President Donald Trump Archives

Federal disaster declaration approved for 19 Missouri counties hit by May storms

July 10, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

President Donald Trump has approved Gov. Mike Parson’s request for a federal major disaster declaration for 19 Missouri counties hit by severe storms on May 3 and 4. The declaration means local governments and nonprofit agencies can request public help for response and recovery costs associated with the storms. A press release from Parson’s office says the federal aid will help with repair and replacement costs for damage to electric power systems, buildings, bridges, roads, and other public infrastructure.

Missourinet Lebanon affiliate KBNN reports Monday’s severe weather caused damage at the Floyd Jones Airport in Lebanon (May 4, 2020 photo courtesy of KBNN Radio website)

Poplar Bluff-based Ozark Border Electric Cooperative in southeast Missouri described the storms as the worst to hit the region since the 2009 ice storm. KFVS-TV in Cape Girardeau reported more than 10,000 residents across the region were without power for a time. An EF-1 tornado also swirled through the Bootheel town of Marston. The Floyd Jones Airport in southern Missouri’s Lebanon was also damaged.

Preliminary damage estimates are in the neighborhood of $9.3 million.

The counties battered by the storms are mostly in southeast Missouri, but also include ones in western, southwest and southern Missouri. The governor requested federal assistance for Bates, Butler, Carter, Dallas, Douglas, Dunklin, Henry, Hickory, Howell, Laclede, New Madrid, Oregon, Pemiscot, Polk, Ripley, Shannon, Stoddard, Wayne, and Wright Counties.

“As Missouri continues to respond to COVID-19 and build on our economic recovery efforts, Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance will now provide much needed support to local governments and nonprofits that sustained the brunt of the damage from the May storms,” Gov. Parson says. “The hard work of Missouri citizens, businesses, and communities are fueling our recovery, and this federal assistance will help us continue to move our state forward.”

The disaster declaration also means FEMA Hazard Mitigation assistance will be available to Missouri to help with cost-effective measures to reduce the chance of for future damage to public infrastructure as a result of natural disasters.

Trump threatens to cut federal funding to schools; Parson says kids need to get back to school

July 9, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

President Donald Trump is threatening to cut federal funding to schools that do not reopen their doors this fall. On Twitter, he says several other countries have reopened schools with no problems. During a meeting with education leaders in Washington, D.C., Trump says he is going to “put a lot of pressure on governors” to get schools back open again.

In Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and many other countries, SCHOOLS ARE OPEN WITH NO PROBLEMS. The Dems think it would be bad for them politically if U.S. schools open before the November Election, but is important for the children & families. May cut off funding if not open!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 8, 2020

Mike Parson and K-12 Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven have been meeting this week with leaders in Washington, D.C. to discuss ways to help protect students, workers and their families from COVID-19. Each person at the table said a few words.

Photos courtesy of governor’s Twitter page

“He can put a little pressure on you if he decides to do that – I will say that,” says Parson. “So, sometimes we all need a little push to get things going.”

The governor says safely reopening Missouri schools is necessary to continue providing resources to at-risk students.

“I set there and I think of all the kids that need to be in school,” says Parson. “There’s the ones that have the privilege of going every day. That’s almost common that we go to school for most of the school kids, but a lot of school kids it’s a safety blanket. It’s a way to get nutrition. It’s a way to get counseling. It’s a way for somebody to help them when they cry out for help. This virus cannot shut our country down and our states down. We have to deal with it as we would anything else that we have dealt with in this country. We have to move forward and the economy and life goes on. Education is part of who we are and kids need to get back in school. Parents need to get more involved in their schools and be back involved in their schools, as I heard speakers today speak. It’s part of — it’s part of who we are. It’s how we build a future, and I think that’s so important.”

A U.S. House Appropriations Committee spokesperson tells Politico that Trump does not have the authority to withhold federal funding.

Most of Missouri’s K through 12 education is funded at the state and local levels.

