Mid-Missouri

Lacy Stokes will jump on Interstate 44 and head east for about an hour to take her talents to Springfield at Missouri State.

And she will pass her hometown of Mount Vernon about halfway there.

“The home thing definitely played a factor in my decision,” Stokes said.

Stokes dreamed of playing at the Division I level as a young athlete. She even dreamed of becoming a Bear one day because of someone who is now on the coaching staff at MSU.

Kenzie  Kostas (Williams) is also a graduate of Mount Vernon High School and she joined the Bears’ program in 2022. Kostas also played at Missouri State and graduated in 2016 before going on to coach five seasons at Central Missouri as a graduate assistant and then an assistant. Last year, she was an assistant at Florida Atlantic.

“I kind of got to grow up watching her play at Mount Vernon and there (Missouri State),” Stokes said. “I think that’s where my dream of getting to play there started.”

But, just having the opportunity to play after high school means a lot to Stokes.

“I think any opportunity to play after high school is amazing,” she added. “Once you get to that age you realize any opportunity is a blessing. I couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunity coach (Ronnie) Ressel gave me.”

The proximity to home was key for her in this move. Stokes noted that her family and friends in the Mount Vernon area will be about the same distance from her to come and watch home games. Even former teammates, coaches and fans in Joplin will just be an hour down the interstate.

Stokes has talked about the support she gets from her father, Caleb, and stepmother Goldie, as well as her mother, Jessica, and stepfather, Jeff Jones, and how much it means just to have them at her games.

Some college athletes take the same route as Stokes by staying closer to home and others end up on the other side of the country or at least a long distance from where they grew up. Stokes believes that just comes down to a personality.

“I think it just comes down to the type of person you are,” she said. “Obviously everyone loves home and they love having their family support, but some people’s dream is to get out in the world.

“I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all,” she said. “I would have loved to go to GCU (Grand Canyon University) and played for coach (Molly) Miller. I think that would have been a great experience for me. I just feel like the path that I was supposed to go down was at Missouri State.”

A little less than a month ago, Stokes talked about how she couldn’t have told the younger her “no” when trying to pursue a dream. Now she’s set out to fulfill that dream and has it right in front of her.

“It’s really unbelievable, she said. “I don’t think it’s really set in yet. And it probably won’t until my first game at Missouri State.

“I couldn’t be more thankful. I’ve been really lucky in my life with the people that are in it and the way that I was raised, and the opportunities I’ve been given and what I’ve been able to do with them. I have to thank my family but I also have to thank God, mostly. … To see little Lacy’s dreams getting fulfilled makes me take a step back because I realize how lucky I really am.”

As Stokes focuses on taking her game to the next level she believes putting in the work and preparing herself for a tougher game is what it will take to be successful. She knows talent will be deeper on teams, including her own. She looks to share the ball as the point guard for the Bears saying there will be multiple “dominant scorers” on her team.

Originally Appeared Here

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Mid-Missouri can expect millions of dollars worth of new investments from the state under a budget advanced by the Missouri House.

The House on Tuesday perfected four budget bills, allocating more than $78 million for the One Health lab in development near the old Missouri State Penitentiary site, $10 million for Lincoln University to develop its health sciences and crisis center and $5 million for development of the Rock Island Trail.

Lawmakers in the General Assembly are finalizing the state budget, made up of 20 appropriation bills, facing a May 5 constitutional deadline. So far, the supplemental appropriation bill containing a pay raise for state employees is the only one to be fully passed and signed into law.

The House, where budget bills start, has fully approved 15 appropriation bills and perfected the remaining four budget bills Tuesday.

The Senate received the initial tranche of appropriation bills from the House at the end of March. The 15 bills, HBs 1-13 and HB 15, contain core appropriations for the state’s 17 executive agencies, elected officials and judicial system, and funding to service state debt.

The Senate Appropriations Committee began reviewing those bills Tuesday and deciding whether to follow allocations proposed by the House, the Governor’s Office or take a new Senate position.

House Budget Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, said the final four budget bills invest heavily in the state’s infrastructure, in many cases requiring local matches.

The funding appropriated to Lincoln for the development of its health sciences and crisis center doesn’t have any strings attached.

Lincoln President John Moseley said it’s a welcome boost along with the proposed 7 percent increase to the university’s core funding. Under the House budget, the university is also getting funding through the MoExcels program to help turn paraprofessional teachers into professional teachers, he said.

“We’ve really seen an increase in participation in that program so it’s great to see the state put some support behind it,” Moseley said. “Right now, we’ve got a number of teachers in the St. Louis market that are taking advantage of that through online courses, so we’re excited about the potential for continued growth as result of these commitments from the state.”

The House budget also includes $10 million for campus development at State Technical College of Missouri in Linn.

There’s been a lot of discussion surrounding higher education funding this session, but Moseley said there seems to be consensus around the final numbers, and he’s expecting “the House and Senate will get to an agreement to continue to support higher education.”

Rep. Bruce Sassmann, R-Bland, successfully added an amendment to HB 19, the same budget bill funding Lincoln’s health sciences center, to allocate $5 million for development of the Rock Island Trail.

Gov. Mike Parson in 2021 accepted the Rock Island corridor as part of the state parks system, kicking off development in some areas around the trail, such as Belle, Versailles and Eldon. The trail, once fully developed, will connect to the Katy Trail to create a 43-mile loop.

State funding to develop the Rock Island Trail has been proposed several times but has never made it to the governor’s desk. Last year, the House approved the governor’s recommended $69 million appropriation for the trail, but the Senate removed it.

Sassmann’s amendment allocates $5 million to specifically develop the trail west of Eldon and east of Belle. None of the money will be spent developing the trail between Belle and Eldon. Sassmann said several municipalities targeted with the funding have received or applied grants to develop the trail. Eldon and Versailles have received a grant, he said.

“This amendment is respectful to those portions along the trail that are excited and enthusiastic about trail development and it also respectful to those folks that are not ready for the trail to be developed,” Sassmann said from the House floor.

The amendment narrowly passed 72-71.

The House budget includes additional funding for the One Health lab planned for Jefferson City as well.

