Cape Girardeau Archives

Southeast Missouri congressman considering U.S. Senate run in 2022; pledges to fight for working families (AUDIO)

March 30, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

A southern Missouri congressman who serves as the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee says he’s considering a run for the U.S. Senate in 2022. U.S. Rep. Jason Smith (R-Salem) spoke to Missourinet Monday evening outside the Statehouse in Jefferson City, after he met with the governor about the issue of feral hogs.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith (R-Salem) is outside the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City on March 29, 2021 (Brian Hauswirth photo)

“I will just say that I would put my record fighting for working-class families, farmers, small business owners and my conservative credentials amongst any names that’s been out there or suggested for the United States Senate,” Smith says.

Former Governor Eric Greitens and Attorney General Eric Schmitt, both Republicans, have announced they’re running for the Senate. Former State Sen. Scott Sifton (D-Affton) and Jefferson City native Lucas Kunce are two Democrats who have announced. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas has also been mentioned as a possible Senate candidate.

Incumbent U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) is retiring. He’s finishing his second six-year Senate term on Capitol Hill.

Smith, who represents 30 counties in southern and southeast Missouri, emphasizes that he hasn’t made a decision yet.

“I was elected by the good people of southeast Missouri to do a job in Washington D.C. as the Republican leader of the (House) Budget Committee. I’m fighting everyday for our rural way of life to make sure that (President Joe) Biden doesn’t take away our freedoms and liberties, and that is my focus right now,” says Smith.

The Budget Committee is chaired by U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Kentucky), and Smith is the committee’s top Republican.

Smith, who’s served in Congress since 2013, was re-elected in November with 77 percent of the vote against Festus social worker Kathy Ellis. The sprawling Eighth Congressional District includes Cape Girardeau, Farmington, Poplar Bluff, Portageville, Kennett, West Plains and Rolla.

Meantime, Congressman Smith and 70 other congressional Republicans have signed a letter, calling for an investigation into the suspension of the southern border wall construction. Smith says President Biden’s decision has fueled a crisis at the border.

“What the president did on his first three hours in office, by a declaration, was to halt funding that was appropriated by Congress in a bipartisan way. You’re talking about billions of dollars that was appropriated in a bipartisan way, and he halted the construction of the southern border,” Smith says.

President Biden issued a January 20 proclamation, saying that building a massive wall that spans the entire southern border “is not a serious policy solution.” President Biden described it as a waste of money that diverts attention from genuine threats to our homeland security. President Biden says his administration is committed to ensuring that the United States has a comprehensive and humane immigration system that operates consistently with our nation’s values.

As for the feral hog issue, Governor Mike Parson says State Sen. Jason Bean (R-Holcomb) also participated in Monday’s meeting with Congressman Smith, as well as Missouri Department of Conservation Director Sara Parker-Pauley and representatives from the USDA and U.S. Forest Service.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with U.S. Rep. Jason Smith (R-Salem), which was recorded outside the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City on March 29, 2021:

Missouri House Special Committee on Redistricting wants to hear from 8th District constituents on Tuesday (AUDIO)

March 29, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

A Missouri House committee on congressional redistricting wants public input Tuesday morning from residents in the sprawling Eighth Congressional District, which covers 30 southern and southeast Missouri counties. The district has about 20,000 square miles.

Missouri House Special Committee on Redistricting Chair Dan Shaul (R-Imperial) speaks on the House floor in Jefferson City on March 25, 2021 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

House Special Committee on Redistricting Chairman Rep. Dan Shaul (R-Imperial) says in-person and written testimony will be accepted tomorrow morning at 8.

“And what we’re looking for is just information on what makes the 8th District good, what makes it bad. Good things, you know, characteristics of the district, what’s worked for it being the district it is,” Shaul says.

The district goes from 20 miles south of St. Louis to ten miles east of Branson. The massive district includes Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Poplar Bluff, Kennett, Farmington, West Plains, Rolla and Ava.

One of the biggest challenges the district has faced involves health care. The rural district has seen five hospital closing since 2016:

** Parkland Health Center in Farmington (2016)
** Southeast Health Center of Reynolds County in Ellington (2016)
** Southeast Health Center of Ripley County in Doniphan (2018)
** Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center in Kennett (2018)
** Black River Medical Center in Poplar Bluff (2019)

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith (R-Salem), who has represented the 8th District since 2013, calls the closings unacceptable, saying people die when hospitals close.

