Missouri

Missouri to waive fishing permit requirements during coronavirus outbreak

Missouri will waive fishing permit requirements due to the novel coronavirus until at least mid-April, according to the state’s Department of Conservation (MDC). The MDC and the Missouri Conservation Commission will allow waivers for sport fishing and daily trout tags for residents and nonresidents from Friday until April 15, when officials will “reassess the situation,” according to the department. Other regulations on dates, limits and methods remain in place. “Missouri’s rivers and streams offer high-quality fishing as a way for people to connect with nature while still complying with all health and safety recommendations,” MDC Director Sara Parker Pauley said in a statement on the department’s website. “Fishing is also a great way to get some much-needed physical and mental health benefits during this stressful time.” Pauley also called for residents to stick to existing health recommendations on hand-washing and social distancing amid the pandemic. Missouri’s three state-controlled public trout-fishing parks are open for day fishing, while Maramec Spring Park in St. James, which is operated by the James Foundation, is closed for fishing and all other activities, authorities said. State parks will close overnight camping and lodging beginning Friday to minimize the chance of spreading coronavirus, Missouri Department of Natural Resources authorities said. Other states are looking at similar waivers. On Friday, Maine Gov. Janet Mills tweeted that she directed wildlife authorities in her state “to open all inland waters for fishing immediately” and to waive the recreational fishing license requirement. “There’s nothing better for the heart and soul than a little fishing,” she wrote. “The great outdoors is still open.” The Maine waivers do not apply to anyone who has had their license suspended or revoked, according to the governor’s website, and they do not apply to commercial freshwater fishing. In Arkansas, the Game and Fish Commission voted in favor of a similar policy that began over the weekend, KATV reported. And in Oregon, following an order from Gov. Kate Brown for residents to “stay home, save lives,” fish and wildlife officials clarified that fishing and hunting remain legal, according to the Statesman Journal.

Kudos to Missouri, and these other state, for doing this for the folks.  Fishing IS, indeed good for the “heart and soul.”  Hopefully other states will follow Missouri’s fine lead.    🙂

Missouri lawmakers consider restricting transgender high school athletes to teams of their birth gender

Missouri state lawmakers are considering a proposal that would restrict transgender high schoolers from competing in teams that don’t match their gender at birth, according to a Tuesday report. State Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin, R-Shelby County, who introduced the bill, said transgender athletes have an unfair advantage over those who identify with their gender at birth, Springfield’s KY3 reported. “It is a known biological fact that males are born with categorically superior strength, speed and endurance,” O’Laughlin said during an education committee hearing on Tuesday. “It has nothing to do with any other issue than trying to create a fair playing field.” Under current Missouri law, transgender athletes who want to play on teams that don’t match their assigned birth must apply to the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA), submitting medical records and other relevant documentation. Transgender women must prove they’ve been on testosterone blockers for a year and stick with them. Opponents of O’Laughlin’s proposal have dismissed her biological claims, arguing that Missouri’s current laws on the matter already provide a fair vetting process. “They have provided fair and inclusive parameters for inclusion in sports,” Jennifer Mock, a mom of transgender athlete, told KY3. “These parameters allow my son to play the game [of hockey] he’s always wanted to play with his childhood peers.” A similar bill aimed at restricted transgender athletes from competing on teams other than their sex at birth is making the rounds in the state’s House. For either to pass, it must be approved by the General Assembly before getting put on the ballot for a vote, KY3 reported.

Missouri State Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin (R) is exactly right.  This isn’t about anything other than addressing the obvious biological facts surrounding this issue.  So, kudos to her and others in the Missouri state legislature trying to address this latest politically correct trend that is negatively impacting high school athletics.  Thank God I didn’t have to deal with this crap back when I was in high school.  Guys competed against guys and girls competed against girls.  Period.  Imagine that.

James O’Keefe Uncovers Claire McCaskill’s Anti-Gun Extremism

James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas released a video Monday exposing Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) as favoring extreme gun control measures, which she is hiding from voters. The McCaskill video is the third in an ongoing series of undercover videos in which Project Veritas exposes red state Democrats for hiding their far-left views from voters. This video shows both McCaskill and her staffers admitting they favor additional gun control restrictions, including bans on bump stocks and high capacity magazines. When asked if she would support a ban on both, McCaskill says, “Of course! Of course!” McCaskill is currently in a tough re-election bid in Missouri, a state Trump won by nearly 20 points. Project Veritas also has campaign staffer Rob Mills admitting McCaskill cannot be honest about her gun control views: “That could hurt her ability to get elected” because “she has a bunch of Republican voters.” Mills also admits that McCaskill hides her support of the far-left gun control group Moms Demand Action:

Busted!  Let’s hope this video is played over and over again in Missouri these next three weeks.  It’s time for ol’ Claire to be shown the door.  For more, click on the text above.  Kudos to James for getting her on video saying all of this.  Excellent!!     🙂

Poll: 49 Percent of Missouri Voters Less Likely to Support Claire McCaskill Following Kavanaugh Hearings

A Remington Research Group poll reveals that the confirmation process and hearings into allegations that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford at a high school party in the early 1980s are harming Sen. Claire McCaskill’s (D-MO) re-election bid in Missouri’s midterm election; 49 percent of voters say they are less likely to vote for her now. McCaskill announced she will be a “no” when the full Senate votes on Kavanaugh’s confirmation, the National Review reported. The poll also shows her Republican opponent, Josh Hawley, ahead by two points — 48 percent to 46 percent. The Remington poll surveyed 1,555 likely voters on Wednesday and Thursday, both the day before and the day of the public Senate Judiciary Committee hearing featuring Ford and Kavanaugh’s testimonies. Breitbart News reported on Saturday about a Missouri Scout poll that shows the same results: Hawley’s two-point lead over McCaskill just days after she announced she would vote against Kavanaugh. The Missouri Scout poll shows that Hawley leads McCaskill by a margin of 48 percent to 46 percent. The Missouri Scout survey was conducted on the same days as the Remington poll. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has said a vote will take place this week after the FBI wraps up its supplemental investigation into claims against Kavanaugh, which now includes allegations of drinking problems. Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), and Joe Donnelly (D-IN) are other red-state Democrats whose election bids might be impacted by the hearings and their votes on Kavanaugh.

