Jefferson City Archives

Missouri’s Parson and Galloway to focus on their base in final day of gubernatorial campaign

November 1, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s two main gubernatorial candidates have busy schedules on Monday, one day before election day.

Governor Mike Parson (R) spoke Saturday at a rally in St. Peters with former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. That’s in St. Charles County, which has been a Republican stronghold. It’s an area Republicans need to do well on Tuesday.

The governor campaigns Monday in Jefferson City, St. Joseph, Kirksville, Palmyra, Cape Girardeau and Cassville, continuing his focus on rural towns. U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) will join Parson at the Cassville event, in southwest Missouri.

Ann Dorn, the widow of slain St. Louis Police Captain David Dorn, will join Parson on Monday’s tour, along with former gubernatorial candidate John Brunner and the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association’s Mike Deering.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Nicole Galloway, the state auditor, attended two church services Sunday in St. Louis. She also met with Democrats in St. Louis City and St. Louis County, two jurisdictions that are crucial to Democratic success in statewide races.

Galloway will begin Monday in Columbia, where she will attend a literature drop launch with area Democrats. She also speaks at the Missouri Democratic Party’s election eve rally Monday evening in Kansas City. It will feature all of the party’s statewide candidates: Alissia Canady, Yinka Faleti, Rich Finneran and Vicki Englund.

Galloway continues to focus on hospital closings, noting ten rural Missouri hospitals have closed since 2014.

Parson is focusing on rural values and experience.

Polls will be open Tuesday statewide from 6 a.m. until 7 p.m. The Secretary of State’s office says a combined total of 723,058 mail-in and absentee ballots have already been returned to Missouri election authorities. Most of those are absentee ballots.

Parson and Galloway focusing on rural Missouri in final days of campaign; both appealing to blue-collar voters (AUDIO)

October 30, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The two main gubernatorial candidates are focusing on rural Missouri again Friday, and during the final days of the campaign.

Governor Mike Parson (R) brings his “Mike works bus tour” to four rural western Missouri towns: his hometown of Bolivar, as well as Clinton, Belton and El Dorado Springs. He’ll finish Friday evening in Springfield.

The governor tells Missourinet he feels confident about where the race is and that he’s on message. Parson also says that if he wins Tuesday, he’ll continue to focus on putting people first.

“I think what we seen what we did by taking the largest income tax cut in our state’s history, by creating 40,000 new jobs by focusing on workforce development and infrastructure,” Parson says, highlighting achievements of his term.

Parson will speak at Friday evening’s “Keep Missouri Red Rally” in Springfield, with former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Sanders will also join the governor Saturday for a rally in eastern Missouri’s St. Peters.

Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, will meet Friday morning with Teamsters Union members in Springfield and with UAW members in Pleasant Valley.

She campaigned Thursday in Columbia, before heading to southwest Missouri’s Marshfield and Springfield. During an interview with Missourinet outside her bus in Columbia, Galloway says rural voters tell her that Jefferson City is disconnected from what matters to them, in their communities.

“Rural hospitals are closing. Jobs are leaving the area,” Galloway says. “They’re concerned about funding for their schools, which are the center of those rural communities.”

The Missouri Hospital Association (MHA) says ten rural hospitals have closed in Missouri, since 2014. Click here to see the full map and years. To be clear, several of those closings happened when Governor Jay Nixon (D) was in office.

But several have also happened during the tenure of Governors Eric Greitens (R) and Parson.

While Parson and Galloway disagree on numerous policy issues, one thing they both have been doing during the campaign’s final stretch is campaign heavily in rural towns across the state.

Galloway says her top priority, if elected governor, will be implementation of Medicaid expansion.

“Making sure that not only folks have access to affordable health insurance, but also have access to health care, meaning we can keep our rural hospitals open and open clinics in parts of our state that desperately need it,” says Galloway.

In August, Missouri voters approved Medicaid expansion for residents between the ages of 19 and 64 with an income level at or below 133 percent of the federal poverty level. While the issue was defeated in 105 of Missouri’s 114 counties, Galloway notes it passed by six points statewide, and that hundreds of thousands of votes from rural residents were key to its passage.

Galloway also says Missouri needs a reset on COVID strategy, so people can get back to work.

During a campaign stop Tuesday at Emery Sapp and Sons in Columbia, Governor Parson emphasized his rural roots, and talked about growing up in southwest Missouri’s Wheatland. He also discussed saying the Pledge of Allegiance in school.

He’s also emphasizing his experience.

“I think what people are seeing right now with everything we’ve been through is experience does matter at a time like this, and I think that’s one of the things I have,” says Parson. “All the way from serving my country in the military, law enforcement, being a business owner.”

Parson says it’s important to take a balanced approach to combating COVID, and that it’s crucial to look at the state as a whole. He says businesses are opening back up, and children are back in school.

