Jason Smith: We must protect women's sports

(From Eighth District Congressman Jason Smith)

On issue after issue, it seems more and more like it’s not just right versus left or conservative versus liberal; it’s common sense versus crazy. Debates are playing out between supporting law enforcement versus defunding the police or securing our borders versus allowing drugs and criminals to freely cross our border. 

Maybe no issue highlights the crazy we are fighting against better than whether to protect women’s sports or to allow men who claim to be women to play in women’s sports. And Missouri is leading the way on pushing back against this crazy.

I was so proud to see Sophie Cunningham — a Columbia, Missouri basketball star from Rock Bridge High School who attended Mizzou and now plays in the WNBA for the Indiana Fever — becoming the most prominent female athlete to speak out in defense of keeping women’s sports protected for biological women. She’s been relentlessly questioned by the media and even fellow WNBA players and coaches for speaking out, but she refuses to back down. “I said what I said,” she told reporters after being pressed about her views, “and I’ll always believe in that.” That’s the kind of common sense that comes from Missouri.

What’s as remarkable as Sophie speaking out is the fact that there aren’t more female athletes willing to publicly state that same opinion. Sophie has been left to defend her position alone, and no other WNBA player has come to her defense. Worse still, the WNBA appears unable to say that biological men shouldn’t be able to play in their league. How is this possible?!?

While the issue of protecting women’s sports has received renewed attention after Sophie began speaking out, this isn’t a new fight for me. I’ve coauthored the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act multiple times, and I’ve helped lead the fight to get it through the House of Representatives in both this Congress and the previous Congress. Senate Democrats have been siding with their base’s extreme agenda over protecting the rights of women and girls who just want a fair shot at competing in the sports they love, and they have blocked the bill from moving forward both times.

Title IX opened doors for millions of girls across this country, including right here in Missouri, and I’m not going to sit back and watch that progress get thrown to the side to appease a nonsensical political movement. I’m proud that at the state level, Missouri has led the way by ensuring only biological women can compete in women’s sports.

Sophie Cunningham earned her place in Mizzou history by beating the best competition women’s basketball had to offer, and now she’s using her platform to stand up for the girls coming up behind her. Every girl picking up a basketball, a bat, or running track in Missouri or any other state deserves that same fair shot Sophie had. That’s what this fight has always been about, and it’s why I’ll keep pushing for this commonsense legislation until it’s signed into law.

Commentary: Missouri activists want fewer cameras on citizens, more on politicians

By Jason Hancock 

Missouri Independent

Pulaski County Sheriff Stacy Ball thinks Flock cameras help his deputies fight crime.

But he also thinks they’re not worth keeping.

Ball recently announced his office was pulling the plug on Flock Safety, the network of cameras that photographs license plates and gives police a database they can search later — and which has come increasingly under bipartisan fire across the country.

As far as Ball knows, his deputies never abused the system. He believes they used it responsibly. But he’s been hearing from residents worried about privacy, government surveillance and what could happen if the technology fell into the wrong hands.

In the end, that mattered more.

“Your voice matters. Your rights matter. Your trust matters,” he wrote.

Elsewhere in Missouri, the concerns of Flock critics aren’t hypothetical.

The St. Charles County Police Department shut down its network this month after discovering a civilian employee had used the database for a personal, non-law-enforcement purpose. The employee was put on unpaid leave and resigned after being notified the department intended to fire them. The misuse was uncovered after Flock rolled out a tool that flags unusual search patterns.

In Joplin, an officer left the department in January after an investigation found the system had been improperly used. Activists who reviewed the records said the officer accounted for roughly a quarter of the department’s Flock searches and ran one license plate about 395 times, typically listing “DWI” or “Warrants” as the reason without attaching a case number.

That helps explain why Flock has found plenty of skeptics in Missouri, especially among grassroots conservatives.

And they’ve picked up influential allies along the way.

“Americans do not surrender their privacy rights when they drive to work, drop their kids off at school, or go to church,” U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said last week.