Governor requests federal disaster declaration for 19 Missouri counties damaged by May storms

June 17, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Gov. Mike Parson has requested President Donald Trump’s approval of a major federal disaster declaration for 19 Missouri counties damaged by storms last month. Joint preliminary assessments estimate more than $9.3 million in damage to public infrastructure from storms that hit the state on May 3 and 4. The counties affected are mostly in southeast Missouri, but also include ones in western, southwest and southern Missouri.

U.S. Capitol dome

The governor is requesting public assistance for Bates, Butler, Carter, Dallas, Douglas, Dunklin, Henry, Hickory, Howell, Laclede, New Madrid, Oregon, Pemiscot, Polk, Ripley, Shannon, Stoddard, Wayne and Wright counties.

“Our local, state, and federal assessment teams have documented extensive damage to electric power systems and other public infrastructure as a result of the severe storms,” Parson says in a press release. “Our Missouri communities are already strapped by emergency response costs because of COVID-19. I am confident federal assistance will be forthcoming.”

If a federal declaration is approved, local governments and qualifying nonprofits could request federal aid for emergency response and recovery costs of public infrastructure damaged.

State and federal emergency management agencies conducted virtual damage assessments due to COVID-19.

Earlier story:
Power restored in southeast Missouri’s Portageville; storms described as worst since 2009 https://wp.me/p16gMv-wvj

Missouri congressman says defunding police departments is not the way to go

June 9, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Since the death of George Floyd of Minnesota, some elected officials are being asked whether to defund police departments. Most Minneapolis City Council members say they support dismantling their police department and putting the funding toward affordable housing and battling opioid and mental health problems. East-central Missouri Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer tells Missourinet affiliate KWIX in Moberly that America cannot have anarchy running loose in our cities.

U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth, spoke in Jefferson City on February 17, 2020 (photo from Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth)

“Minnesota is run by an extreme left-wing liberal who is just a crazy nutjob off the chart. I know some of these people that are involved in this. I’ve served with the attorney general from Minnesota. I’ve served with the governor of Minnesota. And now the attorney general’s son, who is a clone of his father, sits on the City Council. It’s a mess up there,” says Luetkemeyer.

President Donald Trump and presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden have also come out against defunding police.

Luetkemeyer says Floyd’s death was a tragedy that should never have happened.

“We need to support our police,” says Luetkemeyer. “99.9 percent of them are good folks doing a great job and we need to recognize that. All we’re doing now is making the job more difficult if you go down that road.”

He says the president and U.S. attorney general are taking “very strong action” against rioters who have turned peaceful protests into violent and destructive events.

“Since then, obviously Attorney General Barr as well as the president have come out and been very forceful with explaining that basically the protests who were there to support George Floyd and against the actions of the cop, have been taken over by these left-wing radical extremist groups that are anti-American. They want to destroy property,” says Luetkemeyer. “There’s just no place for that sort of destructive type of protests. The protests and express your feelings is fine, but to do it in a way that destroys other people’s property, destroys other people’s ability to make a living and endangers their lives, that’s inappropriate. That can’t happen.”

Other news reports say experts who track extremist groups think individuals with far-left political views and individuals with far-right political views are participating in the criminal behavior. They cite a surge of social media accounts with fewer than 200 followers created in the last month, a common indication of a disinformation campaign. The reports say the accounts have graphic posts of protests and material on police brutality that appear to be designed to inflame tensions.

(VIDEO) Localized meat shortages, higher prices for some items possible in Missouri

May 1, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Customers hoarding toilet paper during the coronavirus outbreak might want to pay attention. Missouri Department of Agriculture Director Chris Chinn says widespread food shortages are not expected but localized meat shortages and increased prices for some items are possible. During today’s press conference, Chinn says much of the food supply depends on a “just-in-time” delivery system.

Cows by a fence (photo: Happy Fence Friday, Larry Brown)

“For some agriculture products, we are experiencing bottlenecks with processing raw farm products into the items that you see in the grocery store,” she says. “A lot of work goes into bottling milk or preparing a package of steaks or pork chops. As food processing businesses slow down production or sometimes close due to COVID-19, there will inevitably be market disruptions.”

