By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

A St. Joseph elementary school went into a very brief lockdown this morning after a parent spotted a man with a rifle nearby.

The St. Joseph School District confirms Carden Park Elementary School, near Highway 36 and I-229, went into lockdown at 8:30 this morning. The lockdown was lifted seven minutes later after police officers arrested a suspect.

St. Joseph Police Captain Jeff Wilson says officers arrived and took into custody a 20-year-old white male, who had ditched the gun.

“We later learned that he did have an air-style BB gun, rifle that he had dropped as he was walking prior to the officers approaching him, but they recovered it,” Wilson tells St. Joseph Post.

The suspect is being held in St. Joseph, pending any charges which might be filed by the Buchanan County Prosecutor’s Office.

No students or staff were ever in any danger, according to St. Joseph School District officials.

By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Little time is left for Missouri lawmakers to approve a prescription drug monitoring program.

And, it seems unlikely they will.

State Rep. Sheila Solon of St. Joseph says Missouri is the only state which doesn’t monitor the prescribing of Schedule II and Schedule IV controlled substances and she says joining the other states would help Missouri combat its opioid addiction crisis.

“That’s something that we need to get passed for our state and especially for northwest Missouri,” Solon tells St. Joseph Post. “I know law enforcement has told me this will be a tool that they need to stop the selling of these narcotics and also stop folks from doctor shopping and actually coming in from out of state to buy them.”

House Bill 188, known as the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, has stalled in the Senate with little belief that it will even make its way to the floor for debate. The measure would authorize state health officials to establish a state Narcotics Control Program to monitor the prescribing of powerful pain relief medication.

Solon says area law enforcement tells her it is needed.

“Sheriffs in both Andrew and in Buchanan Counties have told me that this is really important. We do have an opioid crisis, not just in our state, but particularly in our area,” according to Solon. “It destroys people’s lives. Sometimes folks get on it innocently, to manage pain when they’ve had an operation and they get hooked on it. So, this is a bill that we need so we can monitor the folks who are abusing opioids and, hopefully, get them the help they need and also stop the doctor shopping and the selling of these medications by dealers.”

It breezed to passage in the Missouri House early in this legislative session on a 103-53 vote. Opponents in the Senate argue it is an invasion of patient privacy that has proven ineffective in fighting the opioid crisis in other states. They also contend it could lead to the release of private health information.

HB 188 sponsor, Re. Holly Rehder of Scott City, basically conceded the legislation was dead in an open letter released to her colleagues this week.

Holly Rehder – PDMP Letter[3393]

By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

A filibuster that lasted 27 hours finally ended and the Missouri Senate late Tuesday approved a workforce development bill which includes $50 million in tax breaks for General Motors to expand its factory in Wentzville.

Gov. Mike Parson acknowledged the incentives for General Motors were a late addition to a measure he has touted from the beginning of the legislative session.

“The General Motors factory came in way late in the game. It just happened to be the one that proved that what we’re trying to do in workforce development works,” Parson told reporters during a hastily called news conference at the Capitol.

General Motors will receive $50 million in tax credits over 10 years if it invests at up to $1 billion to expand its Wentzville plant which makes trucks and vans. GM plans a 150,000 square foot expansion in Wentzville.

“We know a billion-dollar investment in that plant I believe is a signal to say we’re staying here in Missouri and they could definitely go to any other state. They could go overseas,” Parson said. “That’s why this is so important to do that. And I think with the entire package that we put in there is important to do that.”

The House approved the legislation earlier, but it bogged down in the Senate with objections coming from fellow Republicans. The Senate Conservative Caucus claims the upfront business tax breaks are ripe for corruption and questions how proposed new scholarships would be distributed.

Parson said Missouri needed to act and not just to lure new jobs to the state.

“So many times, everybody is talking about new jobs, new jobs. It’s just as important to retain jobs in this state as it is to create new jobs,” according to Parson. “When you think about the thousands upon thousands of people who will be going to this site, working, on construction jobs alone, not counting your everyday people that work in that plant is huge.”

Parson defended adding the GM package to the measure, arguing it will benefit the entire state.

“This is just too big of an opportunity. It’s one we’ve never had in the state of Missouri. You just don’t want to lose that opportunity,” Parson said. “It doesn’t happen very often.”

The GM incentives were wrapped into legislation that also creates a new scholarship for adults to finish their college degrees and gives the Department of Economic Development discretion to provide upfront tax breaks to other businesses before they complete their planned expansions or hire additional employees.

Opponents have denounced the upfront tax breaks as a “slush fund” that would be ripe for corruption and also criticized the new scholarship, which could only be offered to people going into fields designated by state higher education officials.

The filibuster ended when it threatened a sweeping abortion bill that the Conservative Caucus favors. The legislative session ends Friday evening at six o’clock.

“Our desire to protect innocent human life was leveraged against us,” Republican state Sen. Bob Onder told the Associated Press.

Onder joined the filibuster even though his St. Charles County district includes the GM plant.

The GM plant in Wentzville employs about 4,250 people in three shifts to make the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon mid-size trucks as well as the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-size vans, according to GM’s website.

By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Gov. Mike Parson is pushing for the Missouri Senate to end a filibuster and move to approve an economic development package which includes $50 million in tax breaks for General Motors to expand in Wentzville.

Fellow Republicans, who call themselves the Conservative Caucus, have staged a filibuster against Senate Bill 68, which the governor calls his workforce development bill.

Parson today, during a hastily called news conference with reporters, called on the senators to drop their efforts to talk the bill to death and allow an up or down vote.

Parson says Missourians have made it clear to him that workforce development and upgrading the state’s infrastructure are their top priorities.

The governor says the GM package was added late in the game.

“It just happened to be the one that proved that what we’re doing in workforce development works,” according to Parson.

Parson says it has taken weeks for negotiators with the Department of Economic Development to reach a contract agreement with GM.

“And when I say that, my whole career I have been in business and there’s a whole difference between a contract from a business perspective or a contract; what people would like to label a bailout or basically just a give-away program,” Parson says. “These contract negotiations that we’re doing takes a long time to get them done. They’re time consuming. They’re very sensitive to what the deals are that are made and how we implement that and how we finish that.”

General Motors has pledged to invest a billion dollars to expand the Wentzville factor by 150,000 square feet if the legislature approves the incentive package.

Parson insists the General Assembly has plenty of time to pass the measure, even though the legislative session ends at 6 o’clock Friday evening.

But, if it doesn’t get done this week, the legislature might have to re-visit the issue, according to state Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer of Parkville.

“It’s very probable that if we fail to do something on the workforce development front, we may see the governor call a special session and bring us back to Jefferson City to focus specifically on that issue,” Luetkemeyer tells St. Joseph Post.

When asked about the possibility of a special session, the governor brushes the question aside, reiterating that there remains plenty of time in this session.

 

By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

A $19 billion disaster aid package passing the House and moving to the Senate includes relief for flood-stricken communities and farms in the Midwest.

Congressman Sam Graves says the package contains $500 million to repair roads and bridges damaged by flooding as well as $310 million to repair the broken levee system.

“The hardest part is just trying to figure out what it’s going to take to fix some of those holes in the levees, because there’s still water in them and it’s very hard to make that determination,” Graves tells St. Joseph Post. “It’s hard to tell how deep the holes are and how much fill it’s going to take, but I think we have a pretty good idea, at least as far as an estimate goes.”

Another provision would offset the loss of stored grain due to the flood, a first in a disaster aid package. In all, the package contains $3 billion to offset agricultural losses due to this year’s flooding.

Graves says if the Senate can approve the package and the president signs it, repair of the broken Missouri River levee system could begin this year.

“I think it may be this summer before we’re able to do a whole lot of that work. There will be preliminary work going on, but actually getting bulldozers out there, I think it’s going to be this summer when the river goes down,” Graves says.

A dispute over money allocated for Puerto Rican hurricane relief might yet derail the aid package. Some Republican senators and President Trump object to the amount of money going for damages sustained by Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Grave broke with fellow Republicans in voting in favor of the package. He says, overall, he’s pleased with it.

“Things can always move faster, that’s for sure,” Graves says. “But it being out of the House, that’s obviously a big step in the right direction and a good move. I’m okay with the package. I’m pleased with it.”

By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

An anti-abortion bill, which could take direct aim at the landmark Roe versus Wade Supreme Court ruling, awaits debate in the Missouri Senate during this last week of the legislative session.

The so-called “Heartbeat Bill” bans abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected or the fetus can feel pain. It also would ban all abortions in Missouri, except to save the life of the woman, if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe.

Republican State Rep. Shelia Solon of St. Joseph supports the measure and hopes the Senate will fight a promised filibuster against it.

“The Senate hopefully will go ahead and, I guess, stay up all night fighting for it, but if something is worth fighting for it’s for the unborn, it’s for babies and so if there is something that we should stand up and fight all night for it’s the passage of this bill,” Solon tells St. Joseph Post.

Solon had a hand in House Bill 126 moving through the legislature. It was approved by the House Children and Families Committee, which she chairs.

The House approved the measure, but it hasn’t come up for debate in the Senate. It could this week, the last week of this legislative session. It is sure to face fierce opposition.

Solon says the bill has been crafted with an eye to the courts, anticipating the courts might not uphold a ban as early in a pregnancy as when a heartbeat is detected.

“If that provision doesn’t stand, then the bill also has implemented a pain-capable standard that would prohibit abortions past 18 weeks, gestational age,” according to Solon. “Studies have shown that doctors give anesthesia to babies in utero to stop pain. So, I think the science protects that part of it. So, I actually combined two bills and put that in there just in case part of it did not stand up to a court challenge.”

Solon says the legislature cannot back off just because the measure could face a court challenge.

“Missouri is a unique state. We are a very conservative state and serving in the legislature I guess I’ve learned that we just need to do the right thing and hopefully the courts will make the right decisions,” Solon says. “But, we need to just do our jobs and stand up for the citizens of our state and, most importantly, for babies, who are the most vulnerable of all our citizens.”

The legislative session wraps up at six o’clock Friday evening.

 

By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Missouri lawmakers agreed to a nearly $30 billion state spending plan for the next fiscal year after clearing a last-minute hurdle.

House budget negotiators insisted on keeping a provision in the budget that would prohibit students in the country illegally from receiving in-state college tuition, including DACA children.

State Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, a Republican from Parkville, says he’s pleased the budget passed without a tax increase.

“One of the things that I talked about whenever I campaigned is that we need to be in government  living within our means and this year the Missouri legislature said we’re going to live within our means, we’re not going to raise taxes, and we’re going to find priorities that we need to fund, like higher education and K-through-12 education and making sure we’re getting relief to the flood victims who have been impacted by the recent flooding,” Luetkemeyer tells St. Joseph Post. “We were able to do all that without raising anyone’s taxes.”

The budget approved in the early morning hours by the General Assembly increases funding to public schools by $61 million, fully funding the school Foundation Formula.

The budget also includes an increase to the core budgets of Missouri public colleges and universities.

“And so, Missouri Western, which is obviously in my district in St. Joe, received a $1 million increase to its core funding,” Luetkemeyer says. “This is after years of cuts to higher education. And so that’s an important victory, making sure that we’re keeping higher education affordable for Missouri families is critically important and I’m happy we were able to get that done.”

The budget also includes $8 million to help offset the losses to flood victims. The money can be used to provide the state and local match for expected federal assistance.

Members of the Missouri House approved the spending plan, then sent it to the Senate which wrapped up work on it in the very early hours of this morning. The budget now goes to Gov. Mike Parson.

By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Flooding in northwest Missouri could have a long-lasting negative impact on Missouri agriculture.

State Agriculture Director Chris Chinn says the broken levee system renders farms along the Missouri River vulnerable to further flooding this year and makes it difficult for farmers to decide to plant a crop this year, assuming their fields dry out.

“For some of those farmers they’re going to have to make preventative plans and chalk it up as a loss and hope that those levees get repaired so that next year, they’re able to plant a crop,” Chinn tells KFEQ Farm Director Melissa Gregory.

Missouri River flooding not only has wrecked planting season for many bottom ground farmers, it has wrecked roads and bridges throughout northwest Missouri, causing local residents to find ways around closed roads and bridges.

Chinn says just getting around becomes a challenge.

“But also, just the daily travel that they need to do to conduct the business on their farms and ranches,” Chinn says. “Having to go an extra 30 miles out of your way, one way to get to your destination, really adds up in the number of hours you spend away from your farm trying to conduct business in town.”

Chinn says she has been talking with quite a few farmers this spring.

“They’re all very anxious, because they feel like they’re behind where they should be. We’re in May and many guys have not even been able to get into the fields yet to work,” Chinn says. “Last year they had the drought situation and then we had a very wet fall again and a lot of crops were late to be harvested anyway. So, they just feel like they’re in this perpetual motion of playing catchup right now. It’s a frustrating, challenging time for our farmers and ranchers.”

 

By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

A possible step toward renovating the nearly 5,000 vacant buildings in St. Joseph has passed the Missouri legislature.

The legislature has approved a bill which will allow the creation of the St. Joseph Land Bank.

State Rep. Shelia Solon of St. Joseph sponsors the legislation, House Bill 821, and says it can be used to buy run-down and abandoned properties to be sold to groups or individuals which agree to rehabilitate them.

“It’s a way to hopefully spur economic development, because when you have these vacant properties people don’t feel safe because we have vagrants getting in these homes, committing crimes, and we have fires every other weekend that have been set in these vacant buildings and it makes people feel very unsafe,” Solon tells St. Joseph Post.

St. Joseph has approximately 4,800 abandoned buildings. The city does not know the owners of 500 of them.

Solon says the 500 unclaimed buildings become the responsibility of the city.

“If these properties are dangerous or not mowed and not kept up, the upkeep of them, instead of being on the landowner or the homeowner, it turns to the taxpayers of our town and last year the taxpayers footed the bill for $300,000 for the upkeep of these homes,” according to Solon.

The St. Joseph Land Bank is modeled after similar organizations in Kansas City and St. Louis. The Land Bank can buy abandoned property and re-sale them to individuals or groups which promise to renovate them. If they cannot find a buyer, they can be put to public use.

State Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer of Parkville made changes necessary to get it through the Senate, then the revised version passed the House. This bill was a top legislative priority for the City of St. Joseph and the St. Joseph Area Chamber of Commerce.

The measure now heads to the governor for his signature.