Officials with the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce are working on several housing initiatives. 

Chamber President Natalie Hawn says its housing task force is constantly talking about ways to bridge the gap in housing. 

"We have a gap kind of in the middle with housing and right now the interest rates really are not helping that cause at all," Hawn tells KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr. "So, if you locked in your house at 3%, you're not going to be the one selling right now and taking that 7% or 8%, typically." 

Hawn says the housing inventory is even lower now than it has been in the past.  

Hawn says what's rather unique about the struggles here is it comes at nearly every household income level.  

"We have a huge gap really $75,000 and above if it's your household income theres gaps and there's also a gap under $25,000, and that creates its own level of challenges," Hawn points out. "The one are that we have a large amount of housing is in that $25,000 to $50,000 household income."  

Hawn says what that does is if someone has the income to buy a bigger house the availability is not there, which causes them to hold onto their current house and reduce availability.  

Hawn says she got involved with the housing taskforce to help the St. Joseph business community find housing for incoming workers.  

"So that we can have housing for these young professionals to live here, and that's your future executives,' Hawn explains. "People talk about not having higher level executives that live here, I would argue that you really want to focus too on those young professionals, because if you lose them to Kansas City because they can't find housing, you're never getting them back." 

Hawn says once a person becomes established in another city they're not going to uproot and move here, which presents a whole other set of challenges.

You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.

By MATT PIKE St. Joseph Post Officials with the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce are working on several housing initiatives. Chamber President Natalie Hawn says its housing task force is constantly talking about ways to bridge the gap in housing. "We have a gap kind of in the middle with housing and right now the interest rates really are not helping that cause at all," Hawn tells KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr. "So, if you locked in your house at 3%, you're not going to be the one selling right now and taking that 7% or 8%, typically." Hawn says the housing inventory is even lower now than it has been in the past. Hawn says what's rather unique about the struggles here is it comes at nearly every household income level. "We have a huge gap really $75,000 and above if it's your household income theres gaps and there's also a gap under $25,000, and that creates its own level of challenges," Hawn points out. "The one are that we have a large amount of housing is in that $25,000 to $50,000 household income." Hawn says what that does is if someone has the income to buy a bigger house the availability is not there, which causes them to hold onto their current house and reduce availability. Hawn says she got involved with the housing taskforce to help the St. Joseph business community find housing for incoming workers. "So that we can have housing for these young professionals to live here, and that's your future executives,' Hawn explains. "People talk about not having higher level executives that live here, I would argue that you really want to focus too on those young professionals, because if you lose them to Kansas City because they can't find housing, you're never getting them back." Hawn says once a person becomes established in another city they're not going to uproot and move here, which presents a whole other set of challenges.You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.

Huge gap in St. Joseph housing makes housing workers a struggle

ATCHISON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating a theft had good news for the owners Tuesday morning.

On March 3, a&nbsp;49-year-old victim reported the theft of a go-cart with a 212cc engine on it from the 1200 block Pacific in Atchison, according to Police Chief Mike Wilson.

On Tuesday morning, police reported the go-cart was recovered in St. Joseph.&nbsp; Police have not reported an arrest or additional details.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1710250381410.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>ATCHISON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating a theft had good news for the owners Tuesday morning.On March 3, a&nbsp;49-year-old victim reported the theft of a go-cart with a 212cc engine on it from the 1200 block Pacific in Atchison, according to Police Chief Mike Wilson.On Tuesday morning, police reported the go-cart was recovered in St. Joseph.&nbsp; Police have not reported an arrest or additional details.

Police: Go-cart stolen in Kansas recovered in St. Joseph

A 2019 medical marijuana license applicant says the state broke its own rules by not specifying why its application was incomplete

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/rebecca-rivas/">REBECCA RIVAS</a>

The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday in a case marijuana regulators say could force them to issue “dozens” of new licenses to grow, sell and distribute cannabis products above the state’s self-imposed caps.&nbsp;

Mo Cann Do Inc. applied for a cultivation license to grow marijuana in 2019. The company was denied when the state said it didn’t include a certification of good standing from the Missouri Secretary of State’s office in its application.

However, the company argues that state rules require the Division of Cannabis Regulation to specify what information is lacking in an application in a letter — which the state didn’t do before it denied Mo Cann Do’s license.&nbsp;

So the company appealed its denied license — one of more than&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/marijuana-mo-state-wire-michael-brown-medical-marijuana-433ba9826364ecc55247cfba39f43019">800 appeals filed after the state imposed caps&nbsp;</a>on the number of marijuana business licenses it would award.&nbsp;&nbsp;After losing at the Administrative Hearing Commission and circuit court levels, Mo Cann Do won in the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24463780-mo-cann-do-court-of-appeals">Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District</a>&nbsp;in February 2023.

The court ordered Missouri to award the company a marijuana cultivation facility license.&nbsp;

The state asked the Missouri Supreme Court to hear the case, in part, because there are dozens of pending cases before the commission and courts “where the particular document deficiency may not have been itemized” in the state’s rejection notice, according to court documents.&nbsp;

If the Court of Appeals ruling stands, the state argues it would be forced to award marijuana licenses that aren’t currently available under the current rules — and to applicants who might not have even gotten the necessary scores in 2019.

“…The license cap in [the state rules] should foreclose the remedy of awarding a license,” the state argued in its&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24463906-respondent-s-application-for-transfer-filed-in-supreme-court-of-missouri">transfer application</a>&nbsp;to the Supreme Court. “Otherwise, license caps in a regulated industry may mean nothing at all.”&nbsp;

The state said the medical marijuana industry “is not the only one where this issue matters.”

Regulators believe it could impact gambling boat licenses as well.&nbsp;

At the hearing Thursday, Mo Cann’s attorney, Eric Walter, noted that the state imposed the license cap on itself.&nbsp;

“The department also put in its rules, a rule that says we will also add additional licenses… if so ordered to do so by a court,” Walter said, “or if they choose to enter into a settlement of one of these types of appeals just like this.”&nbsp;

In the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24463805-mocann-do-petition-2020-w-deficiency-letter">Sept. 24, 2019 letter</a>&nbsp;that’s at the center of the case, regulators outlined more than 15 areas in detail where Mo Cann Do’s application was incomplete, including all the names of the owners and their voting interests.&nbsp;

However, the two-page list did not specify the certificate of good standing.

In the circuit court’s 2021 ruling, the judge noted that Mo Cann Do submitted six other applications where the certificate was also missing. And in those six applications, the division specifically informed the company in writing that it was missing — but the company still didn’t submit the certificate of good standing in those cases.&nbsp;

St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Thomas Albus stated in his decision, “It is reasonable to conclude, at least in this case, that a more specific notice would have been of no effect.”&nbsp;

Jason Lewis, chief counsel with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, said Thursday that the Administrative Hearing Commission carefully considered the issue and decided the state’s notice “met a sufficient level of specificity.”

The marijuana industry is highly regulated, he said, making its application process “unique.”

“Appellants did not complete all the application requirements,” Lewis said, “and the state government should not be in the business of hand holding sophisticated entities — giving them third bites at the apple in a highly competitive and structured environment.”

Walter said Mo Cann Do did submit a certificate of incorporation to show the company’s good standing.

Lewis gave an analogy of a law-school application that requires an LSAT score for admission, but a student submits scores from a different test’s results. The student may have scored high on the LSAT, but the score wasn’t submitted, so is the university at fault for denying her application?&nbsp;

Missouri Supreme Court Judge W. Brent Powell asked Lewis: “But the obvious argument is that: Does the university create fault for itself when it states in regulations that if you fail to submit an LSAT, we will tell you and notify you so you can fix that deficiency?”

Certificates of incorporation that were once commonly used to show good standing, Walter said, and the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=351.076">state law</a>&nbsp;passed in 1990 establishing the certificate of good standing process did not ban that practice.

“That language could have been in there,” he said. “The general assembly didn’t choose to put it in there, and the courts haven’t made that finding.”

Lewis said the court’s decision could be “generalizable” to many other areas.

