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Missouri WWII veteran held honor flight, ‘mail call’ letters close to his heart

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Before the days of email, social media and texting, getting letters from home was a way for America’s soldiers to stay in touch with their loved ones. Steve Paulsell, with Central Missouri Honor Flight, recalls one trip with a WWII veteran who grew up moving from orphanage to orphanage.

Photos courtesy of Central Missouri Honor Flight

“When mail call was called, his name was never called because he didn’t have any family writing letters to him,” says Paulsell.

The organization brings back that special “mail call” memory for veterans by secretly contacting family and friends to write letters to them. At 35,000 feet in the air on an honor flight, the northeast Missouri war hero got a special delivery.

“For the first time ever, this veteran had his name called in mail call,” Paulsell says. “We have a lot of school kids and businesses who write “Dear Veteran” letters. It was a very, very emotional time for him.”

The man kept his memories close to his heart from that trip to visit the nation’s war memorials in Washington, D.C.

“About a year-and-a-half later, we got a call from a nurse up in Hannibal to let us know that this veteran had passed away and the last three days of his life, he was at her ICU at the hospital,” says Paulsell. “She said, “For the last three days he did nothing but talk about his honor flight – how meaningful that was to him.’ And she said, ‘When he passed away, he had those letters in his hand.’”

Paulsell has story after story of veterans walking away from honor flights with life-changing experiences and memories for life. Veterans wishing to sign up for an honor flight can click here.

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Blunt says trade dispute has hurt China’s economy more than America’s

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U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, believes the trade dispute with China will be resolved, but says the belief that trade would change China will likely never materialize. Blunt says both the U.S. and China have reasons to sign a new trade agreement.

Blunt says trade dispute has hurt China’s economy more than America’s

“I don’t think we’re ever going to get back to where we were with China a decade ago when there was a sense that this was going to be smooth-sailing and the Chinese economy and their view of individual freedom was developing so rapidly that, before you knew it, we’d all be functioning the same way,” Blunt says in an interview with St. Joseph affiliate KFEQ. “I think we now see that’s not likely to happen. President Xi is president for life.”

Blunt insists the trade dispute has hurt the Chinese economy more than the American economy. He says China, because of its communist form of government, can better weather economic hardships than the United States.

“They can tolerate more unhappiness in their system, but nobody likes to tolerate unhappiness,” Blunt says. “So, President Xi should want to do this. President Trump should want to do this. I think we will see some things happen there, but not everything that probably we need to see happen and would eventually want to see happen.”

Blunt says the optimistic outlook many U.S. leaders had that open trade would create an open China just hasn’t happened and likely won’t happen.

One trade agreement has been reached, but is pending Congressional approval.

Blunt is optimistic Congress will approve the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which is touted as vital to Missouri agriculture as well as business.
Blunt says it might seem odd, but the move by House Democrats to investigate and possibly impeach President Donald Trump could well pave the way for approval of the USMCA.

“The impeachment votes in the House make it even more likely that the Speaker’s going to decide that the 30 or 40 members that are going to have the hardest time casting that vote are the same 30 or 40 members that have the most need to have a vote on USMCA,” according to Blunt. “I think we have a real chance to get that done.”

Blunt holds out hope Congress will take up and pass the trade agreement before the end of the year.

Meanwhile, public impeachment hearings involving President Trump begin today.

By Brent Martin of Missourinet affiliate KFEQ in St. Joseph

Parson predicts executive order on apprenticeships will strengthen Missouri’s workforce (AUDIO)

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Missouri’s governor traveled to Columbia on Tuesday afternoon to sign an executive order creating an Office of Apprenticeship and Work-Based Learning, within the state Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development.

Governor Mike Parson speaks at the Apprenticeship Missouri Summit in Columbia on November 12, 2019, as Higher Education Commissioner Zora Mulligan listens (photo from Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth)

Governor Mike Parson (R) signed it during the Apprenticeship Missouri Summit, at the Drury Plaza East. The department hosted the summit.

“Through this office we will continue working to increase apprenticeships and work-based learning opportunities,” Parson says. “We have some of the hardest-working, talented individuals in the nation right here in the state of Missouri.”

The governor says the state must ensure Missourians are getting the skills and training they need to fill high-demand jobs.