Transportation is another issue in the district, which includes both I-55 and I-44. Chairman Shaul says agriculture is another common denominator in the district.

“Agriculture is a huge part of the state of Missouri, huge part of that district,” says Shaul. “It’s just good people working hard, and that’s what I like so much about the 8th District.”

The district hasn’t sent a Democrat to Washington since the late Congressman Bill Burlison (D-Wardell), who served from 1969 to 1981. When U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson (R-Cape Girardeau) unseated Burlison in 1980, every state senator and all but one of the district’s state representatives were Democrats. Today, every state lawmaker in the 8th District is a Republican.

Congressman Smith faced Democratic challenger Kathy Ellis, a social worker, in November. Smith won with about 77 percent of the vote. Smith received 253,811 votes, while Ellis received 70,561 votes.

State Rep. Hannah Kelly (R-Mountain Grove) serves as vice chair of the House Special Committee on Redistricting. State Rep. Jerome Barnes (D-Raytown) is the ranking Democrat.

The Missouri Legislature won’t redraw the state’s congressional districts until later this year, when they receive numbers from the 2020 U.S. Census.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and House Special Committee on Redistricting Chairman Rep. Dan Shaul (R-Imperial), which was recorded on March 26, 2021:

Mass vaccination clinics are scheduled for Monday in four Missouri towns

February 28, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Four mass vaccination clinics are planned across Missouri on Monday.

The Missouri National Guard directs traffic at a mass vaccination clinic in northern Missouri’s Unionville on February 27, 2021 (photo courtesy of the State Emergency Management Agency’s Twitter page)

The Missouri National Guard, state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS), the state Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and local health agencies are conducting the clinics.

Monday’s mass vaccination clinics are taking place in eastern Missouri’s Arnold, which is south of St. Louis. They’re also taking place in southeast Missouri’s Cape Girardeau, mid-Missouri’s Boonville and in southern Missouri’s Cuba, which is northeast of Rolla.

Locations are the First Baptist Church of Arnold, Cape Girardeau’s Show Me Center, the Isle of Capri casino in Boonville and Cuba’s Knights of Columbus hall.

Governor Mike Parson announced Thursday afternoon that more than 66,500 Missourians have received an initial COVID vaccine dose at a mass vaccination event. More than 70 of these clinics have been completed across the state, including an event Saturday in northern Missouri’s Unionville.

Missouri vaccinators have now administered more than 1.2 million doses of the COVID vaccine, which includes first and second doses. DHSS says 13.7 percent of Missourians have received at least one dose.

Poplar Bluff lawmaker proposes Rush Limbaugh Day each January 12 in Missouri

February 20, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

A state lawmaker from southeast Missouri describes the late talk show host Rush Limbaugh as a legend. State Rep. Hardy Billington, R-Poplar Bluff, has filed legislation to designate January 12 as “Rush Limbaugh Day” in Missouri.

Talk show host Rush Limbaugh was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians on May 14, 2012 in Jefferson City. He spoke in the Missouri House chamber that day (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

The 70-year-old Limbaugh, who grew up in southeast Missouri’s Cape Girardeau, died this week at the age of 70, after battling lung cancer. January 12 was his birthday.

Limbaugh was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians in 2012 in Jefferson City.

“Rush Limbaugh’s contributions to broadcasting and the conservative movement cannot be overstated. He was, simply put, a legend who cannot be replaced. This is one way we can recognize the outstanding impact Rush Limbaugh has had on our state and country,” Billington says, in a statement.

Billington says Limbaugh also raised $1.7 million for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America, in his annual Cure-a-Thon radio program.

Former President Donald Trump awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom last year to Limbaugh, in Washington. That’s the highest honor a citizen can receive from the president.

Former House Speaker Steven Tilley, R-Perryville, inducted Limbaugh into the Hall of Famous Missourians in May 2012. At the time, some Missouri House Democrats criticized Tilley’s decision, because Limbaugh had described a Georgetown law student as a “prostitute”, after she testified before Congress regarding contraceptives.

Former Speaker Tilley told Missourinet this week that he and his caucus stood firm, and were honored to induct Limbaugh into the Hall of Famous Missourians.

Click here to read Representative Billington’s House Bill 1200. It’s a one-page bill.

Tilley reflects on 2012 induction of Rush Limbaugh into Hall of Famous Missourians (AUDIO)

February 17, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

A national radio host who was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians has died, after a battle with lung cancer. Cape Girardeau native Rush Limbaugh was 70.

