POPLAR BLUFF (AP) – Sportsmen and conservation groups are raising concerns about legislation that could change the way the Missouri Department of Conservation operates.

The Poplar Bluff Daily American Republic reports that legislation in both the Missouri House and Senate would require the conservation department’s rules and regulations to be approved by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, which consists of five lawmakers from each body. Currently, a conservation commission provides that oversight.

If bills pass in both houses, it would go to a statewide vote as a constitutional amendment.

Supporters say the goal is to improve oversight of the department. But opponents say the bills would inject politics into a system that is working well.

On Saturday morning Reno County Kansas Sheriff’s Deputies and Haven Fire and EMS units were dispatched to the intersection of K-96 and Haven Rd., for a rollover injury accident involving two men from Kimberling, Missouri.

As they arrived, they saw a Tan Ford Ranger on it’s top in the median of K-96. The driver, 37-year-old Arthur Ely was reportedly trapped in the pickup due to his seat-belt. 26-year-old Mitchell Nekvinda was also in the vehicle and wearing his seat-belt. Mitchell was able to free himself.

Ely was transported to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center for possible head, neck, and back injuries. Mitchell reported only minor scratches and bruises.

Sheriff officials say it was apparent from the tire marks on the roadway the pickup was heading east on K-96. After crossing through the intersection of K-96 & Haven Road, the pickup lost traction. The back end of the truck slid around and eventually caused the truck to slide sideways into the median. The pickup managed to slide several feet in the median until the right side tires caught on the grass and began to roll. The pickup stopped moving and it’s final position was on it’s top.

by Dan Murphy

Along with death, taxes and endless political gridlock, another of life’s certainties seems to be a never-ending activist push for labeling of genetically engineered food ingredients.

Every week, another group, another campaign emerges, each of them designed to convince Americans that the food products they’ve been happily consuming for the past decade or so are deceptive, dangerous and deadly.

For example, the Environmental Working Group, which used to focus on big-picture issues like resource conservation and pollution, is now whining regularly about the “horrors” of GMOs. Their latest online pitch (for contributions, naturally), states that, “Our research team has worked exhaustively to create an informative guide to [GMOs]. If you want to know why GMO food labeling matters, look no further than field corn (sic) and soybeans — some 90 percent of U.S.-grown corn is genetically engineered and about 93 percent of soybeans.”

Of course, that statement begs the question: If GMOs are so dangerous — and 90+ percent of the foods made from corn and soy come from genetically engineered crops — then why haven’t most of us dropped dead yet?

Instead, EWG’s appeal goes in another, very predictable direction: “Donate $10 or more before midnight Friday, and we’ll send you our Shopper’s Guide to Avoiding GE Food. We can only continue our important research with your support.”

“Important research” usually translates to “continuous fund-raising.”

Likewise, efforts to put statewide ballot measures mandating GMO labeling in front of voters in selected states continues in full force, despite recent defeats in California and Washington. Sooner or later one of those referenda is going to pass and then the floodgates will open.

Deep thoughts — and dead wrong

So, being the deep thinker that I am, I started to wonder: Would it possible to “road test” voluntary GMO food labeling without the potential backlash most food industry observers predict would occur if one or more manufacturers began using statements such as “Enhanced with bio-engineered nutrients” on their packaging? Maybe that’s possible, I was thinking, if the category was one that didn’t directly impact human health.

Such as pet foods, which are made with numerous ingredients derived from corn and soy.

Boy, was I wrong — about as wrong as the gamblers who bets millions (hello, Floyd Mayweather, Jr.) on the Denver Broncos to defeat the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl.

That’s because the advertising pitch to pet owners is even more over the top than the taglines and branding messages found on the food products we purchase for ourselves.

You think “natural” is a highly leveraged label claim in supermarket aisles devoted to center-of-the-plate perishables, ready-to-eat entrees and microwaveable convenience items? Try strolling down the pet foods aisle at any upscale grocery store. There, such positioning is way over the top.

Here’s but one example, from NUTRO brand dog food, specifically its Natural Choice line (For Sensitive Skin and Stomach). The packaging on the company’s Venison Meal and Whole Brown Rice Formula — and we should all be eating so healthy — states that, “When it comes to your dog’s diet, they deserve the best natural dog food. At The Nutro Company, we believe the best natural ingredients make the best natural dog foods. NUTRO^® Natural Dog Food is carefully made with a premium selection of natural ingredients fortified with essential vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.”