The 260,000-square-foot lab will house five state agencies, including the Department of Health and Senior Services, Department of Natural Resources, Department of Agriculture, Department of Conservation and the Missouri Highway Patrol, housed under Department of Public Safety.

More than $78.6 million is allocated to the DHSS for the lab’s development in HB 20 and more than $104.6 million is allocated to DPS for development of a crime lab “as part of a multi-agency laboratory campus.”

The state is currently working with a design consulting firm to identify each agency’s requirements for the lab.

The House budget also includes tens of millions for upgrades at state buildings within the Capital City.

Members of the House voted to spend $2.7 million to repair the Capitol bronze doors, $4 million for other Capitol building improvements, $1.6 million for construction of a judicial learning center at the Missouri Supreme Court Library and $2.1 million for additional improvements throughout the building.

The House budget also includes $14.3 million for the Fulton Reception and Diagnostic Center and nearly $16 million for the Biggs Building at Fulton State Hospital.

All spending is still subject to approval by the Senate and governor.

    Josh Cobb/News Tribune photo: State Sen. Sandy Crawford, a Buffalo Republican, looks over a Missouri House bill during the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing held to discuss House budget bills Tuesday afternoon, April 18, 2023.
      Josh Cobb/News Tribune photo: A Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee hearing was held at the state Capitol Tuesday afternoon, April 18, 2023, to discuss a series of budget bills the House passed last week.
  

Originally Appeared Here

COLUMBIA — A group of Columbia construction supply employees say they are fed up with current working conditions. 

Employees of Wildcat Materials officially went on strike Monday. They partnered with Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA) Local 955, a Missouri construction labor union that has assisted in bargaining with management. 

“We’re going to be out here every day until management stops playing games and starts bargaining in good faith,” David Riney, business manager for LiUNA Local 955, said. “Our members aren’t trying to be millionaires – they’re just asking to make a living wage for an honest day’s work.”

The employees say they are going on strike for three reasons:

• Substandard wages: Workers argue that their competitors are paid significantly more, and that Wildcat Materials management has failed to make significant offers. 
• Expensive insurance: Some workers claim they pay $200 a week for insurance, forcing employers to make tough financial decisions at home. 
• Long hours and overtime: Workers say they want to be paid out after eight hours in a single workday rather than after 40 hours per week. 

Bargaining with management has been ongoing since December 2021, but employees claim management has failed to address their concerns, according to a news release from LiUNA Local 955.

The strike has led to a stop in the delivery of construction supplies to other companies, including TJ Wies Contracting Inc., which is working on the Children’s Hospital on MU’s campus, according to a Wildcat Materials employee.  A spokesperson from the hospital says they do not expect any delays.

Some workers at the strike have been employed with the company for over 15 years, like Jason Hunt, who works as a delivery operator. Hunt said it feels like a “waste of time” to stay loyal to a company for so long when wages aren’t fair.

“Bringing in new employees at what we currently make, that have little or no experience, and our competitors are paying, you know, up to $5 an hour more than what we were getting paid,” Hurt said. 

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HAPPENING NOW: Wildcat Materials’ workers are on strike outside the company’s office/yard. @KOMUnews pic.twitter.com/qxy2YK1KGw

— Tia Maggio (@TiaMaggioTV) April 17, 2023

Walter Langdon has been employed with Wildcat Materials for two years, and he says it’s not uncommon to have 14-hour workdays.

“Typically we’re scheduled 45 hours a week, which is already five hours of overtime scheduled,” he said.

However, Langdon said his future at Wildcat Materials is something he’s had to sit down and think about.

“I’m starting a family. I have a 2-month-old,” Langdon said. “And so I kind of had to sit down and think, ‘Am I ready to just put my two weeks leave? Or if they fire me, am I acceptable with that?'”

Langdon said he still believes Wildcat Materials can become a better place and more competitive. 

LiUNA Local 955 says it will stand with the striking union members for a rally on Friday, April 21, to demand Wildcat Materials gives employees the contract they deserve. 

Gypsum Management & Supply Inc., the parent company of Wildcat Materials, sent this statement to KOMU 8 News when asked for comment on the strike: 

“Our company is committed to providing jobs with competitive pay and benefits and opportunities to build a great career. We value our employees and have negotiated in good faith with the union in recent months. We continue to be open to working constructively with the union to reach a resolution.”

Originally Appeared Here

MONTROSE, Mo. — It took Samantha Lesmeister’s family four months to find a medical professional who could see that she was struggling with something more than her Down syndrome.

The young woman, known as Sammee, had become unusually sad and lethargic after falling in the shower and hitting her head. She lost her limited ability to speak, stopped laughing, and no longer wanted to leave the house.

General-practice doctors and a neurologist said such mental deterioration was typical for a person with Down syndrome entering adulthood, recalled her mother, Marilyn Lesmeister. They said nothing could be done.

The family didn’t buy it.

Marilyn researched online and learned the University of Kansas Health System has a special medical clinic for adults with Down syndrome. Most other Down syndrome programs nationwide focus on children, even though many people with the condition now live into middle age and often develop health problems typically associated with seniors. And most of the clinics that focus on adults are in urban areas, making access difficult for many rural patients.

The clinic Marilyn found is in Kansas City, Kansas, 80 miles northwest of the family’s cattle farm in central Missouri. She made an appointment for her daughter and drove up.

Sammee with instructors Rike Mueller, left, and Samantha Richardson at Remember to Dream, a therapeutic riding center in Cole Camp, Mo.Christopher Smith for KFF Health News

The program’s leader, nurse practitioner Moya Peterson, carefully examined Sammee Lesmeister and ordered more tests.

“She reassured me that, ‘Mom, you’re right. Something’s wrong with your daughter,’” Marilyn Lesmeister said.

With the help of a second neurologist, Peterson determined Sammee Lesmeister had suffered a traumatic brain injury when she hit her head. Since that diagnosis about nine years ago, she has regained much of her strength and spirit with the help of therapy and steady support.