Talk show host Rush Limbaugh puts his arm around his sculpture in the Missouri House chamber in Jefferson City on May 14, 2012 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Limbaugh was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom last year by former President Donald Trump. That’s the highest honor a citizen can receive from the president.

Limbaugh was heard on more than 600 radio stations nationwide, including a number of Missourinet affiliates across the state.

Former Missouri House Speaker Steven Tilley, R-Perryville, inducted Limbaugh into the Hall of Famous Missourians in May 2012. Perryville is north of Cape Girardeau.

“Being from southeast Missouri, he was somebody that we all considered one of our own and was glad to see how successful he became. And him being a conservative made it even better,” Tilley says.

Some Missouri House Democrats at the time criticized Speaker Tilley’s decision. They were unhappy with some of Limbaugh’s comments. Limbaugh had described a Georgetown law student as a “prostitute”, after she testified before Congress regarding contraceptives.

The controversy drew national media attention, and international attention too. Tilley says one of his friend’s saw the story on a television news broadcast in China.

Missourinet reported in 2012 that the private ceremony took place behind closed doors, and that the Missouri State Highway Patrol guarded the entrances to the House chamber.

Then-Missouri House Speaker Steven Tilley, R-Perryville, and then-State Rep. Gary Fuhr, R-St. Louis, applaud Rush Limbaugh in the House chamber in Jefferson City on May 14, 2012 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Tilley says the 2012 ceremony was to honor Rush Limbaugh, and that there were threats. He says he wanted the ceremony to be safe and respectful. Tilley says it was a big day.

“My caucus and myself, we stood firm. We were honored to induct him into the Hall of Famous Missourians, and it’s a day I won’t, that really not just myself, but a lot of people in the House, my family included, will never forget,” says Tilley.

Tilley says there were questions then of whether the bust would be allowed to stay in the Missouri Capitol.

“I remember at one point in time there was questions of whether the governor’s (Democrat Jay Nixon’s) office would allow the bust to sit in the Rotunda, so it was an interesting time,” Tilley says.

Limbaugh traveled to Jefferson City for the 2012 ceremony. Tilley tells Missourinet that Limbaugh was proud to be honored by his home state.

“It amazed me by someone who had been in the Hall of Fame for the National Broadcasters, for the Radio Hall of Fame, had all these accolades that he was humbled and honored by what we (the Missouri House) did,” Tilley says.

Then-House Speaker Pro Tem Shane Schoeller, R-Willard, was also at the Capitol ceremony, along with Missouri House GOP lawmakers.

Tilley says Limbaugh also visited the Speaker’s third floor Capitol office that day, and also spoke to House Republicans in a Capitol hearing room.

“I think his message was hey, don’t be ashamed for what you believe in. And if you believe in it, speak it loudly,” says Tilley.

Tilley says he has one regret from that day. He says Limbaugh invited him to dinner that evening in Atlanta, and said he’d fly Speaker Tilley back to Jefferson City. Tilley told him no, saying he needed to preside over the House.

He describes Rush Limbaugh as a true patriot and a legend.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, who represents southeast Missouri, has issued a statement about Limbaugh’s death. Smith served in the Missouri House in 2012, and was in Jefferson City for the induction ceremony.

“Throughout the years, he and his family have remained a constant presence throughout southern Missouri. He never forgot where he came from, no matter how big he got, his heart was always in Cape Girardeau. He was a Missourian through and through. Rush was not just a radio talk show host. He was the steady hand of conservatism that could motivate and activate the grassroots better than anyone,” Smith says, in part.

Congressman Smith notes Rush Limbaugh introduced President Trump at the Trump Cape Girardeau rally in November 2018.

State Reps. Chris Sander, R-Lone Jack, and Richard West, R-Wentzville, have introduced a Missouri House courtesy resolution, praising Limbaugh. It says Limbaugh raised a record $1.7 million for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America, in his annual Cure-a-Thon program.

Limbaugh also served as the grand marshal at the St. Louis Veterans Day parade in 1999. His bust is in the Missouri Capitol Rotunda.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with former Missouri House Speaker Steven Tilley, R-Perryville, which was recorded on February 17, 2021:

Snow forces Missouri House and Senate to cancel Monday session; Rowden emphasizes safety

February 14, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

A winter storm in Missouri that began Sunday and will continue into Monday has caused state legislative leaders in both chambers to cancel session for Monday in Jefferson City.