<h2>A 2019 medical marijuana license applicant says the state broke its own rules by not specifying why its application was incomplete</h2>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/rebecca-rivas/">REBECCA RIVAS</a>The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday in a case marijuana regulators say could force them to issue “dozens” of new licenses to grow, sell and distribute cannabis products above the state’s self-imposed caps.&nbsp;Mo Cann Do Inc. applied for a cultivation license to grow marijuana in 2019. The company was denied when the state said it didn’t include a certification of good standing from the Missouri Secretary of State’s office in its application.However, the company argues that state rules require the Division of Cannabis Regulation to specify what information is lacking in an application in a letter — which the state didn’t do before it denied Mo Cann Do’s license.&nbsp;So the company appealed its denied license — one of more than&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/marijuana-mo-state-wire-michael-brown-medical-marijuana-433ba9826364ecc55247cfba39f43019">800 appeals filed after the state imposed caps&nbsp;</a>on the number of marijuana business licenses it would award.&nbsp;&nbsp;After losing at the Administrative Hearing Commission and circuit court levels, Mo Cann Do won in the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24463780-mo-cann-do-court-of-appeals">Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District</a>&nbsp;in February 2023.The court ordered Missouri to award the company a marijuana cultivation facility license.&nbsp;The state asked the Missouri Supreme Court to hear the case, in part, because there are dozens of pending cases before the commission and courts “where the particular document deficiency may not have been itemized” in the state’s rejection notice, according to court documents.&nbsp;If the Court of Appeals ruling stands, the state argues it would be forced to award marijuana licenses that aren’t currently available under the current rules — and to applicants who might not have even gotten the necessary scores in 2019.“…The license cap in [the state rules] should foreclose the remedy of awarding a license,” the state argued in its&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24463906-respondent-s-application-for-transfer-filed-in-supreme-court-of-missouri">transfer application</a>&nbsp;to the Supreme Court. “Otherwise, license caps in a regulated industry may mean nothing at all.”&nbsp;The state said the medical marijuana industry “is not the only one where this issue matters.”Regulators believe it could impact gambling boat licenses as well.&nbsp;At the hearing Thursday, Mo Cann’s attorney, Eric Walter, noted that the state imposed the license cap on itself.&nbsp;“The department also put in its rules, a rule that says we will also add additional licenses… if so ordered to do so by a court,” Walter said, “or if they choose to enter into a settlement of one of these types of appeals just like this.”&nbsp;In the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24463805-mocann-do-petition-2020-w-deficiency-letter">Sept. 24, 2019 letter</a>&nbsp;that’s at the center of the case, regulators outlined more than 15 areas in detail where Mo Cann Do’s application was incomplete, including all the names of the owners and their voting interests.&nbsp;However, the two-page list did not specify the certificate of good standing.In the circuit court’s 2021 ruling, the judge noted that Mo Cann Do submitted six other applications where the certificate was also missing. And in those six applications, the division specifically informed the company in writing that it was missing — but the company still didn’t submit the certificate of good standing in those cases.&nbsp;St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Thomas Albus stated in his decision, “It is reasonable to conclude, at least in this case, that a more specific notice would have been of no effect.”&nbsp;Jason Lewis, chief counsel with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, said Thursday that the Administrative Hearing Commission carefully considered the issue and decided the state’s notice “met a sufficient level of specificity.”The marijuana industry is highly regulated, he said, making its application process “unique.”“Appellants did not complete all the application requirements,” Lewis said, “and the state government should not be in the business of hand holding sophisticated entities — giving them third bites at the apple in a highly competitive and structured environment.”Walter said Mo Cann Do did submit a certificate of incorporation to show the company’s good standing.Lewis gave an analogy of a law-school application that requires an LSAT score for admission, but a student submits scores from a different test’s results. The student may have scored high on the LSAT, but the score wasn’t submitted, so is the university at fault for denying her application?&nbsp;Missouri Supreme Court Judge W. Brent Powell asked Lewis: “But the obvious argument is that: Does the university create fault for itself when it states in regulations that if you fail to submit an LSAT, we will tell you and notify you so you can fix that deficiency?”Certificates of incorporation that were once commonly used to show good standing, Walter said, and the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=351.076">state law</a>&nbsp;passed in 1990 establishing the certificate of good standing process did not ban that practice.“That language could have been in there,” he said. “The general assembly didn’t choose to put it in there, and the courts haven’t made that finding.”Lewis said the court’s decision could be “generalizable” to many other areas.

Mo. Supreme Court case could result in ‘dozens’ of new marijuana business licenses

Despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling the practice unconstitutional, Sen. Mike Moon’s legislation would allow the death penalty in non-homicide cases

By CLARA BATES&nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/09/21/missouri-judge-once-again-delays-decision-on-closing-agape-boarding-school/">Missouri Independent</a>

A bill that would add child sex trafficking and statutory rape to the crimes eligible for the death penalty was debated Monday in a Missouri Senate committee — despite conflicting with U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

The&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.senate.mo.gov/24info/pdf-bill/intro/SB951.pdf">legislation</a>&nbsp;is sponsored by state Sen. Mike Moon, an Ash Grove Republican who said Monday that one of the “principal purposes of government” is to “punish evil.”

Rape of children&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=566.032">under 14</a>&nbsp;and child trafficking of children&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=566.210#:~:text=3.-,The%20offense%20of%20sexual%20trafficking%20of%20a%20child%20in%20the,five%20years%20of%20such%20sentence.">under 12</a>&nbsp;would be crimes eligible for the death penalty under his bill.

“And what’s more evil than taking the innocence of the child during the act of a rape? Children are in large part defenseless and an act such as rape can kill the child emotionally,” he said.

“And so I believe a just consequence, after a reasonable opportunity for defense, is death.”

The Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee heard the bill Monday.

State Sen. Karla May, a Democrat from St. Louis,&nbsp;pointed to Moon’s stance of “believing in life” as an outspoken opponent of abortion without exception for rape or incest, yet supporting expanding the death penalty.&nbsp;

“A 12 year old who gets pregnant, you believe that she should bring that child in the world, am I correct?” May asked.

“What crime did that child, that developing human child, commit to deserve death?” Moon replied.

“…But you believe in killing the father to that child?” May asked, if the father is a rapist.

“Yes,” Moon said.”If an attacker commits a heinous crime such as the ones that I mentioned in this presentation, I believe that if they’re charged and convicted, absolutely.”

The Rev. Timothy Faber testified in support of Moon’s bill, pointing to the “lifelong repercussions” of child rape and trafficking.

“It’s also a well established fact that those who commit sexual crimes seldom if ever change their ways,” he said. “Once a sexual offender, always a sexual offender.”

Elyse Max, co-director of Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty, opposed the bill during Monday’s hearing.&nbsp;

“If the goal is to overturn established U.S. Supreme Court precedent, it’s far from a guarantee,” Max said, “and the amount of resources the state of Missouri would have to spend as well as the trauma to child victims during the process cannot be understated.”

The U.S. Supreme Court in the 2008&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/554/407/">case</a>&nbsp;Kennedy v. Louisiana ruled giving the death penalty to those convicted of child rape violates the constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment unless the crime results in the victim’s death or is intended to. Only homicide and a narrow set of “crimes against the state” can be punishable by death, the court ruled.

“Adding statutory rape and trafficking as death-eligible crimes are a slippery slope,” Max said, “of expanding the death penalty to non-murder crimes that would bring the constitutionality of Missouri’s death penalty into doubt.”

“Instead of spending millions of dollars to possibly change long-standing precedent, Missouri resources should be spent to protect children from abuse in the first place, and ensure survivors have access to mental health treatment and proper support, following the offense,” Max said.

Moon said, regarding the Supreme Court precedent, that it’s worth challenging.

“That’s something that we need to start the conversation about,” he said, “and those things need to be challenged.”

Florida passed a similar&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2023/09/26/new-florida-law-death-penalty-child-rape-desantis/">law</a>&nbsp;for victims of rape under age 12 last year. It received bipartisan support. In&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2023/12/14/florida-death-penalty-child-rape-law-desantis-lake-county/">December</a>, prosecutors in that state announced they’d seek the death penalty in a case of a man accused of sexually abusing a child.

Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/death-penalty-child-rape-desantis-florida-9b03e9cd5a96f68967c3e06a299ff2a7">has said</a>&nbsp;the state’s bill could lead the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit the issue.

Mary Fox, director of Missouri State Public Defender, which provides defense for the majority of death penalty cases in the state, argued Monday that the death penalty is&nbsp;“no deterrent to a crime.”

Fox also noted that an 18 year old dating a 14 year old could be executed under Moon’s legislation because that would be considered statutory rape.

Mei Hall, a resident of Columbia who also said she was a victim of sexual abuse, also testified in opposition.

“I don’t wish my abuser death,” Hall said. “I wish them to be sequestered away and unable to harm more people, for sure. But I don’t think it’s the state’s place to kill people in general and I don’t think it’s the state’s place to make it more difficult for child victims to come forward.”&nbsp;

Lobbyists from Empower Missouri and Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers also testified against the bill. A lobbyist from&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://armorvine.net/">ArmorVine</a>, testified in support.

