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The Jasper County and Newton County Republicans are hosting their Annual Lincoln Days Event

JOPLIN, Mo. — Saturday night the top elected Missouri officials are in Joplin for an Annual Southwest Missouri Political Event.

The Jasper County and Newton County Republicans are hosting their Annual Lincoln Days Event.

Last year’s Lincoln Days was canceled because of Coronavirus.

Governor Mike Parson, Lieutenant Governor, Mike Kehoe along with State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and Representative Billy Long were in attendance.

The Lieutenant Governor says tonight they will discuss the difference between Missouri compared to other states.

Mike Kehoe, Missouri Lieutenant Governor, says, “Certainly what’s happening in washington d.C. And the massive spending bill they passed today is concerning for us as conservatives. And missourians they know how to work, they want to work and we don’t need these big bailouts from DC.”

He says they want to win back Republican House and Senate seats to take control of both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in 2022.

Meanwhile the Missouri State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick says Missouri’s economy is in good shape compared to others.

He says its because of budget decisions at the start of the pandemic to reduce spending last fiscal year.

Scott Fitzpatrick, Missouri State Treasurer, says,
“The State Treasury is in very good shape. We actually have a lot of cash right now and are poised to have a really good budget year. Our general assembly is working on the fiscal year 2022 budget right now and we are in a situation where revenue is coming in better than we anticipated.”

Sunday night’s fundraiser will help the Jasper County and Newton County Republicans.

280 people were in attendance for Lincoln Days.

Pittsburg Fire Department builds new training tower

PITTSBURG, Ks. — A local fire department is getting an upgrade thanks to the help from some of its own. A training tower is being built at Fire Station Number-2 in Pittsburg.

The plan is for firefighters to use it for confined space, ladder, and rope-rescue training. Construction on the entire project is being done by firefighters, themselves.

Dennis Reilly, Pittsburg Fire Chief, said, “Most firefighters have side jobs and a lot of our people are carpenters, the work is being done by our staff while they are on duty and the only real curveball that comes with it is we have a busy day with calls or if the weather doesn’t hold out.”

The hope is to have the project finished within the next couple of weeks.

MU Extension to host online event about covid related burnout

SOUTHWEST MISSOURI — If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed because of the pandemic – there’s a free online event you may want to consider.

The University of Missouri Extension is hosting Burnout and Healing In The Face of A Global Pandemic on Monday, March 15th. The program will feature Benjamin Anderson from the Colorado Hospital Association – and will cover true stories on emotional injury – and offer tools for structural changes that lead to recovery.

What Colyer announcement means for 2022 governor race

TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) – Former Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer gave the first sign that he is running by naming a treasurer for his 2022 campaign for governor.

Colyer served as Sam Brownback’s lieutenant governor for seven years, then served as governor for just under a year, before Laura Kelly took over in 2019.

He ran for election in 2018 to serve a full term, but lost to Kris Kobach by 343 votes in the Republican primary.

Colyer hasn’t held office since. He declined to run for Pat Roberts’ senate seat in 2020. Now he seems to want to get back into politics.

“It’s certainly possible that by having a big name announcing early, it could scare off some other opponents who don’t want to deal with all the fundraising that’s involved when there’s a big name running,” said KSNT News political analyst Bob Beatty.

Though Beatty said that doesn’t work too often.

Another big name expected to run is three-term Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, but he has yet to commit.

Beatty said a primary between the two well-known candidates could impact whether other people jump in the field, such as state legislators.

A name that will continue to hover over Kansas politics is former United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

No matter who comes out on the Republican side, they will be facing an incumbent governor. Laura Kelly may look vulnerable now, but Beatty said that could change as we move toward 2022.

“The time for Jeff Colyer to enter the governor’s race is good because Governor Laura Kelly is dealing with some very difficult things, and it’s a very difficult year. However, there’s also the possibility that a year from now, the pandemic is mostly gone, the economy is booming, the troubles of the department of labor are fixed,” Beatty said.

He said much of politics hangs on timing.

“It’s early enough for Colyer to enter the race, but it’s also early enough for Laura Kelly to rebound from the difficulty of this year and be in good solid position for reelection,” Beatty said.

Voters won’t get to cast their ballots until the primary in August of 2022.

Missouri senator proposes largest income tax cut in state's history

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Missouri lawmaker wants to lower the state’s income tax rate. The cut would be the largest in the state’s history.