At the same time many of those conservatives are pushing back against Flock cameras in their communities, they’re demanding a camera be turned on in one particular place: the Missouri Senate.

For years, activists have wanted the Missouri Senate to livestream its proceedings. You can listen to the Senate online, but you can’t watch senators debate on the floor. It remains one of only two legislative chambers in the country where that’s true.

State Sen. Mike Moon, an Ash Grove Republican, has repeatedly tried to change it. This spring, his proposal died in circumstances that would have been a little too on the nose if someone had written them into a screenplay.

Senators voted 12-11 to table Moon’s proposal using a standing division. That’s when senators physically rise from their desks to be counted, so there was no roll call showing who voted which way.

The Senate does record video of its proceedings, though, mostly for internal use. The conservative group Act for Missouri filed a Sunshine Law request, paid $6 and got a copy.

And at the point in the video when senators stood up to vote on whether Missourians should be able to watch the Senate, the screen went black.

Perfect.

Moon, as it happens, is also among a bipartisan group of lawmakers who sponsored legislation this year restricting state and local governments from using automated license plate readers.

The two positions may look contradictory, but the argument isn’t really over whether cameras are good or bad. It’s over on which side of the lens government belongs.

Police argue Flock cameras help them find stolen cars, missing people and suspects. But the cameras don’t wait until police suspect you of something. They photograph the cars that pass by and keep the information so police can search it later.

The Missouri Senate works the other way around.

These are elected officials conducting public business in a public building. Yet the Senate keeps video of that work largely for itself. If citizens want to see it, they have to ask, wait and sometimes pay for it.

Put the two fights next to each other and the politics make more sense. The government should have to justify watching you. You shouldn’t have to justify watching the government.

Maybe Missouri doesn’t have a camera problem.

Maybe the cameras are just pointed the wrong way.

Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.

Joplin man held without bond for statutory sodomy, supplying liquor, marijuana to minors

A motion for bond reduction for a Joplin man being held without bond on statutory sodomy and delivery of marijuana to someone under 17 is scheduled for 9:15 a.m. Tuesday in Jasper County Circuit Court for Gaige Carson (DOB 2004), Joplin.

Carson also faces a misdemeanor charge of supplying liquor to a minor.

From the probable cause statement:

On August 23rd 2026 at 0234 hours, officers responded to 1010 S Pennsylvania st, in the city of Webb City, County of Jasper, State of Missouri, for a medical call. Four subjects were on scene, two 13-year-old females, J I and J2, a 22 year old male, identified as Gaige Carson and an 18 year old female. 

Upon investigating the circumstances of JI's injuries, officers discovered that Gaige had picked up the group of girls at different places and J1 and J2 were heavily intoxicated. Gaige picked up J1 from Oronogo, stopped at Raphael's Liquor store and bought 2 bottles of Pink Whitney. 

Carson drove to Kellogg Lake where he began "making out" with the juvenile girl, the probable cause statement said, ending up with a deviant sexual act.

They left Kellogg Lake and drove to Joplin where they picked up J2 and {the 18-year-old} . They went to several gas stations in Joplin and Gaige bought J I , J2 and {the 18-year-old} marijuana in the form of a single pre roll. They stopped at Casey's at Zora and Rangeline where Gaige and J I were making out and groping each other's groins on the hood of his truck. {The 18-year-old} stated she observed this first hand. 

A consent search of Gaige's phone was conducted on August 23rd and several child pornography videos
were located on Gaige's Snapchat account. Photos of JI were also located in his recently deleted folder on his camera roll. Several messages were located of Gaige eliciting sexual material from minors as well as partaking in sexually explicit conversations with them.

Connect2Culture, Nice Guys fail Joplin Health Department Inspections

Nice Guys, 101 N. Range Line Road, and Connect2Culture, 212 W. 7th Street, failed Joplin Health Department inspections this week, according to information posted on the department website. 

Nice Guys

The Nice Guys inspection came afer the restaurant failed an inspection last week.

Nice Guys received one priority violation, for cleaning utensils, but not sanitizing them before reuse. The same violation was recorded the previous week.

Five core violations were recorded and can be found at this link.

Connect2Culture

Connect2Culture received a priority violation because sanitizer for chlorine in the dish machine was at 0 ppm and a core violation for not providing a sanitizer test kit.

***

The following establishments passed inspection:

The Outreach House, 807 S. Moffett Avenue

Short Rest, 411 S. Main Street

U Gas, 1201 S. Range Line Road

Indo-Chinese Express, 4543 Highway 43

The Corner, 2002 S. Main Street (re-inspection)

Pineapple Bliss, 1021 E. 20th Street

Social BTB, 1027 S. Main Street

The Naz, 2124 Utica Street

Maverick, 3434 S. Range Line Road

J-H Cattle Company and Meat Store, 1316 E. Broadway Street

Cecy's Cakes, 116 N. Range Line Road

Nancy Hughes: When God had it with my control issues

“The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?”

Psalm 27:1 (NIV)

“He’s going to college, Lord – COLLEGE!!! What if he meets the wrong people? What if he doesn’t study and loses his scholarship? What if someone hits him over the head and takes his money? What if he doesn’t match the right shirt with the right pair of jeans? What if? What if? What if? Calm and reason gave way to unreason in a matter of seconds. Ever been there?

Well, I was. Our oldest child was heading to a college only about 40 miles away. To me, it might as well have been across the country, the sea, and on a completely different continent. I realized that I was worrying and fearful, but isn’t that on a mother’s job application? “Must be able to worry and be fearful on demand.”

However, something happened. The worry and fear that I entertained with a cup of tea and two cookies became a never-ending 8-course meal. Those two sins (and they ARE sins) kept popping up in my mind. I had allowed common sense and sanity to become an obsession with my son leaving for college, and the Lord decided He had had enough.

One evening, I was praying about the move away from home when the Lord spoke quietly but firmly to my heart: “Nancy, I’ve checked, and the college he is going to is within my territory. It’s on my beat. It’s on my shift. I do not need a map. I KNOW where it is, Nancy. And I love him.” Talk about a reality check!

It was easy for me to trust the Lord with my son’s life when he was right in front of me and living in my house. But the minute I saw that he was going to be out of my control, I lost control and became a maniac. Every Scripture that I had memorized about a Father who is in control, knows all things, and protects us was replaced with doubt and a franticness that threatened to consume me.

What had happened? I had allowed Satan to creep in and steal my confidence in my Father. Instead of praising the Lord for my son and asking Him to guide and direct as he moved in a new direction in his life, I focused on the situation and not on the Source of strength and power.

Instead of realizing that no matter where my son was, my Father was in complete control, I had somehow thought that I was the one in control and that my son’s success or failure in life would solely depend on his living under my roof, where I could keep an eye on every move and every decision. So what did I do?

I got on my knees and asked my Father to forgive me for not trusting His plan and protection for my son’s life. My heart cried out, “He is yours, Father. You have entrusted him to me for this time on earth, and I trust you to do your will in his life.”

Would you believe that my son did just fine at college? He did. Would you believe that the Lord watched over him and directed his path? In every way, yes. And would you believe that Satan still tried to sneak into my thoughts and convince me that, without me at the controls of his life, my son was destined for one horrible problem after another?

Oh, yes, he tried. But each time Satan whispered his lies, I focused on a Father who says in Isaiah 43:1” . . . Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” (NIV) He knows my son’s name, and He knows your name, too.

God has created us, His children, and He wants to take care of us and to direct our lives every day. Hand every situation in your life to the One who is in control of heaven and earth, sky and sea, and yes, of your life and mine. The Creator does not need directions to your home. He simply needs permission to enter your heart and take control.