Missouri was&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://dpic-cdn.org/production/documents/reports/year-end/Year-End-Report-2023.pdf?dm=1701385056">one of only five states</a>&nbsp;to carry out death sentences last year, along with Texas, Florida, Oklahoma and Alabama.&nbsp;There are two executions scheduled for this year.

Three House bills filed this year would eliminate the state’s death penalty, but none has made it to a committee hearing.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1710189526191.png" alt=" State Sen. Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption> State Sen. Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling the practice unconstitutional, Sen. Mike Moon’s legislation would allow the death penalty in non-homicide cases</h2>By CLARA BATES&nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/09/21/missouri-judge-once-again-delays-decision-on-closing-agape-boarding-school/">Missouri Independent</a>A bill that would add child sex trafficking and statutory rape to the crimes eligible for the death penalty was debated Monday in a Missouri Senate committee — despite conflicting with U.S. Supreme Court precedent.The&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.senate.mo.gov/24info/pdf-bill/intro/SB951.pdf">legislation</a>&nbsp;is sponsored by state Sen. Mike Moon, an Ash Grove Republican who said Monday that one of the “principal purposes of government” is to “punish evil.”Rape of children&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=566.032">under 14</a>&nbsp;and child trafficking of children&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=566.210#:~:text=3.-,The%20offense%20of%20sexual%20trafficking%20of%20a%20child%20in%20the,five%20years%20of%20such%20sentence.">under 12</a>&nbsp;would be crimes eligible for the death penalty under his bill.“And what’s more evil than taking the innocence of the child during the act of a rape? Children are in large part defenseless and an act such as rape can kill the child emotionally,” he said.“And so I believe a just consequence, after a reasonable opportunity for defense, is death.”The Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee heard the bill Monday.State Sen. Karla May, a Democrat from St. Louis,&nbsp;pointed to Moon’s stance of “believing in life” as an outspoken opponent of abortion without exception for rape or incest, yet supporting expanding the death penalty.&nbsp;“A 12 year old who gets pregnant, you believe that she should bring that child in the world, am I correct?” May asked.“What crime did that child, that developing human child, commit to deserve death?” Moon replied.“…But you believe in killing the father to that child?” May asked, if the father is a rapist.“Yes,” Moon said.”If an attacker commits a heinous crime such as the ones that I mentioned in this presentation, I believe that if they’re charged and convicted, absolutely.”The Rev. Timothy Faber testified in support of Moon’s bill, pointing to the “lifelong repercussions” of child rape and trafficking.“It’s also a well established fact that those who commit sexual crimes seldom if ever change their ways,” he said. “Once a sexual offender, always a sexual offender.”Elyse Max, co-director of Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty, opposed the bill during Monday’s hearing.&nbsp;“If the goal is to overturn established U.S. Supreme Court precedent, it’s far from a guarantee,” Max said, “and the amount of resources the state of Missouri would have to spend as well as the trauma to child victims during the process cannot be understated.”The U.S. Supreme Court in the 2008&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/554/407/">case</a>&nbsp;Kennedy v. Louisiana ruled giving the death penalty to those convicted of child rape violates the constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment unless the crime results in the victim’s death or is intended to. Only homicide and a narrow set of “crimes against the state” can be punishable by death, the court ruled.“Adding statutory rape and trafficking as death-eligible crimes are a slippery slope,” Max said, “of expanding the death penalty to non-murder crimes that would bring the constitutionality of Missouri’s death penalty into doubt.”“Instead of spending millions of dollars to possibly change long-standing precedent, Missouri resources should be spent to protect children from abuse in the first place, and ensure survivors have access to mental health treatment and proper support, following the offense,” Max said.Moon said, regarding the Supreme Court precedent, that it’s worth challenging.“That’s something that we need to start the conversation about,” he said, “and those things need to be challenged.”Florida passed a similar&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2023/09/26/new-florida-law-death-penalty-child-rape-desantis/">law</a>&nbsp;for victims of rape under age 12 last year. It received bipartisan support. In&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2023/12/14/florida-death-penalty-child-rape-law-desantis-lake-county/">December</a>, prosecutors in that state announced they’d seek the death penalty in a case of a man accused of sexually abusing a child.Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/death-penalty-child-rape-desantis-florida-9b03e9cd5a96f68967c3e06a299ff2a7">has said</a>&nbsp;the state’s bill could lead the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit the issue.Mary Fox, director of Missouri State Public Defender, which provides defense for the majority of death penalty cases in the state, argued Monday that the death penalty is&nbsp;“no deterrent to a crime.”Fox also noted that an 18 year old dating a 14 year old could be executed under Moon’s legislation because that would be considered statutory rape.Mei Hall, a resident of Columbia who also said she was a victim of sexual abuse, also testified in opposition.“I don’t wish my abuser death,” Hall said. “I wish them to be sequestered away and unable to harm more people, for sure. But I don’t think it’s the state’s place to kill people in general and I don’t think it’s the state’s place to make it more difficult for child victims to come forward.”&nbsp;Lobbyists from Empower Missouri and Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers also testified against the bill. A lobbyist from&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://armorvine.net/">ArmorVine</a>, testified in support.Missouri was&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://dpic-cdn.org/production/documents/reports/year-end/Year-End-Report-2023.pdf?dm=1701385056">one of only five states</a>&nbsp;to carry out death sentences last year, along with Texas, Florida, Oklahoma and Alabama.&nbsp;There are two executions scheduled for this year.Three House bills filed this year would eliminate the state’s death penalty, but none has made it to a committee hearing.&nbsp;

Missouri bill would expand death penalty to certain sex crimes against children

St. Joseph police are investigating a stabbing death over the
weekend.

The St. Joseph Police Department reports 40-year-old Aaron
Osborn suffered a stab wound to the stomach early Saturday morning. Emergency
responders rushed Osborn to the hospital, but he died of his wounds.

Police officers responded the 2201 South Eighth Street shortly
before one o’clock Saturday morning. Officers took a 42-year-old man into
custody. No charges have been filed as of yet.

You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.

By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostSt. Joseph police are investigating a stabbing death over the
weekend.The St. Joseph Police Department reports 40-year-old Aaron
Osborn suffered a stab wound to the stomach early Saturday morning. Emergency
responders rushed Osborn to the hospital, but he died of his wounds.Police officers responded the 2201 South Eighth Street shortly
before one o’clock Saturday morning. Officers took a 42-year-old man into
custody. No charges have been filed as of yet.You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.

St. Joseph police investigating fatal stabbing

Missouri Western women's basketball is back in the NCAA tournament for the second time in three years.

The Griffons (25-5) were selected as the No. 2 seed in the Central Region bracket Sunday night. Missouri Western will face No. 7 seed Minnesota State-Mankato (26-5) in regional quarterfinals on Friday at 2:30 p.m. central at the Sawyer Center in Bethany, Oklahoma.

Friday's game will be on KFEQ Radio (680, 95.3, 680kfeq.com, KFEQ app) with coverage starting at 2 p.m.

Southern Nazarene (28-2) is the top seed and regional host.

Missouri Western, the MIAA regular season champion this season, won the Central Region tournament in 2022 and made the Elite Eight in Birmingham, Alabama.

The Griffons have made the NCAA tournament 13 times total.

The MIAA sent four teams to the NCAA tournament in women's basketball this year. No. 4 Pittsburg State (24-7) faces No. 5 Harding (25-5) in the first round at 7:30 central Friday.

Pitt State won the MIAA tournament title Sunday, topping Fort Hays State 63-53 on Sunday in Kansas City.

No. 6 Northwest Missouri State (23-7) will face No. 3 Fort Hays State (24-7) in the first round on Friday at 12 p.m. in an MIAA tournament semifinal rematch.

Hays beat Northwest this past Saturday in Kansas City in MIAA tournament semifinals, 56-49. The Bearcat women are back in the big dance for the first time since 2011.

The Missouri Western women would face the winner of Hays/Northwest in regional semifinals on Saturday, should the Griffons win their first-round game.

Women's regional semifinals are on Saturday, March 16 with the regional championships set for Monday. Tip times are to be determined.

The Division II women's basketball Elite Eight, Final Four and national title game will be held at Civic Arena in St. Joseph March 25-29.

Northwest Missouri State (24-7) is the No. 2 seed and will play No. 7 seed Southwest Minnesota State (19-12) in the first round on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. central at the Taylor Center in Mankato, Minnesota.

Minnesota State-Mankato (29-2) is the regional host.&nbsp;

Northwest, who won the MIAA tournament title on Sunday over Pittsburg State 78-65, actually lost to Southwest Minnesota State, 63-56, on November 11, 2023 in the Hillyard Tipoff Classic in St. Joseph.

The Bearcats have won 16 straight games and seek their fifth national title overall.