Sammee, 26, can again speak a few words, including “hi,” “bye,” and “love you.” She smiles and laughs. She likes to go out into her rural community, where she helps choose meals at restaurants, attends horse-riding sessions at a stable, and folds linens at a nursing home.

Without Peterson’s insight and encouragement, the family likely would have given up on Sammee’s recovery. “She probably would have continued to wither within herself,” her mother said. “I think she would have been a stay-at-home person and a recluse.”

“A whole different ballgame”

The Lesmeisters wish Peterson’s program wasn’t such a rarity. A directory published by the Global Down Syndrome Foundation lists just 15 medical programs nationwide that are housed outside of children’s hospitals and that accept Down syndrome patients who are 30 or older.

The United States had about three times as many adults with the condition by 2016 as it did in 1970. That’s mainly because children born with it are no longer denied lifesaving care, including surgeries to correct birth defects.

Adults with Down syndrome often develop chronic health problems, such as severe sleep apnea, digestive disorders, thyroid conditions, and obesity. Many develop Alzheimer’s disease in middle age. Researchers suspect this is related to extra copies of genes that cause overproduction of proteins, which build up in the brain.

“Taking care of kids is a whole different ballgame from taking care of adults,” said Peterson, the University of Kansas nurse practitioner.

Sammee Lesmeister is an example of the trend toward longer life spans. If she’d been born two generations ago, she probably would have died in childhood.

Marilyn Lesmeister and her daughter Sammee. Christopher Smith for KFF Health News

She had a hole in a wall of her heart, as do about half of babies with Down syndrome. Surgeons can repair those dangerous defects, but in the past, doctors advised most families to forgo the operations, or said the children didn’t qualify. Many people with Down syndrome also were denied care for serious breathing issues, digestive problems, or other chronic conditions. People with disabilities were often institutionalized. Many were sterilized without their consent.

Such mistreatment eased from the 1960s into the 1980s, as people with disabilities stood up for their rights, medical ethics progressed, and courts declared it illegal to withhold care. “Those landmark rulings sealed the deal: Children with Down syndrome have the right to the same lifesaving treatment that any other child would deserve,” said Brian Skotko, a Harvard University medical geneticist who leads Massachusetts General Hospital’s Down Syndrome Program.

The median life expectancy for a baby born in the U.S. with Down syndrome jumped from about 4 years in 1950 to 58 years in the 2010s, according to a recent report from Skotko and other researchers. In 1950, fewer than 50,000 Americans were living with Down syndrome. By 2017, that number topped 217,000, including tens of thousands of people in middle age or beyond.

The population is expected to continue growing, the report says. A few thousand pregnant women a year now choose abortions after learning they’re carrying fetuses with Down syndrome. But those reductions are offset by the increasing number of women becoming pregnant in their late 30s or 40s, when they are more likely to give birth to a baby with Down syndrome.

Skotko said the medical system has not kept up with the extraordinary increase in the number of adults with Down syndrome. Many medical students learn about the condition only while training to treat pediatric patients, he said.

Few patients can travel to specialized clinics like Skotko’s program in Boston. To help those who can’t, he founded an online service, Down Syndrome Clinic to You, which helps families and medical practitioners understand the complications and possible treatments.

“If they say it hurts, I listen”

Charlotte Woodward, who has Down syndrome, is a prominent advocate for improved care. She counts herself among the tens of thousands of adults with the condition who likely would have died years ago without proper treatment. Woodward, 33, of Fairfax, Virginia, had four heart surgeries as a child and then a heart transplant in her 20s.

Woodward, who is an education program associate for the National Down Syndrome Society, has campaigned to end discrimination against people with disabilities who need organ transplants.

She said her primary care doctor is excellent. But she has felt treated like a child by other health care providers, who have spoken to her parents instead of to her during appointments.

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She said many general-practice doctors seem to have little knowledge about adults with Down syndrome. “That’s something that should change,” she said. “It shouldn’t just be pediatricians that are aware of these things.”

Woodward said adults with the condition should not be expected to seek care at programs housed in children’s hospitals. She said the country should set up more specialized clinics and finance more research into health problems that affect people with disabilities as they age. “This is really an issue of civil rights,” she said.

Advocates and clinicians say it’s crucial for health care providers to communicate as much as possible with patients who have disabilities. That can lead to long appointments, said Brian Chicoine, a family practice physician who leads the Adult Down Syndrome Center of Advocate Aurora Health in Park Ridge, Illinois, near Chicago.

“It’s very important to us that we include the individuals with Down syndrome in their care,” he said. “If you’re doing that, you have to take your time. You have to explain things. You have to let them process. You have to let them answer. All of that takes more time.”

Time costs money, which Peterson believes is why many hospital systems don’t set up specialized clinics like the ones she and Chicoine run.

Peterson’s methodical approach was evident as she saw new patients on a recent afternoon at her Kansas City clinic. She often spends an hour on each initial appointment, speaking directly to patients and giving them a chance to share their thoughts, even if their vocabularies are limited.

Her patients that day included Christopher Yeo, 44, who lives 100 miles away in the small town of Hartford, Kansas. Yeo had become unable to swallow solid food, and he’d lost 45 pounds over about 1½ years. He complained to his mother, Mandi Nance, that something “tickled” in his chest.

Nurse practitioner Moya Peterson with patient Christopher Yeo.Tony Leys for KFF Health News

During his exam, he lifted his shirt for Peterson, revealing the scar where he’d had heart surgery as a baby. He grimaced, pointed to his chest, and repeatedly said the word “gas.”

Peterson looked Yeo in the eye as she asked him and his mother about his discomfort.

The nurse practitioner takes seriously any such complaints from her patients. “If they say it hurts, I listen,” she said. “They’re not going to tell you about it until it hurts bad.”

Yeo’s mother had taken him to a cardiologist and other specialists, but none had determined what was wrong.

Peterson asked numerous questions. When does Yeo’s discomfort seem to crop up? Could it be related to what he eats? How is his sleep? What are his stools like?

