

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Gov. Mike Parson has signed into law a bill expanding mail-in voting during this year’s August and November elections only. Under Senate Bill 631, an absentee ballot will only be allowed for voters who request one.

Governor Mike Parson (file photo courtesy of Governor Parson’s office)

Voters who have contracted or are at-risk of getting COVID-19 can cast an absentee ballot without notarization. All other voters can mail in their ballot without an excuse, but they must submit a notarized statement saying they are who they say they are.

“Any Missourian affected by COVID-19 should still be able to vote, including those who are sick or considered at-risk,” Parson says in a written statement. “I applaud Senator Dan Hegeman, Representative Dan Shaul, and the rest of the legislature for taking this important step, which provides Missourians with a safe and secure way to vote while still safeguarding our elections and ballot process.”

Other provisions of the legislation include modifications to the following:
• Investigative powers for the Secretary of State
• Candidate filing fees
• Political activities by state employees
• Financial interest statements
• Secretary of State’s Technology Trust Fund
Ballots must be returned and received in an envelope postmarked by U.S. Mail by 7 p.m. on election day.

The Missouri House of Representatives gave final approval to the legislation with less than one hour to go on the final day of this year’s regular session.

To view SB 631, click here.

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Census field operations underway in rural Missouri

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The U.S. Census Bureau has ramped up its field operations again – trying to get an accurate count of Missouri’s most remote and rural communities via hand delivery of 2020 Census paper forms. John Shikles – with the governor’s office – oversees the Census in the state. He says Missouri is more diverse than people might think and a challenge is reaching the rural areas.

Census field operations underway in rural Missouri

“Those rural areas, this time around, with internet response – it’s been difficult to capture some of those responses because there are connectivity issues. There are a lot of people who just still are not comfortable giving information online when they would otherwise be okay with sending in a paper Census form. That mindset seems to exist more in our rural communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has really created difficulty getting those rural areas to respond to Census too,” he says.

For the first time in history, residents can complete the information online. According to Shikles, about 60.8% of Missourians have responded so far.

“It’s obvious that the pandemic has had an effect on everyone and it has really put people’s priorities into light,” says Shikles. “There’s a lot of people who feel the Census may just not be important right now, but we are here to remind them that it really is.”

The Census primarily helps Congress decide how to allocate federal funding.

“It’s a total number that includes school funding, nutrition funding, Medicaid, Medicare. Those numbers are based on our Census data and how many people that the Census Bureau estimates are living in the state of Missouri,” he says.

Shikles says the form is simple – and is not asking for certain details.

“The Census Bureau will never ask you for your social security number,” he says. “They’ll never ask you personal questions like your religion and they’ll never ask you for money. So, if you start getting requests like that, it’s definitely a red flag and you’ll want to call the Census Bureau and let them know what’s happening.”

Shikles has not heard any reports from Census takers running into problems from the recent public safety unrest.

October 31 is the new deadline to respond online or in the mail.

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Senator Hawley on SBA: “I think it’s time to consider some new leadership” (VIDEO)

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Missouri’s U.S. Senator Josh Hawley says Missouri’s farmers and small businesses have been waiting too long for help from the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.  The SBA program offers up to $10,000 in loan advances that do not require repayment.

He says he not getting anywhere with his questions about the delay of these COVID-19 disaster loans and that he has questioned the Trump-appointed SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza in person and in letters.

“They are not getting it done,” Hawley says, “Unless I see some change here, I think it’s time to consider new leadership.”

Hawley says he has shared his frustrations directly with President Trump.

Missourinet’s Ashley Byrd spoke with Sen. Hawley:

 

 

 

Ameren Missouri announces a COVID-19 clean slate program for utility balances (AUDIO)

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Missouri’s largest electric utility has announced an additional $3.5 million program to help customers pay off their utility bill balances, during the coronavirus outbreak.

Ameren Missouri vice president of customer experience Tara Oglesby says they want to support all of their customers in need.

“Having this money that we have and being able to help customers get a relief from some of these balances that have grown since the pandemic broke out, we feel is just a real opportunity for customers to take action,” Oglesby says.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson announced this week that 300,000 jobs were lost between March and April, and that the state’s unemployment rate increased from 3.9 to 9.7 percent in April.

The COVID-19 “Clean Slate program” is aimed at assisting Ameren’s most vulnerable customers. It is designed to help them clear their account’s remaining balance, after they pay 25 percent of the current balance.

Ameren Missouri says the program will help about 9,000 households pay off their utility bills.

“We want this money to be able to help everyone as much as possible that is struggling right now, to meet their bills because of COVID-19 or other situations that they’ve ran into,” says Oglesby.

Funding for the program is now available, and customers in a four-person household earning up to $45,850 annually are eligible to apply. You can read more about the program here.

Ameren Missouri has also announced that it’s extending its suspension of service disconnections until at least July 1.

Ameren, which serves 64 of Missouri’s 114 counties, has also donated 1,000 energy-efficient air conditioners and 1,000 four-packs of LED light bulbs to Cooldownstlouis.org and Cooldownmissouri.org.

Ameren says those donations will help senior citizens and at-risk families stay cool and safe this summer.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Ameren Missouri vice president of customer experience Tara Oglesby, which was recorded on June 3, 2020:

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

White House to announce COVID-19 vaccine developers this week, says Blunt (AUDIO)

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The White House is set to announce progress on developing COVID-19 vaccines this week, according to U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, chairman of a key Senate Health and Human Services budget committee.

He says it will be a handful of candidates — out of a few thousand — to have federal support to develop a sought-after immunization to the virus strain that has to date killed more than 386,000 people worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Blunt says there will be failures in the development of the vaccine, but “if some of them don’t work out, we’re not trying hard enough.’ His “shark tank” approach funds many labs in the race to slow and stop COVID-19.  Pharma companies like Great Britain’s AstraZeneca are pledging to send a vaccine to the U.S. as early as this fall.

Blunt says in the U.S. government’s public-private partnership with drug companies, the outcome must be “available to people at a price they can afford.”

Listen to details in Missourinet’s Ashley Byrd’s interview with Blunt: (3:03)

 

Missouri triggers extended unemployment benefits

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From the State Labor Department:

The Missouri Department of Labor says the state will offer extended unemployment benefits (EB) for those who have exhausted their previous unemployment benefits.

Missouri’s most recent insured unemployment rate of 5.39 percent triggered the state onto a 13-week EB program period beginning the week of May 31, 2020, joining 43 other states that have done the same in recent weeks. 

Under federal law, the EB program offers up to an additional 13 weeks of benefits to individuals who have exhausted both their regular unemployment benefits and 13 weeks of the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) assistance.