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 push to eliminate Missouri’s requirement for children under 16 to obtain official work permits before they can begin a job could be debated by the House this week.&nbsp;

In order to work in Missouri, 14 and 15 year olds must obtain a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://labor.mo.gov/media/pdf/ls-67-ai">certificate</a>&nbsp;issued by their school, with information from their prospective employer about the details of the job as well as parental consent and age verification.

The child’s school, or if they are homeschooled, a parent, must review that information to ensure it’s in line with state laws that restrict the kind of work children can do and their hours. Once the school issues the certificate, a copy is filed with the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Children under 14 are generally not permitted to work and those 16 and older aren’t subject to the same restrictions.

The bill, sponsored by Republican state&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://house.mo.gov/bill.aspx?bill=HB1795&amp;year=2024&amp;code=R">Rep. Dave Hinman</a>&nbsp;of O’Fallon and a similar one sponsored by state&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.senate.mo.gov/24info/BTS_Web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&amp;BillID=110">Sen. Nick Schroer&nbsp;</a>of Defiance, would eliminate the formal work permit process. Instead of being overseen by schools and the state labor agency, the only requirement would be that a parent sign a permission slip for the child’s employer.&nbsp;

Proponents have characterized schools’ role in the process as unnecessary and outdated, and said parents should have the largest role.

“With discussions with our superintendent and other folks around here,” Hinman said in an interview with The Independent this week, “we felt it was better that the parents make that decision instead of schools being the ones that sign off on it.”

Hinman’s bill was voted out of committee in March, and he hopes the full House will debate it before session ends — perhaps as early as this week. The Senate version of the bill was heard in committee earlier this month and hasn’t been voted out yet.

The bill is about “empowering employers and youth,” Schroer said in a committee hearing earlier this month.

“While easing the regulations, this legislation also prioritizes parental involvement by mandating signed permission slips…ensuring that parents are informed and involved in their child’s work activities” Schroer said.

Arkansas passed a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://lailluminator.com/2023/03/04/arkansas-bill-to-remove-work-permit-requirement-for-children-under-16-goes-to-sanders-desk/">similar law last year&nbsp;</a>eliminating youth employment permits, though it didn’t include the parental permission slip piece. It faced opposition from&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aradvocates.org/arkansas-lawmakers-considering-dangerous-changes-to-state-child-labor-law/">child advocacy groups</a>&nbsp;and others, who worried it would remove a layer of oversight protecting child workers in a time when child labor violations have gained attention&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/04/07/kids-at-work-states-try-to-ease-child-labor-laws-at-behest-of-industry/">nationally</a>&nbsp;for being on the rise.&nbsp;

<a target="_blank" href="https://arkansasadvocate.com/2023/03/02/arkansas-bill-to-remove-work-permit-requirement-for-children-under-16-goes-to-sanders-desk/#:~:text=Opponents%20of%20House%20Bill%201410,and%20protect%20children%20from%20harm.">Proponents</a>&nbsp;have insisted that the bill won’t affect child labor violations because businesses will still be required to comply with state and federal law.

In Missouri, the legislation has flown largely under the radar: No one testified in opposition during hearings on the bill the last two years. A handful of&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://documents.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills241/witnesses/HB1795Testimony.pdf">individuals</a>&nbsp;submitted written opposition.

John Fliter, an associate professor of political science at Kansas State University, who studies child labor, said in an interview with The Independent that certificates are an important safeguard for children.

“We need to be careful because at the same time that [some states are] doing this,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://theconversation.com/states-are-weakening-their-child-labor-restrictions-nearly-8-decades-after-the-us-government-took-kids-out-of-the-workforce-205175">weakening restrictions</a>, we’re seeing an increase in child labor violations and some really bad cases over the last few years,” he said.

The certificates, Fliter added, produce a record of employers acknowledging they will follow the law, and allow schools to play a “supervisory role” and ensure children are “not working to the detriment of their education.”

State Sen. Doug Beck, a Democrat from Affton, asked during a committee hearing earlier this month how the state could be sure employers were still doing things like age verification if the government wouldn’t be allowed to require permits to oversee the process.

“Where’s the enforcement on this bill exactly?” Beck asked. “…Where’s the accountability?”

“I think the accountability is with the parents and the business owners,” Schroer replied.

Earlier versions of the House bill included language to extend the hours in the day children are allowed to work, but that’s since been removed because the sponsor found out it conflicts with federal law.

Children under 16 are legally required to be off work by 7 p.m. during the school year.&nbsp;

The reason Hinman initially filed the bill was because he wanted to push that time back, after he was approached by a restaurant owner in his district who was struggling with staffing those later hours.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“I’d like to see that time adjusted hopefully, up till eight o’clock, nine o’clock. Just to give a little bit more time for those businesses,” he said.

Now, the bill includes a provision that those restrictions apply “unless a later time is allowed by federal law,” which Hinman said is intended so Missouri can automatically change its law if the federal government does.&nbsp;

When he started looking into these laws, Hinman found it “an odd thing that the school district did that,” referring to the certification requirements, which led him to look at a bill filed last year and incorporate some of its language.

Youth work permits aren’t federally mandated but the majority of states require them.&nbsp;

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/age-certificates#21">Thirty-four states</a>&nbsp;require youth work permits. The details vary, including whether they’re issued by a state agency or schools and what ages are included.

State Rep. Holly Jones, a Republican from Eureka, said in the committee hearing that she “hates” that schools are the ones who sign off on certificates.&nbsp;

“I really don’t love the schools having so much power over families and students,” she said.

A similar&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.senate.mo.gov/23info/bts_web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&amp;BillID=44582">bill</a>&nbsp;last year, sponsored by Sen. Andrew Koenig, a Manchester Republican, didn’t gain momentum, clearing a Senate committee but never being debated by the full chamber.&nbsp;

A&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/04/23/child-labor-lobbying-fga/">Washington Post investigation</a>&nbsp;last year found the Florida-based conservative think tank, Foundation for Government Accountability, and its lobbying arm, the Opportunity Solutions Project, has been behind the push to roll back certain child labor protections in state legislatures.

“States should be allowing their teenagers to decide, with their parents, to get a job — not the government,” an&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://thefga.org/one-pagers/let-our-youth-thrive-remove-unnecessary-work-permit-requirements/">issue paper&nbsp;</a>published by Foundation for Government Accountability last year said. The paper characterized the issue as pitting “parents vs. educators and regulators.”

That group played an important role in Arkansas’ elimination of work certificates, the Post reported, and in Missouri, a lobbyist for Opportunity Solutions Project, James Harris, sent Koenig’s staff draft legislation last year before he filed it. Hinman said Harris didn’t approach him with the language.

Harris was the first one to testify in the committee hearings this year. In the House hearing, he said his first job as a teen helped him when he was a “law breaker” youth.

“I look back at that job and I learned so much,” Harris said.

“…Part of this is to help businesses be able to have more of a workforce for people to work,” Harris said during a later discussion about how pushing back the 7 p.m. restriction could cause businesses to worry about breaking federal law and not bolster their workforce.&nbsp;

Neither Harris nor the Foundation for Government Accountability responded to interview requests.

Other support has come from business groups including the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, Missouri Retailers and Missouri Grocers Association.&nbsp;

The legislation was voted out of committee on party lines. Democrats opposed it.

Hinson said in an interview with The Independent that while he’s not optimistic it will pass this year — with just three weeks left in session — he is hopeful it will come to the floor and that discussion will help improve the bill for next year.

“I would love to have the opportunity to have a full discussion with everybody on the floor, both sides of the aisle and see what the thoughts are so next year if we need to make corrections to the bill, that we can make it an even better bill,” Hinman said. “…[The legislation] is one of my priorities.”