After his appointment, Peterson referred Yeo to a cardiologist who specializes in adults with congenital heart problems. She ordered a swallowing test, in which Yeo would drink a special liquid that appears on scans as it goes down. And she recommended a test for Celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that interferes with digestion and is common in people with Down syndrome. No one had previously told Nance about the risk.

Nance, who is a registered nurse, said afterward that she has no idea what the future holds for their family. But she was struck by the patience and attention Peterson and other clinic staff members gave to her son. Such treatment is rare, she said. “I feel like it’s a godsend. I do,” she said. “I feel like it’s an answered prayer.”

“Like a person, and not a condition”

Peterson serves as the primary care provider for some of her patients with Down syndrome. But for many others, especially those who live far away, she is someone to consult when complications arise. That’s how the Lesmeisters use her clinic.

Mom Marilyn is optimistic Sammee can live a fulfilling life in their community for years to come. “Some people have said I need to put her in a home. And I’m like, ‘What do you mean?’ And they say, ‘You know ― a home,’” she said. “I’m like, ‘She’s in a home. Our home.’”

Sammee’s sister, who lives in Texas, has agreed to take her in when their parents become too old to care for her.

Marilyn’s voice cracked with emotion as she expressed her gratitude for the help they have received and her hopes for Sammee’s future.

“I just want her to be taken care of and loved like I love her,” she said. “I want her to be taken care of like a person, and not a condition.”

KFF Health News, formerly known as Kaiser Health News (KHN), is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.

Follow NBC HEALTH on Twitter & Facebook. 

Tony Leys, KFF Health News

Originally Appeared Here

Following a disagreement that unfolded during the mid-1980s at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Honey Creek, 42 baptized church members made the decision to leave the congregation and explore the possibility of establishing a new church in the area.

Through their dedication, this small group founded Peace Lutheran Church and created the only congregation in Cole County affiliated with the small Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

“At first, we really didn’t know what to do,” said Paul Junkans, whose father, Ervin, served many years as pastor for Immanuel Lutheran Church. “Should we go to another church or do we start another church? We visited a church at the lake before finally deciding that we were going to embark upon the process of forming a new church.”

On July 10, 1986, the small group held its first unofficial meeting and, 10 days later, met under an oak tree in the front yard of Tom and Lisa Ittner for their first worship service as a new church body.

“We were fortunate that it was a nice day, and we used The Lutheran Hymnal for songs, and Walter Henry Jr. played music on a small organ with an amplifier,” Junkans said. “The sermon was read from Rev. Graf’s sermon book.”

Several of these Christians, seeking to establish their own permanent place of worship, traveled to Trinity Lutheran Church in New Haven, Missouri, to participate in their worship service. While there, they were advised that a retired pastor of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod might be able to assist them.

The group applied for membership with the Missouri Synod and rented a place at the mall to hold their services under the pastoral guidance of the Rev. Luther Anderson. Meetings continued to discuss incorporating as a congregation with the state of Missouri, a process that was finalized on Oct. 1, 1986.

“I believe it was Wanda Smith who came up with the name ‘peace’ to use for the church name, and that’s how it came to be ‘Peace Lutheran Church,'” said Junkans, who served as the first chairman of the church board.

However, the process of becoming affiliated with the Missouri Synod continued to be defined by challenges.

“I recall it was my own father who said that we should look into affiliating with the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS),” Junkans said. “The ELS president visited with us in February 1987 to discuss the structure of the ELS, doctrine and other such things.”

Junkans continued, “At a voters meeting, we decided to withdraw our application with the LCMS and apply to the ELS, with whom we did eventually become affiliated. Then, we were able to borrow the money to purchase property and build a church.”

Using the services of real estate agent Ben Rogers, the council of Peace Lutheran Church purchased 11 acres two miles north of Brazito for $23,000, which was locally referred to as the Aldo Kroeger property. Plans were drawn up for a 100-person sanctuary and associated spaces.

Construction of the church began in late spring of 1987 while Pastor Anderson continued to serve the congregation. He departed in July of the same year and the ELS president coordinated for an interim pastor to serve Peace Lutheran Church.

“The church dedication took place on Nov. 8 (1987) and the following spring we had our first confirmation class,” Junkans said. “We also began discussing the development of a cemetery on the property.”

Church records indicate the first internment in the cemetery of Peace Lutheran Church occurred in 1994 and was Crystal, the infant daughter of Bobby and Celeste Gilmore.

“An exciting moment in our early church history was the arrival of our first full-time pastor in July 1988, Pastor Micah Ernst, along with his wife, Claudia, and their children,” Junkans said.

Embracing the pleasing circumstance of sustained congregational growth, ground was broken for a new 2,400-square-foot addition in October 2001. The addition became the new worship sanctuary while the former sanctuary provides space for a fellowship hall. Much of the construction was made possible through numerous memorials and donations.

“We had three stained-glass windows installed in the sanctuary and the congregation wanted to ensure they contained Christian symbolism,” Junkans said. “The one to the left of the altar represents baptism and the one on the right is about the Lord’s Supper. The one above the altar represents the word of God as the sword of the Spirit.”

Hanging on the wall inside the entrance to the sanctuary is a painting titled “Means of Grace” that was commissioned by Hannah Ernst, a talented artist and daughter of long-time Peace Lutheran Pastor Micah Ernst.

Ernst served the congregation of Peace Lutheran for 11 years until accepting a call to Ohio in 1999. Several pastors served the small congregation in the ensuing years. In December 2015, Ernst returned and continues to serve the congregation.

As part of his ministry, Ernst also serves Grace Lutheran Church in Columbia as part of a shared pastoral agreement.

The history of Peace Lutheran Church may appear but a fleeting moment when compared to the lengthy legacy of other Lutheran churches in the area, but as Junkans explained, it is through divine grace that their small Lutheran synod was planted and has flourished in the community.

“Our congregation came out of strife as we are simply forgiven sinners, but the Holy Spirit continues to shine the light of Jesus among his people,” he said. “We really like the synod we belong to, but ultimately the church is about seeking souls for Christ’s kingdom and not the building.

“We want to stay true to our God and his Word … and share our hope in a loving way.”

Jeremy Amick is the public affairs officer for the Silver Star Families of America.