He says apprenticeships play a key role in developing a workforce that’s prepared to meet future demands. Parson told the audience that Missouri has reached 10,000 new registered apprenticeships.

“We recently reached the milestone of being second in the nation for new apprenticeships, second in the United States of America Missouri is,” he said to applause from the audience of about 100.

He also notes Missouri ranks second in the nation for completed apprenticeships.

Parson says the more training and education Missourians have, the more productive they can be. Governor Parson spoke to Missourinet after the ceremony, saying the executive order he’s signed will strengthen the state’s workforce.

“You really establish this apprenticeship program from here on out, is what you’re really doing. You’re making everybody know that this is truly something we’re putting a huge emphasis on in the Department of Higher Education that we want to get done,” says Parson.

He says Missouri must continue to take action on workforce development, noting only 28 percent of Missourians have degrees and that 72 percent do not. He praises the Legislature’s bipartisan passage of “Fast Track,” which allows Missourians to receive advanced training in high-demand areas.

State Rep. Kathy Swan, R-Cape Girardeau, sponsored Fast Track.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Governor Mike Parson, which was recorded at the Apprenticeship Missouri Summit in Columbia on November 12, 2019:

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Missouri veteran on honor flight leaves combat boots, tough feelings at Vietnam War wall

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A group of 108 veterans from World War Two and the Korean and Vietnam Wars are aboard an honor flight today visiting Washington, D.C. Steve Paulsell, the flight director for Central Missouri Honor Flight, recalls many stories throughout the years about the power these journeys have on veterans. He says for many veterans, the trip is about healing.

Photo courtesy of Central Missouri Honor Flight

“One veteran took his combat boots to the wall, sat them at the wall and walked away,” says Paulsell. “Later he said, ‘I always swore if I ever got the chance to go to the Vietnam Wall, I’d take these boots up there and leave all the anger, the mad, the regret, the sadness and the pain in those boots and walk away a new man.’ He said, ‘That’s what happened that day.’”

Paulsell says many soldiers hold tokens from their military days close to their hearts.

“I think that’s why they carry the dollar bills and keep the boots and all that,” says Paulsell. “Although combat is a terrible time, there is a very special meaning to the relationships that they built there that they’ve never experienced again.”

Central Missouri Honor Flight is accepting applications for its 2020 trips. Paulsell says Missouri has hundreds, if not thousands, of Vietnam War veterans who should fill out applications to get on an honor flight.

Click here for more information about the honor flights.

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Three people killed in west-central Missouri fire

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Photo courtesy of Missourinet affiliate KDKD in Clinton

An apartment fire overnight in west-central Missouri’s Clinton has killed a 45-year-old man, 25-year-old woman and four-year-old girl. Missourinet affiliate KDKD in Clinton reports the fire started in a southwest bedroom and the preliminary cause of fire appears to be smoking in bed.

The unit’s smoke detector was not working. One other apartment unit in the building was damaged by fire and water.

The identities of the victims have not been released. The investigation continues.

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Missouri ranks second in nation in students completing apprenticeships

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Missouri is second in the nation in the number of people placed in apprenticeships. The state has reached a milestone of 10,000 new registered apprenticeships for Fiscal Year 2019. Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development Director Zora Mulligan calls apprenticeships one of the state’s best kept secrets.

Missouri ranks second in nation in students completing apprenticeships

“And that’s not scaled by population. So if you think about how we are in population, being number two in the nation is a pretty big deal,” she says.

Mulligan tells Missourinet the state does quite a bit of work in grant finding.

“One of the areas where grants have been most significant in moving us forward is in apprenticeships,” says Mulligan. “We’ve had good luck getting grants from the U.S. Department of Labor to really grow apprenticeship programs.”

Mulligan says federal grants have made a significant difference in moving Missouri forward in apprenticeships.

Mulligan’s department is hosting the second annual Apprenticeship Missouri Summit today in Columbia at the Drury Inn. During a ceremony there today, Governor Parson plans to sign an executive order about apprenticeships. Missourinet will be there and have more on the story later.

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

U.S. Agriculture Secretary heading to Kansas City on Friday; Graves praises relocation plan (AUDIO)

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A congressman who represents 36 northern Missouri counties is praising USDA’s selection of Kansas City as the site for two major USDA facilities.