Maura Browning, spokesperson for Missouri’s Department of Labor and Industrial Relations said the agency can’t comment on pending legislation.

But speaking broadly about how the state oversees child work requirements, labor department officials said they rely on&nbsp;the current licensing practice and see it as a tool to help ensure kids don’t enter hazardous work or take on excessive hours.&nbsp;

The required&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://labor.mo.gov/media/pdf/ls-67-ai">form</a>&nbsp;is just one page. In it, the child’s prospective employer must provide the specific job duties, hours and an acknowledgment they will abide by state law. Schools verify a child’s age and can review their grades.&nbsp;

Todd Smith, who directs the Division of Labor Standards within the state labor department, said schools help identify when the descriptions employers submit should be flagged as hazardous.

Kids under 16&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://labor.mo.gov/dls/youth-employment/for-employers#:~:text=Youth%20under%20the%20age%20of%2016%20may%20not%20handle%20any,under%20the%20age%20of%2016.">aren’t allowed</a>&nbsp;to do certain jobs, like operating a meat slicer or handling any hot oil or grease.

“We will enforce whatever the legislature passes, obviously, but in a perfect world, I think it’s important to have that education piece to share with employers,” Smith said in an interview with The Independent.

Missouri issued over 10,000 youth employment licenses last year.

Patrick Watkins, who works as the wage and hour section manager in the state labor department, said going through the school “gives us one more set of eyes to look at those hazardous job descriptions.”

Watkins added that in the current process the employer “agrees that they understand our restrictions, but more importantly, they have to fill in exactly what job duties the child will be performing and we catch a lot of hazardous titles just in that reveal alone.”&nbsp;

Child advocacy and social justice organizations reached by The Independent said they are not taking a position on the bill because they are deciding to stay out of the issue or are simply not up to speed on the legislation.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1714388634307.png" alt="The Missouri House chamber during debate on March 12, 2023 (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications)." />
 <figcaption>The Missouri House chamber during debate on March 12, 2023 (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications).</figcaption>
 </figure>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 push to eliminate Missouri’s requirement for children under 16 to obtain official work permits before they can begin a job could be debated by the House this week.&nbsp;In order to work in Missouri, 14 and 15 year olds must obtain a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://labor.mo.gov/media/pdf/ls-67-ai">certificate</a>&nbsp;issued by their school, with information from their prospective employer about the details of the job as well as parental consent and age verification.The child’s school, or if they are homeschooled, a parent, must review that information to ensure it’s in line with state laws that restrict the kind of work children can do and their hours. Once the school issues the certificate, a copy is filed with the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.Children under 14 are generally not permitted to work and those 16 and older aren’t subject to the same restrictions.The bill, sponsored by Republican state&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://house.mo.gov/bill.aspx?bill=HB1795&amp;year=2024&amp;code=R">Rep. Dave Hinman</a>&nbsp;of O’Fallon and a similar one sponsored by state&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.senate.mo.gov/24info/BTS_Web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&amp;BillID=110">Sen. Nick Schroer&nbsp;</a>of Defiance, would eliminate the formal work permit process. Instead of being overseen by schools and the state labor agency, the only requirement would be that a parent sign a permission slip for the child’s employer.&nbsp;Proponents have characterized schools’ role in the process as unnecessary and outdated, and said parents should have the largest role.“With discussions with our superintendent and other folks around here,” Hinman said in an interview with The Independent this week, “we felt it was better that the parents make that decision instead of schools being the ones that sign off on it.”Hinman’s bill was voted out of committee in March, and he hopes the full House will debate it before session ends — perhaps as early as this week. The Senate version of the bill was heard in committee earlier this month and hasn’t been voted out yet.The bill is about “empowering employers and youth,” Schroer said in a committee hearing earlier this month.“While easing the regulations, this legislation also prioritizes parental involvement by mandating signed permission slips…ensuring that parents are informed and involved in their child’s work activities” Schroer said.Arkansas passed a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://lailluminator.com/2023/03/04/arkansas-bill-to-remove-work-permit-requirement-for-children-under-16-goes-to-sanders-desk/">similar law last year&nbsp;</a>eliminating youth employment permits, though it didn’t include the parental permission slip piece. It faced opposition from&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aradvocates.org/arkansas-lawmakers-considering-dangerous-changes-to-state-child-labor-law/">child advocacy groups</a>&nbsp;and others, who worried it would remove a layer of oversight protecting child workers in a time when child labor violations have gained attention&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/04/07/kids-at-work-states-try-to-ease-child-labor-laws-at-behest-of-industry/">nationally</a>&nbsp;for being on the rise.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://arkansasadvocate.com/2023/03/02/arkansas-bill-to-remove-work-permit-requirement-for-children-under-16-goes-to-sanders-desk/#:~:text=Opponents%20of%20House%20Bill%201410,and%20protect%20children%20from%20harm.">Proponents</a>&nbsp;have insisted that the bill won’t affect child labor violations because businesses will still be required to comply with state and federal law.In Missouri, the legislation has flown largely under the radar: No one testified in opposition during hearings on the bill the last two years. A handful of&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://documents.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills241/witnesses/HB1795Testimony.pdf">individuals</a>&nbsp;submitted written opposition.John Fliter, an associate professor of political science at Kansas State University, who studies child labor, said in an interview with The Independent that certificates are an important safeguard for children.“We need to be careful because at the same time that [some states are] doing this,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://theconversation.com/states-are-weakening-their-child-labor-restrictions-nearly-8-decades-after-the-us-government-took-kids-out-of-the-workforce-205175">weakening restrictions</a>, we’re seeing an increase in child labor violations and some really bad cases over the last few years,” he said.The certificates, Fliter added, produce a record of employers acknowledging they will follow the law, and allow schools to play a “supervisory role” and ensure children are “not working to the detriment of their education.”State Sen. Doug Beck, a Democrat from Affton, asked during a committee hearing earlier this month how the state could be sure employers were still doing things like age verification if the government wouldn’t be allowed to require permits to oversee the process.“Where’s the enforcement on this bill exactly?” Beck asked. “…Where’s the accountability?”“I think the accountability is with the parents and the business owners,” Schroer replied.<h2>Schools’ role</h2>Earlier versions of the House bill included language to extend the hours in the day children are allowed to work, but that’s since been removed because the sponsor found out it conflicts with federal law.Children under 16 are legally required to be off work by 7 p.m. during the school year.&nbsp;The reason Hinman initially filed the bill was because he wanted to push that time back, after he was approached by a restaurant owner in his district who was struggling with staffing those later hours.&nbsp;&nbsp;“I’d like to see that time adjusted hopefully, up till eight o’clock, nine o’clock. Just to give a little bit more time for those businesses,” he said.Now, the bill includes a provision that those restrictions apply “unless a later time is allowed by federal law,” which Hinman said is intended so Missouri can automatically change its law if the federal government does.&nbsp;When he started looking into these laws, Hinman found it “an odd thing that the school district did that,” referring to the certification requirements, which led him to look at a bill filed last year and incorporate some of its language.Youth work permits aren’t federally mandated but the majority of states require them.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/age-certificates#21">Thirty-four states</a>&nbsp;require youth work permits. The details vary, including whether they’re issued by a state agency or schools and what ages are included.State Rep. Holly Jones, a Republican from Eureka, said in the committee hearing that she “hates” that schools are the ones who sign off on certificates.&nbsp;“I really don’t love the schools having so much power over families and students,” she said.A similar&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.senate.mo.gov/23info/bts_web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&amp;BillID=44582">bill</a>&nbsp;last year, sponsored by Sen. Andrew Koenig, a Manchester Republican, didn’t gain momentum, clearing a Senate committee but never being debated by the full chamber.&nbsp;A&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/04/23/child-labor-lobbying-fga/">Washington Post investigation</a>&nbsp;last year found the Florida-based conservative think tank, Foundation for Government Accountability, and its lobbying arm, the Opportunity Solutions Project, has been behind the push to roll back certain child labor protections in state legislatures.“States should be allowing their teenagers to decide, with their parents, to get a job — not the government,” an&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://thefga.org/one-pagers/let-our-youth-thrive-remove-unnecessary-work-permit-requirements/">issue paper&nbsp;</a>published by Foundation for Government Accountability last year said. The paper characterized the issue as pitting “parents vs. educators and regulators.”That group played an important role in Arkansas’ elimination of work certificates, the Post reported, and in Missouri, a lobbyist for Opportunity Solutions Project, James Harris, sent Koenig’s staff draft legislation last year before he filed it. Hinman said Harris didn’t approach him with the language.Harris was the first one to testify in the committee hearings this year. In the House hearing, he said his first job as a teen helped him when he was a “law breaker” youth.“I look back at that job and I learned so much,” Harris said.“…Part of this is to help businesses be able to have more of a workforce for people to work,” Harris said during a later discussion about how pushing back the 7 p.m. restriction could cause businesses to worry about breaking federal law and not bolster their workforce.&nbsp;Neither Harris nor the Foundation for Government Accountability responded to interview requests.Other support has come from business groups including the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, Missouri Retailers and Missouri Grocers Association.&nbsp;The legislation was voted out of committee on party lines. Democrats opposed it.Hinson said in an interview with The Independent that while he’s not optimistic it will pass this year — with just three weeks left in session — he is hopeful it will come to the floor and that discussion will help improve the bill for next year.“I would love to have the opportunity to have a full discussion with everybody on the floor, both sides of the aisle and see what the thoughts are so next year if we need to make corrections to the bill, that we can make it an even better bill,” Hinman said. “…[The legislation] is one of my priorities.”<h2>‘One more set of eyes’</h2><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1595514078285.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Maura Browning, spokesperson for Missouri’s Department of Labor and Industrial Relations said the agency can’t comment on pending legislation.But speaking broadly about how the state oversees child work requirements, labor department officials said they rely on&nbsp;the current licensing practice and see it as a tool to help ensure kids don’t enter hazardous work or take on excessive hours.&nbsp;The required&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://labor.mo.gov/media/pdf/ls-67-ai">form</a>&nbsp;is just one page. In it, the child’s prospective employer must provide the specific job duties, hours and an acknowledgment they will abide by state law. Schools verify a child’s age and can review their grades.&nbsp;Todd Smith, who directs the Division of Labor Standards within the state labor department, said schools help identify when the descriptions employers submit should be flagged as hazardous.Kids under 16&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://labor.mo.gov/dls/youth-employment/for-employers#:~:text=Youth%20under%20the%20age%20of%2016%20may%20not%20handle%20any,under%20the%20age%20of%2016.">aren’t allowed</a>&nbsp;to do certain jobs, like operating a meat slicer or handling any hot oil or grease.“We will enforce whatever the legislature passes, obviously, but in a perfect world, I think it’s important to have that education piece to share with employers,” Smith said in an interview with The Independent.Missouri issued over 10,000 youth employment licenses last year.Patrick Watkins, who works as the wage and hour section manager in the state labor department, said going through the school “gives us one more set of eyes to look at those hazardous job descriptions.”Watkins added that in the current process the employer “agrees that they understand our restrictions, but more importantly, they have to fill in exactly what job duties the child will be performing and we catch a lot of hazardous titles just in that reveal alone.”&nbsp;Child advocacy and social justice organizations reached by The Independent said they are not taking a position on the bill because they are deciding to stay out of the issue or are simply not up to speed on the legislation.

Missouri bill would loosen child labor law by removing work permit requirements

BUCHANAN COUNTY—One person was injured in an accident just after 1p.m. Sunday in Buchanan County.

Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2016 Buick Enclave driven by Patricia A. Ray, 81, Sheridan, was northbound on Interstate 229 in St. Joseph.&nbsp;

The rear side passenger tire of the van blew out. This caused the vehicle to cross the center line. The driver overcorrected and the van traveled off the east side of the road and struck a concrete barrier.

Buchanan County EMS transported Ray to Mosaic Life Care. She was. properly restrained, according to the MSHP.

BUCHANAN COUNTY—One person was injured in an accident just after 1p.m. Sunday in Buchanan County.Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2016 Buick Enclave driven by Patricia A. Ray, 81, Sheridan, was northbound on Interstate 229 in St. Joseph.&nbsp; The rear side passenger tire of the van blew out. This caused the vehicle to cross the center line. The driver overcorrected and the van traveled off the east side of the road and struck a concrete barrier.Buchanan County EMS transported Ray to Mosaic Life Care. She was. properly restrained, according to the MSHP.

Mo. woman hospitalized in St. Joe after van crash

For the second year in a row, dispensaries across the state experienced IT problems on the industry’s biggest and most important sales day

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

April 20 is a day recognized globally for celebrating cannabis culture,&nbsp;but it’s also like the cannabis industry’s Black Friday.&nbsp;

Dispensaries offer deals designed to inspire people to flood their stores to stock up.&nbsp;

However on Saturday, dispensaries across the state using an inventory platform called Dutchie were hamstrung for hours by technical challenges, which caused many of their registers to go down or move at snail pace.&nbsp;

It was the second year in a row that a 4/20 sales surge caused the system to crash.

“Imagine running a restaurant where you have one burner working and you normally have 20 stoves operating,” said Nick Rinella, CEO of Hippos Cannabis dispensaries. “We had one burner going.”&nbsp;

Each Hippos location went from selling around 500 items per hour to less than 100 because of the issues the outages were causing, he said.

Dutchie is similar to the platforms major stores, such as Home Depot and Walmart, use to scan items at check out. However, Dutchie also has the special function of communicating with the state’s seed-to-sale tracking system called Metrc.&nbsp;

It keeps the stores compliant with the state’s stringent tracking requirements of marijuana products.&nbsp;

Rinella said all three Hippos dispensaries in Springfield, Chesterfield and Columbia faced delays all day — causing them to lose an estimated $200,000.&nbsp;

Mark Hendren, president of Flora Farms, also said his six stores across the state faced delays up to five hours. He’s not sure what kind of loss Flora Farms experienced, he said, because the company extended their deals through Monday to make it up to their customers.

John Mueller, CEO of Greenlight cannabis company, said his 15 stores were not impacted, nor were any of the company’s 32 stores across the country. Greenlight stores experienced some outages last year, he said, so they were expecting the same this year.&nbsp;

“We prepared and trained for the outage that never came,” Mueller said. “But I’ve heard from a number of my peers that they had outages and somehow we did not.”

Dispensaries that are on certain servers faced more difficulties, Rinella said, but it’s the luck of the draw which servers companies are put on. Companies can’t pay more to get on the “good server,” he said.

Missouri was not alone.<a target="_blank" href="https://mjbizdaily.com/dutchie-pos-system-for-cannabis-retail-crashes-on-420/">&nbsp;Dispensaries across the country</a>&nbsp;experienced delays on Dutchie.

“This year’s 4/20 was a record setting day for the majority of Dutchie powered dispensaries,” Chris&nbsp;Ostrowski, chief technology officer of Dutchie, said in a statement emailed to The Independent.&nbsp;

Ostowski said the systems powered more than two million transactions, representing $165 Million dollars in retail commerce — which was a 50% increase from last year’s 4/20.&nbsp;

“While Dutchie and our partners prepared extensively for this year’s 4/20, a group of customers local to a specific instance of our POS system experienced serious issues that impacted their ability to transact,” Ostrowski said.&nbsp;

The difficulties impacted less than 20% of Dutchie customers, he said.

Rinella said Dutchie’s statement just made the incident sting even more.&nbsp;

“Hearing that is just painful to me,” Rinella said. “So they had a 50% increase. That means I probably would have had a 50% increase had they not jacked my entire system for the day.”

It’s unclear if Missouri’s cannabis industry had record-breaking sales this past weekend. April’s sales numbers won’t be available on the state’s website until early May.

However, Rinella said the sales were likely record-breaking, which is why the bandwidth on Dutchie’s server couldn’t handle the volume that was coming through.&nbsp;

Lisa Cox, spokeswoman for the Division of Cannabis Regulation, said the Dutchie malfunctions did not interfere with the division’s tracking operations.&nbsp;

“While licensees are permitted to use these [point of sale] systems, it is their responsibility to ensure each day’s transactions and inventory are recorded accurately in the statewide track and trace system,” Cox said, “no matter what happens with the POS system.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

Rinella said the staff and customers were very understanding, and hopes any new customers that came to the stores on 4/20 aren’t discouraged to come back.&nbsp;

“We kind of want to do more of an apology,” he said. “Obviously, this wasn’t something that we could control, but we do want to be able to make sure that customers get the greatest experience they can possibly get when coming to a dispensary.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1714308546064.png" alt="Flora Farms dispensaries were among those that experienced technical difficulties on 4/20, including this location at the Arkansas border (Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption>Flora Farms dispensaries were among those that experienced technical difficulties on 4/20, including this location at the Arkansas border (Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>For the second year in a row, dispensaries across the state experienced IT problems on the industry’s biggest and most important sales day</h2>By REBECCA RIVAS,&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>April 20 is a day recognized globally for celebrating cannabis culture,&nbsp;but it’s also like the cannabis industry’s Black Friday.&nbsp;Dispensaries offer deals designed to inspire people to flood their stores to stock up.&nbsp;However on Saturday, dispensaries across the state using an inventory platform called Dutchie were hamstrung for hours by technical challenges, which caused many of their registers to go down or move at snail pace.&nbsp;It was the second year in a row that a 4/20 sales surge caused the system to crash.“Imagine running a restaurant where you have one burner working and you normally have 20 stoves operating,” said Nick Rinella, CEO of Hippos Cannabis dispensaries. “We had one burner going.”&nbsp;Each Hippos location went from selling around 500 items per hour to less than 100 because of the issues the outages were causing, he said.Dutchie is similar to the platforms major stores, such as Home Depot and Walmart, use to scan items at check out. However, Dutchie also has the special function of communicating with the state’s seed-to-sale tracking system called Metrc.&nbsp;It keeps the stores compliant with the state’s stringent tracking requirements of marijuana products.&nbsp;Rinella said all three Hippos dispensaries in Springfield, Chesterfield and Columbia faced delays all day — causing them to lose an estimated $200,000.&nbsp;Mark Hendren, president of Flora Farms, also said his six stores across the state faced delays up to five hours. He’s not sure what kind of loss Flora Farms experienced, he said, because the company extended their deals through Monday to make it up to their customers.“It seems to be working,” he said.John Mueller, CEO of Greenlight cannabis company, said his 15 stores were not impacted, nor were any of the company’s 32 stores across the country. Greenlight stores experienced some outages last year, he said, so they were expecting the same this year.&nbsp;“We prepared and trained for the outage that never came,” Mueller said. “But I’ve heard from a number of my peers that they had outages and somehow we did not.”Dispensaries that are on certain servers faced more difficulties, Rinella said, but it’s the luck of the draw which servers companies are put on. Companies can’t pay more to get on the “good server,” he said.Missouri was not alone.<a target="_blank" href="https://mjbizdaily.com/dutchie-pos-system-for-cannabis-retail-crashes-on-420/">&nbsp;Dispensaries across the country</a>&nbsp;experienced delays on Dutchie.“This year’s 4/20 was a record setting day for the majority of Dutchie powered dispensaries,” Chris&nbsp;Ostrowski, chief technology officer of Dutchie, said in a statement emailed to The Independent.&nbsp;Ostowski said the systems powered more than two million transactions, representing $165 Million dollars in retail commerce — which was a 50% increase from last year’s 4/20.&nbsp;“While Dutchie and our partners prepared extensively for this year’s 4/20, a group of customers local to a specific instance of our POS system experienced serious issues that impacted their ability to transact,” Ostrowski said.&nbsp;The difficulties impacted less than 20% of Dutchie customers, he said.Rinella said Dutchie’s statement just made the incident sting even more.&nbsp;“Hearing that is just painful to me,” Rinella said. “So they had a 50% increase. That means I probably would have had a 50% increase had they not jacked my entire system for the day.”It’s unclear if Missouri’s cannabis industry had record-breaking sales this past weekend. April’s sales numbers won’t be available on the state’s website until early May.However, Rinella said the sales were likely record-breaking, which is why the bandwidth on Dutchie’s server couldn’t handle the volume that was coming through.&nbsp;Lisa Cox, spokeswoman for the Division of Cannabis Regulation, said the Dutchie malfunctions did not interfere with the division’s tracking operations.&nbsp;“While licensees are permitted to use these [point of sale] systems, it is their responsibility to ensure each day’s transactions and inventory are recorded accurately in the statewide track and trace system,” Cox said, “no matter what happens with the POS system.”&nbsp;&nbsp;Rinella said the staff and customers were very understanding, and hopes any new customers that came to the stores on 4/20 aren’t discouraged to come back.&nbsp;“We kind of want to do more of an apology,” he said. “Obviously, this wasn’t something that we could control, but we do want to be able to make sure that customers get the greatest experience they can possibly get when coming to a dispensary.”

Tech glitch on 4/20 caused Missouri cannabis businesses to lose sales

DAVIESS COUNTY—One person was injured in an accident just after noon Saturday in Daviess County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Harley Davidson driven by Emillia R. Galbraith, 45, Hamilton, was northbound on Route DD five miles northwest of Gallatin.&nbsp;

The driver failed to negotiate a curve in the road. The motorcycle traveled off the east side of the road, overturned and the driver was ejected.

Daviess County EMS transported Galbraith to Mosaic in St. Joseph. She was wearing a helmet, according to the MSHP.

DAVIESS COUNTY—One person was injured in an accident just after noon Saturday in Daviess County.The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Harley Davidson driven by Emillia R. Galbraith, 45, Hamilton, was northbound on Route DD five miles northwest of Gallatin.&nbsp;The driver failed to negotiate a curve in the road. The motorcycle traveled off the east side of the road, overturned and the driver was ejected.Daviess County EMS transported Galbraith to Mosaic in St. Joseph. She was wearing a helmet, according to the MSHP.

Mo. woman hospitalized in St. Joe after motorcycle accident

The Freedom Caucus, a faction of Republicans, has vowed to debate the budget in detail and attempt to cut hundreds of millions in spending. That could push final votes on spending past the constitutional deadline of May 10

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

The Missouri Senate’s budget plan approved in a committee Wednesday has more money for workers who&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/03/22/missourians-with-developmental-disabilities-languish-in-hospitals-jails-shelters/">help people with developmental disabilities</a>, more to help low-income families&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/01/29/missouri-child-care-crisis-a-top-priority-for-governor-bipartisan-group-of-lawmakers/">afford child care</a>&nbsp;and more for counties to defray the cost of&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.missourinet.com/2021/02/18/missouri-could-soon-catch-up-on-its-jail-reimbursement-debt/">holding people convicted of felonies</a>.

There are also big new road projects and a boost to higher education funding.

The committee did make some cuts to House-approved items, including slashing $2.5 million for schools to install artificial intelligence gun detection equipment and $10 million for medical research with psilocybin mushrooms to treat mental illness.

Over two days, the Senate Appropriations Committee dug through thousands of individual lines as it prepared a spending plan for floor debate. Totals were not immediately available but the additions mean the Senate plan will be closer to Gov. Mike Parson’s $52.7 billion proposal than the $50.8 billion spending plan the House approved.

The budget will be on the Senate floor next week. Final approval could prove difficult with the six-member Freedom Caucus promising extended debate by&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/04/23/match-rules-limit-spending-of-missouris-federal-infrastructure-funds-as-deadlines-loom/">digging into every item</a>&nbsp;added to the budget for the coming year.

Republicans on the committee also&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/04/25/senate-committee-adds-anti-immigration-sanctions-targeting-kansas-city-to-missouri-budget/">injected a new issue</a>&nbsp;into the budget at the end of Wednesday’s hearing – a provision, targeting Kansas City, that punishes any city declaring itself a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants with the loss of all state funding.

Among the larger items added during the markup session are:

The restored money in Medicaid lines, and in other places in the budget, is to make sure departments can function until lawmakers can pass a supplemental spending bill next year, said state Sen. Lincoln Hough, a Republican from Springfield and chair of the appropriations committee

“I don’t want any of those things running out of money while we’re not here,” he said.

The money for developmental disability services will help diminish a waiting list, said Val Huhn, director of the Department of Mental Health. A boost in pay last year helped recruiting and the waiting list stopped growing, she said.

“Our waitlist is kind of stagnant, but we’re not seeing an increase,” she said.

Hough said he was disappointed last year that the full boost wasn’t possible.

“It’s one of those things that takes a long time, and we ended up kind of with half of what I really wanted to do,” Hough said. “This was finishing off, more or less, a commitment from last year.”

Another change made in the budget that won’t add costs is to take one employee from each of the state’s prisons and assign them to a centrally directed investigations unit. Their job will be to improve interdiction of contraband coming into the prisons.

That has proven difficult and arrests of corrections officers in recent years for carrying drugs into prisons illustrates the issue. In one instance, a corrections officer brought drugs&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ky3.com/2023/11/22/authorities-arrest-south-central-correctional-center-officer-accused-trafficking-trugs-7-up-cans/">in soda cans</a>&nbsp;and another brought rolls of paper&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ky3.com/2023/04/07/missouri-correctional-officer-arrested-intending-give-illegal-drugs-an-inmate/">soaked in synthetic cannabinoid</a>.

Trevor Foley, director of the Department of Corrections, said contraband gets into prisons in a variety of ways and catching it will also require a variety of approaches.

“There’s prevention, there’s perimeter security, there’s searches, there’s body scanners, there’s pushing our perimeters back, there’s drone monitoring,” he said. “There’s staff reviews, there’s visitor reviews, there’s vendor and delivery screenings.”

A wrongful death lawsuit&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/04/24/missouri-prison-agency-to-pay-60k-for-sunshine-law-violations-over-inmate-death-records/">filed earlier this month</a>&nbsp;over a prisoner suicide describes the ease at which items can move from cell to cell even in the administrative segregation unit. Prisoners run strings that can move items as heavy as bed sheets from cell to cell. Sometimes goods are moved between floors, the lawsuit says, based on video obtained from the department.

It is very difficult to catch those types of activities, Foley said.

“I would need to triple my staff to have eyes watching every camera, even splitting them up by floors,” he said.

As of Friday, there will be two weeks left for lawmakers to finish a budget before the constitutional deadline. The deadline has only been missed once, and legislative leaders expressed confidence they can meet it again, although it will be close.

“Time is of the essence,” House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith said Thursday. “We do have enough time but certainly we are on the countdown.”

Smith said he needs time to study the changes made by the Senate to determine which he can accept.

‘I will reserve judgment until I understand what’s in the legislation,” Smith said. “I don’t think I really have a clear understanding of that.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1714217661665.png" alt="enate Appropriations Committee Chairman Lincoln Hough, center, takes notes as members vote on budget bills Wednesday after two days spent amending the spending plan. Hough is flanked by Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, left, vice-chairman, and Sen. Lauren Arthur, right, a Kansas City Democrat. (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent)" />
 <figcaption>enate Appropriations Committee Chairman Lincoln Hough, center, takes notes as members vote on budget bills Wednesday after two days spent amending the spending plan. Hough is flanked by Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, left, vice-chairman, and Sen. Lauren Arthur, right, a Kansas City Democrat. (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>The Freedom Caucus, a faction of Republicans, has vowed to debate the budget in detail and attempt to cut hundreds of millions in spending. That could push final votes on spending past the constitutional deadline of May 10</h2>By RUDI KELLER,&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>The Missouri Senate’s budget plan approved in a committee Wednesday has more money for workers who&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/03/22/missourians-with-developmental-disabilities-languish-in-hospitals-jails-shelters/">help people with developmental disabilities</a>, more to help low-income families&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/01/29/missouri-child-care-crisis-a-top-priority-for-governor-bipartisan-group-of-lawmakers/">afford child care</a>&nbsp;and more for counties to defray the cost of&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.missourinet.com/2021/02/18/missouri-could-soon-catch-up-on-its-jail-reimbursement-debt/">holding people convicted of felonies</a>.There are also big new road projects and a boost to higher education funding.The committee did make some cuts to House-approved items, including slashing $2.5 million for schools to install artificial intelligence gun detection equipment and $10 million for medical research with psilocybin mushrooms to treat mental illness.Over two days, the Senate Appropriations Committee dug through thousands of individual lines as it prepared a spending plan for floor debate. Totals were not immediately available but the additions mean the Senate plan will be closer to Gov. Mike Parson’s $52.7 billion proposal than the $50.8 billion spending plan the House approved.The budget will be on the Senate floor next week. Final approval could prove difficult with the six-member Freedom Caucus promising extended debate by&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/04/23/match-rules-limit-spending-of-missouris-federal-infrastructure-funds-as-deadlines-loom/">digging into every item</a>&nbsp;added to the budget for the coming year.Republicans on the committee also&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/04/25/senate-committee-adds-anti-immigration-sanctions-targeting-kansas-city-to-missouri-budget/">injected a new issue</a>&nbsp;into the budget at the end of Wednesday’s hearing – a provision, targeting Kansas City, that punishes any city declaring itself a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants with the loss of all state funding.Among the larger items added during the markup session are:<ul>
 <li>$171 million to increase pay to at least $17 an hour for people helping adults with developmental disabilities in their daily lives. There is also $9 million to pay a $2 differential for night work.</li><li>$80 million for reconstructing U.S. Highway 67 in Butler County. There is also $30 million for road improvements near a beef processing plant in Wright City and $48 million for improvements to U.S. Highway 65 between Buffalo and Warsaw.</li><li>$5 million to increase payments to counties for jail time served by inmates who are later convicted of felonies and sent to state prisons. With $5 million added by the House, it would increase the per-day rate to $27.31 from the current $22.58, an amount that has not been increased since fiscal 2017. State law&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=221.105&amp;bid=50039&amp;hl=">in effect since 1997</a>&nbsp;allows up to $37.50 per day but it has never been funded.</li><li>Restored $52 million cut from child care subsidies for lower income families and set new rates based on the latest rate study. The House directed that a rate study produced for the 2021-22 fiscal year be used.</li><li>Restored cuts the House made to Medicaid budget lines that pared back the amount set aside for anticipated cost increases.&nbsp;</li>
 </ul>The restored money in Medicaid lines, and in other places in the budget, is to make sure departments can function until lawmakers can pass a supplemental spending bill next year, said state Sen. Lincoln Hough, a Republican from Springfield and chair of the appropriations committee“I don’t want any of those things running out of money while we’re not here,” he said.The money for developmental disability services will help diminish a waiting list, said Val Huhn, director of the Department of Mental Health. A boost in pay last year helped recruiting and the waiting list stopped growing, she said.“Our waitlist is kind of stagnant, but we’re not seeing an increase,” she said.Hough said he was disappointed last year that the full boost wasn’t possible.“It’s one of those things that takes a long time, and we ended up kind of with half of what I really wanted to do,” Hough said. “This was finishing off, more or less, a commitment from last year.”Another change made in the budget that won’t add costs is to take one employee from each of the state’s prisons and assign them to a centrally directed investigations unit. Their job will be to improve interdiction of contraband coming into the prisons.That has proven difficult and arrests of corrections officers in recent years for carrying drugs into prisons illustrates the issue. In one instance, a corrections officer brought drugs&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ky3.com/2023/11/22/authorities-arrest-south-central-correctional-center-officer-accused-trafficking-trugs-7-up-cans/">in soda cans</a>&nbsp;and another brought rolls of paper&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ky3.com/2023/04/07/missouri-correctional-officer-arrested-intending-give-illegal-drugs-an-inmate/">soaked in synthetic cannabinoid</a>.Trevor Foley, director of the Department of Corrections, said contraband gets into prisons in a variety of ways and catching it will also require a variety of approaches.“There’s prevention, there’s perimeter security, there’s searches, there’s body scanners, there’s pushing our perimeters back, there’s drone monitoring,” he said. “There’s staff reviews, there’s visitor reviews, there’s vendor and delivery screenings.”A wrongful death lawsuit&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/04/24/missouri-prison-agency-to-pay-60k-for-sunshine-law-violations-over-inmate-death-records/">filed earlier this month</a>&nbsp;over a prisoner suicide describes the ease at which items can move from cell to cell even in the administrative segregation unit. Prisoners run strings that can move items as heavy as bed sheets from cell to cell. Sometimes goods are moved between floors, the lawsuit says, based on video obtained from the department.It is very difficult to catch those types of activities, Foley said.“I would need to triple my staff to have eyes watching every camera, even splitting them up by floors,” he said.As of Friday, there will be two weeks left for lawmakers to finish a budget before the constitutional deadline. The deadline has only been missed once, and legislative leaders expressed confidence they can meet it again, although it will be close.“Time is of the essence,” House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith said Thursday. “We do have enough time but certainly we are on the countdown.”Smith said he needs time to study the changes made by the Senate to determine which he can accept.‘I will reserve judgment until I understand what’s in the legislation,” Smith said. “I don’t think I really have a clear understanding of that.”

With time running short, Missouri Senate set to debate $50 billion state budget next week

An overflow at the St. Joseph Animal Shelter only emphasizes the need for a new building.   

It's been a rough month for the St. Joseph Animal Shelter.  Despite running several adoption events, with discounted adoption fees, the shelter is still full. 

Friends of the Animal Shelter Melanie Barnes says the shelter is mostly full of older dogs and puppies. 

"We think of the spring as kitten season, and yes we do have lots of kittens down there and there's an event coming up to support that, but the kennels have just been crazy," Barnes tells KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr. 

Barnes says that April has been so rough they have had to find creative ways to encourage adoption. 

"They started on April 1st and 2nd, and they ran a shelter event of It's Not an April Fool's and all adoptions were $1," Barnes says. 

Barnes says a majority of the pets were adopted at that event, but less than a week later it was full again, and another event was held. 

"They did essentially the Price is Right, and so they had specific pets maybe that had been down there for a while and overlooked, and if you were interested you could come in and play a Price is Right game and almost pick the price for adoptions," Barnes explains. 

Barnes says that event in the middle of the month saw a majority of pets adopted, but earlier this week.  

"We got 40 dogs in one day, so this is the third adoption special trying to get pets out of the shelter because we're constantly full," Barnes says. "Just this last Tuesday and Wednesday, sticking with the game show theme, they did a Wheel of Fortune." 

Barnes says adoption fees on a wheel spin ranged from a $1 to around $50.  Barnes indicates heading into May, it's not slowing down. 

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

By MATT PIKE St. Joseph Post An overflow at the St. Joseph Animal Shelter only emphasizes the need for a new building. It's been a rough month for the St. Joseph Animal Shelter. Despite running several adoption events, with discounted adoption fees, the shelter is still full. Friends of the Animal Shelter Melanie Barnes says the shelter is mostly full of older dogs and puppies. "We think of the spring as kitten season, and yes we do have lots of kittens down there and there's an event coming up to support that, but the kennels have just been crazy," Barnes tells KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr. Barnes says that April has been so rough they have had to find creative ways to encourage adoption. "They started on April 1st and 2nd, and they ran a shelter event of It's Not an April Fool's and all adoptions were $1," Barnes says. Barnes says a majority of the pets were adopted at that event, but less than a week later it was full again, and another event was held. "They did essentially the Price is Right, and so they had specific pets maybe that had been down there for a while and overlooked, and if you were interested you could come in and play a Price is Right game and almost pick the price for adoptions," Barnes explains. Barnes says that event in the middle of the month saw a majority of pets adopted, but earlier this week. "We got 40 dogs in one day, so this is the third adoption special trying to get pets out of the shelter because we're constantly full," Barnes says. "Just this last Tuesday and Wednesday, sticking with the game show theme, they did a Wheel of Fortune." Barnes says adoption fees on a wheel spin ranged from a $1 to around $50. Barnes indicates heading into May, it's not slowing down. You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.

Friends of the St. Joseph Animal Shelter try creative ways to ease overflow

St.
Joseph police report the body of a woman has been found in the 3200 block
of North 2nd Street.

Police
say family members Friday night reported finding the body of a 53-year-old
woman outside. An autopsy has been ordered.

An
investigation continues, though no foul play is suspected.

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

By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostSt.
Joseph police report the body of a woman has been found in the 3200 block
of North 2nd Street.Police
say family members Friday night reported finding the body of a 53-year-old
woman outside. An autopsy has been ordered.An
investigation continues, though no foul play is suspected.You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.

Investigation underway after body discovered in St. Joseph

Human remains found in north-central Missouri have been
identified as that of an Iowa man missing since 2018.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports the remains have
been identified as those of Sebastian Tyrese Husted, a Black male who was 24 at the time
he was reported missing by the Centerville, Iowa Police Department. The patrol says
Centerville authorities reported Husted missing on January 22nd of
2018.

A turkey hunter discovered the remains Tuesday afternoon on
private property in Mercer County.

Members of the public is asked to contact the Mercer County
Sheriff’s Office or the Centerville, Iowa Police Department if they have any
information which might help in the investigation.

By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostHuman remains found in north-central Missouri have been
identified as that of an Iowa man missing since 2018.The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports the remains have
been identified as those of Sebastian Tyrese Husted, a Black male who was 24 at the time
he was reported missing by the Centerville, Iowa Police Department. The patrol says
Centerville authorities reported Husted missing on January 22nd of
2018.A turkey hunter discovered the remains Tuesday afternoon on
private property in Mercer County.Members of the public is asked to contact the Mercer County
Sheriff’s Office or the Centerville, Iowa Police Department if they have any
information which might help in the investigation.You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.

Human remains found in north-central Missouri identified

BROWN COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect in connection with an alleged violent crimes.

Just before 3p.m. Thursday,&nbsp; a search warrant was initiated at a residence at 1114 Holden Eagle Road on the Kickapoo Reservation, according to Brown County Sheriff John Merchant.

&nbsp; KansasHighway Patrol assisted the Brown County Sheriff’s Office in the execution of the warrant. Officers arrested 48-year-old Lester Randall&nbsp; on a requested charge of Aggravated Domestic Battery.&nbsp; &nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1714127202620.png" alt="Randall-photo Brown Co." />
 <figcaption>Randall-photo Brown Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>BROWN COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect in connection with an alleged violent crimes.Just before 3p.m. Thursday,&nbsp; a search warrant was initiated at a residence at 1114 Holden Eagle Road on the Kickapoo Reservation, according to Brown County Sheriff John Merchant.&nbsp; KansasHighway Patrol assisted the Brown County Sheriff’s Office in the execution of the warrant. Officers arrested 48-year-old Lester Randall&nbsp; on a requested charge of Aggravated Domestic Battery.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Search warrant leads to arrest for alleged domestic battery

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/dmitrymartirosov/">DMITRY MARTIROSOV</a>&nbsp;

Rep. Aaron McMullen is fighting an uphill battle — and he knows it.

McMullen, a Republican from Independence, is pushing legislation that would require Missouri’s members of Congress to reside in the district they represent.

But there’s one problem: His proposal conflicts with the U.S. Constitution.

Article 1 Section 2 of the Constitution states that to be a U.S. representative, a candidate must be at least 25 years old, have been a U.S. citizen for seven years and a resident of the state they seek to represent at the time of the election. Adding further requirements, such as those proposed in McMullen’s bill, would go against the Constitution.

McMullen’s 2-page proposal states that beginning in the 2026 federal elections, a candidate running to represent a congressional district in Missouri may do so only if they live in that district.

The bill further states that if a candidate runs for a congressional district in which the boundaries have not been changed in the past 24 months, that candidate must reside in that district for a period of 12 months before the election and for three months if the district’s boundaries have been changed. Before a candidate’s name appears on the ballot, their residency would have to be verified by the secretary of state’s office, the bill states.

But all of these requirements conflict with the U.S. Constitution, as determined by a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1995.

In that ruling, Arkansas residents passed an amendment to their state constitution that sought to limit the number of terms members of their state legislatures and their congressional representatives could serve. In a narrowly split decision, the Supreme Court ruled that putting additional requirements on members of Congress is prohibited, and thus unconstitutional. The ruling invalidated similar measures passed by 22 other states, including Missouri.

“This is going to be a long process,” McMullen said in an interview, adding that he and Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s office are currently working to amend some language in the bill.

When McMullen first presented his bill during last year’s session, he faced stern opposition from Rep. Adam Schwadron, a St. Charles Republican, who called the measure “blatantly unconstitutional” and said he couldn’t support it.

Last week, Schwadron again laid out his argument for why the bill is flawed when it was heard by the House Elections and Elected Officials Committee.

“I understand where people are coming from,” Schwadron later said in his office. “Unfortunately, I don’t want to have to spend state money on something that we 100% know will be struck down by the courts.”

The question at the heart of McMullen’s bill is one of representation. Specifically, whether a candidate who doesn’t live in a particular district should be able to represent it.

The Missouri Constitution lays out requirements for members of the legislature, which includes district residency. But the U.S. Constitution, while specifying age, citizenship and state residency requirements, does not address the issue.

“The members of the Constitutional Convention were familiar with district residency requirements and many of the states imposed them in state constitutions. But they did not choose to put them in the U.S. Constitution,” said Peverill Squire, a political science professor at the University of Missouri. “While many Americans might agree on requiring district representation, it could only be mandated through a constitutional amendment.”

And an amendment is something McMullen, a candidate for Senate District 11, said he is open to.

“I feel like what this bill does is start the conversation to try to look and, you know, amend, possibly, the (U.S.) Constitution,” he said. “Everybody agrees with the concept and agrees that this is something that needs to be fixed. It’s just a long and arduous process.”

In 1996, Missouri residents passed a constitutional amendment that sought to place term limits on members of Congress to a maximum of three terms for House representatives and two for Senators. The measure passed with more than 57%, but was deemed invalid by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 2001 decision.

Opposition to McMullen’s bill is sparse, with most either indifferent as a result of the legal hurdles still in its way or concerned with the precedent it might set.

“I get a little bit weary anytime we start confining the requirements that are already in the federal constitution,” said Rep. Kevin Windham, a Democrat from Hillsdale, who sits on the House Elections and Elected Officials Committee.

Windham said the bill raises a few red flags for him as it relates to placing boundaries around certain areas of the law.

“The state legislature draws the lines for congressional districts. What happens when what has seemingly been a practice of drawing folks out of certain congressional districts (occurs during redistricting every 10 years)? It has a little bit more of an effect when you say that that person can’t run at all in that district,” Windham said.

Windham added that he thinks there’s a clear conflict of interest when the legislature controls the process of both drawing the lines for congressional districts and narrowing down the district residency requirements in the U.S. Constitution.

“It puts, at least me, in particular, in a weird space as far as being able to support (the bill),” Windham said.

Squire said candidates can easily find themselves in new districts following redistricting, which could then place them in situations where they’re running for a district they do not live in.

“District lines shift and candidates may not want to move with them,” Squire said.

“In urban areas,” he added, “the lines don’t usually match media markets and members may be sufficiently well-known to run even if they don’t currently live in the district.”

It’s been nearly 32 years since the U.S. Constitution has last been amended, when in May 1992 Michigan became the 38th state needed to ratify the 27th Amendment.

Yet despite the slim odds McMullen’s bill might be facing during this legislative session, he remains optimistic.

“The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step,” McMullen said.

And if he somehow manages to pull it off, beginning the process of amending the U.S Constitution, even Schwadron, McMullen’s most ardent opponent, said he would support it.

“I would vote for that,” Schwadron said, “I would approve that, so long as it is an amendment to the United States Constitution.”