Both candidates are appealing to blue-collar voters.

Parson praised their work ethic during his speech at Emery Sapp and Sons, talking about the workers wearing coveralls in the back of the room. He noted he had done work like that. It drew applause from the audience.

As for Galloway, she told her audience on Thursday that Governor Parson’s supporters want to make Missouri a right-to-work state. She’s pledging to veto a right-to-work bill, if she’s elected. That also drew applause from her audience.

Election day is Tuesday across Missouri.

Click here to listen to Governor Mike Parson speak to Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and other reporters at Columbia’s Emery Sapp and Sons on October 27, 2020:

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway, on October 29, 2020 in Columbia:

Expect transition tonight between snow and freezing drizzle in parts of western and mid-Missouri (AUDIO)

October 26, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The National Weather Service (NWS) may extend the winter weather advisory for northwest, western and west-central Missouri, which is currently in effect until 1 a.m. Tuesday.

The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Pleasant Hill has issued a winter weather advisory until 1 a.m. Tuesday (October 26, 2020 maps courtesy of NWS Pleasant Hill Twitter page)

NWS Pleasant Hill meteorologist Scott Blair says elevated areas like bridges will see the most accumulation.

“We’ll continue to monitor that and see if there’s any changes that we might need to extend that for, at least the very worst of it is going to be between now and the early morning hours on Tuesday,” Blair says.

A line between Kansas City, Marshall and Moberly is expected to see one to two inches of snow. About 1.5 inches of snow have already fallen in Pleasant Hill.

Since 2 a.m. Monday, Kansas City Police have responded to about 100 injury crashes involving snow, and to another 46 non-injury crashes. Kansas City Police are urging motorists to slow down.

Mr. Blair says three inches of snow is possible by tonight in western Missouri’s Warrensburg and Belton.

Meantime, freezing drizzle and icy conditions are possible tonight into Tuesday morning in western, west-central and mid-Missouri. Blair says Kansas City, Marshall, Sedalia, Columbia and Jefferson City could be impacted.

“As the snow begins to wrap up towards this evening, we’re going to see a transition between snow and some freezing drizzle, some light glazing possible in those areas you mentioned,” says Blair.

Western Missouri’s Nevada and Clinton could also be impacted.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with National Weather Service (NWS) Pleasant Hill meteorologist Scott Blair, which was recorded on October 26, 2020:

Sponsor: Missouri House Speaker deserves credit for helping pass St. Louis Police officer bill (AUDIO)

September 24, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

An eastern Missouri state lawmaker who sponsored legislation eliminating the residency requirement for St. Louis police officers credits House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, for getting the bill passed in the recent special session.

State Rep. Ron Hicks (right) talks with State Rep. J. Eggleston, R-Maysville, at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City on April 28, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

State Rep. Ron Hicks, R-Dardenne Prairie, says Haahr’s support was key.

“When I brought him the research and everything, he said we will get this done and we at one point thought we had lost it (the bill) and then it came back, and he made sure this was pushed and continued,” Hicks says.

The bill also eliminates the residency requirement for St. Louis firefighters and EMS personnel.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson (R) signed the bill into law this week. The governor made the issue a top priority during the special session, and Hicks praises him as well.

Governor Parson says the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is currently short by about 140 officers, and says the bill can help fill that gap.

Hicks says he’s been working on the issue for years.

“Originally started this because families had reached out to me, children and wives had reached out to me,” says Hicks. “And some husbands even had reached out to me about the requirements of them having to have their children go to school there in the city and to have to live in the city and not be able to branch out into more affordable housing or better schools for that matter.”

The Missouri Senate approved the Hicks bill 25-5 and the House approved it on a 117-35 vote.

Bill opponents say St. Louis residents feel safer with police officers living in their neighborhoods. Other opponents note that Hicks doesn’t represent St. Louis City in the Legislature, and is from St. Charles County.

Hicks tells Missourinet this is not about politics, noting that he’ll be “done in two years,” referring to legislative term limits for the House. He says this is about giving back to officers who have been putting their lives on the line for citizens.

He also says St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden’s testimony put a spotlight on the issue. Chief Hayden traveled to Jefferson City during the regular and special sessions this year, to testify for the bill. Hayden says his department desperately needs more officers due to the surge in violence.

St. Louis has had 198 homicides this year.

Governor Parson canceled Wednesday’s ceremonial bill signing in St. Louis, after he and the First Lady tested positive for COVID. The event is expected to be rescheduled.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s five-minute interview with State Rep. Ron Hicks, R-Dardenne Prairie, which was recorded on September 22, 2020:

Phone scammers impersonating FBI agents from Jefferson City; Missouri victim loses $100,000 (AUDIO)

September 23, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The FBI is warning Missourians about a new phone scam that fraudulently displays the FBI’s real telephone number on the victim’s caller ID.