The Republican senator sponsoring the legislation wants to lower the income tax by half of one percent, which will cost the state millions, but he says the state has enough money for the cut.

“I don’t think there is any better time to put money back in people’s pockets than right now,” Sen. Lincoln Hough (R-Springfield) said. “I think this is something people see that the government says, look, we understand that it’s been tough, it’s been tough on everyone.”

Hough is sponsoring Senate Bill 627, which he says would give more money to Missourians.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who looked at their paystub and said, you know what, I wish I would have sent more money to the government, I wish the federal government had taken more of my salary, I wish the state government would have taken more of my salary,” Hough said.

His idea is to lower the state’s income tax from an expected 5.3 percent to 4.8 percent by 2022.

“I think the crux of this tax cut consideration is that if you give people this money back to their checking accounts, they are going to spend it at home,” Hough said. “People look at their paystubs and I think they could say thank you for actually understanding what we are going through.”

He said this would cost the state around $500 million a year, but due to the pandemic, the state continues to receive more money from the federal government.

“Right now, the state is sitting on $1.7 billion worth of general revenue that is sitting in the bank,” Hough said. “We have a $1.9 trillion dollar bill that’s being discussed in Washington D.C. right now, that has literally billions of dollars of state aid.”

Hough said it’s because of this pandemic that he thinks this is the perfect time to give money back to Missourians.

“We all know that this last year has been incredibly tough and I think this is something that can help every individual in this state and it will help the businesses in our communities,” Hough said.

Gov. Mike Parson said the state needs to be careful with its money.

“I think we’ve still got a ways to go and I wouldn’t say by any means we’re flushed because I don’t think we know what’s going to happen in the next couple of years down the road,” Parson said during his briefing Thursday. “I think the one thing you have to remember, is there was two income tax years in the same year.”

Hough said there is no sunset in his bill, meaning unless lawmakers passed new legislation increasing the income tax, it would remain at 4.8% for years to come.

“I don’t want to give something back to an individual and then a few years later or however long, say, oh now we need to start collecting that again,” Hough said. “I think these are the kind of decisions that are made that bring people to a state.”

Across the aisle, Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, D-Kansas City, said the tax cut should only go to people in need.

“I think if you’re providing relief to the regular Missourian, that works a 9 to 5 job and barely making ends meet, I think that’s something we can talk about right now,” Rizzo said.

Rizzo said there are other things in the state those tax dollars could go towards.

“We have pressing issues with infrastructure, transportation, and a lot of places that we could spend the tax dollars in the state for the greater good,” Rizzo said.

Hough said this historic tax cut could bring more people and sales tax money to the state.

“We would be the lowest income tax state of all our surrounding neighbors except Tennessee,” Hough said. “It would be just another thing that I think Missouri could tout as a good reason to call Missouri home.”

Missouri’s neighboring states like Kentucky and Oklahoma have a 5 percent rate, while Illinois is at 4.95, Iowa at 8.53, 5.9 in Arkansas and Kansas with 6.84.

The last time lawmakers voted and passed an income tax cut was in 2018, when the rate was 5.9 percent before the reduction.

The bill was proposed this past week and has not been heard in front of a committee yet.

Crawford County eases covid-19 restrictions

CRAWFORD COUNTY, Mo. — A change is in the works in Crawford County when it comes to covid-19 restrictions.

Heather Horton, Toast Co-Owner, said, “We will be cautiously optimistic and we look forward to hopefully having some more seats for people.”

One of the biggest industries impacted by covid-19 have been restaurants. When the pandemic first started, many worked hard to make sure they could keep the community safe.

“You had things coming at you from all different directions, obviously high stress, a lot of unknowns. We were one of the first who chose to close down, keep everyone safe in the beginning.”

Health orders were placed by the county to help. Now with case numbers dropping and vaccines being distributed, the Crawford County Health Department sees this as the right time to rescind one of those orders.

Dr. Timothy Stebbins, Crawford County Health Officer, said, “The restrictions are only penalties at this point and so we’ve asked commissioners to rescind those orders and they did.”

Health order number three was unanimously taken back Friday, allowing restaurants to operate with 100% capacity, while keeping other safety precautions in place.

