Sedalia Archives - Missourinet

Missouri lawmaker and veteran referee says sports officials are being harassed and threatened by parents and fans (AUDIO)

April 17, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Bipartisan legislation aimed at protecting sports referees, officials and umpires will be heard Monday afternoon by a Missouri House committee in Jefferson City.

State Rep. Jerome Barnes (D-Raytown) speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on March 11, 2021 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

The House General Laws Committee will hear testimony Monday at 5 p.m. from State Rep. Jerome Barnes (D-Raytown), who’s been a high school football and basketball referee for 27 years. Mr. Barnes has also served as a volleyball referee for ten years.

The issue is a personal one for Barnes, who tells Missourinet that officials are being threatened by parents and fans.

“Fans are yelling and hollering: ‘I’ll see you out in the parking lot. You know, my son didn’t do no wrong.’ And it’s like, you blow the whistle on one of them, and they can’t do no wrong,” Barnes says.

He notes a referee was attacked and knocked out in Raytown in 2018, during a JV girls basketball game. The fan came out of the stands, went down on the basketball court and knocked the referee out, according to Barnes.

His bill establishes the offense of harassment of a school or recreation athletic official. Under the two-page House Bill 78, harassment of a school or recreation athletic official is defined as “verbal or nonverbal behavior by a person that would cause a reasonable person to be placed in fear of receiving bodily harm.”

Under the bill, anyone who commits the offense of harassing a sports official would face up to 90 days in jail and a fine up to $500. They could also face 40 hours of court-approved community service work, anger management counseling and could also be ordered to participate in abusive behavior intervention groups.

Barnes thanks House Speaker Rob Vescovo (R-Arnold) for referring his bill, and he’s thankful to General Laws Committee Chairman Curtis Trent (R-Springfield) for holding Monday’s hearing. Barnes says he’s trying to raise awareness about the issue. He also says recruiting officials is a problem in Missouri, because of the threats and harassment they face.

“Young people 15 and 16-years-old, we used to be able to get them to come out and referee ballgames. They’re having a hard time doing that now, due to the harassment and the way the fans treat them,” says Barnes.

He says the average age of a sports official is in their mid-50s, and says kids are able to play a sport and display their talents because of those referees, officials and umpires.

“These are human beings out there, they are working people. They work in the communities. They go to church in the community, they are teachers,” Barnes says.

HB 78 also addresses fans who enter or remain on-site at a school or recreation athletic contest, after being forbidden.

Representative Barnes is also working with State Rep. Brad Pollitt (R-Sedalia) on a separate bill, which would expand the definition of special victim to include sports officials at sporting events.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and State Rep. Jerome Barnes (D-Raytown), who’s been a high school football and basketball referee for 27 years. The interview was recorded on April 16, 2021:

Military installations have major presence in Missouri’s Fourth Congressional District

April 15, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

A Missouri House committee on congressional redistricting will hear public testimony Thursday morning in Jefferson City from residents who live in west-central Missouri’s Fourth Congressional District.

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Harrisonville) is serving in her sixth term on Capitol Hill (file photo courtesy of the congresswoman’s website)

The 24-county district includes Columbia, Moberly, Sedalia, Warrensburg, Waynesville, Lebanon and Nevada. Fort Leonard Wood near Waynesville and Whiteman Air Force Base near Knob Noster are both located in the 4th District.

In-person and written testimony will be accepted Thursday morning at 8:30 at the Statehouse. The Missouri House Special Committee on Redistricting is looking for information from residents about the district’s characteristics, including the things that make it good and bad.

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Harrisonville) has represented the district since 2011. She is serving in her sixth term on Capitol Hill, and is on the House Armed Services and Agriculture committees.

Congresswoman Hartzler defeated Democrat Lindsey Simmons in November, winning 67 percent of the vote. Hartzler received 245,247 votes, to Simmons’ 107,635.

The late U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Lexington) was the last Democrat to represent the sprawling district. He served 17 terms and 34 years in Congress, including a stint as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

Skelton served in Congress from 1977 to 2011. Hartzler unseated him in November 2010.