Did we mention “natural?”

That’s just one example of literally dozens. Obviously, baby foods are branded and labeled to appeal to the moms who are doing the purchasing, hence the attempt at culinary sophistication with choices such as Pureed Pumpkin-Apple Blend, and Peach-Apricot Museli and Beef Carrots & Corn Country Dinner.

Babies or toddlers just open their mouths and eat. They wouldn’t know a Country Dinner from a Bistro Buffet no matter what the jar says. But their moms want to believe they’re providing their loves ones with something a cut above “mashed mush.”

Dogs and cats, if they could communicate their food preferences, would demand meat, and lots of it. Anyone who’s owned either of those animals doesn’t have to run a taste test to figure out Fido or Fluffy’s preferred meal.

But with pet food, although the ingredient statement lists “beef, chicken, or turkey”, they’re formulated with large amounts of added vegetable starch and protein, ie, corn and soy. They’re advertised as delicious, healthful servings of fresh meat and poultry, but they contain lots of GMO ingredients.

However, it would be even more problematic to announce that someone’s beloved pet, who generally sleeps on the furniture, begs at the dinner table and gets showered with all kinds of snacks and treats and toys, is consuming genetically engineered food.

I still say the food industry needs to test market voluntary GMO labeling, and do it on their terms, before some state starts requiring them to follow a proscriptive mandate that would be way worse.

But I must admit that my bright idea to launch such an initiative in the pet foods category is, sadly, a bad idea, a poor choice and absolutely the wrong place to start.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dan Murphy, a veteran food-industry journalist and commentator.

A child was injured in a Saturday ATV crash in Ray County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported that the crash occurred when the 2011 Arctic Cat ATV driven by Zebadiah J. McBee, 8, of Excelsior Springs was traveling on private property at 31255 West 161 Street and crashed into the side of a house.

McBee was transported to Children’s Mercy Hospital

The MSHP reported he was not wearing a safety device.

JOPLIN (AP) – A southwest Missouri woman is accused of offering to give two men her car if they helped kidnap her 1-year-old daughter from the custody of the girl’s father.

The Joplin Globe reports 27-year-old Elise Deboutez of Nevada, Mo., is charged with single counts of attempted child kidnapping and burglary, two counts of first-degree assault and three counts of armed criminal action.

Prosecutors say Deboutez recruited two Joplin men at a party about a week before a failed kidnapping attempt Oct. 19.

Joplin Police Detective Chip Root testified at a hearing Thursday that Deboutez admitted offering to give the men an Audi worth $5,000 to $7,000 if they would help get her daughter back from the girl’s father.

Her public defender did not immediately return a phone message Saturday.

Two drivers are recovering from separate Saturday crashes on icy Northwest Missouri highways.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports a 2005 Ford Ranger driven by Wayne L. Prime, 46, Newton, Iowa was north in I-35 northeast of Coffey Saturday morning. The driver lost control on the ice and overturned.

The other Saturday morning crash occurred as 1993 Pontiac driven by Cody M. Tharp, 17, of Bethany was eastbound on Route H in Harrison County.

The car slid on the ice, crossed the center of the road, overcorrected, traveled off the south side of the road and overturned. Both drivers were transported to the hospital in Bethany.

The MSHP reports Tharp was not wearing a seat belt.

Following a concerted effort this week by all Republican Senators to stop the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from encroaching on newsrooms’ editorial decisions, the FCC announced today that it will not move forward with the controversial Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs (CIN Study), which posed highly inappropriate questions of news editors about how they select stories, station bias, and even about their “news philosophy.”

The FCC’s announcement today comes after U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) and all of his Republican Senate colleagues sent a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler calling on him to explain the FCC’s efforts to impact newsrooms’ editorial decisions. To read the letter, please see below or click here.

“This study was a blatant intrusion by the government into the editorial decisions in newsrooms across America,” said Blunt. “I’m glad the FCC has backed away from this controversial survey, which would stifle free speech nationwide.”

(AP) — Missouri lawmakers want exercising to be taxing — and not taxed.

Sales tax is charged on admission and fees for places of entertainment and recreation, which has been determined to include to fitness centers and other athletic and exercise facilities. Some business owners say they are uncertain whether they owe sales tax and warn that a large bill for back taxes could be ruinous for them.

House member Eric Burlison, a Republican from Springfield, says taxing activities that keep people healthy does not make sense.