Men's regional semifinals are Sunday, March 17 and regional championships are Tuesday, March 19.

Women's Central Region bracket - Bethany, Oklahoma

Men's Central Region bracket - Mankato, Minnesota

You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1710129868840.jpeg" alt="Stock photo via Missouri Western athletics." />
 <figcaption>Stock photo via Missouri Western athletics.</figcaption>
 </figure>By TOMMY REZACSt. Joseph PostMissouri Western women's basketball is back in the NCAA tournament for the second time in three years.The Griffons (25-5) were selected as the No. 2 seed in the Central Region bracket Sunday night. Missouri Western will face No. 7 seed Minnesota State-Mankato (26-5) in regional quarterfinals on Friday at 2:30 p.m. central at the Sawyer Center in Bethany, Oklahoma.Friday's game will be on KFEQ Radio (680, 95.3, 680kfeq.com, KFEQ app) with coverage starting at 2 p.m.Southern Nazarene (28-2) is the top seed and regional host.Missouri Western, the MIAA regular season champion this season, won the Central Region tournament in 2022 and made the Elite Eight in Birmingham, Alabama.The Griffons have made the NCAA tournament 13 times total.The MIAA sent four teams to the NCAA tournament in women's basketball this year. No. 4 Pittsburg State (24-7) faces No. 5 Harding (25-5) in the first round at 7:30 central Friday.Pitt State won the MIAA tournament title Sunday, topping Fort Hays State 63-53 on Sunday in Kansas City.No. 6 Northwest Missouri State (23-7) will face No. 3 Fort Hays State (24-7) in the first round on Friday at 12 p.m. in an MIAA tournament semifinal rematch.Hays beat Northwest this past Saturday in Kansas City in MIAA tournament semifinals, 56-49. The Bearcat women are back in the big dance for the first time since 2011.The Missouri Western women would face the winner of Hays/Northwest in regional semifinals on Saturday, should the Griffons win their first-round game.Women's regional semifinals are on Saturday, March 16 with the regional championships set for Monday. Tip times are to be determined.The Division II women's basketball Elite Eight, Final Four and national title game will be held at Civic Arena in St. Joseph March 25-29.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">IN ✅ <a href="https://twitter.com/GriffonWBB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GriffonWBB</a> is <a href="https://twitter.com/NCAADII?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NCAADII</a> tournament bound for the 2nd time in 3 years, earning the #2 seed in the Central Region. The Griffons will play <a href="https://twitter.com/NorthernSunConf?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NorthernSunConf</a> champion Minnesota State in the first round on Friday in OKC. <a href="https://t.co/DyrozAMLy4">pic.twitter.com/DyrozAMLy4</a>&mdash; Tommy Rezac (@TommyKFEQ) <a href="https://twitter.com/TommyKFEQ/status/1767019965050225001?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Men's basketballNorthwest Missouri State (24-7) is the No. 2 seed and will play No. 7 seed Southwest Minnesota State (19-12) in the first round on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. central at the Taylor Center in Mankato, Minnesota.Minnesota State-Mankato (29-2) is the regional host.&nbsp;Northwest, who won the MIAA tournament title on Sunday over Pittsburg State 78-65, actually lost to Southwest Minnesota State, 63-56, on November 11, 2023 in the Hillyard Tipoff Classic in St. Joseph.The Bearcats have won 16 straight games and seek their fifth national title overall.Men's regional semifinals are Sunday, March 17 and regional championships are Tuesday, March 19.Women's Central Region bracket - Bethany, Oklahoma<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1710188231192.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Men's Central Region bracket - Mankato, Minnesota<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/3/1710131006254.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.

MWSU WBB, Northwest men's and women's basketball NCAA tournament bound

Despite publicly declaring years ago to not sell certain pork products in California, some companies that own major meatpacking plants have signed up to do just that

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/johnmccracken/">JOHN MCCRACKEN</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/benfelder/">BEN FELDER</a>

In 2021, two years before California enacted new hog confinement standards for pork to be sold within its borders, Seaboard Foods said it would “no longer sell certain whole pork products” in the state.

Passed in 2018, California’s Farm Animal Confinement Initiative, often referred to as Proposition 12, required pork producers to give sows, or mother pigs, at least 24 square feet of space per animal.

Nearly 5% of Seaboard’s 7 million hogs produced each year are sold in California but the company said the coming Prop 12 standards would significantly decline how much business it would do moving forward in the nation’s most populous state.

But when the new standards went into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, Seaboard was listed as a Prop 12-compliant distributor with the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

“In our connected food system, our farms raise market hogs born from sows in various housing types based on customer requirements, including … for Prop 12 group housing compliant for California,” David Eaheart, a spokesperson for Seaboard, told Investigate Midwest when asked about the company continuing to sell into California. “Because of this, we can flex between different sow housing requirements to produce pork products based on customer demand.”

Seaboard did not say how its business this year compares to years past. But it’s an example of how many of the nation’s largest pork producers, who once said the new standards would limit or end their business in California, are adapting to the new standards.

Investigate Midwest reviewed financial statements from more than a dozen of the largest pork-producing corporations and California’s new Prop 12 pork distribution lists, along with speaking to several hog farmers to better understand the impact Proposition 12 is having on their industry.

Two months into the new Prop 12 standards, the picture that emerged is one where the nation’s largest pork producers are largely adapting to the new rules in an effort to continue sales in a state that consumes about 15% of the nation’s pork, the highest rate in the nation, according to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://nppc.org/press-releases/supreme-court-to-hear-nppc-case-against-prop-12/">consumption estimates from the National Pork Producers Council</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Biden administration is also concerned that Prop 12 could create a 50-state patchwork of legislation for hog producers.

In 2022, the administration asked the Supreme Court to strike down California’s animal confinement legislation.

At a February Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee hearing, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said he supported the federal government stepping in to clarify these regulations.

“Farmers don’t need the chaos,” Vilsack said. “They need clarity and certainty.”

While many of America’s largest pork producers and distributors have said they plan to comply with the new law, some have blamed the additional hurdles for recent plant closures and layoffs. More than 230 out-of-state distributors already have been licensed to sell pork in California by the state’s Department of Food and Agriculture, according to the agency’s latest registered distribution list.

Some local hog farmers with compliant pens have found an opportunity to sell into a new competitive market, while those with non-compliant operations have balked at the new standards, claiming it would be too expensive to comply with or is against their principles.

“I don’t like California telling me (that) to be able to sell in this state, I have to raise these pigs this way,” said AV Roth, who owns a 3,000-sow farm in Wisconsin.

Roth, who is also vice president of the Wisconsin Pork Association, said none of his hogs will ever go to California because he’s against another state regulating his business. His sows are housed in 14-square-foot gestation crates.

“If they want to tell their farmers in California how to raise pigs that’s totally fine by me, but this is the great country of the United States and I should be able to sell in all 50 states,” Roth said.

Dan Sumner, a professor of agriculture economics at UC-Davis, said that sentiment is common among many hog farmers.

“Frankly, a bunch of know-nothing Californians who’ve never been on a hog operation think they can tell these guys what’s better for their pigs,” Sumner said. “If I was a hog farmer I’d be pissed off. It’s just insulting.”

Anti-Prop 12 groups, including the National Pork Producers Council, claim hog farmers would have to spend $3,500 per sow to become compliant. The council, along with the American Farm Bureau, has vowed to continue pursuing legal and legislative avenues to overturn Prop 12.

But animal welfare organizations have called the cost estimates overblown and said new confinement standards are the ethical thing to do.

“I don’t think anyone needs to be a rocket scientist to understand that having space to lie down and stretch your legs is necessary for mental and physical well-being,” said Allison Molinaro, U.S. campaigns manager for the nonprofit organization Compassion in World Farming. “Living in a gestation crate is like having a human live in a telephone booth.”

California is the nation’s largest consumer of pork products but pinpointing exactly where the state’s pork supply comes from is not clear.

According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, before Prop 12, no public data tracked how much pork comes from specific states or companies. To see which states could be impacted the most by Prop 12, Investigate Midwest analyzed U.S. Department of Agriculture data to locate where most baby pigs are born.

Iowa, North Carolina, Illinois, Minnesota and Missouri had the most pigs born in the country from 2013 to 2023, accounting for roughly half of the nation’s pork supply.

Local chapters of the National Pork Producers Council located in these major states declined multiple requests to comment, but economist Steve Meyer, a consultant with the National Pork Producer Council, told&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/agriculture/2023/06/07/californias-prop-12-comes-as-iowa-pork-producers-face-mounting-losses/70249889007/">the Des Moines Register</a>&nbsp;in 2022 that less than half the pork sent to California met Prop 12 standards, at that time.