Parson: Distributing COVID vaccines to as many Missouri pharmacies as possible will expand accessibility

March 5, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor announced on Thursday that pharmacies across the state will soon be receiving prioritized shipments of the COVID vaccine. Governor Mike Parson tells Capitol reporters in Jefferson City that it’s part of a new partnership with the Missouri Pharmacy Association.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson visits a vaccination clinic at Christian Hospital Northeast near Florissant on March 4, 2021 (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

“Starting next week, 15 percent of our weekly state allocation will be distributed to selected pharmacies across the state,” Parson says.

The governor describes local pharmacies as a trusted health care resource for many Missourians.

“161 pharmacies have been identified in 84 counties and were selected based on ability, location and population,” says Parson.

Missouri has 114 counties, as well as St. Louis City. Pharmacy locations include St. Louis, Kansas City, Columbia and Jefferson City, as well as numerous rural Missouri towns. They include Sedalia, Clinton, Warrensburg, Warrenton, Sullivan, Moberly, Mexico, Sikeston, Portageville, Malden, Kennett, Chillicothe, St. Joseph, Nevada and Joplin. You can find the entire nine-page pharmacy list here.

Governor Parson says the pharmacies have the ability to administer 200 initial doses of COVID vaccines per week.

Meantime, the governor says mass vaccination teams will soon start transitioning operations to include a larger presence in both St. Louis and Kansas City.

“Vaccine interest is often highest in the urban populations,” Parson says. “So starting next week, we will begin transitioning mass vaccination teams to accommodate more events in Region A, which is the Kansas City region, and Region C, in the St. Louis region.”

The governor envisions having the Missouri National Guard in the St. Louis and Kansas City metro areas for future two-day vaccination events, where the Guard would administer about 6,000 doses per day and 12,000 doses in two days.

Governor Parson says the St. Louis and Kansas City regions have been receiving the same share of the COVID vaccine as rural areas have. He also continues to praise the work of the Missouri National Guard at targeted vaccination clinics in the two metro areas.

The governor visited a targeted vaccination clinic Thursday at Cambridge Senior Living in St. Louis. The targeted vaccination teams serve vulnerable populations in communities with limited access to health care. He also visited a vaccination clinic held at Christian Hospital Northeast, near the St. Louis suburb of Florissant.

Governor Parson says COVID activity in the state has declined for the seventh straight week, adding that the Show-Me State is second in the nation for average daily cases. Missouri vaccinators have now administered about 1.4 million COVID vaccinations, which includes the first and second shot.

15 percent of Missouri’s population has now received at least one shot, according to the state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) COVID-19 dashboard.

UPDATE: Haug to present 124-page supplemental budget request to Missouri lawmakers on Monday

January 31, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s state budget director will testify Monday morning in Jefferson City about a proposed supplemental budget. Budget director Dan Haug will summarize a 124-page report, and we’ll learn the final details about the total amount of the supplemental at that time.

House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, speaks on the Missouri House floor on November 9, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

The House Budget Committee meets Monday morning at 11 at the Statehouse, and they’ll hear Director Haug’s budget presentation and testimony. No public testimony will be taken, at the hearing.

Missouri’s current state operating budget is about $38 billion, which includes about $7.4 billion in supplemental budgets with federal money. The proposed supplemental budget that will be outlined on Monday is in addition to that.

Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, tells Missourinet that the supplemental “will be a cross section of the overall budget,” adding that there will be a little bit of everything in it.

For instance, the Parson administration is requesting $6.4 million in supplemental funding for the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE) Office of Special Education.

The 124-page report says the supplemental funding is needed due to a shortfall in funding for early childhood special education (ECSE) reimbursement from fiscal year 2020 and an anticipated shortfall in funding for FY 2021 ECSE reimbursement. The ECSE program provides individual instruction and therapy services to preschool aged children with disabilities.

Governor Mike Parson’s (R) administration is also recommending $1.6 million to cover COVID-19-related revenue losses impacting the Missouri State Fair fee fund. The report says the State Fair in Sedalia has lost significant revenue due to cancellations of off-season and fair events. That includes event rental fees, gate admissions, camping fees, entry fees and sponsorship fees.