Photo courtesy of the FBI

FBI St. Louis Division spokeswoman Rebecca Wu tells Missourinet that a St. Louis County victim lost their life savings of more than $100,000, after scammers posed as FBI special agents from Jefferson City.

“And they actually told the victim to search on the internet the phone number on the caller ID to verify,” Wu says. “And since the scammers spoofed a legitimate FBI office number, the result of course came back as the FBI, so that’s how they fooled the victim in the first place.”

The FBI is urging Missourians to be alert.

“End the call, look up the phone number independently. Don’t use the phone number that was given to you. Look up the phone number and then call that agency,” says Wu.

In the recent St. Louis County case, the FBI’s real telephone number appeared on the victim’s caller ID.

The scammers told the St. Louis County victim that their social security number had been stolen and used to purchase property and stocks in the victim’s name. The scammers also told the victim that to protect the victim’s money, they should wire their life savings to the “FBI” for safekeeping.

The FBI emphasizes that they will never ask or demand money for any reason.

Rebecca Wu says victims in scams like this must take immediate action. The FBI believes the scammers are calling others as well.

“If you’ve wired money and all of a sudden you think you’ve been scammed, the number one thing to do, and you have to do this immediately, is to call that bank that you use to try to recall the wire transfer,” Wu says.

The FBI also urges victims to file an online complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with FBI St. Louis Division spokeswoman Rebecca Wu, which was recorded on September 22, 2020:

Missouri House Ethics Committee meets in closed session for 50 minutes

September 22, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

House Ethics Committee Chairman J. Eggleston, R-Maysville, speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on May 15, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

The Missouri House Ethics Committee met in closed session Tuesday afternoon in Jefferson City, but what they discussed is unknown.

The committee gaveled-in at about 12:30 p.m. for a roll call, before immediately voting to go into a closed session.

A Missourinet reporter waited outside the Capitol hearing room during the 50-minute closed session, and didn’t see any state lawmakers who aren’t on the committee enter the room.

Committee Chairman State Rep. J. Eggleston, R-Maysville, spoke to Missourinet after the closed hearing, saying that confidentiality rules prohibit him from commenting on these matters.

USDA officials tout food box program, during Friday visit to Missouri food bank

August 21, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Two officials at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) traveled to mid-Missouri’s Columbia on Friday to promote a federal program that is addressing hunger needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A resident makes a donation to the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri in Columbia on August 21, 2020 (photo courtesy of the food bank’s Twitter page)

USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Greg Ibach says the farmers to families food box program is providing fresh fruits and vegetables to hungry Americans, including clients of the food bank in Columbia.

“And it’s been able to get fresh fruits and vegetables, milk and dairy products and meat products to families across America,” Ibach says.

The farmers to families food box program is managed by USDA, which partners with national, regional and local distributors to purchase up to $3 billion in fresh produce, dairy and meat products from American farmers. USDA says the program has delivered more than 67 million food boxes to needy American families, as of today.

Funding is coming from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), and other sources.

Mr. Ibach was joined by USDA Farm Service Agency Administrator Richard Fordyce and by U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, at Friday’s press conference, which took place in the food bank’s parking lot.

Mr. Fordyce, who has a farm in northwest Missouri’s Bethany, served as the state Department of Agriculture (MDA) director from 2013 to 2017, under former Governor Jay Nixon (D). Fordyce emphasizes the importance of the farmers to families food box program.

Under Secretary Ibach also praises the work being done at the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri in Columbia, which serves 32 counties in the two regions.

Columbia, Jefferson City, Hannibal, Marshall, Mexico, Moberly and Sedalia are some of the towns served by the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri.

Congresswoman Hartzler, who serves on the House Agriculture Committee in Washington, also praises the food bank. She tells reporters that the food bank distributed 33-million pounds of food last year.

“Just very proud of the way that they are taking the food that is being provided to them and making sure that it gets to feed hungry families in our area,” says Hartzler.

Hartzler says more than 100,000 Missourians received food assistance last year, from the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri. The food bank’s website notes it works with 140 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and other agencies.

It is the only food bank in Missouri that provides food at no charge to other organizations.

DHSS: Four have tested positive for COVID during special session testing at Missouri Capitol

August 5, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

State health officials say four people have tested positive for the coronavirus, during recent testing events at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City.

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Director Dr. Randall Williams briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on August 5, 2020 (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

The testing has taken place during Missouri’s special legislative session on violent crime, a session that continues. Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, D-Kansas City, called on the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) to provide testing to anyone working within the Capitol in conjunction with the special session.

DHSS Director Dr. Randall Williams responded to Senator Rizzo’s call, and there have been several days of testing. Missouri lawmakers, staff members and Capitol reporters have been eligible for the tests.