In January, Meyer told Investigate Midwest he estimates there still isn’t enough compliant pork supply in the U.S. to meet demand based on what California consumers have eaten in the past.

While there aren’t available data points to support this claim, Meyer said he was confident the nation is short roughly 250,000 complaint sows to meet California’s historic demand, which would lead to either a price increase or a lack in availability for cuts of pork.

“I believe the covered products are in short supply, and California consumers are substituting exempt pork products and other proteins,” Meyers said.

Premade pork products are exempt from Prop 12 standards, including sliced ham, salami and deli meat.

Most of the nation’s major pork producers have taken steps to become compliant with the new California law, some starting the transition more than a decade ago.

Smithfield Foods, the nation’s largest pork producer and owner of some 885,000 sows, has spent years transitioning to group housing that meets the standards of Proposition 12.

The company owns more than 400 pork production farms in Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia, according to Smithfield spokesperson Ray Atkinson. According to the company’s 2021 Sustainability Report, all of the company-owned farms are compliant with large, group housing for sows.

The company contracts out pork production to more than 2,000 contract farmers across the county, and information about the compliance of these farms was not made available.

“We have established supply agreements for Prop 12-compliant pork and will continue to engage customers to expand the availability of compliant products,” Atkinson said in an email.

Still, the company has openly complained about the new Prop 12 standards, and said it was one reason it recently&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/farmer-john-meatpacking-plant-in-vernon-to-close-in-2023-due-to-escalating-costs/">closed meatpacking plants in California</a>.

Atkinson said Smithfield continues to sell into California but its sales numbers are confidential.

“We fully support a federal legislative solution that will resolve a growing patchwork of state-by-state regulations that make it increasingly difficult to keep food affordable,” Atkinson said.

Other major pork producers and grocery chains have said they are compliant with Prop 12 as of the beginning of 2024:

While California is the largest pork-consuming state in the U.S., a growing amount of the nation’s pork is being sent overseas, lessening the impact of Prop 12 on many large producers.

Until 1995, less than 5% of American pork production was exported. Today, 27% of U.S. pork is exported, a higher rate than beef or poultry.

There were some concerns that Prop 12 could have an impact on exports because much of America’s pork destined for Asia passes through California ports. But several weeks into Prop 12, export officials said they haven’t seen any problems.

“The bottom line is that so far exports transiting California for shipment out of the West Coast ports seem to be flowing smoothly,” John Herath, a spokesperson for the U.S. Meat Export Federation, told Investigate Midwest.

Pork industry says it will continue to fight Prop 12

National agriculture groups and major pork producers originally hoped a legal challenge would end Prop 12 before it ever started. But the American Farm Bureau and the National Pork Producers Council’s lawsuit was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, where a 5-4 ruling last year upheld the law.

Despite the loss, the groups said they continue to look for ways to overturn Prop 12.

“If we are going to have a patchwork of 50 different rules, that is going to make it very difficult … to produce livestock efficiently in this country,” Jack Irvin, vice president of public policy for the Ohio Farm Bureau, said from the American Farm Bureau’s national convention in Salt Lake City in January.

Prop 12 was a major discussion topic at the convention, Irvin said, where members passed a resolution asking the farm bureau to continue its opposition against the measure, including pushing for a federal law banning state-level confinement standards.

But opponents of a federal law banning Prop 12 claim it would create further chaos.

The Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression Act, also known as the EATS Act, is a proposal in Congress that would prevent states from enacting laws similar to Prop 12. But a Harvard Law School analysis of the EATS Act warned it could have consequences beyond just regulations on animal confinement and jeopardize more than 1,100 state laws related to invasive plant disease protection, food safety regulations, horse slaughter laws and some narcotic laws.

Supporters of Prop 12 believe lawmakers should focus more on helping farmers retrofit their operations.

U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, a Minnesota Democrat,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://brownfieldagnews.com/news/prop-12-solutions-beyond-eats-act/">told the Brownfield radio network</a>&nbsp;in January that her office was looking into federal grants to help pork producers adhere to Prop 12 standards.

In Oklahoma, Senate Bill 1325 would create a $4 million fund to provide grants to pig farmers to remove gestation crates and build new structures that meet California’s standards.

Prices still leveling out while producers see new market

Economists are also watching the impact Prop 12 might have on consumer prices, with some estimating the new law will increase the price of pork in California by roughly 25 cents per pound, according to a study by the University of California.

A California Department of Finance&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://dof.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/352/Forecasting/Economics/Documents/DF-131_CDFA_Proposition_12_SRIA.pdf">analysis</a>&nbsp;estimated that consumers of egg and whole pork products would pay $1.1 million more for the newly regulated commodities in the first year of Prop 12.

Data for the price increases since Prop 12 became law is sparse. In November 2023, the USDA began tracking the average premium paid to producers for hogs sold under California’s confinement legislation. The amount paid to producers for being compliant with the law is negotiated between processors and producers. The average premium given to compliant producers was $6.30 per hundred pounds in the first month of the year, in addition to the base price paid for their hogs.

For some producers, the price increase and growing interest are seen as an opportunity to expand into new markets.

In Clear Lake, Iowa, Chris Petersen has operated a hog farm since the 1970s, raising thousands at a time up until the Iowa hog market crashed in the late 1990s.

Now, he raises a few hundred hogs a year with 30 sows on his farm. None of his animals are in gestation crates or confinement, and they never have been.

“I don’t believe in totally confining any type of livestock down to a small cage,” Petersen said.

Rather than going through large packing companies, he raises a premium breed of hogs known as Berkshires. He said it’s likely that some of his meat wound up in California before Prop 12 was finalized through the supply chain, but now that the ruling is in place, he sees California consumers as a new revenue stream.

“Absolutely I’ll sell to them,” Petersen said.