The report also notes the Missouri State Fair has had to buy substantial amounts of janitorial and sanitizing supplies, along with a large quantity of additional signage to help ensure the safety of staff and event participants. The report notes that the State Fair has a long history of meeting its operational costs with its own fee revenues, which is the State Fair fee fund.

But because of COVID losses, the Parson administration says additional funding is needed to sustain State Fair operations through FY 2021 and to ensure that a full fair week can be done this year, including grandstand events and a carnival.

The supplemental budget request also includes about $223,000 for the Missouri Secretary of State’s office, for the April municipal election.

The report notes that state law requires mailing envelopes used for returning ballots to local election authorities to incorporate a business reply permit so that no ballot that’s returned by mail requires postage. Missouri law requires that all fees and costs for establishing and maintaining the business reply permit be covered by the Secretary of State’s office. The report says that because of the pandemic, more voters than ever will vote using the absentee option.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Catholic masses will be different this year in Missouri (AUDIO)

December 22, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The COVID pandemic has prompted the Roman Catholic Church to schedule additional Christmas Eve masses this year, and 3 p.m. Christmas Eve services will be allowed for the first time ever in Missouri.

St. Mary Parish in mid-Missouri’s Glasgow is located in the Diocese of Jefferson City (December 2020 photo courtesy of Bishop McKnight)

Diocese of Jefferson City Bishop Shawn McKnight, who was appointed by Pope Francis in 2017, says the early Christmas Eve masses are the most popular ones of the year.

“We are stepping things up in order to provide even multiple opportunities for mass perhaps even in the same parish. Having more than one mass going at the same time,” Bishop McKnight says.

The Diocese of Jefferson City has 110 parishes in 38 counties in central, west-central and northeast Missouri. The diocese includes Jefferson City, Columbia, Boonville, Hannibal, Moberly, Marshall, Rolla and Sedalia.

Columbia’s Our Lady of Lourdes church, the largest parish in the diocese, is offering two separate 3 pm and 5 pm masses on Christmas Eve.

Some of the other larger parishes in the state have similar plans. Assumption Parish in eastern Missouri’s O’Fallon plans a 4 p.m. Christmas Eve mass in the church and a 4:15 p.m. mass in the chapel.

“The more opportunities that we have available, then the greater allowances for social distancing,” says McKnight.

Bishop McKnight has asked every available priest in his diocese to celebrate a 3 p.m. Christmas Eve mass. He says it’s about safety during the pandemic.

“It was a recommendation of the priest council of the diocese to me several months ago that we move up the time period for Christmas vigil masses,” McKnight says. “Normally, it’s at 4 o’clock, the earliest mass that can take place before a holy day.”

Masks and social distancing are required at all masses in Missouri, and the bishops in all four dioceses have given Catholics dispensation from mass obligations until further notice. That’s due to the pandemic.

Bishop McKnight says divine law still requires Catholics to pray the rosary, read scripture or watch a live-streamed mass, if they’re unable to attend mass in-person.

He’ll celebrate a Christmas Eve mass at 7 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Jefferson City.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with Diocese of Jefferson City Bishop Shawn McKnight, which was recorded on December 17, 2020:

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:

Missouri congresswoman says Republican National Convention will focus on optimism and heroes (AUDIO)

August 24, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A west-central Missouri GOP congresswoman says this week’s 2020 Republican National Convention in Charlotte will focus on optimism.

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, spoke at the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri in Columbia on August 21, 2020, along with two USDA officials (photo courtesy of Brownfield’s Julie Harker)

While U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, isn’t a delegate this year, she’s excited about the convention.

“And looking at the great American heroes that we have in our local communities, and how we together collectively have made this the greatest country in the world,” Hartzler says.

She predicts Americans will be inspired by their stories. The convention, which begins Monday, will primarily be virtual.

Congresswoman Hartzler says law-and-order will be a theme at the convention. She is praising President Donald Trump’s leadership.

“Making us safer as a nation and contrasting that to what we’re seeing on the other side of chaos and lawlessness versus law and other. I don’t think we want to go there,” says Hartzler.