This story originally appeared in the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/state_news/a-missouri-lawmaker-wants-congressional-members-to-live-in-their-districts-can-he-pull-it/article_8027f766-00cc-11ef-a1d1-73fbee3c5bff.html#tncms-source=Top%20Story">Columbia Missourian</a>. It can be republished in print or online.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1714092097711.png" alt=" State Rep. Aaron McMullen, R-Independence, presents a bill in committee on Jan. 16, 2024 (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications)." />
 <figcaption> State Rep. Aaron McMullen, R-Independence, presents a bill in committee on Jan. 16, 2024 (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications).</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/dmitrymartirosov/">DMITRY MARTIROSOV</a>&nbsp;Rep. Aaron McMullen is fighting an uphill battle — and he knows it.McMullen, a Republican from Independence, is pushing legislation that would require Missouri’s members of Congress to reside in the district they represent.But there’s one problem: His proposal conflicts with the U.S. Constitution.Article 1 Section 2 of the Constitution states that to be a U.S. representative, a candidate must be at least 25 years old, have been a U.S. citizen for seven years and a resident of the state they seek to represent at the time of the election. Adding further requirements, such as those proposed in McMullen’s bill, would go against the Constitution.McMullen’s 2-page proposal states that beginning in the 2026 federal elections, a candidate running to represent a congressional district in Missouri may do so only if they live in that district.The bill further states that if a candidate runs for a congressional district in which the boundaries have not been changed in the past 24 months, that candidate must reside in that district for a period of 12 months before the election and for three months if the district’s boundaries have been changed. Before a candidate’s name appears on the ballot, their residency would have to be verified by the secretary of state’s office, the bill states.But all of these requirements conflict with the U.S. Constitution, as determined by a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1995.In that ruling, Arkansas residents passed an amendment to their state constitution that sought to limit the number of terms members of their state legislatures and their congressional representatives could serve. In a narrowly split decision, the Supreme Court ruled that putting additional requirements on members of Congress is prohibited, and thus unconstitutional. The ruling invalidated similar measures passed by 22 other states, including Missouri.“This is going to be a long process,” McMullen said in an interview, adding that he and Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s office are currently working to amend some language in the bill.When McMullen first presented his bill during last year’s session, he faced stern opposition from Rep. Adam Schwadron, a St. Charles Republican, who called the measure “blatantly unconstitutional” and said he couldn’t support it.Last week, Schwadron again laid out his argument for why the bill is flawed when it was heard by the House Elections and Elected Officials Committee.“I understand where people are coming from,” Schwadron later said in his office. “Unfortunately, I don’t want to have to spend state money on something that we 100% know will be struck down by the courts.”The question at the heart of McMullen’s bill is one of representation. Specifically, whether a candidate who doesn’t live in a particular district should be able to represent it.The Missouri Constitution lays out requirements for members of the legislature, which includes district residency. But the U.S. Constitution, while specifying age, citizenship and state residency requirements, does not address the issue.“The members of the Constitutional Convention were familiar with district residency requirements and many of the states imposed them in state constitutions. But they did not choose to put them in the U.S. Constitution,” said Peverill Squire, a political science professor at the University of Missouri. “While many Americans might agree on requiring district representation, it could only be mandated through a constitutional amendment.”And an amendment is something McMullen, a candidate for Senate District 11, said he is open to.“I feel like what this bill does is start the conversation to try to look and, you know, amend, possibly, the (U.S.) Constitution,” he said. “Everybody agrees with the concept and agrees that this is something that needs to be fixed. It’s just a long and arduous process.”In 1996, Missouri residents passed a constitutional amendment that sought to place term limits on members of Congress to a maximum of three terms for House representatives and two for Senators. The measure passed with more than 57%, but was deemed invalid by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 2001 decision.Opposition to McMullen’s bill is sparse, with most either indifferent as a result of the legal hurdles still in its way or concerned with the precedent it might set.“I get a little bit weary anytime we start confining the requirements that are already in the federal constitution,” said Rep. Kevin Windham, a Democrat from Hillsdale, who sits on the House Elections and Elected Officials Committee.Windham said the bill raises a few red flags for him as it relates to placing boundaries around certain areas of the law.“The state legislature draws the lines for congressional districts. What happens when what has seemingly been a practice of drawing folks out of certain congressional districts (occurs during redistricting every 10 years)? It has a little bit more of an effect when you say that that person can’t run at all in that district,” Windham said.Windham added that he thinks there’s a clear conflict of interest when the legislature controls the process of both drawing the lines for congressional districts and narrowing down the district residency requirements in the U.S. Constitution.“It puts, at least me, in particular, in a weird space as far as being able to support (the bill),” Windham said.Squire said candidates can easily find themselves in new districts following redistricting, which could then place them in situations where they’re running for a district they do not live in.“District lines shift and candidates may not want to move with them,” Squire said.“In urban areas,” he added, “the lines don’t usually match media markets and members may be sufficiently well-known to run even if they don’t currently live in the district.”It’s been nearly 32 years since the U.S. Constitution has last been amended, when in May 1992 Michigan became the 38th state needed to ratify the 27th Amendment.Yet despite the slim odds McMullen’s bill might be facing during this legislative session, he remains optimistic.“The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step,” McMullen said.And if he somehow manages to pull it off, beginning the process of amending the U.S Constitution, even Schwadron, McMullen’s most ardent opponent, said he would support it.“I would vote for that,” Schwadron said, “I would approve that, so long as it is an amendment to the United States Constitution.”This story originally appeared in the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/state_news/a-missouri-lawmaker-wants-congressional-members-to-live-in-their-districts-can-he-pull-it/article_8027f766-00cc-11ef-a1d1-73fbee3c5bff.html#tncms-source=Top%20Story">Columbia Missourian</a>. It can be republished in print or online.&nbsp;

Missouri lawmaker wants congressional members to live in their districts

A survivor of childhood sexual assault told her story at the
Crime Victims’ Rights Week Breakfast, hoping her story can encourage others.

Haley McKee of St. Joseph now works as a paralegal in the
Buchanan County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and delivered the address at the
Crime Victims’ Rights Week Breakfast.

McKee survived not only the assault, but the trials in Texas
when she pressed charges against her stepfather. McKee wants to provide crime
victims hope, especially those abused as children.

“What I really wanted to get with my story was that you can be
successful and you can get past the hardships in your life,” McKee tells
reporters after addressing the breakfast. “That’s the main thing. That you can
do something. It doesn’t define who you are.”

McKee acknowledges she was angry after the assaults and during
her journey through the criminal justice system. Her stepfather assaulted her
at the age of eight when they lived in Texas and she endured testifying in two
trials in her teens.

McKee says her speech before law enforcement, victim rights advocates,
and the families of crime victims was the first time she spoke publicly about
her ordeal.

“I think it was always something that I wanted to do and I
just never had the opportunity to do it,” McKee says. “And when I was given
that opportunity, I definitely wanted to take it, just to share my story and to
help others.”

McKee says victims of childhood assault suffer not just once,
but again when their case comes to trial.

“Very much and to see him, the perpetrator in the courtroom,
had to do it twice; it was very, very scary,” according to McKee. “Like I
talked about in my speech, I did not know what to expect when I got up there.
It was very tough.”

McKee says the criminal justice system has improved over the
years and is much better at meeting the needs of victims.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1714072891207.jpeg" alt="Haley McKee speaks at the Crime Victims' Rights Week Breakfast at MWSU/Photo by Brent Martin" />
 <figcaption>Haley McKee speaks at the Crime Victims' Rights Week Breakfast at MWSU/Photo by Brent Martin</figcaption>
 </figure>By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostA survivor of childhood sexual assault told her story at the
Crime Victims’ Rights Week Breakfast, hoping her story can encourage others.Haley McKee of St. Joseph now works as a paralegal in the
Buchanan County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and delivered the address at the
Crime Victims’ Rights Week Breakfast.McKee survived not only the assault, but the trials in Texas
when she pressed charges against her stepfather. McKee wants to provide crime
victims hope, especially those abused as children.“What I really wanted to get with my story was that you can be
successful and you can get past the hardships in your life,” McKee tells
reporters after addressing the breakfast. “That’s the main thing. That you can
do something. It doesn’t define who you are.”McKee acknowledges she was angry after the assaults and during
her journey through the criminal justice system. Her stepfather assaulted her
at the age of eight when they lived in Texas and she endured testifying in two
trials in her teens.McKee says her speech before law enforcement, victim rights advocates,
and the families of crime victims was the first time she spoke publicly about
her ordeal.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1714072976036.jpeg" alt="Photo by Brent Martin" />
 <figcaption>Photo by Brent Martin</figcaption>
 </figure>“I think it was always something that I wanted to do and I
just never had the opportunity to do it,” McKee says. “And when I was given
that opportunity, I definitely wanted to take it, just to share my story and to
help others.”McKee says victims of childhood assault suffer not just once,
but again when their case comes to trial.“Very much and to see him, the perpetrator in the courtroom,
had to do it twice; it was very, very scary,” according to McKee. “Like I
talked about in my speech, I did not know what to expect when I got up there.
It was very tough.”McKee says the criminal justice system has improved over the
years and is much better at meeting the needs of victims.The Buchanan County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has been
honoring the victims of crime this week. On Wednesday, a small ceremony was
held at the Crime Victims’ Memorial at the Remington Nature Center. The Crime
Victims’ Rights Week Breakfast was held Thursday at the Fulkerson Center on the
Missouri Western State University St. Joseph campus.<div><iframe src="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kfeq-news/embed/episodes/Crime-Victims-Rights-Week-Breakfast-e2isoat" height="102px" width="400px" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></div>You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.

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