This&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://investigatemidwest.org/2024/03/06/with-californias-prop-12-now-law-pork-producers-adapt-while-lobbying-groups-continue-to-fight/">article</a>&nbsp;first appeared on&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://investigatemidwest.org/">Investigate Midwest</a>&nbsp;and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1607531560248.jpeg" alt="Missouri, Iowa, North Carolina, Illinois and Minnesota had the most pigs born in the country from 2013 to 2023,&nbsp;cacounting for roughly half of the nation’s pork supply-File photo" />
 <figcaption>Missouri, Iowa, North Carolina, Illinois and Minnesota had the most pigs born in the country from 2013 to 2023,&nbsp;cacounting for roughly half of the nation’s pork supply-File photo</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Despite publicly declaring years ago to not sell certain pork products in California, some companies that own major meatpacking plants have signed up to do just that</h2>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/johnmccracken/">JOHN MCCRACKEN</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/benfelder/">BEN FELDER</a>In 2021, two years before California enacted new hog confinement standards for pork to be sold within its borders, Seaboard Foods said it would “no longer sell certain whole pork products” in the state.Passed in 2018, California’s Farm Animal Confinement Initiative, often referred to as Proposition 12, required pork producers to give sows, or mother pigs, at least 24 square feet of space per animal.Nearly 5% of Seaboard’s 7 million hogs produced each year are sold in California but the company said the coming Prop 12 standards would significantly decline how much business it would do moving forward in the nation’s most populous state.But when the new standards went into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, Seaboard was listed as a Prop 12-compliant distributor with the California Department of Food and Agriculture.“In our connected food system, our farms raise market hogs born from sows in various housing types based on customer requirements, including … for Prop 12 group housing compliant for California,” David Eaheart, a spokesperson for Seaboard, told Investigate Midwest when asked about the company continuing to sell into California. “Because of this, we can flex between different sow housing requirements to produce pork products based on customer demand.”Seaboard did not say how its business this year compares to years past. But it’s an example of how many of the nation’s largest pork producers, who once said the new standards would limit or end their business in California, are adapting to the new standards.Investigate Midwest reviewed financial statements from more than a dozen of the largest pork-producing corporations and California’s new Prop 12 pork distribution lists, along with speaking to several hog farmers to better understand the impact Proposition 12 is having on their industry.Two months into the new Prop 12 standards, the picture that emerged is one where the nation’s largest pork producers are largely adapting to the new rules in an effort to continue sales in a state that consumes about 15% of the nation’s pork, the highest rate in the nation, according to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://nppc.org/press-releases/supreme-court-to-hear-nppc-case-against-prop-12/">consumption estimates from the National Pork Producers Council</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Biden administration is also concerned that Prop 12 could create a 50-state patchwork of legislation for hog producers.In 2022, the administration asked the Supreme Court to strike down California’s animal confinement legislation.At a February Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee hearing, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said he supported the federal government stepping in to clarify these regulations.“Farmers don’t need the chaos,” Vilsack said. “They need clarity and certainty.”While many of America’s largest pork producers and distributors have said they plan to comply with the new law, some have blamed the additional hurdles for recent plant closures and layoffs. More than 230 out-of-state distributors already have been licensed to sell pork in California by the state’s Department of Food and Agriculture, according to the agency’s latest registered distribution list.Some local hog farmers with compliant pens have found an opportunity to sell into a new competitive market, while those with non-compliant operations have balked at the new standards, claiming it would be too expensive to comply with or is against their principles.“I don’t like California telling me (that) to be able to sell in this state, I have to raise these pigs this way,” said AV Roth, who owns a 3,000-sow farm in Wisconsin.Roth, who is also vice president of the Wisconsin Pork Association, said none of his hogs will ever go to California because he’s against another state regulating his business. His sows are housed in 14-square-foot gestation crates.“If they want to tell their farmers in California how to raise pigs that’s totally fine by me, but this is the great country of the United States and I should be able to sell in all 50 states,” Roth said.Dan Sumner, a professor of agriculture economics at UC-Davis, said that sentiment is common among many hog farmers.“Frankly, a bunch of know-nothing Californians who’ve never been on a hog operation think they can tell these guys what’s better for their pigs,” Sumner said. “If I was a hog farmer I’d be pissed off. It’s just insulting.”Anti-Prop 12 groups, including the National Pork Producers Council, claim hog farmers would have to spend $3,500 per sow to become compliant. The council, along with the American Farm Bureau, has vowed to continue pursuing legal and legislative avenues to overturn Prop 12.But animal welfare organizations have called the cost estimates overblown and said new confinement standards are the ethical thing to do.“I don’t think anyone needs to be a rocket scientist to understand that having space to lie down and stretch your legs is necessary for mental and physical well-being,” said Allison Molinaro, U.S. campaigns manager for the nonprofit organization Compassion in World Farming. “Living in a gestation crate is like having a human live in a telephone booth.”<h2>Where’s the pork?</h2>California is the nation’s largest consumer of pork products but pinpointing exactly where the state’s pork supply comes from is not clear.According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, before Prop 12, no public data tracked how much pork comes from specific states or companies. To see which states could be impacted the most by Prop 12, Investigate Midwest analyzed U.S. Department of Agriculture data to locate where most baby pigs are born.Iowa, North Carolina, Illinois, Minnesota and Missouri had the most pigs born in the country from 2013 to 2023, accounting for roughly half of the nation’s pork supply.!function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r=0;r&lt;e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();Local chapters of the National Pork Producers Council located in these major states declined multiple requests to comment, but economist Steve Meyer, a consultant with the National Pork Producer Council, told&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/agriculture/2023/06/07/californias-prop-12-comes-as-iowa-pork-producers-face-mounting-losses/70249889007/">the Des Moines Register</a>&nbsp;in 2022 that less than half the pork sent to California met Prop 12 standards, at that time.In January, Meyer told Investigate Midwest he estimates there still isn’t enough compliant pork supply in the U.S. to meet demand based on what California consumers have eaten in the past.While there aren’t available data points to support this claim, Meyer said he was confident the nation is short roughly 250,000 complaint sows to meet California’s historic demand, which would lead to either a price increase or a lack in availability for cuts of pork.“I believe the covered products are in short supply, and California consumers are substituting exempt pork products and other proteins,” Meyers said.Premade pork products are exempt from Prop 12 standards, including sliced ham, salami and deli meat.Most of the nation’s major pork producers have taken steps to become compliant with the new California law, some starting the transition more than a decade ago.Smithfield Foods, the nation’s largest pork producer and owner of some 885,000 sows, has spent years transitioning to group housing that meets the standards of Proposition 12.The company owns more than 400 pork production farms in Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia, according to Smithfield spokesperson Ray Atkinson. According to the company’s 2021 Sustainability Report, all of the company-owned farms are compliant with large, group housing for sows.Smithfield Foods, the nation’s largest pork producer and owner of some 885,000 sows, has spent years transitioning to group housing that meets the standards of Proposition 12.The company owns more than 400 pork production farms in Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia, according to Smithfield spokesperson Ray Atkinson. According to the company’s 2021 Sustainability Report, all of the company-owned farms are compliant with large, group housing for sows.The company contracts out pork production to more than 2,000 contract farmers across the county, and information about the compliance of these farms was not made available.“We have established supply agreements for Prop 12-compliant pork and will continue to engage customers to expand the availability of compliant products,” Atkinson said in an email.Still, the company has openly complained about the new Prop 12 standards, and said it was one reason it recently&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/farmer-john-meatpacking-plant-in-vernon-to-close-in-2023-due-to-escalating-costs/">closed meatpacking plants in California</a>.Atkinson said Smithfield continues to sell into California but its sales numbers are confidential.“We fully support a federal legislative solution that will resolve a growing patchwork of state-by-state regulations that make it increasingly difficult to keep food affordable,” Atkinson said.Other major pork producers and grocery chains have said they are compliant with Prop 12 as of the beginning of 2024:<ul>
 <li>Tyson Foods&nbsp;did not respond to repeated requests for comment. However, in a 2021 earnings call, Tyson CEO and President Donnie King said that the company is ready and able to provide compliant pork products. “It’s not something we were excited about, but we can align suppliers, and we can certainly provide the raw material to service our customers in that way,” King said.</li>
 </ul><ul>
 <li>Clemens Food Group,&nbsp;a major pork producer based in Pennsylvania, has been Prop 12 compliant since the beginning of 2023. The company has “fully transitioned to group housing for all our sows,” said Brad Clemens, the company’s president, in a statement.</li>
 </ul><ul>
 <li>JBS,&nbsp;the nation’s fifth largest pork producer,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.meatpoultry.com/articles/27678-jbs-usa-enters-acquisition-agreement-with-midwest-producer">purchased</a>&nbsp;an Iowa pork producer in 2022 to expand its Prop 12-compliant sow housing. According to a translated transcript of a November 2023 corporate earnings call filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Brazil-based company said it took steps to begin transitioning into Prop 12 compliance when there was still “uncertainty” about the legislation becoming successful. The company did not respond to repeated requests for comments.</li>
 </ul><ul>
 <li>The top five grocery retailers in California —&nbsp;Walmart, Albertsons, Grocery Outlet, Kroger and Trader Joe’s&nbsp;— are all complying with the state’s confinement legislation to varying degrees. Albertsons’ website notes that some of their suppliers have decided not to comply with Prop 12 standards, which could limit the pork products sold on store shelves. Walmart’s&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://corporate.walmart.com/purpose/esgreport/environmental/animal-welfare">website</a>&nbsp;notes that it has asked its suppliers to “implement solutions to address concerns regarding housing systems that lack sufficient space, enrichment, or socialization, such as sow gestation crates.” According to Kroger company documents, the chain aims to have all of the pork they sell come from sow group housing by 2025. Trader Joe’s spokesperson Nakia Rohde said the grocery chain has provided gestation crate-free pork since 2018, which is clearly labeled in California and Massachusetts stores. Rodhe said in an email that the company sources its pork from the Midwest, but didn’t further clarify the sourcing. Grocery Outlet did not respond to a request for comment.</li>
 </ul>While California is the largest pork-consuming state in the U.S., a growing amount of the nation’s pork is being sent overseas, lessening the impact of Prop 12 on many large producers.Until 1995, less than 5% of American pork production was exported. Today, 27% of U.S. pork is exported, a higher rate than beef or poultry.There were some concerns that Prop 12 could have an impact on exports because much of America’s pork destined for Asia passes through California ports. But several weeks into Prop 12, export officials said they haven’t seen any problems.“The bottom line is that so far exports transiting California for shipment out of the West Coast ports seem to be flowing smoothly,” John Herath, a spokesperson for the U.S. Meat Export Federation, told Investigate Midwest.<h2>Pork industry says it will continue to fight Prop 12</h2>National agriculture groups and major pork producers originally hoped a legal challenge would end Prop 12 before it ever started. But the American Farm Bureau and the National Pork Producers Council’s lawsuit was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, where a 5-4 ruling last year upheld the law.Despite the loss, the groups said they continue to look for ways to overturn Prop 12.“If we are going to have a patchwork of 50 different rules, that is going to make it very difficult … to produce livestock efficiently in this country,” Jack Irvin, vice president of public policy for the Ohio Farm Bureau, said from the American Farm Bureau’s national convention in Salt Lake City in January.Prop 12 was a major discussion topic at the convention, Irvin said, where members passed a resolution asking the farm bureau to continue its opposition against the measure, including pushing for a federal law banning state-level confinement standards.But opponents of a federal law banning Prop 12 claim it would create further chaos.The Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression Act, also known as the EATS Act, is a proposal in Congress that would prevent states from enacting laws similar to Prop 12. But a Harvard Law School analysis of the EATS Act warned it could have consequences beyond just regulations on animal confinement and jeopardize more than 1,100 state laws related to invasive plant disease protection, food safety regulations, horse slaughter laws and some narcotic laws.Supporters of Prop 12 believe lawmakers should focus more on helping farmers retrofit their operations.U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, a Minnesota Democrat,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://brownfieldagnews.com/news/prop-12-solutions-beyond-eats-act/">told the Brownfield radio network</a>&nbsp;in January that her office was looking into federal grants to help pork producers adhere to Prop 12 standards.In Oklahoma, Senate Bill 1325 would create a $4 million fund to provide grants to pig farmers to remove gestation crates and build new structures that meet California’s standards.<h2>Prices still leveling out while producers see new market</h2>Economists are also watching the impact Prop 12 might have on consumer prices, with some estimating the new law will increase the price of pork in California by roughly 25 cents per pound, according to a study by the University of California.A California Department of Finance&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://dof.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/352/Forecasting/Economics/Documents/DF-131_CDFA_Proposition_12_SRIA.pdf">analysis</a>&nbsp;estimated that consumers of egg and whole pork products would pay $1.1 million more for the newly regulated commodities in the first year of Prop 12.Data for the price increases since Prop 12 became law is sparse. In November 2023, the USDA began tracking the average premium paid to producers for hogs sold under California’s confinement legislation. The amount paid to producers for being compliant with the law is negotiated between processors and producers. The average premium given to compliant producers was $6.30 per hundred pounds in the first month of the year, in addition to the base price paid for their hogs.For some producers, the price increase and growing interest are seen as an opportunity to expand into new markets.In Clear Lake, Iowa, Chris Petersen has operated a hog farm since the 1970s, raising thousands at a time up until the Iowa hog market crashed in the late 1990s.Now, he raises a few hundred hogs a year with 30 sows on his farm. None of his animals are in gestation crates or confinement, and they never have been.“I don’t believe in totally confining any type of livestock down to a small cage,” Petersen said.Rather than going through large packing companies, he raises a premium breed of hogs known as Berkshires. He said it’s likely that some of his meat wound up in California before Prop 12 was finalized through the supply chain, but now that the ruling is in place, he sees California consumers as a new revenue stream.“Absolutely I’ll sell to them,” Petersen said.This&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://investigatemidwest.org/2024/03/06/with-californias-prop-12-now-law-pork-producers-adapt-while-lobbying-groups-continue-to-fight/">article</a>&nbsp;first appeared on&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://investigatemidwest.org/">Investigate Midwest</a>&nbsp;and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<figure>
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With California’s Prop 12 now law, pork producers adapt while lobbying groups continue to fight