Originally Appeared Here

The Mark Twain National Forest has kicked off a new effort to build a network of groups and residents that can help one another care for Missouri’s natural landscapes. As part of the Missouri Outdoor Connections project, the Forest is asking organizations that play a role or have an interest in Missouri’s natural areas to complete a survey. Scientists will use the survey results to create a comprehensive map of the myriad civic groups working to strengthen communities and environments across Missouri and the St. Louis metro-region.

Survey results will allow the Mark Twain National Forest and Forest Service’s Urban Connections program in St. Louis to bring together a large and diverse group of land stewards. Through this project, gardeners, trail club members, educators, community organizers and many others can join together to take care of the land.

Researchers are asking groups that take care of the local environment, promote natural resource stewardship, or generally care for or promote sustainable public land usage to complete the Missouri Outdoor Connections Survey.

Stewardship mapping builds a database of environmental stewardship groups — large and small, from formal nonprofits to grassroots groups. This effort will focus on (but is not limited to) southern and central Missouri and the greater St. Louis area. The project is designed to help understand and strengthen civic capacity to care for the natural resources of Missouri’s landscapes.

“If you are in a group that cares about public lands, or nature in general, then please take a little bit of time to fill out the survey and share it with others you know that would be interested in participating,” said Mark Twain National Forest Supervisor Dawn Laybolt. “The more participation we have, the more networks we can form to make positive changes together in the future!”

Complete the survey and get the chance to win up to $500 to support your group’s stewardship efforts! Prize awards are made possible thanks to The Nature of Cities:

• Grand prize = $500 gift card (one group)

• Second prize = $100 gift card (one group)

• Third prize = $50 gift card (five groups)

All groups responding to the survey will be entered into the drawing (one entry per group).

This process will: 1) identify, connect, and leverage existing and potential partners; 2) increase work across forest and city boundaries; and 3) help the Forest Service understand the extent to which lands are being cared for and why. By focusing on delivering benefits through shared stewardship, future partnerships have the potential to increase economic stability in communities in the region.

The Stewardship Mapping and Assessment Project (STEW-MAP), a research tool and mapping platform, is the guiding force behind the Missouri Outdoor Connections project. Since 2007, stewardship mapping has expanded nationally and internationally. STEW-MAP projects are bringing people together in Baltimore; Philadelphia; Seattle; Chicago; Portland, Maine; Los Angeles; Hawaii; France; Puerto Rico; Dominican Republic; and Colombia.

The Missouri Outdoor Connections project is a stewardship mapping project that is geared toward building a network of all people interested in the outdoors and connecting with others to take care of the region’s natural areas. Learn more about this research project on the Missouri Outdoor Connections webpage. Please direct questions about the survey to SM.FS.ConnectMO@usda.gov.

Originally Appeared Here

COLUMBIA − Hospitals have been experiencing workforce shortages since the COVID-19 pandemic, but shortages aren’t the only factor that is affecting mid-Missouri hospitals. MU Health Care is seeking to increase diversity in its positions. 

The Missouri Hospital Association says registered nurses make up the largest single cohort of hospital employees in Missouri, but there is currently a need for more than 8,000 of them. MU Health Care is offering programs that allow anyone, regardless of background, to apply. 

Shanon Fucik, chief nursing officer at MU Health Care, says their entire organization, as well as many industries around the country, are experiencing workforce shortages. She says they’re not just trying to fill those vacant positions. 

“We definitely are working with our local high schools and different areas of schools of nursing to bring in whoever from whatever diverse background,” Fucik said.

MU Health Care is working with MU’s Sinclair School of Nursing to offer more opportunities. The health care company recently received a workforce training grant from the Missouri’s Department of Economic Development to educate and train 300 undergraduate students. 

The goal is that those students become the next generation of frontline workers caring for mid-Missourians.

“These short-term workers working as students will help fortify our frontline teams to be able to provide care to patients,” Fucik said.

Nursing is a female-dominated profession. According to the 2022 Nursing Report from the Missouri Healthcare Workforce Project, 90.8% of RNs are women and 88.1% are RNs are white.

Despite the difference, male nurses make around $10,000 more, according to a 2015 study by the American Journal of Nursing.

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Wade Spilman, a male nurse at University Hospital, says the job takes dedication but is rewarding.

“We need more people to care about other people,” Spilman said. “I think it makes a big difference to have somebody who genuinely cares about what they are doing and the stuff that they do.”

Stephenson Crain, who is also a nurse at University Hospital, said one of his favorite reasons for being a nurse is being able to see the stories of recovery. 

“It’s definitely rewarding to feel like you make a difference in someone’s life,” Crain said. “We get a lot of sick patients here so its nice to get to see them leave the ICU.”

He said those interesting in medicine or helping people should give nursing a try.

“We are short on nurses, so really if there is anybody that likes helping people whether you are a man or a woman, go to nursing school, we need you,” he said.

There are also many different types of nursing jobs. 

“We sometimes joke that even if you have a nursing job and you don’t like it, there’s so many more you can just pick a different one,” Crain said.

For more information on the different programs offered through MU Health Care, visit MuHealth.org.

Originally Appeared Here

At last week’s Cole County Commission meeting, representatives from Wisper Internet and the Cole County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) gave presentations on their organization’s services.

Though internet access and conservation are starkly different services, both organizations outlined how they’re supporting Cole County residents.

Internet access

Now three years out since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Miller with Wisper Internet said internet access is more important than ever before. He said Wisper founder Nathan Stooke likes to say, “COVID brought 2030 to 2020.” Internet is now an essential utility similar to water and electricity, Miller said.

The timing of his presentation came from the recent completion of a fixed-wireless tower in Taos.

Miller said the tower is one of several serving the Cole County area. There are two towers in Jefferson City, one in Taos, one in Eugene, one in Lohman and one in Centertown. He also said there is a tower still in the design stage that will go up in St. Thomas.

Wisper provides fixed-wireless internet, Miller said. Instead of connecting from Earth to a satellite, he said, fixed-wireless connects “from Earth to Earth.” He said the technology is made by Tarana Wireless.

