Bloomfield Archives - Missourinet

Southeast Missouri lawmaker emphasizes importance of rural Missouri physicians (AUDIO)

August 17, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

While Missouri has a severe shortage of rural physicians, one southeast Missouri state lawmaker says his area also needs more doctors who live there.

State Rep. Herman Morse, R-Dexter, speaks on the Missouri House floor on March 3, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

State Rep. Herman Morse, R-Dexter, says that when he moved to Stoddard County in the mid-1970s, there were 15 to 20 doctors who lived in the county.

“Right now, there’s one fella and he’s on the verge of retirement who actually lives full-time in Stoddard County. Everyone else comes in from somewhere else for the day, and goes back home,” Morse says.

Morse says the other doctors drive back to Cape Girardeau, Poplar Bluff or Sikeston.

He says the 15-20 doctors who lived in Stoddard County years ago “were part of the community, they were school board members or whatever, civic club members.”

Stoddard County is a large county, geographically. It has about 830 square miles. Advance, Bernie and Bloomfield are some of the other towns in the county.

The UM System is working to train more doctors, dentists and pharmacists in the state. The majority of Missouri counties don’t have enough doctors.

The MU School of Medicine says the bond between doctor and community “is important, but increasingly rare in small towns across Missouri.” The School of Medicine says while 37 percent of Missourians live in rural communities, only 18 percent of Missouri doctors practice there, adding that the crisis will worsen in rural Missouri as baby boomers age and need more care.

MU’s School of Medicine held its first annual clinical rural immersion program in June, providing 25 health care students with real-world experience in rural Missouri. They spent two weeks studying rural medicine in Sedalia. The program was conducted virtually, with modified in-person visits.

The project was funded by a grant. MU has a rural track pipeline program. The School of Medicine says the research shows that the more exposure medical students have with a rural practice, the more likely they are to return to a rural Missouri practice.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with State Rep. Herman Morse, R-Dexter. Representative Morse is the Missouri House Special Committee on Aging’s vice chairman. The interview was conducted on August 12, 2020:

Thursday arraignment set for retired Missouri priest charged with sex crimes

February 19, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A retired Roman Catholic priest from southern Missouri is now charged with four sex-related felonies in southeast Missouri’s Stoddard County, involving alleged sexual abuse of minors.

Our Cape Girardeau television partner KFVS reports 76-year-old Frederick Joseph Lutz was arrested Wednesday morning in Springfield, where he now lives. Stoddard County Prosecutor Russell Oliver has charged Lutz with forcible sodomy, two counts of statutory sodomy and one count of sexual abuse.

Retired Roman Catholic priest Frederick Joseph Lutz is arrested on sex-related charges on February 19, 2020 in Springfield (photo courtesy of Missourinet Cape Girardeau television partner KFVS)

Lutz is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday morning at 9 at the Stoddard County Courthouse in Bloomfield, before Judge Joe Satterfield. Bond for Lutz has been set at $125,000 cash-only.

Mr. Oliver announced the arrest and charges on Wednesday, saying the alleged crimes happened between January and February of 2000, when the priest served at St. Joseph Parish in southeast Missouri’s Advance.

Advance, which is a town of about 1,300 residents, is southwest of Cape Girardeau.

The probable cause statement says Lutz allegedly abused at 17-year-old male at the priest’s residence in early 2000, after asking him to drink alcohol with him. Court documents say the 17-year-old declined and tried to leave, but that Fr. Lutz blocked his exit and allegedly forced the teen to have oral sex with him.

The court documents also describe an alleged incident that happened in 1972 in Cape Girardeau County, involving a 17-year-old male who worked a summer job at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Cape.

The Stoddard County investigation is ongoing.

Prosecutor Oliver says Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt discovered the allegations in church documents, during the AG’s clergy abuse investigation. Schmitt’s office referred the allegations to Stoddard County prosecutors on January 2.

Missourinet spoke to Attorney General Schmitt in late October in Jefferson City, and he noted his office was close to completing 12 referrals of former clergy members across the state for potential criminal prosecution.

The Lutz case is one of those 12 cases. Schmitt noted in October that the 12 referrals are more than any other state attorney general. Attorney General Schmitt issued a statement to Missourinet on Thursday.

“Following our investigation into clergy abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in Missouri, a referral was made to the Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney about allegations of abuse against retired priest Frederick Lutz. We’re please to see that the case has been initiated and charges have been filed by the Stoddard County Prosecutor’s Office following that referral. While this may not provide much solace to victims, these charges represent the next crucial steps in holding abuses accountable for their actions. Any victims who wish to come forward to report abuse from Lutz should contact the Stoddard County Prosecutor’s office at (573) 568-4640,” Schmitt’s statement reads.

Schmitt says his office reviewed every available personnel record of every priest serving in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau and the Diocese of Jefferson City, dating back to 1945.

As for Prosecutor Oliver, he notes the Stoddard County investigation revealed multiple victims, and emphasizes the investigation continues.

He encourages anyone with information about Lutz to call the Stoddard County Prosecutor’s office at (573) 568-4640.

Lutz has also served at parishes in Springfield, Cassville, Jackson, Oran and Lamar, according to Oliver.

Poplar Bluff, Sedalia, Bloomfield, Columbia and Wentzville highlighted in Missouri State of State (AUDIO)

January 17, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor says more than 40,000 new jobs have been created since he took office in June 2018 and that the state’s 3.1 percent unemployment rate is at a historic low.

North Carolina-based Nucor is building a $400 million steel rebar manufacturing plant in west-central Missouri’s Sedalia (August 2019 file photo courtesy of Nucor)

During this week’s State of the State Address, Governor Mike Parson (R) emphasized the success of Missouri’s economy, and took the opportunity to highlight rural Missouri towns that are seeing capital investment.

Parson tells state lawmakers that big cities aren’t the only ones generating new jobs.

“Aurora Organic Dairy opened a new processing plant in Columbia, creating over 100 new jobs,” Parson says. “And Purina invested $115 million to expand in Bloomfield, Missouri.”

Bloomfield, a southeast Missouri town of about 1,900, is north of Dexter. Parson traveled there in September to tour the Nestle Purina plant, which makes Tidy Cats brand cat litter.

The plant’s expansion is creating about 30 new jobs, and the state Department of Economic Development (DED) says the expansion is adding a 110,000 square foot processing and packaging facility.

Parson met with Nestle CEO Mark Schneider in Switzerland in June, during his first European trade mission. The governor has noted that Nestle employs more than 3,500 Missourians in Bloomfield, Chesterfield, Earth City, Gray Summit, St. Joseph, St. Louis and Trenton.

During Wednesday’s State of the State, Governor Parson also announced that North Carolina-based Nucor Steel is close to starting production at its $400 million steel mill in Sedalia. Parson also announced that gasoline engine manufacturer Briggs and Stratton is creating 130 new jobs in southeast Missouri’s Poplar Bluff.

State DED Director Rob Dixon praises the news.

“These are companies that are international companies that are looking at Missouri and looking at rural Missouri in particular because of the strength of our workforce, the quality of the people that live here,” says Dixon.

The steel mill in west-central Missouri’s Sedalia is one of the largest projects Missouri has landed in the past decade. The average salary for a Nucor steelworker will be $65,000.

The governor says the average salary for the 130 new jobs at Briggs and Stratton in Poplar Bluff will be $36,531. The company is investing $15 million in the expansion.

Briggs and Stratton is already one of the largest employers in Poplar Bluff, according to the Chamber of Commerce there.

The governor also discussed the eastern Missouri town of Wentzville, during State of the State.

Parson says the decision by General Motors (GM) to invest $1.5 billion into its plant in Wentzville represents one of the largest single-project investments from the private sector in Missouri. Director Dixon tells Missourinet that GM’s Wentzville plant supports about 12,000 jobs across Missouri.

“We secured the long-term viability of that plant in Wentzville. That benefits not just Wentzville, but the entire state,” Dixon says.

DED says out of Missouri’s 227 automotive suppliers, 178 supply GM.

The Wentzville plant produces the GMC Canyon and the Chevrolet Colorado. About 4,600 employees work there.

Wentzville, which is known as the “Crossroads of the Nation”, is one of Missouri’s fastest-growing cities. It sits on I-70 in St. Charles County.

Its current population is about 41,000. The city’s website notes Wentzville’s population jumped from 6,896 in 2000 to 29,070 in the 2010 census.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and State Department of Economic Development Director Rob Dixon, which was recorded on January 15, 2020 at the Statehouse in Jefferson City:

Nestle Purina investing $115 million in southeast Missouri plant; 30 new jobs coming

September 3, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

One of the largest employers in southeast Missouri’s Bloomfield received a visit Tuesday from the governor, highlighting a major multi-million dollar expansion.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson signs legislation on July 10, 2019 (file photo courtesy of Governor Parson’s office)

Governor Mike Parson traveled to Bloomfield to tour a Nestle Purina plant that’s undergoing a $115 million investment.

Nestle is the world’s largest food and beverage company.

Nestle’s Bloomfield plant employs about 340 Missourians. State Department of Economic Development (DED) Director Rob Dixon tells Missourinet the expansion is creating about 30 new jobs.

Dixon expects hiring to be complete by mid-2020.

The plant makes Tidy Cats brand cat litter, and the company says the expansion allows Purina to meet the growing demand from cat owners.

DED says the expansion is adding a 110,000 square foot processing and packaging facility.

State Rep. Herman Morse, R-Dexter, who represents Bloomfield in the Missouri House, has said the addition of “more high-quality jobs at Purina will be invaluable to the economy of Stoddard County and the surrounding area as it provides more opportunity for our local residents.”

Bloomfield, which is a town of about 1,900 residents, is located in Stoddard County. It’s north of Dexter.

Governor Parson says Purina has been in Missouri for 125 years and is committed to the Show-Me State.

The governor met with Nestle CEO Mark Schneider in Switzerland in June, during his first European trade mission. Parson says Nestle employs more than 3,500 Missourians in Bloomfield, Chesterfield, Earth City, Gray Summit, St. Joseph, St. Louis and Trenton.