(AP) – Missouri House members could consider a proposal that would require voters to show official photo identification at the polls.

There are two elements. A constitutional amendment requiring voter approval would allow a photo ID, and a bill would outline the details in state law.

House Majority Leader John Diehl says the chamber could work on the proposal this week. Lawmakers have sought to enact the requirement previously in Missouri.

Republican supporters contend the policy is needed to help prevent election fraud, while Democratic opponents say it can disenfranchise voters.

(AP) – Candidates for Congress and state offices will line up at the secretary of state’s office in the state capital this week to file for the 2014 election.

Filing opens on Tuesday and runs until March 25. Candidates showing up on Tuesday will participate in a random drawing to determine whose name shows up first on the August primary ballot.

All 163 state House seats are up for re-election, as well as 17 Senate seats. The Republicans currently hold 108 seats in the House and have 24 of the Senate’s 34 spots.

The state auditor’s race is the only statewide contest on the ballot. Republican Auditor Tom Schweich is seeking re-election and has no announced Democratic opposition.

All eight of Missouri’s U.S. House members also face re-election.

(AP) – A convicted killer whose death sentence was overturned has been ordered to spend the rest of his life in prison without an opportunity for parole.

Fifty year-old William L. Weaver was resentenced Friday in St. Louis County.

Weaver was convicted of killing Charles Taylor in 1987 because he was a potential witness in a drug case.

Weaver’s sentence was overturned in 2007 by the U.S. Supreme Court because of comments then-prosecutor Buzz Westfall made in closing arguments. Westfall used a quote from the movie “Patton,” in which the general urged soldiers to kill the enemy, saying, “When you reach over to put your hand in the pile of goo that a moment before was your best friend’s face, you’ll know what to do.”

(AP) — Thousands of people holding flickering candles marched through Springfield to remember a 10-year-old girl who was kidnapped and killed less than a week ago.

The Springfield News-Leader reports family members of Hailey Owens led the procession Saturday night while onlookers filled sidewalks.

Hailey was abducted Tuesday while she walked in her quiet Springfield neighborhood. Police believe her captor killed her in the few hours before he was caught.

Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Seifried spoke briefly to the crowd at the end of the march, saying there were no words to express the pain the community is feeling.

Craig Michael Wood is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and armed criminal action in the fourth-grader’s death. The 45-year-old is being held without bond in Greene County Jail.

(AP) – Command of the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base has been turned over to a Missouri native, Brig Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, at a ceremony in front of 500 troops and family members.

VanHerck replaced Brig. Gen. Thomas Bussiere, who was credited with guiding the bomb wing to great heights despite tight resources and personnel drawdowns.

VanHerck grew up in Bismarck, Mo., and said he arrived at Whiteman before B-2s were ever used in combat. He said Friday he remembers thinking the $2 billion aircraft would not be used to fight wars, but now the team at Whiteman is on speed dial for combat commanders and senior leaders.

VanHerck most recently was Seventh Bomb Wing commander at Dyess Air Force Base in Texas.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Two Jackson County students who went toe-to-toe for 66 rounds in the county’s annual spelling bee aren’t quite finished after event organizers ran out of words for the contest.
The Kansas City Star  reports 25 students started the championship round Saturday, but only two remained after 19 rounds.
From there, fifth-grader Sophia Hoffman of Highland Park Elementary in Lee’s Summit and Kush Sharma, a seventh-grader at Frontier School of Innovation in Kansas City, buzzed through the list of words provided by the national bee and 20 others plucked from the dictionary.
At about 2 p.m. — five hours after the contest started — bee officials decided not to pull more words from the dictionary and instead decided to continue the competition March 8 at an undetermined library location.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A federal proposal to clean up the smoke from wood-burning stoves has sparked a backlash from some rural residents, lawmakers and manufacturers.

Proposed regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would significantly reduce the amount of particle pollution allowed to flow from new residential wood-powered heaters.

Some manufacturers contend the proposed standards are so stringent that the higher production costs would either force them out of business or make their products unaffordable to lower- and middle-income consumers.

In Missouri, some lawmakers are fighting back with state legislation seeking to discourage the enforcement of tougher standards on wood-burning stoves. Concerns over wood-stove pollution and regulations also have been simmering in other states, including in some places where local officials are pushing for stronger environmental standards.

by Rebecca French Smith, Missouri Farm Bureau

 

Marketing is an interesting field. It is, in large part, storytelling. In that sense, we tell stories at Missouri Farm Bureau, stories about Missouri farmers.

Through the Know Your Farmer series on MOFB.org and social media, we take you to farms to meet farmers you might not otherwise have the opportunity to encounter. We introduce you to their families, show you what they do, and they tell you why and how they do it. They farm in different ways, using different growing methods, but at the end of the story, you understand they — and most farmers — care about doing the right thing: growing and raising food responsibly.

Our stories don’t have million-dollar price tags and we don’t pay the participants. They are real-life people, not paid actors. They volunteer to give you a peek into their lives so you can learn more about the food you eat, the clothes you wear and the fuel you use.

Yes, we tell their stories to promote agriculture in Missouri, but more importantly, we tell their stories because there is an ever-widening chasm that exists between the small businesses that make up the largest industry in Missouri (farms) and those who are two or more generations removed from them.

This chasm is often exploited by businesses wanting to make a buck or two, or million, at the expense of farmers by creating fear of the unknown in the minds of consumers. These businesses vary from nonprofit organizations like the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to restaurant chains like Chipotle. Chipotle has hired some good storytellers—the kind your parents likely warned you not to be—and their latest fictitious and misguided videos attempt to use levity to shine a light on food issues about which we’re all concerned.

I’ve never eaten anything that Chipotle makes. It’s not because I don’t think they make a great product — I hear it’s good — but rather because I have no interest in supporting a company that profits by tearing down Missouri farmers who use best practices in conventional, natural, modern and/or organic growing methods. There is one thing about which I am certain concerning Chipotle: The farmers who sell their products to this company work hard to contribute to the safe food supply we all enjoy.

The truth is, Chipotle’s stories don’t answer any questions or solve any issues. Chipotle is not interested in being part of the solution, of putting a variety of food on your table. They’re interested in selling burritos. Perhaps they should stick to making burritos and leave the telling of agriculture’s story to those who know it best.

Rebecca French Smith, of Columbia, Mo., is a multimedia specialist for the Missouri Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s governors are taking a cautious approach on legalizing marijuana despite increasing support.

All the buzz over pot, some say, is just smoke.

Republicans and Democrats gathered for the National Governors Association meeting in Washington this weekend expressed broad concern for their children and public safety should legalized recreational marijuana use spread to their states.

States are watching closely as Colorado and Washington establish themselves as national pioneers after becoming the first states to approve recreational marijuana use in 2012. A group is hoping to do the same in Alaska this summer.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is warning other governors against rushing to follow his state’s lead.

He says he’s spoken to half a dozen governors with questions, and he’s urging them to wait a year or two.