Father, you are in control, and I am not. Nothing happens in my life that does not first pass through your hands. I trust you. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

What is your first reaction when you feel you are not in control of a situation? Is it worry and panic or trust and prayer?

Do you have a prayer warrior who will hold you accountable when you begin to worry over problems instead of placing them at the feet of Jesus?

Apply

Every morning, pause for two minutes and give the Lord your day. Ask Him to help you trust Him with everything you will face and praise Him for His answers.

Write down Scriptures on index cards that encourage you to trust the Lord and tape them around your home. As you memorize them, make new cards and repeat.

Power

Psalm 27:1 (NIV) “The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?”

Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (NIV)

I Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (NIV)

 

(For more of Nancy Hughes' writing, check out her blog, Encouragement from the War Room.) 

Walmart agrees to pay $50 million for illegally filling opioid prescriptions

(From the U. S. Department of Justice)

The Justice Department, together with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), today announced a $50 million settlement with Walmart Inc. (Walmart) to resolve allegations that Walmart pharmacies illegally filled thousands of invalid prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances in violation of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

“Today’s settlement proves this Department is committed to putting Americans’ flourishing first,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward. “Congress enacted laws to promote responsibility and accountability for companies who dispense controlled substances to protect Americans. This Department will never shy away from vigorously enforcing pharmacies’ obligations to comply with those protections, ensuring that potential profits never justify aiding our Nation’s opioid epidemic.”

“This $50 million settlement makes clear that pharmacies have a responsibility to identify and prevent the unlawful dispensing of controlled substances,” said DEA Assistant Administrator Cheri Oz. “Filling illegitimate opioid prescriptions puts patients and communities at risk and undermines the safeguards designed to prevent the diversion and misuse of potentially addictive medications. This settlement addresses past conduct while establishing clear compliance obligations designed to strengthen safeguards and help prevent these failures from happening again.”

The government’s complaint — filed on Dec. 22, 2020, and amended in 2022 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware — alleged that since June 26, 2013, Walmart filled invalid prescriptions through the knowing actions of individuals on its compliance team and the knowing actions of its pharmacists. The United States alleged that members of Walmart’s compliance team knew that certain prescribers were operating as “pill mills” but filled invalid prescriptions written by those prescribers anyway. Members of the compliance team allegedly knew of the prescribers’ egregious conduct because Walmart’s own pharmacists reported the conduct to Walmart’s corporate compliance team, including through thousands of “refusal-to-fill” forms. The compliance team, however, prioritized other goals over CSA compliance. As one director on the compliance team acknowledged in an email, rather than analyzing the refusal-to-fill reports, the compliance team viewed “[d]riving sales and patient awareness,” as “a far better use of our Market Directors and Market manger’s time.”

Walmart pharmacists also allegedly filled prescriptions they knew were invalid. The pharmacists knew these prescriptions were invalid because they were either written by a known “pill mill” prescriber or the prescriptions had obvious red flags such as dangerous combinations of opioids, “cocktails” of opioids and non-opioids, excessively repeated fills of high-dosages of often-abused opioids, or repeated requests for early fills of often-abused controlled substances.

In addition to the monetary payment announced today, Walmart has entered into a memorandum of agreement with DEA to address its future obligations in dispensing controlled substances. This agreement requires Walmart to establish a hotline for both employees and patients to report suspected illegal dispensing of controlled substances, proactively monitor the dispensing patterns of its pharmacies to identify and address potentially illegal dispensing, and establish a process to evaluate prescribers suspected of illegal prescribing.

The United States is represented in this matter by attorneys from the Justice Department’s Civil Division Enforcement & Affirmative Litigation Branch (Trial Attorneys Katherine Ho, Kathleen Brunson, and Meredith Reiter), as well as from the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the District of Delaware (Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dylan Steinberg and Elizabeth Vieya), Eastern District of North Carolina (Andrew Kasper), Middle District of Florida (Carolyn Tapie), Eastern District of New York (Elliot Schachner). Former Enforcement & Affirmative Litigation Branch Investigator Amanda Graf provided support for this matter.