The widow of retired St. Louis Police Captain David Dorn will be addressing the nation on Thursday evening. Mr. Dorn was killed during June looting on a night where four other St. Louis police officers were also shot, in the line of duty.

St. Louis Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards told St. Louis reporters the next day that more than 200 people engaged in “persistent criminal activity” overnight. He also announced that the FBI, ATF, the Missouri National Guard, Missouri State Highway Patrol and other agencies had arrived to help patrol St. Louis, after the early June incidents.

Hartzler, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, says this week’s convention will also focus on the military. Her district includes Fort Leonard Wood in southern Missouri’s Pulaski County, and Whiteman Air Force Base in western Missouri’s Knob Noster.

“I think it’s going to look at the amazing achievements that have been done in the last three or four years, to grow the economy, to rebuild our military,” Hartzler says.

Hartzler, who was elected to the House in 2010, is finishing her fifth term on Capitol Hill. Her district also includes Columbia, Moberly, Sedalia and Nevada.

Mark and Patricia McCloskey of St. Louis are scheduled to speak on Monday evening. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner (D) filed a felony unlawful use of a weapon count against each of the McCloskeys, for a June incident outside their Central West End home. They were seen pointing guns at protesters. The McCloskeys have said they feared for their lives that evening.

Like last week’s Democratic convention, Missourinet will have coverage throughout the GOP convention.

Congresswoman Hartzler spoke to Missourinet on Friday, after an event with two top USDA officials at the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri in Columbia.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, which was recorded on August 21, 2020 outside the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri in Columbia:

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.

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:

Missouri State Fair in Sedalia focusing on 4-H and FFA youth this year (AUDIO)

August 11, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The 2020 state fair in west-central Missouri’s Sedalia will be a youth livestock show only, due to COVID-19 concerns. The 11-day fair begins Thursday and runs until Sunday, August 23.

Crews have completed a $2.7 million renovation at the Missouri State Fair’s sheep pavilion in Sedalia (2020 photo courtesy of fair spokeswoman Kari
Mergen)

State Fair Director Mark Wolfe says Missouri 4-H and FFA members will receive an invaluable agriculture education experience in Sedalia.

“I think we’re going to have a good event out here (Sedalia), I think we’ve kind of referred to it more as a nostalgic fair. You know, back in the day when it pretty much just was livestock and folks coming in for that friendly competition,” Wolfe says.

Officials announced on July 17 that the state fair was pivoting this year to a youth livestock show. State health officials, fair leaders and Governor Mike Parson say the best course of action was to limit the number of people on the state fairgrounds.

More than 337,000 people attended the 2019 state fair. Director Wolfe compares this year’s fair to an off-season event.

“We’ll have folks that come in early and show chickens and then go home,” says Wolfe. “We’ll have folks that come in and show swine and then they’ll go home. We’ll have cattle the same way.”

Wolfe expects thousands of people to attend, but nothing like numbers we see in a normal year.

While most of the buildings at the state fairgrounds will be closed during the upcoming fair, you’ll notice millions of dollars in capitol improvements. Wolfe thanks the governor and the Missouri Legislature for their support, saying the fairgrounds look better than ever.

“Complete renovation I think $2.7 million renovation to the sheep pavilion, over $1 million in electrical upgrades to the swine barn,” Wolfe says.

Crews have made major electrical and plumbing upgrades at the sheep pavilion in Sedalia. A new LED light system is also now in place, along with new fans in each pen area.

At the heavily-used swine barn, gutter systems have been replaced. Lighting improvements have also been made.

While there won’t be a governor’s ham breakfast this year, you’ll notice the new 20,000 square foot pavilion that replaces the director’s tent. Wolfe says Nucor Steel in Sedalia donated the structure.

There will be shorter days this year, which Wolfe says will make it easier for cleaning crews. The crews will focus on cleaning and disinfecting.

There is no carnival nor concerts this year. There will be concessionaires on site, to provide food.

Governor Parson and state Agriculture Director Chris Chinn plan a Thursday noon press conference, at the fairgrounds.

The fair is offering free masks to everyone who attends this year.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Missouri State Fair Director Mark Wolfe, which was recorded on July 28, 2020: