(Missourinet) – U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (R-Missouri) and Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) want the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, instead of the EPA, to be in charge of stopping environmental damage at West Lake Landfill.

They have reintroduced a bipartisan bill that would require the change. Representatives Lacy Clay (D-Missouri) and Ann Wagner (R-Missouri) have also introduced bipartisan companion legislation in the U.S. House.

The introduction of the proposals comes within days of hearing EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s plans to announce a clean-up plan for West Lake. Pruitt, who was sworn into office earlier this year, said it’s unacceptable that his agency does not yet have a plan to clean up the site.

The St. Louis area landfill contains about 100,000 tons of WWII era nuclear weapons contamination. An underground fire at the nearby Bridgeton Landfill, which has been burning since at least 2010, is making its way toward the radioactive material at West Lake.

Homes near West Lake Landfill have tested positive for radioactive materials. Residents who live or have lived in the area have reported a host of health problems, including cancer, child deformities, autoimmune disease and some cannot have children.

Historically, the EPA has maintained that the waste does not create public health risks.

(Missourinet) – Legislation aimed at creating about 500 new jobs in impoverished southeast Missouri was approved by the House on Wednesday, after a marathon five hour debate.

The House voted 120-17 to approve State Rep. Don Rone’s (R-Portageville) Noranda/steel mill bill.

Supporters say the jobs would be created in the Bootheel. Governor Eric Greitens (R) called the special session. He tells Missourinet that nine of the ten poorest counties in the state are in southeast Missouri.

Wednesday’s vote came one day after about 250 Bootheel residents rallied at the Statehouse in Jefferson City, along with Gov. Greitens and Rone.

Rone’s bill had strong Democratic House support on Wednesday, including from State Rep. Greg Razer (D-Kansas City). The freshman lawmaker graduated from Cooter High School in Pemiscot County in 1996.

“When I go home to visit family and friends and I drive around, I am struck by that poverty, by that lack of opportunity that you see in New Madrid County, Pemiscot, Dunklin,” Razer said.

House Speaker Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff) said the proposed smelter and steel mill would be located in the St. Jude’s Industrial Park in New Madrid.

About 900 people lost their jobs when the Noranda smelter closed in 2016.

Rone said the average salary for smelter employees would be $95,000. Rone also said that the managers at the smelter would earn about $125,000.

State Rep. Tracy McCreery (D-Olivette) said she worries about the impact the bill will have on Ameren ratepayers.

McCreery describes the Rone bill as a “giveaway” to Ameren. She said her constituents are Ameren ratepayers and that residents in New Madrid and Sikeston are not Ameren customers.

State Rep. Phil Christofanelli (R-St. Peters) offered an amendment aimed at protecting Ameren ratepayers. The House rejected the Christofanelli amendment, and many of the “no” votes were Republicans.

Of the 17 “no” votes on the Rone bill, nine came from Republicans including State Reps. Paul Curtman (R-Union) and Nick Schroer (R-O’Fallon). The other eight “no” votes came from Democrats, including McCreery and House Assistant Minority Floor Leader Gina Mitten (D-St. Louis).

The Missouri Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing Thursday morning on Rone’s Noranda/steel mill legislation.

(Missourinet) – Dr. Alexander Cartwright has been named the new Mizzou chancellor.

He said the university must strive for inclusive excellence.

“I have been so impressed with the ways in which Mizzou has addressed the importance of inclusion, diversity and equity. It is a top priority here, as it should be,” Cartwright said. “Inclusion, diversity and equity is vital to prepare our students for a global workforce. Exposing students to different cultures and perspectives help them have a better understanding of our global economy.”

Racial issues prompted campus protests in 2015. The demonstrations shifted Mizzou into the national spotlight and led to the resignations of former President Tim Wolfe and Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin.

Cartwright said Mizzou has loyal supporters.

“Record fundraising this past year shows me that there is a true Tiger pride that runs deep in this state,” he said.

Republican Governor Eric Greitens urged Cartwright to act boldly. In a statement from Greitens, he said the University of Missouri has lacked strong leadership for far too long.

“That leadership vacuum has created a crisis. Since the fall of 2015, the University of Missouri-Columbia freshman class has shrunk by over one-third. This is the worst enrollment performance of any flagship university in the country. That cannot continue,” Greitens said. “I look forward to working with the new leadership team of President Choi and Dr. Cartwright. They will lead the University of Missouri System and its flagship campus at this time of tremendous change, challenge, and opportunity. These new leaders must move quickly to address the serious and immediate challenges our universities face. They are stewards of the people’s trust and the people’s money.”

The governor said higher education should not be saddled with crushing debt.

“Instead of adding layers of administrators, we need to focus on value. Prioritize teaching and research that get results. Invest in our priorities, not in pet projects or privileges,” Greitens said.

Cartwright is the provost and executive vice chancellor of the State University of New York. He replaces Hank Foley, who left to become president of the New York Institute of Technology.

Cartwright will officially begin serving as chancellor on August 1.

(Missourinet) – About 250 Bootheel residents rallied Tuesday at the Capitol in Jefferson City, urging lawmakers to approve legislation they say means hundreds of jobs in southeast Missouri.

Governor Eric Greitens (R) called lawmakers back to Jefferson City for a special session on the Noranda/steel mill issue. Greitens and other supporters say the bill is aimed at creating 500 to 600 new jobs in the impoverished New Madrid area.

New Madrid resident Buddy Mowery traveled to the Capitol to participate in the Greitens rally.

“I worked at Noranda (Aluminum) for 14 years and lost my job,” Mowery said. “I’ve got my kids here with me. I’ve actually had to find work in Kentucky at another smelter, paying two mortgages. You know I’m ready to come back home where my kids are.”

Mowery notes 900 people lost their jobs when the Noranda smelter closed in 2016.

While critics worry it could gut the Public Service Commission (PSC), the rally participants say it will help create about 500 new jobs in the Bootheel. Mowery, who brought his three children to Tuesday’s rally, tells Missourinet he disagrees with State Sen. Doug Libla’s (R-Poplar Bluff) concern about possible rate increases for businesses and families.

“One thing about (Senator) Libla, he’s got his own, I guess, business, I think that’s a lot of his personal vendetta. You know, that’s all he’s worried about, I believe. All these people without jobs, that’s what he ought to be focused on,” Mowery told Capitol reporters.

Libla issued a statement last week, emphasizing that if State Rep. Don Rone’s (R-Portageville) May 11th amendment had not included what he calls a “sweeping deterioration” of PSC scrutiny and only Noranda smelter language, he would have supported it.

State Sen. Rob Schaaf (R-St. Joseph) has expressed concerns similar to Libla’s. Schaaf said he won’t filibuster “if the bill does not gut the PSC.”

At the end of Tuesday’s rally, Governor Greitens encouraged the crowd to join him in walking to every state senator’s office. Rone encouraged the crowd to ask senators for an up-or-down vote.

Participants taped messages to the doors of Senate offices. The messages included phrases such as “we don’t want welfare” and “bring back American jobs.”

Senator Romine said he supports the Noranda and steel mill issue but opposes the PSC language. Romine said he tried to help Noranda get a better rate a few years ago, but that Ameren opposed it.

Rone praised Greitens, saying, “we finally have a governor who knows where southeast Missouri is.” Rone said the bill’s economic impact would stretch far beyond his impoverished district.

“If a (Ameren) ratepayer pays a little more and he lives in St. Louis and he’s working on the docks of the port and they start shipping 25 to 30 thousand tons a month down (the Mississippi River) to New Madrid, he’s gonna benefit from it,” Rone said.

Rone said he believes the House will approve the bill Wednesday, adding that he believes rules will be suspended. Rone emphasizes that House Speaker Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff) decides that.

Supporters say Rone’s bill would help restore about 400 jobs at the former Noranda site at New Madrid, and would create 200 jobs at a new Bootheel steel mill.

(Missourinet) – Missouri’s governor says the special session that begins Monday at the Statehouse in Jefferson City is about hundreds of jobs in southeast Missouri.

Governor Eric Greitens (R) has called a special session on the Noranda/steel mill issue. The special session begins Monday afternoon at 4:00.

Greitens tells Missourinet that nine of the ten poorest counties in the state are in southeast Missouri.

“And people are sick of having to drive to Kentucky, having to drive to Tennessee, having to drive to Arkansas,” Greitens says. “Watching their friends have to get in trucks and go across the border to find a quality job. And we promised during the (gubernatorial) campaign we were going to fight for them.”

Supporters say State Rep. Don Rone’s (R-Portageville) bill would help restore about 400 jobs at the former Noranda site, and would create 200 jobs at a new Bootheel steel mill.

Hundreds of people attended rallies Saturday across southeast Missouri to support the Noranda/steel mill issue. Greitens led rallies Saturday in New Madrid, Poplar Bluff, Dexter and Sikeston.

Greitens also attended church services on Sunday morning in the Bootheel.

State Sen. Rob Schaaf (R-St. Joseph) says he won’t filibuster “if the bill does not gut the Public Service Commission.” Schaaf tells Missourinet the bill has two parts: one that creates jobs in the Bootheel and “one that guts the PSC for the benefit of Ameren and the utilities.”

Schaaf says the governor “implies the two parts are one, but this is not true.”

“If it were just about jobs, he (Greitens) would directly answer questions about the Ameren part. Even his (special session) call had the issues as two separate parts,” Schaaf says.

Schaaf added that “The more he (Greitens) refuses to talk about the two parts as separate, the more his words have the appearance of impropriety and generate suspicion that he won’t separate the parts because he is beholden to Ameren and the other electric utilities.”

Governor Greitens sat down with Missourinet Friday morning in his Capitol office for a 16-minute interview about the special session. (you can click on the link to hear the full interview). Greitens disagrees with Senator Schaaf’s position that the special session Noranda/steel mill issue contains language that “guts” the Missouri Public Service Commission.

Greitens says the issue is straightforward.

“What this bill (the Rone bill) allows the Public Service Commission to do is to set an affordable rate so that we can bring a steel mill to southeast Missouri,” says Greitens. “And it also provides us the opportunity in the future with the old Noranda plant for us to possibly open an aluminum smelter.”

Greitens notes the Missouri House approved Rone’s amendment in a bipartisan 148-2 vote. That happened on May 11, about 24 hours before the Legislature adjourned.

State Sen. Doug Libla (R-Poplar Bluff) issued a statement late last week, saying that he worries about unnecessary rate increases for businesses and families. Libla emphasizes that if Rone’s amendment had not included what he calls a “sweeping deterioration” of PSC scrutiny and only Noranda smelter language, he would have supported it.

Greitens told Missourinet Friday he disagrees with the concerns raised by Libla and Schaaf, calling them “career politicians” standing in the way of jobs.

Greitens says his job is to get results for Missourians.

(Missourinet) – Signatures are being gathered to try and ask Missourians if medical and recreational marijuana should be legalized, regardless of age. Steve Leck of Springfield wants to get the issue on the November 2018 ballot. It also aims to allow people to drive under the influence of marijuana.

“We believe that it should be treated no differently than alcohol in terms of any adult should be able to consume whatever they want as long as they are not affecting anybody else or harming anyone else,” says Leck.

He says an age limit is not included because of medical purposes only because many children with different health problems, like epilepsy and cancer, could benefit from cannabis.

“We’re not advocating the recreational sales to minors by any stretch,” he says.

A recent CBS poll found 61% of voters favor making marijuana legal for adults and another 88% back the legalization of medical marijuana in the U.S. The poll included a random sample of 1,011 U.S. adults.

Leck says his initiative petition aims to prevent unjust vehicle searches.

“We think that if they (law enforcement officers) believe that if somebody is driving under the influence, which has happened several times, then they use that as a way to reach your amendments and actually do a search and call that reasonable cause,” says Leck. “We’ve actually heard the story, they have red eyes from allergies. All of the sudden they are being pulled over, their rights are being violated, their car is being searched. If we eliminate that, we can keep intact some of our amendments guaranteed by both the state and U.S. Constitutions.”

The initiative would also ask Missourians if:

* Missouri officials should be prohibited from assisting with the enforcement of federal marijuana offenses;

*individuals should be released from jail, parole and probation if convicted only of nonviolent marijuana related crimes;

*all state civil and criminal records of nonviolent marijuana related crimes should be destroyed, and

*the taxation of physician recommended medical marijuana should be prohibited.

The material submitted to Republican Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s office says if passed by voters, the initiative could save the state about $10.7 million annually. Additional state operating costs resulting from the proposal are estimated to cost about $700,000 annually. The measure says local law enforcement costs could increase.

Opponents of the measure say legalizing marijuana would increase the state’s crime and incarceration rates. They also contend that there would be an increase in recreational marijuana use by youth.

(By Veronica Carter/Missouri News Service)

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Women are being urged to make their own health a priority during National Women’s Health Week. This week marks the 18th annual observance led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Michelle Williams is a singer, and former member of the pop group Destiny’s Child, and is now an ambassador for the agency’s Office on Women’s Health. She says women tend to ignore themselves because they’re so busy taking care of everyone else and balancing that with a career.

She hears other women say they’re too busy to work out or eat correctly, but she encourages everyone to get creative.

“It takes 15 to 20 minutes,” she says. “It could be while you’re making dinner – say, while the spaghetti is boiling. How many minutes does it take for spaghetti to boil? Well, you can do some calf raises, some jumping jacks with the kids or something.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more than 60 percent of U.S. adult women are overweight, and of those about a third are considered obese.

Williams says women often work better in teams. She says to make your friend, sister, mother or co-workers help you hold yourself accountable.

“You know how we get on the phone and you’re talking to your sister or your BFF and you’re like, ‘Girl, did you hear what happened?'” She asks. “So now we can add, ‘Girl, did you get that workout in? Did you eat that salad you said you were going to eat?’ I would say, start adding that to the conversation.”

Jill Wasserman is a health-education specialist for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services who is heading up Women’s Health Week. She feels that staying at a healthy weight is a good start, but there’s more to it than that.

“We really remind women to make their health a priority, and we want them to go have a dialogue with their doctor, get active, eat healthy, pay attention to their mental health and avoid unhealthy behaviors such as smoking,” Wasserman explains.

Wasserman says mental health and physical health are closely connected. Poor emotional health can lead to overeating, headaches, weakened immune systems and other ailments.

(Missourinet) – Kansas City Police officer Kelly Sapp has made a more than 100 mile journey on foot to tell Governor Greitens that the murder rate of young people in his city must be addressed.

His battles through the heat, rain, traffic, and nightfall have made a statement by walking this week to the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City.

A comment from an inner city child who Sapp mentors prompted Sapp to grab his hiking stick and walking shoes.

“He goes, ‘All inner city kids are going to die soon, before we’re adults. We’re going to most likely die on the street by a bullet.’ You have to understand that a six-year-old told me this. I was just dumbfounded,” Sapp said. “I’m not going to accept that. I knew that if I did a walk that was that long to meet the governor that I would absolutely get the word out about violence and these kids.”

According to TV station KMBC, about 36% of this year’s homicide victims in Kansas City are 24 or younger.

Sapp said he told Greitens that more officers are needed and community policing must increase.

“If cops had more time to spend with these kids, you train up an entire generation to trust and admire the police, like I did when I was a kid and not be so violent toward police. There’s a pretty violent generation of kids coming up,” Sapp said.

He said officers walk a thin blue line between the innocent and chaos.

“Sometimes you just get folks who lose track of that,” Sapp said. “The line is getting so thin everywhere. There’s lots of things that need done, a lot of risk-averse policies being done that make us violate our oath and make us unable to be faithful to the officer on our left and our right.”

Sapp said police don’t have time to answer all of the 911 calls.

“We’ve been stripped of so many things for just different units or different new ways of fighting crime. The line is getting very thin and we’re going to start seeing officers getting hurt more often, just like those kids are.”