Chinn says as of early April, Missouri farmers stopped dumping milk because of supply chain disruptions.

She backs President Donald Trump’s executive order to reopen closed meat processing plants since the Homeland Security Department deemed agriculture as “critical infrastructure” in March.

Chinn says meat processing workers are unsung heroes that ensure the food reaches the dinner table and they play an important in America’s food security, just like farmers and ranchers.

“There are protein processors of all sizes from major companies all the way down to small mom-and-pop businesses in the state of Missouri,” she says. “They all matter. They mattered before COVID-19 and they matter today.”

After some Missouri meat processing plant workers tested positive for the coronavirus, the state began doing mass testing at some sites in St. Joseph and Saline and Moniteau Counties.

View today’s entire press briefing below:

(VIDEO) Rundown of today’s COVID-19 briefing in Missouri

April 28, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Missouri reports at least 314 people have died from the coronavirus and another 7,303 have tested positive for the disease.

Gov. Mike Parson says the state reached its peak on April 7 in the number of coronavirus patients in the hospital. During Tuesday’s press conference, Parson says 1,242 people were being treated in a hospital that day. Since then, the numbers have fallen.

Gov. Parson (Photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

“As of April 25, the total number of hospitalizations has significantly reduced in every region of the state with the exception of the St. Louis region,” he says. “Our hospitals are not overwhelmed and things are improving.”

The declines include:

67% in northeast Missouri
63% in southwest Missouri
45% in southeast Missouri
41% in the Kansas City region and northwest Missouri
38% in central Missouri
8% increase in the St. Louis region

The St. Louis area has had at least half of the state’s overall cases of the respiratory disease.

Parson says the downward trend has led to his decision to gradually reopen the state for business on May 4. Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Dan Mehan says he’s glad to see a “light at the end of the tunnel for Missouri businesses”. He says a chamber survey shows the coronavirus has caused a significant financial strain on businesses.

“According to our research, Missouri businesses are expected to lose a quarter of their revenue this year. Another 15% of businesses, primarily small employers, are going to go out of business,” says Mehan.

The Chamber has a released a “Return to Work” guide that helps businesses reopen.

Greg Hunsucker of the Missouri Restaurant Association says restaurants are ready to get back to business in a safe and responsible way.

“Tables with dining rooms will be socially-distant,” he says. “We have worked with our employees to implement social distancing and many additional measures to provide a safe environment for all Missourians. On behalf of the 300,000 restaurant employees in the state of Missouri, we are ready to get back to work.”

Stay-at-home restrictions remain in place for some Missouri communities, including in the Kansas City and St. Louis areas.

Despite coronavirus outbreaks among some of the nation’s meatpacking plants, President Trump is expected to order them to stay open. At least 3,000 workers among 48 meat packing plants around the country have tested positive for the virus. Gov. Parson agrees with the president’s move.

“Yeah I think that’s a good thing,” says Parson. “Whatever we do we’ve got to keep the food chain going in the United States and for Missouri – it’s a huge issue here. Yes, I want to see them open and I want to see people going to work and making sure we keep that food chain moving.”

The state is testing workers this week at meat processing sites in northwest Missouri’s St. Joseph and Saline and Moniteau Counties, after some cases have been reported there.

The state will be releasing more information about coronavirus cases among Missouri nursing homes. State Public Health Director Randall Williams says those details will begin being published on Friday.

“We will announce by county at what nursing homes have had more than two cases,” says Williams. “We’ve talked that over with our local health departments and they’re in agreement with that.”

Whether the plan includes assisted living centers is unknown. Dozens of Missouri nursing homes and assisted living centers have reported coronavirus cases, including large outbreaks and several deaths in Springfield and near St. Louis and Kansas City.

The entire press conference is below.