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, farms in northwest Missouri’s Atchison County in October 2019 (photo courtesy of Congressman Graves’ office)

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, a sixth-generation family farmer, says 90 percent of USDA employees are already outside of Washington. Graves’ sprawling district includes the northern Kansas City suburbs.

“The closer we can get USDA’s core or headquarter staff to agriculture, the better,” Graves says.

USDA will relocate its Economic Research Service (ERS) and its National Institute of Food and Agriculture Policy (NIFA) agencies to Pennsylvania Avenue in Kansas City.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue will travel to the location on Friday morning to hold an event with Missouri Governor Mike Parson, Senator Roy Blunt, state Department of Agriculture (MDA) Director Chris Chinn, state Department of Economic Development Director Rob Dixon and others.

Congressman Graves praises the relocation plan, saying it will decentralize USDA.

“When you put too many bureaucrats for an agency inside the Beltway, inside Washington D.C. where they’re not out there interacting with the very people that they are supposed to be serving, then you get into some serious problems,” says Graves.

He says USDA’s decision puts the agencies closer to constituencies.

Graves also predicts the decision will have a “ripple effect” two to three counties deep. He says the average wages for the approximately 550 positions are between $80,000 and $100,000.

“Buying homes, renting apartments, buying gas, buying groceries, buying new televisions, whatever the case may be,” Graves says.

He also emphasizes that the issue has been bipartisan, noting that he’s been working closely with U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas (D) has also praised the plan and the bipartisan regional efforts to land the jobs. Mayor Lucas notes Kansas City is an essential part of the animal health corridor.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, which was recorded on November 1, 2019:

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Winter storm briefly closes interstate in western Missouri (AUDIO)

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Winter weather briefly closed heavily-traveled southbound I-49 in western Missouri’s Belton on Monday morning, because of numerous slide offs and unsafe driving conditions.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in St. Louis is warning about deteriorating conditions on bridges and overpasses (November 11, 2019 map courtesy of NWS St. Louis Twitter)

National Weather Service (NWS) Pleasant Hill meteorologist Jonathan Kurtz notes it’s rare for a storm to close an interstate.

“It happens from time to time when you get these pretty strong intense bursts of snow,” Kurtz says. “And we have had two rounds here in the Kansas City metro, and two pretty strong lines have come through.”

I-49, which has re-opened, is a major route for truckers, and runs in Missouri from just south of Kansas City to southwest Missouri’s McDonald County.

Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) spokeswoman Sally Oxenhandler tells Missourinet that southbound I-49 at 163rd Street in Cass County was closed for about 20 minutes today.

Kurtz says conditions on the interstate quickly deteriorated.

“I-49 was only closed for a little bit of time there due to some slick roads there,” says Kurtz. “And snow started to accumulate pretty fast. Once it started hitting the ground, it only took about 20 to 30 minutes for the road to start to get snow-covered.”

Missouri state troopers responded to several slide-offs on Highway 50 in western Missouri’s Knob Noster on November 11, 2019 (photo from Missourinet’s Ashley Byrd)

The National Weather Service is warning Missourians that the snow and falling temperatures will lead to deteriorating conditions on bridges and overpasses for your evening commute. Mr. Kurtz is urging motorists to slow down.

“My drive in was pretty slick as well, and you just have to give yourself plenty of time. And we can kind of be thrown off, especially when the day before we had highs in the 50’s,” Kurtz says.

Snow is expected to end in Jefferson City by 4 p.m. Monday and in southeast Missouri’s Farmington by 6 p.m. The NWS is urging motorists and anyone heading outside to dress in layers.

Northwest Missouri’s St. Joseph has received about an inch of snow, while mid-Missouri’s Columbia has seen about an inch as well. There’s an inch-and-a-half on the ground in northeast Missouri’s Foley.

Several schools in mid-Missouri and in the Ozarks have dismissed early because of the storm. Westminster College in mid-Missouri’s Fulton has also dismissed classes early.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and National Weather Service (NWS) Pleasant Hill meteorologist Jonathan Kurtz, which was recorded on November 11, 2019:

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet