Jefferson City

The I-Team found hundreds of students have been put in the structures as punishment this academic year.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — So far this year, 530 students — most of them with disabilities — have been locked in what’s known as a seclusion room as a form of punishment across 166 Missouri school districts. Now a state representative wants to end the practice altogether. 

The bill, filed Friday, would stop public or charter schools from placing students in solitary confinement within the so-called seclusion rooms. 

For years, the I-Team has reported on the controversial practice, which involves putting a child in a locked closet-sized room sometimes for hours at a time, said Missouri State Rep. Ian Mackey, (D-MO) 99th District, who filed the bill. 

“A seclusion room typically is a small closet-sized space, typically with padded walls, a padded floor, an overhead fluorescent light and a steel door that locks automatically,” he said. “And it’s usually used for the solitary confinement of children who are sometimes exhibiting challenging behavior, sometimes may even be physically violent or threatening physical violence. 

“But all too often is used to punish children who are engaging in routine, childlike behavior that often is unwanted and challenging to deal with as an adult, but is typically expected of children, especially ages 5, 6, 7 and 8, which is where we see the vast majority of these instances taking place.”

The practice is banned in Illinois and at least nine other states.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, roughly 80% of students subjected to being restrained and secluded were students with disabilities, and about 82% were boys in the 2017-2018 school year, which is the most recent federal data available.

The U.S. Department of Education states that “restraint or seclusion should never be used as punishment or discipline.”

Mackey passed a law limiting the use of seclusion rooms in 2021. That legislation required districts to track data on the use of the rooms and give it to lawmakers. 

Now, with the data in hand, Mackey says it’s time ban them altogether, arguing seclusion rooms don’t correct behavior problems in students.

“It makes the problem worse,” he said. “We see it happen on a repeat basis. 

“The same kids over and over and over are going through this because this is not a way to deal with the problems. This is not a way for an adult to solicit the behavior they’re looking for. This is something that just escalates the problem.”

A spokesperson with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education told the I-Team earlier this year that, per DESE’s model policy, seclusion and restraint should be limited to situations in which the student’s behavior poses a serious threat, such as when they harm themselves or others or when they destroy property.

Mackey said the rooms are not being used the way DESE intended them to be and said the solution is to teach school leaders ways districts who do not use seclusion rooms cope with disruptive students.

“I would say the vast majority of these cases are children who are not engaging in violent behavior,” Mackey said. “There’s children who are just simply being disruptive.”

In some cases, the seclusion lasted more than three hours, according to the Missouri Disability Empowerment Foundation, citing the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Mackey argues, after research, that the effects of these rooms are long-lasting and devastating.

“Children have been diagnosed with PTSD as a result of this, children who’ve been forced out of their school district because of this,” he said.

The next legislative session in Missouri begins in January.

Originally Appeared Here

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Sunday marks national “Roof over your Head Day” which reminds people to be thankful for basic necessities such as a home. It also creates awareness for the current housing crisis in the United States.

ABC 17 News obtained the latest Missouri Point in Time Count for region 5. Region 5 contains most counties in Mid-Missouri including Boone, Callaway, Phelps and Pulaski Counties. The Missouri Point in Time Count gathers data on a night in January every year and collects information on people experiencing homelessness.

Missouri Point in Time Count Map

The numbers show 620 individuals in region 5 are experiencing homelessness. That is up 16% from 533 individuals in 2022.

Of the 620 people experiencing homelessness, the count clarifies 455 of those individuals are sheltered and 165 are unsheltered. A sheltered individual is a person living in a shelter at the time of the count. Unsheltered individuals are people who are living in places not normally used for sleeping, such as a car or a tent.

In region five from 2022 to this year, veteran homelessness increased by 7% and chronic homelessness increased by 105%. In the same time frame, family homelessness decreased by 23%.

Program Director of Love Columbia Conrad Hake said the non-profit had over 4,400 requests for assistance this year.

“About two-thirds of [requests] have been related to housing needs in some shape or form,” Hake said.

Love Columbia is a non-profit which helps anyone in the Columbia Community who is struggling with basic needs such as housing or food.

Deshayda Bradford is a Columbia resident and mother of five young children. Her oldest is seven and she had twins in July. In August, she started receiving help with her rent from Love Columbia.

“They kinda just picked up the slack and I needed that,” Bradford said. “I was on edge. Of course you try not to show those things to my kids, because you know kids can pick up on emotions… but it’s a relief now.”

Bradford said without the help of Love Columbia, she believes her family would not be in their home.

“They’re accepting of you and they give you that sense of hope,” Bradford said.

Habitat for Humanity recommends individuals spend a maximum of 30% of one’s gross income on housing. But with rising costs with inflation, the organization says one in four households spend more than that.

“The pandemic really impacted the housing market. We’ve seen rent prices increase at least 10% each year,” said Randy Cole, CEO of the Columbia Housing Authority.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition says a person in Missouri needs to earn at least $38,553 a year in order to afford a two-bedroom apartment at a fair market rent price. Missouri’s current minimum wage is $12.

The organization says there are over 204,000 extremely low income renter households in Missouri. But there’s only 89,440 affordable and available rental homes for low income renters.

Low Income Renter Households in Missouri Graphic (KMIZ)

“We’ve been seeing a shortage of the availability of affordable housing,” Cole said. “As a community, we really need additional units that we can match our vouchers to participants and participants to housing.”

Cole told ABC 17 News the City of Columbia has about 750 units of affordable housing. But as of late November, said there is a wait list of around 1,200 households.

“It’s a pretty significant wait. Oftentimes people are in less desirable housing situations,” Cole said. “That’s why they’re seeking housing from us, either homeless or couch surfing, living in a hotel or doubled up in a tough place.”

Cole said in the next three to five years, the housing authority is hoping to add about 50 more units.

In the capital city, the Jefferson City Housing Authority has 318 units. Those units include one to four bedroom apartments along with a few houses.

The Salvation Army Center of Hope Director for Jefferson City said the area is still feeling the effects from the 2019 tornado.

“That tornado took over 600 units. A majority of those were affordable housing units [and] the city really hasn’t rebuilt any. We lost a lot of housing units and we haven’t rebuilt them,” said Brian Vogeler with the Salvation Army.

A sign for the Dulle & Hamilton Towers which are a part of the Jefferson City Housing Authority’s low-income housing. (KMIZ)

Vogeler said prior to the tornado, the organization could usually get people placed into housing, but now it is very difficult to place people in Jefferson City.

“A lot of times when we look to place people, we start looking outside of Jeff City because the housing inventory is usually a little bit better in some of those outlining cities,” Vogeler said.

With a rise in prices due to inflation, Cole said there are a few things to keep in mind when searching for housing.

“Always have a budget and know what you can afford but also think through long term maintenance,” Cole said. “Maintenance costs of housing and transportation are big things to consider.”

Originally Appeared Here

By the end of the month, Attorney General Andrew Bailey expects to complete work on the mountain of public records requests submitted to the office last year.

That will allow the five-person team working through the Sunshine Law backlog to finally turn its attention to the nearly 300 pending requests filed since Bailey took office in January.

“I’m proud of the thorough and expeditious work we’ve done to get Missourians the records they have requested,” Bailey said in an emailed statement.

First Amendment and government transparency advocates, however, aren’t so sanguine about Bailey’s efforts.

Records requests filed since January have continued to pile up, leaving many waiting more than a year for Bailey’s office to take any action. And new requests, no matter how simple and easy to turn around, are still projected to take at least six months to be completed.

The attorney general’s website declares the Sunshine Law is the “embodiment of Missouri’s commitment to openness in government,” said Bernie Rhodes, a First Amendment attorney who has represented numerous media outlets, including the Independent.

By allowing requests to pile up and wither on the vine, Rhodes said, Bailey isn’t living up to those standards.

“It’s called the Sunshine Law for a reason. It exposes sunlight on what our government is doing. If we have to wait six months to find out what someone did last week, it may be too late to do anything about that,” Rhodes said.

“It’s not called the historical records preservation act, so that when we write the biography of Andrew Bailey 20 years from now we know what he was doing,” he said. “It exists so we know what he’s doing today so that when he comes up for election, we know whether to vote for him or not.”

Bailey inherited 224 unfinished public records requests from his predecessor, U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt. Since then, the office implemented a policy to work through the backlog on a first-come, first-served basis. Newer inquiries that are small and easily dispensed with sit in limbo as staff work on older and more expansive requests.

For example, copies of Bailey’s official calendar on Nov. 6 and 7 won’t be available until May 2024. A request like that is typically turned around in a matter of days by other government agencies, if not sooner.

“It remains deeply concerning that the attorney general’s office refuses to take a common-sense approach to fulfilling Sunshine Law requests,” said David Roland, director of litigation for the libertarian nonprofit Freedom Center of Missouri.

“If a citizen’s request could be fulfilled in a matter of minutes,” Roland said, “it is manifestly unreasonable for the office to delay the fulfillment of that request by several months, even if that might require addressing requests in an order other than which they were received.”

Jean Maneke, an attorney with the Missouri Press Association, said delayed access to public records is a slap in the face to transparent government.

“Public servants,” she said, “are not acting in the public interest when they delay serving the public in this matter.”

“Crocodile tears”

Bailey has defended how his office has handled the backlog, arguing that the office processes requests in order to avoid the perception it is “picking winners and losers.”

“You’ve got to fulfill them in the order in which they came in, or you run the risk of people saying that you’re cherry-picking favorable requests,” Bailey recently told the Springfield News-Leader. “It’s a no-win situation.”

To demonstrate his commitment to government transparency, the attorney general has pointed out that, unlike many state agencies, his office doesn’t charge anything for processing public records requests.

Madeline Sieren, Bailey’s spokesperson, said by the end of the year the attorney general’s office will have completed 56 separate Sunshine Law trainings. That’s the most in terms office’s history, she said, and up from 51 in 2022 and 42 in 2021.

The 2023 total is double Schmitt’s first year as attorney general in 2019.

“Our total attendance was in the thousands, across all of our presentations this year,” she said.

Sieren added the attorney general’s office also “significantly improved the efficiency, speed, and results in addressing Sunshine Law complaints.”

Since Bailey took office, she said, “we have closed 525 Sunshine Law complaints, which were received both this year and in previous years. This includes approximately 20 warning letters that typically included training as a condition in lieu of further enforcement action and over 40 situations where we assisted citizens in obtaining records due to our intervention through the complaint process.”

But transparency advocates remain skeptical.

Part of the concern is Bailey’s role in crafting legislation while working as general counsel for Gov. Mike Parson to weaken Missouri’s Sunshine Law. A major policy priority for the governor during Bailey’s tenure, the legislation would have allowed government agencies to withhold more information from the public and charge more for any records that are turned over.

Rhodes said Bailey is “absolutely in violation of the Sunshine Law” by not promptly processing public records requests. If government transparency was really a priority for him, Bailey could “dispense with the backlog immediately by choosing to staff his office in a way that acknowledges Missouri’s commitment to open government.”

“If his staff says they can’t get to requests in a timely manner, those are crocodile tears,” Rhodes said. “He inherited a bunch of lawsuits, too, so is he just going to ignore those? That’s his job. He should just do his job.”

For his part, Bailey does not begrudge Schmitt for the backlog his staff is stuck with.

“My predecessors left behind a legacy of excellence,” Bailey said in an email to the Independent. “Because of the great work they did, there’s a lot of attention on our office, which resulted in a lot of Sunshine requests being filed.”

The Missouri Independent, www.missouriindependent.com, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization covering state government and its impact on Missourians.

Originally Appeared Here

Years from now, northern Golden will be a hub for recreation, businesses and community connections.

The Junction, a 52-acre property along Highway 93 just north of Canyon View Business Park, has been annexed into the City of Golden. It’s now zoned for commercial and light industrial uses, which the City Council approved Nov. 28.

During the Nov. 28 City Council meeting, local developers from BBGR LLC said their property will offer:

• much-needed light industrial and commercial spaces;
• crucial trail connections between Golden and Jefferson County parks;
• overflow parking for North Table Mountain; and
• safety improvements to Highway 93.

The property at 5079 Highway 93 was previously zoned for agricultural use, city senior planner Lauren Simmons said.

Jefferson County bought the property in 2000 as a possible site for a juvenile sex offender group home. However, the county didn’t proceed with that plan, so it’s been sitting vacant since 2000, according to county staff members.

In November 2021, Jeffco listed the property for sale and received eight offers. According to a May 2022 document, the county drafted a purchase and sale agreement with BBGR for approximately $8 million total. Three acres were to be withheld from the price for future trail connections, though.

The sale was also contingent on future agreements with Golden, as Simmons noted the developers would need to connect to city water and utilities.

The property meets state requirements for annexation, Simmons said, and both city staff and the Planning Commission recommended that City Council annex it to better manage the anticipated growth on the property and along the Highway 93 corridor.

Updating Highway 93

City Council unanimously approved both the annexation and subsequent development agreement, and the property’s initial zoning. The north and south ends of the property are now zoned as M-1, or limited industrial. The middle 8 acres is now zoned C-1, or limited commercial, and will include the access point from Highway 93.

Developer BBGR LLC’s conceptual site plan shows a mix of light industrial and light commercial uses on The Junction’s 52 acres, as well as access via a roundabout on Highway 93. The property will help connect trails between several open space parks in northern Golden, provide overflow trailhead parking for North Table Mountain, and include safer pedestrian and cyclist access across Highway 93. Credit: Courtesy graphic

Because Highway 93 will be the only way in and out of the Junction, the stakeholders plan to install a roundabout along Highway 93 and an underpass for pedestrians and cyclists. Both will require collaboration among BBGR, Golden, Jeffco and the Colorado Department of Transportation.

BBGR will be financially responsible for the roundabout’s design and installation, Simmons said. The pedestrian underpass is estimated at $4.4 million, and the city has tentatively agreed to pay $500,000 for that, subject to future agreements.

While the councilors were concerned the roundabout would cause traffic congestion along Highway 93, BBGR representatives said they’d design the roundabout to accommodate large volumes, higher speeds and semi-truck traffic. They believed it also would improve access from the North Table Mountain’s western trailhead.

The timeline for both the roundabout and the underpass has yet to be determined.

Much-needed space

Both Simmons and the developers — local business owners Chris Ball and John Bauknight — stressed how important these safety components are, along with the Junction’s role in trail connectivity.

The Junction, a currently undeveloped 52-acre property just north of Canyon View Business Park, will help connect trails between North Table Mountain, Mount Galbraith and White Ranch parks. The City of Golden recently annexed the property and zoned it for light industrial and light commercial uses. Credit: Courtesy graphic

Ball said the Junction would connect North Table Mountain to Mount Galbraith and White Ranch parks, along with the forthcoming Tucker Gulch Path Extension.

The two said they enjoy hiking and biking at these parks, and thought the Junction would benefit the Golden and Jeffco communities as a trail corridor and gathering space.

They envisioned a commercial hub with a public plaza-type setting where recreationalists, families, groups of friends and local employees can spend their time. They said the Junction also would offer much-needed light industrial space that could accommodate aerospace, bioscience, engineering and similar industries.

Ball described how he’s been working with industrial-space users for almost 30 years, and the local manufacturing market is healthy right now. However, businesses are leaving because there’s not enough space to grow locally, whether it’s a start-up looking for their first real space or an established company wanting to expand, he said.

During public comment, representatives from Holidaily Brewing Company, Powder7 and other local businesses told the councilors how they have multiple non-adjacent locations, because space is at a premium. Both the Golden Chamber of Commerce and the Jefferson County Economic Development Corporation championed the annexation, saying the Junction will be an asset to Golden and Jeffco.

The chamber’s Nola Krajewski said one of the most common calls she receives is from business owners looking for space to expand their operations. She also saw its value for recreation and trail connectivity.

Councilors’ comments

During council discussion, Councilor Don Cameron said he was worried that C-1 zoning technically allows for residential-commercial mixed use. However, Ball and Bauknight assured him they weren’t pursuing any residential use, but instead light industrial with some commercial space.

The Junction, a currently undeveloped 52-acre property just north of Canyon View Business Park, will help connect trails between North Table Mountain, Mount Galbraith and White Ranch parks. The City of Golden recently annexed the property and zoned it for light industrial and light commercial uses. Credit: Courtesy graphic

“I’ve been looking at this property for a dozen years, (and) it’s really the gateway into Golden,” Cameron said. “I wish it could’ve been annexed into Golden as open space. … This wasn’t the change I desired, but I appreciate the approach.”

Like Cameron, other councilors said they were happy with BBGR’s approach to the property and its emphasis on trail connectivity and safety along the Highway 93 corridor.

Mayor Laura Weinberg acknowledged that, while the Junction could’ve been developed as an unincorporated Jeffco property, she believed annexation allowed “for a community approach.”

Councilor Casey Brown said he’s been hearing from residents about the long-desired northern Golden trail connections since he joined City Council eight years ago. He also thought the city’s contributions to building the pedestrian/cyclist underpass would be “money well spent.”

Originally Appeared Here

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Jefferson City Council approved an agreement with Troesser Lawn Care to aid the city with its yard waste drop-off site temporarily.

The agreement will begin immediately, runs through Jan. 7, and is estimated to cost the city $35,000.

The agreement will allow the city to extend the site’s hours of operation. The site will now be open for eight hours on Saturdays and Wednesdays and for four hours on Sundays. The extended hours will begin on Saturday, Nov. 25 and the Wednesday operations will begin on Nov. 29.

The agreement comes after the site was struggling with staffing shortages. According to Jefferson City Public Works Director Matt Morasch, the heavy traffic was in part caused by residents arriving at the facility before it opened.

“One of the things that happened…we had people arrive before the facility gate was open at 8 and you know, started queuing up and in the street, which caused a problem,” Morasch said.

According to a Jefferson City yard waste collection map, during the weekend of Nov. 18 and 19, 485 people dropped their waste at the site. The weekend prior, 360 people used the service, while the weekend before that, 228 people used it.

The growing number of residents is what led the Public Works Department to ask the city to amend the agreement in order to provide people with the additional day and hours to drop off their waste. This, along with the additional staff should help alleviate congestion, according to Morasch.

During Monday night’s meeting, some council members voiced concern over spending an additional $10,000 on the agreement in order to allow the city’s staff to work with Troesser. Some suggested the staff work the extra hours, due to the fact that the site is temporary.

“I think if you tell folks hey we’re getting ready to spend 35 grand of your tax dollars on a site that’s open a month to give you a daytime option, they’d be like oh okay never mind don’t do that we’ll wait for the permanent site in 2024,” Ward 2 Councilman Aaron Mealy said.

However, Morasch stated that the additional day and hours wouldn’t allow the department’s staff to complete other jobs around the city. Morasch said this is especially important, as winter months are approaching.

“Then these folks can’t be out fixing you know, the streets and the stormwater pipes and the signs,” Morasch said.

Some council members also said they believe the congestion in the area is a public safety hazard, and would become problematic for first responders trying to drive to a scene. Cole County Chief of Emergency Medical Services Eric Hoy said this has not been an issue so far, although things could change.

“I don’t foresee any issues,” Hoy said. “I mean you know, we can just work around it… obviously there are other routes through the area you know I think if it was that big of an issue you know we work well with the folks in the city.”

Originally, the site was only open on Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. to noon.

The site will be closed Dec. 24 for Christmas Eve, and Sunday, Dec. 31 during New Year’s Eve.

According to the City Council memo, the hours and days of operations may be affected by weather events when/if they occur.

The city hopes to have the permanent site available by the spring, according to Morasch.

Originally Appeared Here

(JEFFERSON CITY, MO) – Researchers in the University of Missouri’s Division of Plant Science and Technology have been academic and industry leaders in deciphering the underlying genetic mechanisms soybeans utilize to defend against soybean cyst nematode (SCN). For the last four years, a team of scientists at the University of Missouri, the University of Georgia (UGA), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have been devoted to discovering a new gene to combat SCN and improve the profitability and productivity of farmers worldwide. As a result, the research has led to the recent discovery of a new gene, GmSNAP02, for soybean breeders, farmers, and private industry to utilize. The study was published last week in Nature Communications.

“This is a novel mechanism for SCN resistance and serves as an instrumental breakthrough for farmers in Missouri and beyond,” said Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council chairman Aaron Porter. “The next step will be to rapidly integrate this gene into soybean varieties planted by farmers across the country.”

Plant-parasitic nematodes significantly threaten global agriculture. Realized annual losses by U.S. producers from SCN damage are billions of dollars. Recently, these losses have been exacerbated by a shift in the virulence of this pathogen due to the overuse of known resistance genes and the limited options available to farmers to control these losses with improved cultivars or new management strategies beyond only early season protection with seed treatments. With increasing nematode resistance to the commonly used SCN resistance source PI 88788, the discovery of GmSNAP02 offers new hope for combating this destructive pest and improving soybean productivity.

“Results of the last statewide survey of SCN in Missouri made us aware of the increasing problem of virulent HG type 1.2. SCN populations, a trend that is also observed throughout the Midwest, and this resistance gene offers a new tool for management that will target those problem SCN populations,” said Clinton Meinhardt, a researcher and lab manager for the northern soybean breeding program at the University of Missouri-Columbia

The interdisciplinary research team was led by Dr. Andrew Scaboo at the University of Missouri and Dr. Melissa Mitchum at UGA. Using unique bi-parental populations, the research team employed advanced techniques to map, fine-map, and select GmSNAP02 as a candidate gene. To further validate their findings, the team utilized CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology and observed a gain of resistance in edited plants. The team also unraveled the answers to the effectiveness of different gene combinations while stacked with the GmSNAP02 gene and developed molecular assays for gene detection.

“This discovery represents a breakthrough that has an immediate impact on soybean growers,” said Dr. Mariola Usovsky, a research scientist at the University of Missouri-Columbia. “With the employment of GmSNAP02 and other known underutilized genes, farmers will soon have a choice to buy seeds with resistance that will precisely target nematodes in their field.”

These groundbreaking discoveries open new possibilities for developing soybean varieties with enhanced resistance to SCN. Dr. Scaboo’s soybean breeding program works on the next steps to rapidly integrate this gene into new soybean varieties.

“Here we used CRISPR-Cas9 technology as a more precise way to confirm GmSNAP02 function in soybean resistance to SCN,” said Vinavi Gamage, a Ph.D. candidate at UGA’s Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics (IPBGG) and co-first author of the study. “What’s exciting is that our discovery has not only identified a new resistance gene but a gene editing-amenable resistance gene, opening the door for CRISPR-Cas9 technology that may make it easier and potentially faster for breeders to develop soybean cultivars with enhanced resistance to SCN.”

“Moreover, the nature of this resistance gene has provided us with new insights about how SCN may be adapting to overcome genetic resistance mechanisms in the soybean plant,” said Dr. Melissa Mitchum, professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and IPBGG at the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. “A better understanding of how SCN circumvents the soybean plant’s resistance response is necessary for enhancing the durability of resistance genes by providing soybean farmers with more prescriptive management approaches.”

By harnessing the power of GmSNAP02, farmers can look forward to increased yields and reduced economic losses caused by SCN.

“The results found in this research will have a significant impact on the varieties grown by farmers now and in the future to combat SCN,” said Dr. Andrew Scaboo, assistant professor at the University of Missouri–Columbia. “Although SCN will continue to evolve, we now have a new genetic technology desperately needed to improve productivity in soybean farmers’ fields in Missouri.”

For more information about this research, please contact Missouri Soybeans’ director of agronomy and research, Eric Oseland, at eoseland@mosoy.org or visit mosoy.org

November 27, 2023 01:58 PM

November 27, 2023 01:17 PM

Embark on a journey through the heartlands of East Texas with Matthew March as he intertwines education, family legacy, and an unwavering love for the land into a vibrant tapestry of rural life.

November 27, 2023 12:38 PM

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Originally Appeared Here

PROPERTY DISCUSSION —The Jefferson Commissioners and members of the Jefferson County Port Authority met Wednesday the Jefferson County Industrial Park to discuss the potential for development.
— Linda Harris

STEUBENVILLE — The way the Jefferson County commissioners see it, a ready-to-develop, 13.36-acre site at the county-owned industrial park is opportunity knocking.

“It’s something I’ve been pushing for quite a while,” Commissioner Dave Maple said. “If you look up and down the Ohio River in our economic development region, there’s not a lot of inventory–inventory means having buildings of a size, whether publicly or privately owned, to get employers into the area. Employers don’t typically want to wait three or four years for something to be built for them, they want it to be built already for them, at least the shell.”

Commissioners and members of the Jefferson County Port Authority braved the cold and rain Wednesday morning to survey the site and talk about the work that’s been done there already, the potential it has to bring jobs and revenue to the community and what it would take to put a spec building on the site.

It was a chance to get everybody thinking about the possibilities, they said.

“I get asked daily, and I see it and I hear it, why are counties around us and areas around us booming with business and we’re lagging behind,” Commissioner Eric Timmons said. “Here’s some shovel-ready land, we’re ready to go … we want to say Jefferson County is open for business, we want you, we want to partner with you — that’s why it’s important to me. I ran on this–I want to see business come to Jefferson County and I want to do what I can to do that.”

The wetlands mitigation –restoration, creation, or enhancement of wetlands to compensate for permitted wetland losses — has already been done, commissioners said.

Under the Clean Water Act, wetlands “may be legally destroyed, but their loss must be compensated for by the restoration, creation or enhancement of other wetlands,” a strategy the U.S. EPA says should result in “no net loss” of wetlands.

To get Ohio EPA’s blessings, commissioners had to purchase wetland mitigation credits from a conservancy land bank, which used it to rebuild a wetland elsewhere in the watershed.

“Wetlands probably put a five-year dent in this specific property, trying to get it remediated,” Maple said. “But it’s all taken care of now.”

Commissioner Tony Morelli admits he’s excited at the prospect of being able to market the property.

“I think it’s a great start,” Morelli said. “One of the reasons I ran was because I was tired of not seeing more economic development here. I was here one week into office and I (participated in) an economic development webinar — the first thing they beat into our heads was if you don’t have any sites, you’re not going to get any businesses. We talk about shovel-ready places but we don’t have any — this would be one.”

Robert Naylor, executive director of the port authority, and board members said they were excited about the possibilities for the area. Naylor said a legal advertisement for a request for quotes for the spec building at the site will be appearing in the newspaper.

The property, they said, should be attractive to businesses.

Morelli said businesses looking to relocate or expand “do not want to hear that we’ll have this ready in a year-and-a-half, they’ll go to other places.”

“You have to have large areas of good, level property to bring in big business,” he added. “I don’t think we’re going to bring in a Toyota plant or anything like that — I think we get the county on track by doing what we did last week, bringing 10 or 15 jobs in, then if we get another business, another 15 or 20 jobs … (it) starts adding up.”

At their Nov. 16 meeting, commissioners inked an agreement with Clean Capital/BQ Energy for a 43-megawatt solar generation facility in Steubenville, guaranteeing “in lieu of taxes” payments totaling at least $300,000 a year for the next 35 years to various city and county entities, including Indian Creek Schools.

Maple concedes developing a spec building won’t be cheap, “(but) if you look at some of the other things we spend that kind of money on, whether it’s infrastructure or whatever, it doesn’t go far when you get into those projects.” And he said economic development professionals say the state is “more open to speculative spending so the grants or the loans or the funding from the state level is more available now than it’s probably ever been.”

He said they’ve already had nibbles from a California company, though he won’t divulge what company it is or what the company is interested in putting at the site.

Timmons said he’s all for moving forward with a spec building.

“With anything there’s a risk, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take,” he said. “We’ve researched it, there are a lot of companies looking for locations like this so we think it’s going to produce and be productive… Let’s get some buildings built and people in these places, that’s what I want.”

Morelli said he’s “excited that we’re all on the same page and want to get something rolling here.”

“When the BDC (Business Development Corp. of the Northern Panhandle) bought the Beech Bottom plant, everybody said they were crazy, who was going to move into it,” Morelli said. “But they bought it, they invested in it … they’ll probably have it full in another year. There’s businesses there right now. I think if we get something going here, it’s just going to domino.”

Maple said that was the point of doing a site visit.

“I think going out and taking a look at it, keeping our movements and momentum going forward (is smart),” he said. “We want people to feel the need for speed, to get things moving.”

Morelli said Jefferson County “has a lot of energy, we (just) need to get something started.”

“I’ve said it a lot of times, I think there’s going to be a domino effect,” he said.

“It doesn’t stop with this,” Timmons agreed. “We have to keep it going.”

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Originally Appeared Here

The Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau (JCCVB) board of directors has signed a new long-term lease for its headquarters.

The board of directors voted to approve a five-year lease with Greyson Manor LLC, owners of the property at 700 E. Captiol Ave.

JCCVB’s base rent is $62,400 through monthly installments of $5,200. The base rent, according to the commercial lease contract between JCCVB and Greyson Manor, will increase 3 percent cumulatively each calendar year after 2024. The lease is automatically renewed each year until the end of 2029, when the bureau will pay about $70,200 for that year’s rent.

Greyson Manor is responsible for electric and gas services not to exceed $7,560 a year, and water and sewer services not to exceed $1,080 a year.

JCCVB occupies the second floor of the building, named the Col. Darwin W. Marmaduke House for its first tenant and former warden of the Missouri State Penitentiary. JCCVB also uses the basement of the building as a museum of the Missouri State Penitentiary.

The bureau has operated out of the Marmaduke House since 2016, according to JCCVB Executive Director Diane Gillespie.

Greyson Manor purchased the building earlier this year from Jeff Schaeperkoetter of Oakbrook Properties LLC, according to the Cole County Assessor’s Office.

JCCVB board member Andy Fetchel said he’s not concerned about the price increasing each year.

“We knew that if the past landlords would have stayed here and would have fixed all the things that needed to be fixed, our rent would have taken a substantial increase. At least we’ve got the repairs and maintenance being done on the building to justify the increase in rent and those kinds of things,” Fetchel said.

Board member and treasurer Brian Bernskoetter said he’s pleased with the owner, DJ Drury, and his work on the structure so far.

“This is probably not the option that we envisioned because, honestly, we didn’t think anyone was going to buy it (the Marmaduke House). But they did, and that’s great,” Bernskoetter said. “I think this is awesome, I think (Drury) has made an invesment, we’re good tenants to have, and I think he sounds like a good owner.”

Gillespie said Drury is currently occupied with repairing the roof at the former Simonsen Ninth Grade Center at 501 E. Miller St., another building Drury owns through another company, Daegans Consortium LLC.

“I think then some things will start happening, I hope,” Gillespie said.

She said she isn’t too concerned about Drury taking some time away from the Marmaduke House for other projects.

“He seems like a reasonable enough guy, if you just brought up, like, ‘Hey, so about those steps,’ he’d get on it,” Fetchel said.

The owners of the Marmaduke House on Capitol Avenue have been seeking commercial entities to rent the upstairs floor.

Drury said his LLC is interested in either a non-profit organization, a government agency or simply a “like-minded company” that aims to promote Missouri’s capital.

He last showed the office spaces to a nonprofit grant-writing organization, Gillespie said.

JCCVB’s board of directors also voted to name Fetchel as chair and Deb Brown as vice chair of the board.

Outgoing chair Kevin Zumwalt presented outgoing vice chairman Michele Braun with a plaque recognizing Braun’s nine years with the bureau.

“She’s been on the board in many positions and helped us out a lot,” he said.

Braun’s term expires in December.

“I know this doesn’t mean you’re not going to be involved with us one way or another,” Zumwalt said.

The board voted for Zumwalt to take over Shelley Klebba’s role as secretary and for Bernskoetter to remain as treasurer.

“I was more than happy to step aside as the chair, and when Andy expressed interest, I made a point to reach out to him and say, ‘I’ll back you, dude.’ It’s great, I’m glad to see it,” Zumwalt said.

    Stephi Smith/News Tribune The Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau uses the basement and first floor of the Col. Darwin W. Marmaduke House at 700 E. Capitol Ave. The owners are seeking a commercial entity to rent the third floor.
      Stephi Smith/News Tribune The Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau has signed a new lease with Greyson Manor to rent out two floors of the Col. Darwin W. Marmaduke House at 700 E. Capitol Ave.
  

Originally Appeared Here

A Republican from St. Louis County is trying to derail 71 proposed initiative petitions with a lawsuit that claims they were improperly certified by Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft.

The court case filed in Jefferson City by Paul Berry III argues that campaign finance filings are wrong or missing for petitions to reinstate abortion rights, outlaw ranked-choice voting, hike the minimum wage and give local governments the power to restrict open carrying of firearms.

As a result, Berry argues, Ashcroft should have rejected the petitions instead of certifying them for backers to begin gathering signatures.

“If you want to change the constitution, you better know what the rules are and follow them,” Berry said in an interview with The Independent.

Berry, who is seeking the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor, has run unsuccessfully in five campaigns since 2012. He has also filed numerous lawsuits that have either been dismissed or withdrawn, including one intended to force state lawmakers to pass a congressional redistricting map and another alleging election irregularities cost him victory in his 22 percentage-point loss in the 2020 St. Louis County Executive race.

Though he isn’t an attorney, Berry represented himself in those cases and is doing so in his latest lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges Ashcroft improperly certified ballot measures that failed to meet legal requirements in their initial filings.

“It’s complex from the amount of parties, but it’s a very simple legal question,” Berry said.

The first step toward enacting an initiative is to file it with the Secretary of State’s office. The cover form requires the sponsoring person to provide contact information and state whether any organization or committee is helping pay campaign costs. If the supporting group qualifies under state law as a campaign committee, a copy of the form registering the committee with the Missouri Ethics Commission must be attached.

For six of the initiatives, filed Aug. 30 by Jamie Corley of St. Louis and stating that the Missouri Women and Family Research Fund is helping pay the costs, the ethics form was not submitted, Berry’s  lawsuit contends.  For the remainder, Berry’s lawsuit argues they have the wrong type of committee.

In response to questions from The Independent, Ashcroft’s office stated that it has never rejected a petition over the documentation of ethics filings.

“We do not have authority to enforce the ethics laws,” the statement read.

The Missouri Women and Family Research Fund did not formally organize a PAC until Nov. 15. Its filing states it is a continuing committee, meaning it is not necessarily focused on a single ballot measure campaign or candidate.

However, the group has decided on a particular ballot measure, Corley announced last week. The ethics commission filing has not been updated.

Berry contends it should have been organized as a campaign committee, which state law says has the “sole purpose is to support or oppose the qualification and passage of one or more particular ballot measures…”

The other initiative filings Berry is challenging are:

• Three versions of an initiative filed by former Judge Jimmie Edwards and a group called SensibleMO to allow local enact ordinances governing possession and carrying of firearms.
• 38 initiatives filed by Richard von Glahn, backed by the Jobs with Justice Ballot Fund, to increase the minimum wage and require employers to offer paid sick leave.
• 24 initiatives filed by Frederic Steinbach with support from a committee called Missouri Agrees, that would establish ballot access and voting rules to prevent enactment of ranked-choice voting.

For those initiatives, Berry’s lawsuit argues their committees are improperly organized as continuing committees when they should be registered as campaign committees.

He’s not trying to sabotage the initiative campaigns, Berry said. Instead, he said he wants Ashcroft to enforce the law as it is written.

“If the judge rules in my favor in a timely fashion, they’ll have 60 days to get a clean initiative petition that’s legal before the Secretary of State and should have an opportunity to get signatures to get on the ballot,” Berry said.

Berry’s lawsuit is the second that puts the Corley abortion initiatives before a judge. Corley is suing Ashcroft and Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick over the ballot language and fiscal note summary.

Corley’s initiative is being promoted as a middle ground between the current complete ban on abortion in Missouri and the expansive abortion-rights proposed in a set of initiatives that just completed the legal process.

Chuck Hatfield, the attorney representing Corley, said Berry is misunderstanding the law.

A committee of any kind doesn’t have to be formed until minimum thresholds are met – spending more than $500 or accepting $250 or more from a single donor. And a continuing committee doesn’t have to reorganize as a campaign committee until it has chosen “particular” ballot measures to support.

The initial filing for the Corley initiatives didn’t include the committee paperwork, Hatfield said, because supporters hadn’t met the requirements to be registered.

“You can only submit paperwork that you have,” Hatfield said.

Whether or not the committee has been formed is not a question Ashcroft must consider, Hatfield said.

“It’s not up to him to determine whether you should have had a committee,” he said. “ That would be exceeding his authority.”