DHSS says of the 228 total individuals who have been tested at the Capitol, four tested positive. During a Capitol media briefing in Jefferson City today, Dr. Williams told Missourinet that he would brief legislative leaders about the numbers first, then would release them.

His office e-mailed the numbers to Missourinet about two hours later.

Leader Rizzo has praised the community testing events that DHSS has held with the Missouri National Guard, saying that testing events in the Capitol would help ensure the health and safety of those within the building.

Cristobal expected to bring heavy rain and possible flash flooding to parts of Missouri (AUDIO)

June 8, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The National Weather Service (NWS) says Tropical Depression Cristobal will cause widespread rain across the state, especially in mid-Missouri. Columbia, Jefferson City, Sedalia and Lake of the Ozarks are expected to receive two to three inches, by Tuesday evening.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in St. Louis says Tropical Depression Cristobal is expected to bring heavy rainfall, severe thunderstorms and possible tornadoes to parts of Missouri (June 8, 2020 map courtesy of NWS St. Louis Twitter)

NWS St. Louis meteorologist Sally Johnson says rain should begin falling in far southern Missouri by 6 p.m. Monday. The rain should arrive in Jefferson City by midnight.

“It continues through most of the day (Tuesday), but it does move through fairly quick,” Johnson says. “By Tuesday evening, we only have a 30 percent chance and that’s by 7 o’clock,” Johnson says.

Tropical Depression Cristobal is expected to bring heavy rainfall, severe thunderstorms and possible tornadoes to parts of Missouri. Johnson tells Missourinet that flash flooding is also possible.

“Since a lot of this is falling at night, if you are driving at night, it is very difficult to tell how deep the water is you’re about to drive through. So, make sure that you know your routes,” says Johnson.

The NWS also says the heavy rains will likely cause new river flooding.

The St. Louis and Kansas City areas should see less than an inch of rain.

The NWS St. Louis office says while it’s not rare to see the remnants of tropical systems impacting Missouri, they normally happen in late summer or early fall.

The NWS says this is the earliest a tropical system has impacted the area on record. Before today, the two earliest occurrences were for remnants of unnamed storms that impacted far eastern Missouri on June 14, 1906 and on June 15, 1901.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with NWS St. Louis meteorologist Sally Johnson, which was recorded on June 8, 2020:

Haahr and Quade view Missouri’s 2020 session differently; both predict special session

May 19, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s House Speaker describes the historic 2020 session as “incredibly successful,” noting lawmakers lost about six weeks because of the COVID-19 pandemic. His Democratic counterpart disagrees.

Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, presides over the chamber on May 15, 2020 in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, tells Missourinet that he’s most proud that lawmakers approved a state budget, before their constitutional deadline.

“The work that the Budget Chair (State Rep. Cody Smith) did in having to take six weeks off, try to come up with the best calculated estimate of what we believe the revenues would look like,” Haahr says.

The $35.2 billion state operating budget approved earlier this month includes $20 million for Missouri meat processing facilities, impacted by COVID-19. House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, says it’s for plants with less than two hundred employees, for support, workforce assistance and capital improvements.

The budget also contains $12 million for broadband expansion, relating to the pandemic. Both parties say that is critical.

In addition to the six weeks the Legislature lost because of the coronavirus, they also lost several days in January and February because of snow and ice in Jefferson City.

“If I look back at the beginning of the session, and I look at the things that I most wanted to accomplish and that our caucus listed as their priorities to get done, I think it’s an incredibly successful session for having lost six weeks in the middle of it,” says Haahr.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, disagrees, telling Capitol reporters that the GOP-controlled Legislature should have focused more on protecting Missourians from the coronavirus.

“In fact, the House spent far more time discussing feral hogs than it did talking about COVID-19,” Quade says.

The $35.2 billion state budget approved by the Legislature contains language that prohibits the state Department of Conservation from funding a federal employee at the Mark Twain National Forest in southern Missouri.

The feral hog issue was discussed in-detail during that May debate, and also came up on the House floor and during budget hearings this session.

Leader Quade says House Republicans “largely ignored” COVID-19 during the 2020 session, an issue she describes as the single-biggest crisis that Missouri has faced in at least a century.

During a floor speech just before Friday’s adjournment, Quade praised grocery employees across the state.

“To our grocery workers truly keeping us alive, I’m sorry the Legislature chose not to give you the protection of essential workers that you truly deserve,” Quade said on the floor.

One area Speaker Haahr and Leader Quade agree on is that there will be a special session this summer. Haahr believes it will involve the budget, and Leader Quade tells Missourinet she is hearing that it could happen in three to four weeks.

Haahr also told colleagues from the dais on Friday that he and Quade both share a love for Springfield. She nodded her head in approval, from her desk.

Republicans control the House 114-48.