Blunt hopes President doesn’t pull funding to World Health Organization

April 16, 2020 By Missourinet Contributor

Missouri U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt says he hopes President Donald Trump is delivering a message and is not serious about cutting off funding to the World Health Organization.

Missouri U.S. Senator Roy Blunt

“Sending a signal to the WHO is fine, but the truth is the World Health Organization is not nearly what it should be without the United States,” Blunt tells Missourinet affiliate KFEQ in St. Joseph.

President Trump, a Republican, has announced he is instructing his administration to halt funding of the WHO while a review is conducted on its management of the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump says the United States has a duty to insist on full accountability. Trump says the review will be a very thorough investigation that should be complete in 60 to 90 days.

Trump has described the WHO in the past as “China-centric” and has criticized it for opposing travel restrictions from China, where the virus originated.

Blunt, also a Republican, says if the U.S. is not going to fund the WHO, it needs to find an alternative and he doesn’t know of any.

“So, I hope this is an important, but short-term coming together with a meeting of the minds,” Blunt says.

Blunt acknowledges the WHO made mistakes at the outset of the coronavirus and should be held accountable. But he insists the U.S. needs it.

“If the coronavirus has taught us anything it should have taught us that we are not isolated from the rest of the world no matter how well located we are.”

Blunt says he isn’t sure this is the right time to press the WHO.
“Well, whether they should be pressed right now or not, I don’t know,” Blunt says. “I think everybody is going to look at lots of things when this is over. I think the WHO was probably not insistent enough getting information from China, but we never seem to get very much information from China either, when we want it.”

Blunt says the time to assess the performance of the WHO is after the coronavirus pandemic peaks. Still, Blunt says he won’t defend the WHO and what it has done the past two to five years.

“But, I do know that a lot of things have happened during that period of time that would have created much greater danger for the United States if we hadn’t had this organization and they just simply are not who they need to be without our scientists, without our administrators, without what we bring to the table.”

The United States is the largest contributor to the WHO.

By Brent Martin of Missourinet affiliate KFEQ in St. Joseph

(VIDEO) Highlights from today’s COVID-19 briefing in Missouri

April 13, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

At least 114 people have died and 4,388 have tested positive for the coronavirus in Missouri. Two of the most recent deaths include in western Missouri’s Bates County and northern Missouri’s Linn County.

Gov. Mike Parson

During today’s Capitol briefing, Gov. Mike Parson said Missouri’s first makeshift hospital will begin taking coronavirus patients Tuesday. The former Quality Inn hotel in the St. Louis suburb of Florissant can serve more than 100 patients. The temporary care site is the first one in Missouri and the nation.

St. Louis and St. Louis County have consistently made up about half of Missouri’s total positive cases.

State Public Safety Director Sandy Karsten says National Guard members, emergency management employees, public health workers, and others have been working for the past few days to convert the location.

“We are facing an unprecedented challenge,” says Karsten. “And this was an unprecedented rapid response to support our medical personnel and potentially save lives.”

Karsten says the National Guard’s 139th Air Wing and the State Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Medical Assistance Team are providing the medical staffing.

The State Emergency Management Agency is recalling 48,000 KN95 masks used in the fight against the coronavirus. Karsten says the masks were delivered to first responders statewide on April 2 and 8.

“Testing over the weekend by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services showed that some of these masks did not meet standards,” says Karsten.

Karsten says first responders should immediately pull the masks out of circulation and make sure the items are not used. The State Emergency Management Agency will be collecting the masks.

“We put out the specifications for the vendors. We also check references and we ask for samples. In some cases when samples cannot be provided, we ask for photographs of the product that is to be produced. Now since our experience over the weekend, we are establishing a working group to look into this more closely.”

Missouri has about 2,000 ventilators available among its roughly 150 hospitals to help patients suffering from the coronavirus. State Health and Senior Services Director Randall Williams says he watches daily the number of ventilators being used in Missouri.