The question of whether the organization paperwork for a continuing committee is sufficient, Hatfield said, is a question of whether the organization has committed to a single ballot measure or if it is in the exploratory phase of a campaign.

“If you haven’t decided whether to do that or not, you’re not a committee,” Hatfield said.

Ashcroft’s office noted to The Independent that while the law governing initiatives directs petitioners to include ethics filings, it also makes that conditional on meeting the definition of committee.

“Because the (Secretary of State) form is self-reporting the (Secretary of State) does not enforce the ethics laws…,” the statement read. “The (Secretary of State) is only required to collect a copy of their filing if they have an organization statement if required by (state law),” the statement read.

The court case against the 71 initiatives was filed Nov. 15. It replaced an earlier filing from August that focused on the initiatives filed by Edward. 

Edwards could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit.

The original case challenged the ballot language and fiscal note summary as well as raising questions about whether the ethics registration and submission met the legal requirements. Asked why he didn’t stick with those initiatives as a test case, Berry said he wants to stop the circulation of all petitions he considers illegal.

“Just taking on one doesn’t resolve the issue that people are continuing to file these initial petitions in an unlawful manner,” Berry said.

Berry’s own campaign filings raise questions about whether he is following the letter of the law. He has an active candidate committee for his campaign for lieutenant governor but has not terminated his committee for the 2020 election. 

Under state law, a candidate can have only one committee.

The 2020 committee is simply caught up in an audit, Berry said, and will be terminated when it is completed.

The Jobs with Justice group has decided on a particular proposal, to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026 and require employers to provide paid sick leave.

The current minimum wage is $12 an hour. It will be adjusted for inflation to $12.30 an hour on Jan. 1.

As of Friday, the Jobs with Justice Ballot Fund had not reorganized as a campaign committee. 

“We have had very enthusiastic responses from voters,” spokeswoman Crystal Brigman Mahaney said. “We are confident that we will turn in more than enough signatures to qualify in the required timeline and that this lawsuit will be properly dismissed.”

Originally Appeared Here

The board overseeing Missouri’s state employee pension plan voted down a proposal by state Treasurer Vivek Malek to sell off any investments in Chinese stocks and other securities.

On a voice vote last week, the 11-member board of the Missouri State Employees Retirement System rejected Malek’s call to punish the Asian economic powerhouse for COVID-19, spy balloons and the fentanyl crisis by pulling its pension investments in the Asian economic powerhouse.

China has become a bad investment in recent years as its economy suffers from deflation, low population growth and an overbuilt housing market, Malek said in a Friday interview with The Independent. He also said China’s threatening posture toward Taiwan, and friendship with Russia, make investments there a bad choice.

“Given the economic decisions, and the economic projections, it is very clear that we should not be investing in China,” Malek said.

Doing business with China has become a political sore spot in the past few years. It was one of the first issues raised in the 2022 Republican Senate primary in Missouri and this year, the Missouri House passed a bill to limit the sale of farmland to investors from China and a handful of other countries. The bill died in the state Senate.

And the U.S. Senate in July voted to prohibit China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from purchasing U.S. farmland.

MOSERS provides pensions to most of the state government workforce. It is supported by contributions from the state treasury, employee payroll deductions and investment income. In recent years, returns on the system’s portfolio, valued at $8.8 billion in June 2022, have not kept pace with growing liabilities.

In 2001, Missouri contributed 12.3 percent of the state’s covered payroll to MOSERS. The state contribution rate for fiscal 2022 was 23.51 percent, and the trustees have asked that it be set at 28.75 percent for the coming fiscal year.

Investments in China represent about $200 million of MOSERS’s investment portfolio, Malek said.

Many of the issues between the U.S. and China were topics for a meeting this week in San Francisco between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi agreed to help curb fentanyl production, the Associated Press reported, with Biden pressing Xi to refrain from sending military support to Russia and promise not to invade Taiwan.

“Those are issues of national interest for the United States, and we should be looking at national interests” in state investments, Malek said.

Malek took office as treasurer in January after his appointment by Gov. Mike Parson and is seeking election to a full term in 2024. Two lawmakers, House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, and state Sen. Andrew Koenig, R-Manchester, are also campaigning for the GOP nomination.

Malek has a seat on the 11-member MOSERS board because of his office, as does Commissioner of Administration Ken Zellers. The others are legislators, members of the pension system elected by other members, and appointees of the governor.

Two legislators reached for comment on Thursday’s vote were split. Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, an Independence Democrat, voted against divestment, while Rep. Don Mayhew, a Crocker Republican, voted for it.

The MOSERS board should wait for guidance from the General Assembly on investments in China, Rizzo said.

“It was clearly being done for political purposes,” Rizzo said. “If this decision is going to be made, it should be done by the legislature.”

Mayhew said he supported Malek’s proposal and thinks it will be revisited at a future meeting.

“We were provided data that would tend to indicate that, at best, investing in China is a break even proposition, but recent history kind of indicates it’s probably a bad choice,” Mayhew said.

Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine, the MOSERS board voted to dump investments tied to Russia and bar investment managers from making future purchases of Russian securities.

Chinese investments have similar issues, Malek said.

“The truth of the matter is that investing in Russia was not safe for us,” he said. “And so it’s not for China.”

The Missouri Independent, www.missouriindependent.com, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization covering state government and its impact on Missourians.

Originally Appeared Here