Tarana creates “base nodes” that are put at the top of communication towers. Then, “remote nodes” are installed at companies, residences, schools and other buildings needed wireless internet. The remote nodes receive the wireless signal by being in the line of sight of the base nodes.

This usually means nodes need to be installed as high up as possible, to increase line of sight. The wireless signal can also bounce from node to node, meaning if a house is out of the line of sight of the base node on a tower, it can still get a signal by being within the line of sight of other houses with remote nodes.

Miller said Wisper primarily serves underserved and unserved populations, especially rural ones. Wisper provides internet access to around 20,000 customers across Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Indiana and Illinois.

Mandy Tyron, the marketing coordinator at Wisper, said each tower has an eight-mile radius of coverage and often overlaps with other towers. Tyron showed the commissioners coverage maps that displayed an increased amount of connectivity in areas where Wisper has set up shop.

Miller said Wisper has identified around 800 houses in Taos that would get a 90 percent connectivity rate using the new tower.

The company’s mission to serve rural communities is aided by federal funds and programs. Miller said Wisper received $122 million from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2019 through the Connect America Fund (CAF).

The CAF is a program meant to ensure underserved and unserved rural communities in the United States have access to high-speed internet. Miller said Wisper has committed $2 million of that money to serving Cole County.

Wisper customers can also apply for help from the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), previously known as the Emergency Broadband Benefit, Miller said. The ACP subsidizes internet bills and provides discounts on devices like phones and tablets for customers who receive Medicaid or free/discounted school lunches.

Miller said Wisper’s research shows about 14 percent of households in the Taos/Blair Oaks school district are eligible, and 57 percent of households in the broader Jefferson City school district are eligible.

Conservation

District Manager Michele Brautigam represented the Cole County Soil and Water Conservation District at the meeting. She was accompanied at the meeting by John Loesch, the chair of the SWCD board, vice chair Mark Thompson, board treasurer Kevin Kerperin, board member Roy Raithel and district technician Jim Frank.

Brautigam began her presentation with a brief history of the SWCD. She said Missouri’s soil and water commission was founded in 1943 as a response to the Dust Bowl. The individual districts, Cole County’s included, were created between 1944 and 1946, she said.

Brautigam explained the districts get their funding from a one-tenth of one percent sales tax passed in 1984 that is divided equally between Missouri state parks and the Department of Natural Resources soil and water conservation program.

The tax funds a state cost-share program that lets farmers and landowners implement soil and water conservation practices.

The Cole County SWCD participates in six cost-share categories: Sheet, rill and gully erosion; grazing management; animal waste management; nutrient and pest management; sensitive areas; and woodland erosion.

There are some 30 “practices” within those six categories, Brautigam said. The most common practices are cover crops, nutrient and pest management, pond and spring development, grazing systems and livestock exclusions.

To assist farmers and landowners, Brautigam said the SWCD visits farms to help decide which practices would be compatible and beneficial, reviews conservation plans, conducts inspections and does soil loss determinations.

The SWCD also has two no-till drills available for rental by farmers to stop erosion.

On top of the cost-share benefits and equipment, the SWCD also participates in several local conservation events, including Envirothon, the Mid-Missouri Grazing Conference, Grazing School and Forage Day.

“These practices conserve soil, which consequently improves water quality by reducing sedimentation in rivers and streams, plus helps promote good farming practices,” Brautigam said.

For more information on Cole County SWCD programs, visit https://mosoilandwater.land/cole.

Originally Appeared Here

Missouri loves itself a false spring or two — or three.

Whenever the weather stops faking us out, and spring temperatures stabilize, mid-Missourians will head outside to enjoy the start of a concurrent season: patio dining time.

Many spots in and around Columbia deserve your attention. Here are just 13 with dedicated patios or outdoor seating, and a very cursory glance at what they have to offer.

Hours of operation and menu items are, of course, subject to change.

44 Stone Public House

Where: 3910 Peachtree Drive

Enticing entrees: Fish and chips; grilled lamb burger; smoked pork belly sandwich

Promising drinks: In addition to a serious beer lineup, the Irish Old Fashioned (featuring Jameson whiskey) and rosemary gin fizz hold promise

Hours of operation: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday

Website:https://www.44stonepub.com/

Barred Owl Butcher and Table

Where: 47 E. Broadway

Enticing entrees: While the menu changes seasonally, staples such as shrimp and grits shine as do butcher boards and the pimiento cheese smashburger

Promising drinks: The Cold Black Heart (tequila, spicy pepper vodka, pamplemousse rose, grapefruit, lime and lava salt); the Oxacan Old-Fashioned revolves around tequila and mezcal; Mad Hatter (hibiscus-infused gin, honey, lemon, rhubarb bitters, club soda)

Hours of operation: 4:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; 4:30-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday brunch

Website:https://www.barredowlbutcher.com/

More:Barred Owl staff brings playful spirits to cocktail creation, including Cold Black Heart

Cafe Berlin

Where: 220 N. Tenth St.

Enticing entrees: Apples and sausage; the Starving Artist (biscuit topped with potatoes, eggs, greens and chipotle vegetarian gravy); tempeh Reuben

Hours of operation: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.; closed Tuesdays

Website: https://www.cafeberlincomo.com/

More:Why Cafe Berlin’s Apples and Sausage is ‘the perfect kind of weird’

Cooper’s Landing

Where: 11505 Smith Hatchery Road

Enticing entrees: Cooper’s Landing serves a variety of hot and cold sandwiches (from ham and Swiss to meatball subs) and hosts assorted food trucks — March vendors included Mia Taco Truck, The Bus Old School BBQ, Big Hungry Patty Wagon and Zydeco’s Cajun Kitchen

Promising drinks: A variety of local beers and hard ciders as well as canned cocktails

Hours of operation: 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Sunday

Website:https://cooperslandingmo.com/

Dive Bar

Where: 1116 Business Loop 70 E

Enticing entrees: Lobster chipotle mac; Lower Ashland sandwich (pulled chicken, peppers, onions, beer cheese); portobello Alfredo

Promising drinks: Whiskey sour; Hamilton’s Envy (blends Angel’s Envy whiskey with Hamilton’s Pimento Rum)

Hours of operation: 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-1 a.m. Friday; 10 a.m.-1 a.m. Saturday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday

Website:https://www.divebarcomo.com/

Flat Branch Pub and Brewing

Where: 115 S. Fifth St.