“If you have mitigation measures in place like plexiglass, don’t take those down. Especially our servers, prepares, the front staff, protect your industry first by having them wear masks and then protect your clientele by having them wear masks.”

This way business and events can return to the area, hopefully helping out the local economy.

“Any event that’s coming into town that brings people is good for us, even our smaller events like Artwalk, I know they’re going to have the Farm Show and those types of things they will hopefully all of that will trickle out and people will want to come out and eat and hopefully we can still do that in a safe way,” said Horton.

The mask mandate remains in effect in Crawford County – but officials say it will be re-evaluated once the state enters phase-4 of vaccine distribution.

Joplin Police Department looking to hire more officers

JOPLIN, Mo. — The police department is a crucial part to keeping the streets safe, but now they’re having a hard time getting people to put on the badge.

The Joplin Police Department can hold 110 officers, currently sitting at 100 and looking to hire more,

William Davis – Joplin Police Department Captain, said, “We test several times a year and this is the time of year we’re gonna invite applicants to come in. People who are interested in being a police officer especially for the city of Joplin coming in and going through the process seeing if they can get hired.”

But getting people to come in and apply has been a challenge.

“For law enforcement in general it’s tough recruiting police officers at this time. A lot of it has to do with the climate in the political nature of things regarding law enforcement.”

Officer Clay Goldsborough says this was a bigger reason for him to join the force.

Clay Goldsborough – Joplin Police Officer, said, “I think it was a bigger reason for me to join. I don’t think it was mainly a concern for me, mainly because I know how Joplin Police Department operates as a whole and how I operate.”

“We’re looking at a wide variety of things that we can do to change to kinda be innovative in that field to try and get applicants to come to the Joplin police department,” said Davis.

But for Goldsborough it was a no brainier coming to Joplin.

“It came off as mainly the most organized and just the most friendly and welcoming department, so I think for me that was the biggest step,” said Goldsborough.

But it’s the badge on his chest that makes it worth it.

“For me it’s huge. It’s pretty much just a person that you can turn to and I’m always willing to help anybody in anyway shape or form that I can.”

Sunday marks one year since first confirmed covid-19 case in Missouri

SOUTHWEST MISSOURI — This weekend marks a big milestone in the pandemic – one year since the first official case of coronavirus was confirmed in the state of Missouri. A lot has happened since then.

Kandy Frazier, Carthage, said, “This has been a tough year.”

A common theme for the last 12 months. That’s how long it’s been since the first confirmed case of covid-19 in Missouri on March 7th.

Dr. Rob McNab, Freeman Covid-19 Services, said, “I think this time last year the only thing I knew about covid was the word.”

Since then, it’s been a steep learning curve for the medical profession.

“We literally had no treatment – not one treatment. So this past year has been a grand experiment in what is effective and what is not effective in treating covid.”

Interacting in public went from a stay-at-home order to mask mandates and social distancing. Restaurants went curbside and there were extra precautions for first responders.

Steve Lawver, CJ City Administrator, said, “It hit the PD really hard there for awhile.”

And then there were the schools. Schools went virtual at Spring break.

Steve Gilbreth, JHS Principal, said, “The whole world got shut down; not just Joplin, not just the state of Missouri not just the us, everywhere in the world.”

Most re-opened in the Fall with pandemic protocols. Joplin High School took the precaution of a hybrid schedule which is just now returning to five days a week on campus.

“We think wow we’ve learned so many things maybe we have a different mindset for doing school.”

Not something limited to JHS or the city of Joplin.

“After 32 years in education, I can honestly say this has been the most challenging and surprising year,” said Frazier.

Children's Haven of SWMO victim of vandalism

SOUTHWEST MISSOURI — A child’s smile and happiness is enough to brighten up anyone’s day.

One local organization is putting together a fundraiser to make sure that happens after vandals cut a hole in their fence; They need the help more than ever.

Children’s Haven of Southwest Missouri is raising money to upgrade its fence and play ground. The additions will include a water feature, bike riding trail, volleyball set, and an upgraded basketball set up. The current chain fence will also be replaced with a privacy fence. And with the current fence being recently cut into, they need a new one as soon as possible.

Stephanie Theis – Children’s Haven Executive Director, said, “The communities always been so good to us, and they just say when you have a need let us know. We’re here to say we have a need with the playground campaign. Our need is greater than ever today after this.”

She’s hoping to have the playground and fence built in the next two months.