By RUDI KELLER,&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>

Missouri Democrats will have&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1N9PM19dX_Jg7hS9cU1IaKRqib-yveG4&amp;ll=38.39055657063933%2C-92.17130175&amp;z=7">92 polling locations</a>&nbsp;set up in&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.missouridemocrats.org/mdp-primary-information-2024">84 counties and the city of St. Louis</a>&nbsp;on March 23 for voters to participate in a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.missouridemocrats.org/mdp-primary-information-2024">party-run presidential primary</a>.

Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to noon. Voters may also&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://request.mrgvote.com/Missouri">request mail-in ballots</a>&nbsp;from the party, but the requests must be received by Tuesday and must be returned to state party headquarters by 10 a.m. on March 23.

When Democrats announced the plan in September, they said they hoped to find a location for in-person voting in all 114 counties and the city of St. Louis, with multiple locations in major urban areas.

Most of the counties where no location is available are among the state’s smallest in terms of population and include most of the counties along the Iowa border and in Missouri’s Bootheel. The party tried but was unable to secure locations in those counties, said Chelsea Rodriguez, spokeswoman for the party.

There are three polling sites in Jackson County and four each in St. Louis and St. Louis County.

Voters are not restricted to casting ballots in their home county if they were registered before Feb. 21, Rodriguez said.

“Anyone can go vote at any site, not just the sites in their counties,” Rodriguez said. “In the Bootheel, we were able to get a location in Dunklin County at the courthouse, but unfortunately not any other.”

President Joe Biden, who faces no serious opposition for renomination, is expected to win the primary handily.

From 2000 to 2020, Missouri had a state-run presidential primary. Lawmakers repealed the law authorizing the primary in 2022 and efforts to revive it last year fell short when the state Senate descended into factional gridlock.

Republicans reverted to a caucus system and on Saturday former President Donald Trump won a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article286083826.html">decisive victory</a>&nbsp;over former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Following similar defeats Tuesday in multiple states,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/06/politics/nikki-haley-2024-presidential-race/index.html">Haley ended her campaign</a>.

Democrats decided to stage the party-run primary, at a cost of $250,000 to $450,000, to provide the widest possible chances for voter participation, the party stated in a news release.

The release accused GOP majorities in the legislature of trying to make it harder for voters to express themselves by eliminating the primary.

“Missourians have watched the Republicans in the legislature come after our fundamental rights and personal freedoms session after session,” state Sen. Karla May of St. Louis said, “and this move was no different.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1705691803663.png" alt="File photo President Joe Biden-White House photo" />
 <figcaption>File photo President Joe Biden-White House photo</figcaption>
 </figure>By RUDI KELLER,&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>Missouri Democrats will have&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1N9PM19dX_Jg7hS9cU1IaKRqib-yveG4&amp;ll=38.39055657063933%2C-92.17130175&amp;z=7">92 polling locations</a>&nbsp;set up in&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.missouridemocrats.org/mdp-primary-information-2024">84 counties and the city of St. Louis</a>&nbsp;on March 23 for voters to participate in a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.missouridemocrats.org/mdp-primary-information-2024">party-run presidential primary</a>.Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to noon. Voters may also&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://request.mrgvote.com/Missouri">request mail-in ballots</a>&nbsp;from the party, but the requests must be received by Tuesday and must be returned to state party headquarters by 10 a.m. on March 23.When Democrats announced the plan in September, they said they hoped to find a location for in-person voting in all 114 counties and the city of St. Louis, with multiple locations in major urban areas.Most of the counties where no location is available are among the state’s smallest in terms of population and include most of the counties along the Iowa border and in Missouri’s Bootheel. The party tried but was unable to secure locations in those counties, said Chelsea Rodriguez, spokeswoman for the party.There are three polling sites in Jackson County and four each in St. Louis and St. Louis County.Voters are not restricted to casting ballots in their home county if they were registered before Feb. 21, Rodriguez said.“Anyone can go vote at any site, not just the sites in their counties,” Rodriguez said. “In the Bootheel, we were able to get a location in Dunklin County at the courthouse, but unfortunately not any other.”President Joe Biden, who faces no serious opposition for renomination, is expected to win the primary handily.From 2000 to 2020, Missouri had a state-run presidential primary. Lawmakers repealed the law authorizing the primary in 2022 and efforts to revive it last year fell short when the state Senate descended into factional gridlock.Republicans reverted to a caucus system and on Saturday former President Donald Trump won a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article286083826.html">decisive victory</a>&nbsp;over former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Following similar defeats Tuesday in multiple states,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/06/politics/nikki-haley-2024-presidential-race/index.html">Haley ended her campaign</a>.Democrats decided to stage the party-run primary, at a cost of $250,000 to $450,000, to provide the widest possible chances for voter participation, the party stated in a news release.The release accused GOP majorities in the legislature of trying to make it harder for voters to express themselves by eliminating the primary.“Missourians have watched the Republicans in the legislature come after our fundamental rights and personal freedoms session after session,” state Sen. Karla May of St. Louis said, “and this move was no different.”

Mo. Democrats select polling locations for party-run presidential primary

In the majority of Missouri’s rising cases of congenital syphilis, mothers had little to no prenatal care, highlighting a larger issue of maternal health care access. Legislation introduced in the House and Senate aims to address the crisis

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/annaspoerre/">ANNA SPOERRE</a>

Suzanne Alexander remembers vividly the reports of the St. Louis babies born with congenital syphilis.&nbsp;

Blindness, deafness, developmental delays.&nbsp;

Some were underweight. Others had problems with their bones.&nbsp;

Alexander, the bureau chief for communicable diseases with the City of St. Louis Department of Health and a member of a task force studying the causes of Missouri’s climbing congenital syphilis numbers, said in more than half the cases she has reviewed, an alarming trend stood out.&nbsp;

The mothers of babies born with this infection hardly had prenatal care.