Enticing entrees: Coffee-rubbed pork chop with bacon apple jam; Flat Branch burger topped with chokes ‘n’ cheese; spicy grilled Ahi wrap

Promising drinks: Flat Branch pours a wide range of staple and rotating beers, including Ed’s IPA, green chili ale and Oil Change oatmeal stout

Hours of operation: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday

Website:https://www.flatbranch.com/

Las Margaritas

Where: Las Margaritas has three Columbia locations, but the patio at 10 Southampton Drive often earns plaudits

Enticing entrees: Enchiladas rancheras; chile Colorado; vegetarian fajitas

Promising drinks: Varied margaritas and daiquiris

Hours of operation: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday

Website:https://www.lasmargaritascolumbia.com/

Les Bourgeois Bistro

Where: 14020 W. Highway BB, Rocheport

Enticing entrees: Ratatouille and polenta; mushroom cassoulet; Cajun shepherd’s pie

Promising drinks: Plenty of Les Bourgeois wine, of course

Hours of operation: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday-Sunday; and 5-9 p.m. Thursday-Saturday

Website:https://missouriwine.com/wine-dine/the-bistro/

Ozark Mountain Biscuit and Bar

Where: 1204 Hinkson Ave.

Enticing entrees: Chicken fried steak; polenta and vegetable platter; fried or blackened catfish

Promising drinks: “MO”groni (made with Kansas City gin); deluxe Bloody Mary; Secret Breakfast (bourbon infused with coffee beans, maple syrup and orange juice)

Hours of operation: 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday, Wednesday-Friday; 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday-Sunday

Website:https://ozarkbiscuits.com/

More:All-you-can-eat biscuits part of Ozark Mountain’s new Sunday Supper Club

Room 38

Where: 38 N. Eighth St.

Enticing entrees: Steak frites; pear and prosciutto flatbread; surf and turf burger (with crab and lobster parmesan cream)

Promising drinks: assorted mojitos; mezcal margarita; moonshine sour (featuring jalapeno, pineapple and cilantro-infused Dogmaster Distillery moonshine)

Hours of operation: 11 a.m.-1:30 a.m. Monday-Saturday; 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday brunch

Website:https://room-38.com/

Shiloh Bar and Grill

Where: 402 E. Broadway

Enticing entrees: Slammin’ salmon (with choice of garlic honey glaze or citrus cream sauce); spicy cheese curd burger; STL rib plate

Hours of operation: 11 a.m.-1 a.m. Tuesday-Saturday; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday

Website:https://www.shilohcomo.com/

Sophia’s

Where: 3915 S. Providence

Enticing entrees: Pasta Buonasera (cheese tortellini with pine nuts, tomato, spinach, scallions, white wine sauce and goat cheese); tarragon crab over paillard of salmon; brandy cream filet

Promising drinks: Sophia’s boasts a deep wine menu

Hours of operation: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday

Website:https://sophiascomo.com/

Uprise Bakery

Where: 10 Hitt St.

Enticing entrees: Banh mi sandwich; Apple bacon cheddar sandwich; Thai Caesar salad

Promising drinks: Wide variety of draft, bottled and canned beer as well as cocktails

Hours of operation: 7 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday-Saturday (kitchen); 4 p.m.-1 a.m. Monday-Saturday and 1 p.m.-midnight Sunday (bar)

Website:https://www.uprisebakery.com/

Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. Find him on Twitter @aarikdanielsen.

Originally Appeared Here

Natalie Bell was thinking about a career in art after college when a welding class and a delivery of four pizzas changed her career trajectory.

“I was taking a delivery out to a construction site and I met an ironworker who I was taking the delivery to,” said Bell, who lives in Columbus, Ohio. “I asked him, I said, ‘Hey, are you looking for apprentices? I don’t want to do college anymore, but I’m a welder.’ He said, ‘Yeah,’ and he gave me the number to the ironworkers union.”

Bell, now 23, said she was worried at first about being accepted.

“I took my interview and I was so scared because I was like, ‘They’re not going to accept me. I’m a woman trying to do construction.’ I didn’t know how things worked at all,” she said.

Bell, who entered the industry in 2019, said working in construction has its challenges but the money provides her with a decent lifestyle and good health insurance.

“I live very comfortably … I’m going to Iceland in July just because I can,” she said. “I can go do that. I can take a vacation every year. I don’t have to worry about medical bills because I have phenomenal insurance.”

The Biden administration is counting on more women like Bell seeing the value of jobs in the construction industry. Over the next decade, the administration wants to add a million more women in construction jobs to aid in infrastructure projects across the country, including its effort to increase semiconductor manufacturing. The success of that effort will depend on the federal policies now being put in place and changes to an industry that’s not known for being welcoming to women.

According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, 1.2 million women were employed in construction in 2020, and a University of Michigan analysis of the data found that women have gained jobs “at three times their share of the industry,” since the beginning of the pandemic.

Women were slowly but surely entering more male-dominated occupations before the pandemic, said Betsey Stevenson, an economist and professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan who did the analysis with Benny Docter, a senior data and policy analyst at the university. Women lost jobs in education and in the service industry during the pandemic and as they returned to work many shifted to new occupations that reflect changing market conditions, according to their analysis.

“I think that the important takeaway is that women can be an important source of labor for the construction industry,” Stevenson said in an email. “While child care is important for women, it is equally important to note that construction as an industry risks losing more male workers due to child care conflicts. The child care requirements in the CHIPS Act is there to help ensure a sufficient workforce is able to take on the work that is being funded.”

Joy Merryman, a fabrication shop steward for U.A. Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 189, poses for a portrait after work, March 23, 2023, in Columbus, Ohio (Photo by Graham Stokes for States Newsroom).