Missouri Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, presides over the Senate in Jefferson City on March 4, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Senate Communications)

Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, announced Sunday on Twitter that because of brutal cold weather and potential for snow accumulation, the Missouri Senate will not be in session on Monday. Rowden also says the Senate will take the rest of the week one day at a time, to keep people safe.

Snow is expected in much of Missouri, including Jefferson City, throughout the week.

Leader Rowden tells Missourinet that Senate committees will not meet on Monday either.

As for the 163-member Missouri House, Majority Floor Leader Dean Plocher, R-Des Peres, tells Missourinet the House will not be in session on Monday.

All Missouri House committee hearings originally scheduled for Monday are now canceled, and will be rescheduled for sometime this week.

The National Weather Service in Paducah has issued a winter storm warning for southeast Missouri (February 14, 2021 graphic courtesy of NWS Paducah Twitter)

A winter storm warning is in effect for much of eastern and southeast Missouri.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Paducah says towns like Cape Girardeau, Poplar Bluff, Kennett and Malden could see a total of six to 12 inches of snow, by Monday.
That region is still trying to recover from last week’s two-day ice storm, which closed schools and shut down heavily-traveled I-57 near Sikeston for a time.

The NWS in St. Louis says road conditions are still poor across a majority of the state, adding that roads have been deteriorating in Missouri from west to east.

Monday is Washington’s Birthday, which is a federal, Missouri and county holiday. While it’s a state holiday, the Legislature planned to be in session, until the snowstorm.

Most state employees will be off on Monday, which will keep several thousand cars off the road. More than 14,000 state employees work in Cole County, making state government Jefferson City’s largest employer.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol will be working on Monday, and crews from the state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) will continue to treat and plow roads.

Southern Missouri’s I-44 corridor to see heaviest snowfall Sunday and Monday

February 12, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

While all of Missouri is expected to see snow on Sunday evening into Monday, the National Weather Service (NWS) expects the heaviest snow to be along the heavily-traveled I-44 corridor in southern Missouri.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Springfield expects Springfield, Joplin and Lebanon to receive three to six inches of snow Sunday into Washington’s Birthday (February 12, 2021 graphic courtesy of NWS Springfield Twitter)

NWS Springfield meteorologist Eric Wise tells Missourinet they’re expecting three waves of snow, bringing a total of three to six inches in Joplin, Springfield, Lebanon, Waynesville and up to Rolla. Three to six inches of snow is also expected along the Missouri-Arkansas border, impacting towns like Branson and Thayer.

Temperatures and wind chills will remain dangerously cold in the Ozarks and across the state through next week.

Meantime, the National Weather Service in Paducah has issued a winter storm watch for most of southeast Missouri for Sunday night through Monday evening. The NWS Paducah office says Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Poplar Bluff and Kennett are in the watch area. Four or more inches of snow is likely, and drifting is expected because of 20-mile per hour winds.

The NWS recommends that Missourians fill up their gas tanks before the winter storm.

Four alleged members of Gangster Disciples from southeast Missouri in custody, under federal indictment

January 25, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

The Justice Department has announced arrests and federal indictments against seven alleged members of the Gangster Disciples gang for a years-long conspiracy that involves alleged murders and other crimes. Four of the seven are from southeast Missouri.

The indictments were unsealed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.

“The long list of violent crimes alleged in this indictment- including two murders and multiple violent assaults- make plain the threat to our communities posed by criminal organizations like the Gangster Disciples,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas McQuaid of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division says, in a written statement.

Four southeast Missourians are under federal indictment: 50-year-old Sean Clemon, 28-year-old Dominque Maxwell and 29-year-old Perry Harris, all of Cape Girardeau. They are charged with RICO conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, attempted murder in aid of racketeering and related firearms crimes.

44-year-old Barry Boyce of Charleston, an alleged gang member, is charged with RICO conspiracy.

Federal prosecutors allege that Clemon, Maxwell and Harris killed Leroy Allen during an April 2018 Gangster Disciples meeting in eastern Missouri’s Bridgeton.

The indictment alleges that after Allen was killed, Clemon, Maxwell and Harris were promoted to state leadership positions in Missouri.