Additional information about the Enforcement & Affirmative Litigation Branch and its enforcement efforts can be found at https://www.justice.gov/civil/enforcement-affirmative-litigation-branch.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability.

Neosho Police: No flock cameras for us

(From the Neosho Police Department)

The Neosho Police Department is aware of recent community discussions and concerns regarding Flock Safety cameras and their use by law enforcement agencies in the area. 

In the interest of transparency and public trust, the department would like to clarify its position and practices regarding this technology.

The Neosho Police Department does not own, operate, monitor, or have direct access to any Flock Safety camera system, network, database, or software platform. The department has not entered into an agreement with Flock Safety, a private business, civilian organization, or another law enforcement agency that provides access to Flock camera data.

The department is also not pursuing the purchase or installation of Flock Safety cameras, grant funding for the technology, or access to an existing Flock camera network. There are no current plans to implement this technology.

The Neosho Police Department recognizes that other law enforcement and public safety agencies in the region utilize Flock Safety cameras. There have been occasions when information originating from a Flock camera has been relayed to Neosho Police officers by another law enforcement or public safety entity. We believe it is important to be transparent about that fact.

Neosho Police officers do not request Flock searches through other law enforcement or public safety agencies. However, if another entity with access to Flock Safety technology independently receives information regarding a stolen vehicle, abducted or missing person, wanted individual, or other significant public safety concern, that information may be shared with Neosho Police officers through normal law enforcement communication channels. Officers may then respond to or act upon the information provided.

Neosho Police officers do not have the ability to independently access or search Flock systems, nor do they ask another agency to conduct those searches on their behalf.

Information received by the department is limited to specific information shared regarding a public safety matter or criminal investigation.

The Neosho Police Department firmly believes in protecting the constitutional rights of all citizens. The department's first duty is to act as guardians of civil liberties. Respect for the Fourth Amendment, individual liberty, and the privacy rights of those we serve remain fundamental principles of the department. 

While technology can provide valuable investigative tools, those benefits must be carefully balanced with privacy, accountability, and constitutional protections.

The department recognizes that Flock Safety cameras have assisted law enforcement agencies in locating missing or abducted persons, recovering stolen vehicles, and investigating serious crimes. 

At the same time, we recognize the concerns citizens have raised regarding the collection, retention, access, and use of information generated by this type of technology.

At this time, the Neosho Police Department has determined that directly implementing or accessing Flock Safety technology does not align with the department's approach to privacy, individual liberty, and Fourth Amendment protections.

We believe the citizens of Neosho deserve both safety and privacy, and that transparency is essential to maintaining the trust of the community we serve.

Neosho Police Chief Peter Russell, welcomes the opportunity to speak directly with citizens who have questions or concerns regarding Flock Safety cameras, including what technology the department does and does not have access to and how information may be shared between law enforcement agencies. 

Citizens may contact the Neosho Police Department to schedule an appointment with Chief Russell.

Joplin Police Department seeking help with 2005 missing persons case

(From the Joplin Police Department)

The Joplin Police Department is seeking public assistance with a missing person case. 

On August 28, 2005, Sandra L Spoon was last seen in the 2300 block of Byers Avenue following a get together with known acquaintances. Sandra has not been seen since. 

Following Spoon’s disappearance, the Joplin Police Department and other agencies have conducted numerous interviews and followed up on every lead. The investigation continues. 

Today, Spoon would be described as a 78-year-old white female. If anyone has any information regarding her disappearance, please contact Detective Corporal Rusty Comer at 417-623-3131- ext. 1631. -Picture of Spoon is from 2005.

Joplin nursing home evacuated due to electrical fire

(From the Joplin Fire Department)

Joplin Firefighters responded to a small fire at a Joplin nursing home on Aug. 27, evacuating and evaluating more than 100 residents.

At 10:31 a.m., the Joplin 911 Center received a call reporting an active fire alarm at the Westgate at Wildwood skilled nursing facility located at 3130 S. John Duffy Drive. Joplin Fire units immediately responded and while responding, information was received that additional alarms were activated and that a nurse pull station alarm had been activated. The first fire unit arrived in less than 3 minutes and discovered smoke in the building with staff members evacuating the structure. Fire personnel located the source of the smoke to be coming from a resident room and appeared to be electrical in nature.

Additional Joplin Fire units and METS Ambulance personnel arrived and assisted in the evacuation and evaluation of the 102 residents that were in the facility. The source of the smoke was located and extinguished. The cause of the fire was an electrical malfunction with an oxygen concentrator. There were no injuries to patients or staff. One employee was evaluated by medical personnel but declined to be transported.

The Joplin Fire Department would like to commend the staff of Westgate at Wildwood in their quick actions to ensure that all residents remained safe during this event, as well as the assistance they provided the Fire Department throughout the incident.

Missouri power grid faces costly upgrades as AI data centers drive electricity demand

By Jana Rose Schleis 

Missouri Independent

A new federal report shows the electric grid across much of the country is strained, requiring thousands of miles of new power lines and billions of dollars in investments.

The National Transmission Needs Study shows that approximately 4,000 miles of powerlines will need to be replaced each year for the next few decades.

The federal report notes that most of the country’s transmission infrastructure was built in the 1960s and ’70s and is now reaching the end of its useful life and that currently, “operational challenges of the electric grid are evolving in complexity and magnitude.”

Threats from severe weather, increasing demand for electricity and additional wind and solar generation coming online all compound the need for new powerlines nationwide.

“Significant transmission investment is needed to cost-effectively meet future demand through 2050,” the report states.

The federal analysis points to projections that show U.S. electricity consumption rising 16% to 25% by 2034.

Increasing electricity demand is due in large part to the rapid development of data centers needed to support artificial intelligence technologies.

During a visit to Jefferson City on Monday, Department of Energy leaders said they believe operators of forthcoming AI data centers will pay their fair share.

Katie Jereza is the assistant secretary of the federal Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity. She pointed to President Donald Trump’s voluntary ratepayer protection pledge that’s been signed by tech companies, utilities and governors.

“The whole principle is that the data centers will pay for the infrastructure upgrades for their generation, not the families,” Jereza said.

Jereza said the federal government will soon announce funding for what’s called “reconductoring.”

“Which is basically … restringing the lines,” Jereza said. “So you’ve got old conductors, and now we’re going to put in new ones that can carry more electrons through from generation to delivery.”

As technology companies build AI data centers across the state, Missouri lawmakers have passed legislation with new consumer protections in an attempt to ensure the company’s large energy needs don’t increase residents’ utility bills.

“We feel like the transmission element is something that largely gets glossed over, but it’s a huge cost that ultimately is borne by ratepayers,” said Geoff Marke, chief economist with the Missouri Office of Public Counsel, the state’s consumer advocacy department.

He said he’s concerned the cost for the vast infrastructure upgrades needed will fall to the average energy consumers.

“If the proper cost allocation is not in place there, then yes, I do think residential customers will be exposed more than they otherwise would be,” Marke said.

The national study of powerlines comes as a group of nine electric transmission utilities, including Ameren and Evergy, are asking federal energy regulators for the right of first refusal to build and operate new multi-state, large-scale powerlines. The energy companies say pausing the competitive bidding process will speed up needed grid upgrades.

But Marke said competition reigns in overspending.

“Incumbent utilities have the vast majority of the transmission investment,” Marke said. “Opening that up to requests for proposals or just competitive bidding will just force everybody to be more professional and curb those costs.”

Jezera said whether competition brings the cost of new transmission lines down depends on a variety of factors, including location.

“There are parts of the country where it has worked really well. It has gone faster and reduced the cost, and then in other areas it hasn’t worked as well,” she said.

This story was originally produced by KBIA.

Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.