<h2>In the majority of Missouri’s rising cases of congenital syphilis, mothers had little to no prenatal care, highlighting a larger issue of maternal health care access. Legislation introduced in the House and Senate aims to address the crisis</h2>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/annaspoerre/">ANNA SPOERRE</a>Suzanne Alexander remembers vividly the reports of the St. Louis babies born with congenital syphilis.&nbsp;Blindness, deafness, developmental delays.&nbsp;Some were underweight. Others had problems with their bones.&nbsp;That’s if they survived.Alexander, the bureau chief for communicable diseases with the City of St. Louis Department of Health and a member of a task force studying the causes of Missouri’s climbing congenital syphilis numbers, said in more than half the cases she has reviewed, an alarming trend stood out.&nbsp;The mothers of babies born with this infection hardly had prenatal care.Health departments across the state and country have been sounding the alarms for the past few years as congenital syphilis cases rose and community health workers became overburdened.From 2017 to 2021, congenital syphilis cases rose 219% across the country; in Missouri, they rose 593%, according to the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/std/dstdp/sti-funding-at-work/jurisdictional-spotlights/missouri.pdf">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.</a>&nbsp;Between 2012 and 2015, one stillbirth from a congenital syphilis case was reported in Missouri. Since then, there’s been at least one infant death every year, with 18 deaths reported between 2016 and 2022, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.If detected early enough, the disease is reversible in the womb.Two bills filed by Republicans in the House and Senate would put a system in place to catch more of these cases. The legislation comes as the state health department published another alert last week reporting that in 2022,<a target="_blank" href="https://health.mo.gov/emergencies/ert/alertsadvisories/pdf/update022724-1.pdf">&nbsp;Missouri recorded 81 congenital syphilis cases</a>&nbsp;— the most in 30 years.&nbsp;“This is an eightfold increase in a preventable disease,” the advisory warned.Right now, only two syphilis tests are required in pregnancy: one in the first trimester and one at birth.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://house.mo.gov/Bill.aspx?bill=HB1979&amp;year=2024&amp;code=R">The legislation would add a third test</a>&nbsp;at 28 weeks, when there is still time to treat the mother and baby. The bill would also require a third trimester test for HIV and hepatitis C and hepatitis B, which can cause liver damage in infants.“We are sending the signal to providers that this is an incredibly important service,” Alexander said. “And they have the support of the legislature.”<h2>What is congenital syphilis?&nbsp;</h2>A mother can pass along congenital syphilis in utero at any point in pregnancy.For adults, the symptoms, if there are any, can include a rash on the palms of a person’s hands or on the soles of their feet, hair loss, swollen lymph nodes or sores. Often these symptoms go away on their own, though the disease remains.If a mother is infected within four weeks of delivering their baby and doesn’t get treatment, the infant has a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/pregnancy/effects/syphilis.html#:~:text=Approximately%2040%25%20of%20babies%20born,the%20infection%20as%20a%20newborn.">40% chance of dying at birth or shortly after,</a>&nbsp;according to the CDC.“This bill is really about maternal and infant health, making sure that these mothers have the care that they need so that their babies can have the care that they need,” said state Rep. Melanie Stinnett, a Springfield Republican sponsoring the legislation who also helped pass postpartum Medicaid expansion last year.The testing could be done at a normal appointment and wouldn’t require an additional visit to the doctor. The cost would be covered by Medicaid.&nbsp;Stinnett, who has a background in health care serving as vice president of therapy services at The Ark of the Ozarks, a nonprofit for people with disabilities in Springfield, said she has high hopes the bill, which has garnered bipartisan support, will pass.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.senate.mo.gov/24info/bts_web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&amp;BillID=1613">An identical bill</a>&nbsp;was put forward by state Sen. Elaine Gannon, a Republican from De Soto. That bill got a committee hearing, but has not yet been voted on.&nbsp;“Healthy moms equal healthy babies,” Gannon said Wednesday before the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. “This is just another step we can take to ensure our most vulnerable population gets the health care they deserve.”The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Missouri Center for Public Health Excellence have testified in support of both bills.<h2>Syphilis trends in Missouri</h2>Dustin Hampton, bureau chief of HIV, STD and Hepatitis at the state health department, said in the past two years, he’s seen a shift in the populations most affected by syphilis.&nbsp;Most cases used to be in men who have sex with men in urban areas, Hampton said; thus, much of the health department’s education and messaging targeted this group for the past 15 years. But in recent years, the cases have shifted more to white, heterosexual people in rural areas.&nbsp;In most of the congenital cases they’ve seen, the woman either went to only one prenatal appointment, or none at all.&nbsp;“Many times the only care they received was when they were as they arrived at the hospital for delivery,” he said.Hampton said the legislation will help identify cases faster, but it won’t prevent the spread of syphilis between sexual partners.&nbsp;“The populations that are experiencing syphilis increases now may not even be aware that they’re at risk for syphilis,” he said, adding that he’s heard many stories of women who didn’t know they had syphilis until the day their child was born.Hampton said the health department started providing some of their testing sites with rapid syphilis tests, so patients can get results within 20 minutes rather than waiting a few days. The department also formed a statewide syphilis advisory group and they’re in the process of putting together a congenital syphilis review board. They’ve also helped double the number of disease intervention specialists at public health and county health agencies.The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services partners with 180 STI testing and treatment sites across the state. Locations can be found at<a target="_blank" href="http://health.mo.gov/testing">health.mo.gov/testing</a>.Treatment for syphilis during pregnancy requires three shots of Benzathine penicillin G spread one week apart.&nbsp;A recent investigation by&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.propublica.org/article/how-federal-government-fails-stop-syphilis-babies-pregnancy">ProPublica highlighted some shortages of the medication&nbsp;</a>used to treat syphilis.&nbsp;Lisa Cox, a spokeswoman with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said the state has so far not experienced a shortage.&nbsp;&nbsp;“We have continued to regularly get shipments of Bicillin from our distributor,” Cox said. “We maintain an adequate supply of medication and have encouraged providers to utilize shared decision-making for all people they treat for syphilis.”<h2>A crisis beyond STI testing</h2>As lawmakers work on a legislative fix, local Missouri governments are confronting issues that run deeper than just lack of testing.As Alexander reviewed cases in St. Louis, where there was an 11-fold increase in congenital syphilis cases between 2017 and 2021, she noticed how few women had prenatal care and how many had a history of substance abuse issues.&nbsp;“One of the difficulties in this tragedy is that not everyone screens for social determinants of health,” she said. “So we don’t know what supports a mother might need to have the capacity to pursue treatment.”&nbsp;The St. Louis Health Department is currently meeting with community-based organizations and those who’ve been diagnosed with syphilis to learn more about common barriers to prevention education and treatment.&nbsp;“There are very few success stories from ignoring the problem,” Alexander said. “We’re seeing the impact of lack of access, and we’re seeing the impact of not knowing what the disease looks like when you’ve been sick all your life, because we’ve never had good medical care.”In St. Louis, the greatest increase has been in Black women. Stigma plays a role, Alexander said, as does lack of adequate sex education in schools so that partners would be more likely to use condoms.“There is a genuine fear among women in general of being labeled ‘disease-ridden,’” she said.&nbsp;At the business session ahead of Thursday’s Kansas City Council meeting, Dr. Benjamin Grin, Chief Medical Officer with the Kansas City Health Department, said the issue isn’t that moms aren’t getting tested at appointments, it’s that they aren’t getting prenatal care in the first place.He attributed this to social determinants of health including substance use disorder, housing insecurity, intimate partner violence and lack of transportation. Grin said they’ve also lost contact with mothers who have a positive diagnosis but then don’t come back for their full treatment.&nbsp;In Kansas City, there’s been a 221% increase in syphilis cases in women since 2017. Many of those women were of child-bearing age. As a result, the city has added five STD positions and two surveillance positions to the health department in the hopes of more efficient contact tracing, particularly after area sexual health clinics saw a decline in visits during the pandemic.Tracy Russell, Executive Director at Nurture KC, said her non-profit, which serves about 300 pregnant and new mothers from the metro’s 14 poorest zip codes, said they also help educate families on safe sex practices.&nbsp;Russell said lack of knowledge of STIs continues to be an issue. Some families don’t know that STIs in pregnancy are possible, or that they can be infected but asymptomatic.&nbsp;“The message that always resonates the most with pregnant women is the impact on the baby,” Russell said.&nbsp;But it still doesn’t guarantee good access to medical care. Russell pointed to lack of trust in the medical system, particularly in communities of color.&nbsp;