The 25-page indictment also alleges that the Gangster Disciples have been involved in an ongoing scheme to smuggle K2 into Missouri state prisons. The indictment alleges that Boyce smuggled K2 into four Missouri prisons between 2019-2020: South Central Correctional Center in Licking, Missouri Eastern Correctional Center in Pacific, Potosi Correctional Center in Mineral Point and Southeast Correctional Center in Charleston. The indictment says Boyce had “help from Gangster Disciples inmates at those facilities.”

The indictment also outlines the rules of the Gangster Disciples, which involves silence and secrecy and a total prohibition on cooperation with law enforcement, “with serious violations punishable by death.”

The FBI, DEA, Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis, Bridgeton Police, Cape Girardeau Police and the Missouri Department of Corrections are all involved with the investigation, according to the Justice Department.

U.S. Marshals: three southeast Missouri jail escapees should be considered dangerous

January 18, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

The U.S. Marshals are now leading the search for three jail escapees in southeast Missouri’s Iron County, and the Marshals emphasize the three should be considered dangerous. A unified command post has been established at the Iron County Courthouse in Ironton.

Missourinet Cape Girardeau television partner KFVS reports authorities are offering a $5,000 reward for information on the escapees: Tracy L. Brown, Dwight Abernathie and Samuel Gillam. The Marshals say all three were jailed on local charges. Gillam was jailed on a kidnapping charge, while Abernathie was jailed for assault and sodomy. Brown was in jail for a burglary charge.

U.S. Marshals, Iron County Sheriff’s deputies, Ironton Police and others have set up a command post at the Iron County Courthouse in Ironton (January 16, 2021 photo courtesy of Ironton Police Facebook page)

U.S. Marshals say the three moved a block wall to escape. Authorities are urging residents to lock their doors and to remain vigilant.

Marshals say the inmates escaped at about 4:30 on Saturday morning, and the Iron County Sheriff requested assistance from the Marshals at about 1 p.m. Saturday. The Marshals have sent personnel from Cape Girardeau and St. Louis to the area.

U.S. Marshals and Iron County Sheriff’s deputies are being assisted by Ironton Police, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Pilot Knob Police and by the U.S. Forest Service, Missouri State park rangers and the Missouri Department of Corrections.

The search area includes the heavily-wooded Mark Twain National Forest.

Parson: changes must be made at Missouri veterans homes; governor also touts safety of COVID vaccine

December 18, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri Veterans Commission (MVC) says at least 145 veterans living at Missouri veterans homes have died from the coronavirus, since September. 39 of those deaths happened at the state veterans home in northwest Missouri’s Cameron, while 29 have occurred at the home in southeast Missouri’s Cape Girardeau.

Governor Mike Parson tours the La-Z-Boy plant in southwest Missouri’s Neosho on December 17, 2020 (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

During a press conference at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City this week, Governor Mike Parson told Missourinet that changes must be made involving the operations of state veterans homes. He says his office will see that it’s done.

“Most of you have seen the report that’s come out, you know things have to be done differently,” Parson says. “And we’re going to ensure that those changes are made as soon as we possibly can make those changes. The state has stepped in, once we seen that we felt like there was a problem there and have been on the ground ever since.”

An independent investigation conducted by St. Louis-based Armstrong Teasdale found that the MVC headquarters failed to recognize the COVID outbreak. The report found that some veterans have roommates and share toilet and shower facilities. Armstrong Teasdale recommends that veterans reside in private rooms with private bathrooms.

Armstrong Teasdale makes dozens of other recommendations, including calling on MVC headquarters and veterans homes to develop a comprehensive COVID-19 outbreak plan.

Meantime, the governor and State Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) director also focused their attention on the COVID vaccine, during the press conference.

DHSS Director Dr. Randall Williams hopes every Missourian considers getting the COVID vaccine. He says the FDA has been examining drug and vaccine safety for more than 100 years.

“We very much think this is safe and, as the governor said, effective for people with COVID,” says Dr. Williams.

Dr. Williams says 90 percent of people who get the COVID vaccine will have no side effects. He says less than ten percent will have mild side effects, more likely to occur after the second vaccine.

Dr. Williams says those side effects usually go away in a day.

“And they consist of, primarily, fatigue, in about four percent. You’ll feel a little bit tired that day. Headaches, about two percent. And about one percent will have some muscle pain right here in what we call myalgia, muscle aches all over,” Dr. Williams says.

Dr. Williams says one percent “will have a little bit of a chill.”

Pending FDA approval, Missouri could receive its first shipment of about 105,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine next week.

More than 1,000 Missouri frontline health care workers have already received the vaccine.