“Every day we’re using about 1,000 of them – 1,100. So at this point, we’re encouraged as we think about surge that at this point we are equipped, even in areas that have more concentration, like St. Louis, to meet that surge capacity,” says Williams.

Of the state’s roughly 10,800 hospital beds, about 4,100 are available.

President Donald Trump says he has the authority – not governors – to lift any social distancing orders at the state level. Gov. Parson, a fellow Republican, says the president “well knows” what the authorities of the states are and what the president’s are.

“I think he, like all of us, are anxious to get the economy back on its feet, moving forward. And I think that’s what he cares about when he says things like that,” says Parson.

The coronavirus crisis has led to many business closures and mass layoffs.

“The president is going to work with us governors. He’s proven that time and time again,” says Parson.

During a briefing Monday, Trump said numerous provisions of the Constitution give him such authority but did not name them.

View today’s briefing below.

DHSS: Missouri now has 110 COVID-19 deaths

April 12, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

State health officials say there are now 4,160 confirmed coronavirus cases in Missouri, along with 110 deaths.

The state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) announced the latest numbers on Easter Sunday afternoon. The numbers have increased from Friday’s total of 3,799 cases and 96 deaths.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson signs the $6.2 billion supplemental budget to fight COVID-19 on April 10, 2020 in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of Governor Parson’s Flickr page)

Governor Mike Parson (R) signed the historic $6.2 billion supplemental budget on Friday, the largest supplemental budget in Missouri history. It’s aimed at battling the COVID-19 pandemic, which has cost thousands of jobs across the state.

The governor said Friday that the supplemental provides access to federal funding under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was signed by President Donald Trump in late March.

The CARES Act includes $150 billion in relief to states to help them mitigate coronavirus-related costs in the calendar year 2020.

Some of the funding will also be used to assist local governments with expenses incurred from COVID-19. State Rep. Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia, has been urging the Parson administration to send additional money to local health departments, saying they are critical to containing the coronavirus.

Kendrick is the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee.

Governor Parson has created an informal working group to make recommendations on best use of those federal dollars. State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick (R) is the leader of the working group.

The governor will deliver his next media briefing Monday afternoon at 3 in Jefferson City.

Hawley calls for surge of personal protective equipment into Missouri hospitals

March 29, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A U.S. Senator from Missouri who serves on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill says the state’s hospitals need more personal protective equipment (PPE).

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R) speaks to Missourinet during an interview on March 25, 2020 (photo courtesy of Senator Hawley’s office)

Senator Josh Hawley (R) tells Missourinet that he’s spoken to the leaders of almost every hospital in the state.

“All of them … rural, urban, suburban … all of them need more,” Hawley says. “They need more tests, they need more protective equipment, they need more masks.”

Hawley says the hospitals need a large infusion of the equipment.

“We’ve got to surge this into the hospitals, frankly I think that the FDA has been too slow in getting this stuff out there,” says Hawley.

Hawley is in regular contact with Governor Mike Parson (R), who announced Saturday evening that Missouri’s Strategic National Stockpile warehouse has shipped about 5,000 gloves and 2,717 cases of masks to hospitals, EMS and long-term care facilities in the state.

The governor also says about 43,000 face shields have been shipped, along with 908 cases of surgical gowns. There are about 18 to 30 surgical gowns in a case, depending on the size.

Parson also says PPE for first responders have been purchased, and that the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) has ordered millions of items. They include 6.6 million surgical masks, 5.8 million gloves, 4.3 million N-95 masks, 214,000 containers of disinfecting wipes and about 74,000 safety goggles.

The state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) announced on Sunday afternoon that there are now 903 confirmed coronavirus cases in Missouri, in addition to 12 deaths.

As for Senator Hawley, he says Missouri hospitals will also need more ventilators, and he praises President Trump for invoking the Defense Production Act. The president invoked it on Friday, ordering General Motors (GM) to produce ventilators for the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Politico” reports President Trump wants to see GM produce the ventilators at their recently closed plant in Lordstown, Ohio.