The CHIPS and Science Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden last year, aims to increase the country’s production of chips which are seen as essential for the military and for the economy because of their use in autos and all manner of electronics. The bill provides roughly $40 billion to build or expand plants, and already Intel is building a megaproject near Columbus, Ohio. But to receive federal subsidies, the law requires companies to ensure that the workers they hire, including construction workers building the plants, have access to affordable and high-quality child care.

Finding affordable, quality child care is an issue for many parents, but it can be even more of a struggle for construction workers because day cares typically open after they are already supposed to be at work. That can be particularly hard on single parents.

Grecia Palomar, a 29-year-old single mother of two in Little Canada, Minnesota, spent seven years hanging drywall at Reshetar Systems, a commercial drywall and carpentry business, before leaving to become a drywall instructor for Finishing Trades Institute of the Upper Midwest. Palomar said she was only able to manage when her children were younger because her employer allowed her to arrive later and work later.

Palomar said even though she had grown up around job sites because her father worked in construction, she hadn’t considered it as a potential career until she moved back to Minnesota from Illinois with two young children to support. With one child in need of occupational and speech therapies, Palomar said she needed to make more than the $8 an hour she had earned as a preschool teacher. Her father suggested construction. She made $13 an hour when she started in the industry, and now makes $40 an hour.

Who is turning to construction careers?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics survey doesn’t explain the employment background of women newly entering construction, but several people working in the construction industry said they have seen women coming from what are considered service jobs.

Mary Ann Naylor, communications and marketing director for Oregon Tradeswomen, an apprenticeship-readiness program in Portland, said that the women seeking out the program often come from retail, hospitality, restaurants and child care — industries that often pay low wages and offer few benefits. She added that since the pandemic, she has seen more unemployed people and people leaving health care jobs to look into the skilled construction trades.

Some of the advantages of construction that appeal to new workers are paid training and lack of student debt. Joy Merryman, a plumber and pipefitter who lives in Pickerington, Ohio, and works in Columbus, said she enjoys knowing that her labor will benefit the community, including her work on recreation centers. And she’s so happy with her career choice that she now does outreach — planning events, job fairs and school visits — for the Central Ohio Women in the Trades.

John Burcaw, director of academic education and CEO of the Finishing Trades Institute of the Upper Midwest in Little Canada, Minnesota, said he’s seen workers come from similar employment backgrounds as Naylor mentioned. He said there are also more opportunities for people starting a career in construction to possibly become project managers, estimators, entrepreneurs, educators, or labor leaders than when he began doing this work 33 years ago.

Harassment still a problem

But there are still challenges with both recruitment and retainment of women in construction.

Women’s experiences often depend on the kind of support they have inside and outside the job, such as unions, women’s trade groups and foremen who push back against gender-based discrimination.

In addition to the child care needs, work sites can still be rife with sexual harassment. All of the women working construction interviewed by States Newsroom said they have faced some kind of sexual harassment on the job, whether it was inappropriate comments on their appearance, nonconsensual touching, or “jokes that go too far.”

Bell, the welder, said she has walked off jobs and once filed a complaint over sexual harassment, but has also had experiences where she has talked for foremen and had problems taken care of.

“I’ve been touched on the job site without consent. I’ve been yelled at in my face. I’ve been told I don’t belong there. I’ve been belittled, and I’m a minority so I’ve been made fun of or talked down to in that sense,” Palomar said. “But I had an awesome contractor who always had my back and if I didn’t feel safe somewhere, I could just call them and they would be there for me and I think that helped me get through that. Without their support and their trust and my union backing me up, I don’t think I would have been able to have the patience and the determination to stay there because it is overwhelming.”

Merryman, 37, who has worked in construction for 10 years in Ohio, said having supportive people around you helps, and that it’s easy to understand why women without that advantage end up leaving construction.

“I think a big part of the issue with retaining people is you start to feel very alienated, you feel very alone and you question yourself,” she said. “Am I crazy for being grossed out by what that dude just said to me? Am I crazy for not wanting to have to listen to what he thinks about my body while I’m at work?”

There are educational efforts to make the workplace more welcoming to women, Burcaw said. The Finishing Trades Institute of the Upper Midwest is starting a program in the fall that advises men on how to be good allies to women in construction when they face gender-based harassment and discrimination.

Grecia Palomar guides a group of drywall finishing apprentices at the Finishing Trades Institute of the Upper Midwest on March 23, 2023 in Little Canada, Minnesota (Photo by Nicole Neri for the Minnesota Reformer).

Addressing the federal government’s ambitious goal to add 1 million more women in construction jobs at a Tradeswomen Build Nations conference last fall, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said she had heard from women about the challenges they faced on sites. She then added, “Women don’t want to deal with the BS. They just want to do their jobs.”

Sharita Gruberg, vice president for economic justice at the National Partnership for Women and Families, said there will need to be sufficient monitoring and enforcement from the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to ensure that underrepresented workers aren’t being pushed out of jobs due to sexual harassment and discrimination.

“Because of these other barriers, it is in all of our interests to make sure that these investments are supporting good jobs, safe jobs, because we’re just not going to have the workforce that we need to translate these investments into successful outcomes without also prioritizing equal opportunity enforcement and making sure that women are safe and in these roles,” Gruberg said.

This month, the Department of Labor also announced it was launching an initiative “to promote equal opportunity by federal contractors in the construction trades on large federally funded projects.” The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs is going to work with the General Services Administration and the Department of Transportation to make sure contractors and subcontractors receive no-cost help to improve recruitment and hiring practices to ensure more women and other underrepresented workers are able to join the construction industry.

The initiative is connected to the OFCCP’s Mega Construction Project Program that rewards projects expected to last for one year and make a positive economic difference in communities. Gruberg said some of the construction work on semiconductor facilities and highways and transportation could qualify.

“One exciting thing about the Mega projects are that there are 16 affirmative action steps that are part of these projects to really make sure that on the front end, companies are supported in how they can comply with the equal opportunity requirements of these investments,” Gruberg said. “So making sure that they are increasing representation of qualified workers from underrepresented groups in the construction trades, which includes women.”

Originally Appeared Here