Hopefully the good people of Missouri send ol’ Claire packing in November.  We’ve had quite enough of her in the Senate.

Missouri Six Flags holds ‘Coffin Challenge’ requiring guests to stay in coffin for 30 hours

Six Flags amusement park in Eureka, Mo., is holding a morbid contest for the brave – and not claustrophobic. The theme park has announced a competition inviting guests to stay in a tight coffin for nearly 30 hours straight. The Fright Fest 30-Hour Coffin Challenge will take place on Saturday, October 13 and reward those who make it through the night with more than just bragging rights. The prizes include two 2019 Gold Season Passes, a Fright Fest prize package, two VIP Haunted House passes and a ticket for two to ride the Freak Train for Freak Unleashed. The winner will also be entered in a drawing for a $300 prize. Six Flags will provide “six, deluxe, 2’ x 7’, slight used coffins,” as well as “meals, snacks and drinks in bed,” as well as a six-minute bathroom break every hour. The coffin is also available to take home if the winner desires. The competitors are allowed to bring a friend during the operating hours, but once the park closes, coffin dwellers must go it alone. However, Six Flags assures its guests they won’t be completely alone. “Well, not exactly alone, some of our Fright Fest Freaks will be lurking about in the darkness.”

As a kid growing up in St. Louis, I used to have season passes to this particular Six Flags just west of St. Louis.    🙂

Claire McCaskill Polls as Most Unpopular Senator Up for Re-Election–for Four Consecutive Months

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), for the fourth consecutive month, ranks as the most unpopular U.S. senator up for re-election, according to a poll released last week. Forty-six percent of Missourians disapprove of Sen. McCaskill, while only 38 percent of Missouri citizens approve of the Missouri Democrat, according to a Morning Consult poll. Among senators up for re-election, Sen. McCaskill has ranked the least popular for the fourth month in a row. Fifty-three percent of Missourians believe it is time for a new Missouri senator, compared to just 31 percent of Missourians who believe Sen. McCaskill deserves re-election. An NBC News/Marist poll released last week showed that the race between McCaskill and her Republican challenger, Missouri state Attorney General Josh Hawley, is now tied for the Senate race. The survey found that both contenders receive 47 percent of the vote. Kelli Ford, a spokesman for the Hawley campaign, said in a statement on Monday: “Claire McCaskill and her dark money allies have spent millions of dollars in Missouri this year with little to show for it. She consistently votes against Missouri when it matters – from opposing middle-class tax cuts, to being wrong on the last five Supreme Court justices, to voting against the border wall. Washington is broken because of career politicians like Claire McCaskill, so it makes sense she’s the most unpopular and people want someone new.” Scandals have rocked Sen. McCaskill’s re-election campaign. A report released in July revealed that businesses with ties to McCaskill’s husband, Joseph Shepard, received $131 million in federal government subsidies since her election to the Senate in 2007. McCaskill faces an increasingly competitive Senate race in a state Donald Trump won in the 2016 presidential election by 18.5 percent. The tight election between Hawley and McCaskill has continued to put pressure on the Missouri Democrat to back Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

But, regardless of how she votes on Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation, that’ll have little bearing on how voters will cast their ballots in November.  She’s been voting along Democrat part lines her entire time in the Senate, and yet she represents a very conservative, red, state.  So, not exactly representing her constituency.  Let’s hope the good people of my home state of Missouri come to their collective senses and throw Claire out on her butt.

Missouri becomes first state to issue law protecting citizens from accidentally buying fake meat

Missouri has passed a law that will protect consumers from the dangers of unwittingly purchasing fake or lab-grown meat. On Tuesday, the state passed the first law in the nation prohibiting companies from “misrepresenting a product as meat that is not derived from harvested production livestock or poultry,” the law reads. The law was lobbied by the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association, USA Today reports. The group was concerned about the shoppers being confused by plant-based or lab-grown meat, synthetic meat that is grown from cultured animal cells, posing as meat from an animal. “The big issue was marketing with integrity and … consumers knowing what they’re getting,” Missouri Cattlemen’s Association spokesman Mike Deering said to USA Today. “There’s so much unknown about this.” The law states, “Currently, no person advertising, offering for sale, or selling a carcass shall engage in any misleading or deceptive practice including misrepresenting the cut, grade, brand or trade name, or weight or measure of any product.” Manufacturers that fail to comply with the new law will face a $1,000 fine and up to a year in prison. The U.S. Cattlemen’s Association is lobbying for a similar law at the federal level – prohibiting lab-grown and fake meat from using the words “beef” and “meat” in their marketing. Tofurkey, along with Animal Legal Defense Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri and the Good Food Institute (GFI) filed a lawsuit against the Missouri law. “All of these products that are currently on the market use descriptors that say what the source of the ingredients [is] … you’re going to find something that says soy-based vegan beef crumbles,” the GFI’s director of policy, Jessica Almy told NPR. “These compound names, like plant-based chicken, communicate to consumers what the source of the food is.”