Joplin Police Department mourns loss of Officer Mike Gayman

(From the Joplin Police Department)

The Joplin Police Department regretfully announces the unexpected passing of Police Officer Mike Gayman. 

Officer Gayman suffered a heart attack while at the gym last Friday, April 1st. Bystanders rendered medical aid, including a Joplin Police Corporal who happened to be at the gym at the same time. 

Officer Gayman was rushed via ambulance to Freeman Hospital and fought hard over the last several days, however he could not overcome the damage that had already been sustained. 

Officer Mike Gayman started with the Joplin Police Department in 1999 and retired from JPD on January 4th, 2019 after 20 years of service. Officer Gayman returned to the City of Joplin soon after and was currently an Airport Police Officer for the city. 

Officer Gayman previously worked at the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office before coming to Joplin. 

During his career, Officer Gayman worked as a Patrol Officer, a Detective, and Bailiff for the department. Officer Gayman also served on the JPD SWAT Team during his career. We ask that you will keep his wife and children, along with the men and women of the Joplin Police Department and Joplin Regional Airport, in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

Neosho man sentenced to six years for tampering with a victim

(From the Newton County Prosecuting Attorney's Office)

A Neosho man was sentenced to six years in prison by Judge Gregory Stremel of the 40th Judicial Circuit for tampering with a victim in a felony prosecution. 

John Martin Hamilton, Jr., 46, was found guilty by a McDonald County jury on February 16, 2022, after just thirty-five minutes of deliberation. 

The case stems from a June 18, 2021, phone call that Hamilton made while in custody at the Newton County Jail on a felony domestic assault charge. 

In that recorded call, Hamilton offered the victim of his assault $500 in exchange for dropping charges.

 “Mr. Hamilton will spend every single day of his six-year sentence in the Missouri Department of Corrections. The law violated by the defendant is one of very few where there is no parole and the sentence rendered by Judge Stremel will be the true sentence the defendant serves,” said Newton County Prosecuting Attorney William Lynch. 

“Our Assistant Prosecutor, Sarah Crites, did a great job securing this conviction and we are all pleased to see justice served.” 

This case was investigated by the Newton County Sheriff’s Office in conjunction with the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and prosecuted by Sarah Crites and William Lynch.

Months-long wait for Missouri Medicaid coverage is a sign of things to come

By Bram Sable-Smith and Rachana Pradhan

Kaiser Health News

Korra Elliott has tried to avoid seeing a doctor while waiting to get on Medicaid. She worries she can’t afford more bills without any insurance coverage. 

But in early March — five months, she said, after applying and with still no decision about her application — a suspected case of the flu sent her blood pressure soaring and landed her in the emergency room.

(Photo- Stacy Whitford, of suburban Kansas City applied for Medicaid for herself and her son in December. She spent hours on the phone trying to sort out the status of their applications before they were finally approved more than 100 days later on March 31, 2022 -Christopher Smith/KHN).

The 28-year-old mother of four from Salem, Missouri, is among the tens of thousands of uninsured Missourians stuck waiting as the state slogs through a flood of applications for the state-federal health insurance program. Missouri expanded the program last year after a lengthy legal and political battle, and it now covers adults who earn up to 138% of the federal poverty level — about $18,800 annually for an individual.

Missouri had nearly 72,000 pending Medicaid applications at the end of February and was averaging 119 days to process one, more than twice the maximum turnaround time of 45 days allowed by federal rules. Adding people to Medicaid is labor-intensive, and the jobs require training and expertise. The program covers many populations — children, people with disabilities, seniors, adults who are pregnant or have children, and some without children. Different rules dictate who qualifies.

Missouri simply doesn’t have the workers to keep up. Last fiscal year, 20% of its employees who handled Medicaid applications left their jobs, said Heather Dolce, a spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Social Services. And the average number of job applications received for each opening in the department’s Family Support Division — which oversees enrollment — dropped from 47 in March 2021 to 10 in February 2022.

Just about every industry is struggling to find workers now, but staffing shortages in state Medicaid agencies around the country come at a challenging time. States will soon need to review the eligibility of tens of millions of people enrolled in the program nationwide — a herculean effort that will kick off once President Joe Biden’s administration lets the covid-19 public health emergency declaration expire. If Missouri’s lengthy application backlogs are any indication, the nation is on course for a mass-scale disruption in people’s benefits — even for those who still qualify for the insurance.

“If you don’t have people actually processing the cases and answering the phone, it doesn’t matter what policies you have in place,” said Jennifer Wagner, director of Medicaid eligibility and enrollment for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank in Washington, D.C.

Federal officials have said they will give states 60 days’ notice before ending the public health emergency, so it’s unlikely to expire before summer. Once it does, enrollees won’t be kicked off immediately: States can take up to 14 months to complete renewals, although budget pressures may push many to move faster. A bump in federal Medicaid funds to states, provided by Congress through covid relief legislation in 2020, will end shortly after the emergency’s expiration.

Ultimately, workers are needed to answer questions, process information confirming someone’s Medicaid enrollment should be renewed, or see whether the person qualifies for a different health coverage program — all before the benefits lapse and they become uninsured.

State Medicaid officials have said staffing is one of the top challenges they face. In a January meeting of the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, an outside panel of experts that advises Congress, Jeff Nelson said 15% to 20% of the Utah Department of Health’s eligibility workers were new. “We’ve got a fifth of the workforce that potentially doesn’t know what they’re doing,” said Nelson, who oversees eligibility for Utah’s Medicaid program.

Eligibility worker vacancies at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission quadrupled over roughly two years — 1,031 open positions as of late February compared with 260 as of March 31, 2020, according to spokesperson Kelli Weldon.

Medicaid renewals are less labor-intensive than initial applications, but it takes time before an eligibility worker knows the ins and outs of the program, Wagner said.

“It’s months before you are fully functional,” said Wagner, who previously oversaw the Illinois Department of Human Services’ offices that determine applicants’ eligibility for Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that provides food stamps, and other assistance programs.

Other social services may be gummed up in the process because many workers also handle applications for other programs. In addition to Medicaid, workers for Kentucky’s Department for Community Based Services handle SNAP and child care assistance applications.

Consumer advocates who connect people to safety-net programs worry that an overwhelmed workforce won’t be able to keep up.

“It’s going to be a lot of work for everyone,” said Miranda Brown, who helps people apply for benefits as outreach coordinator for the Kentucky Equal Justice Center, a legal aid group.

Brown said she recently called a state office on behalf of a client toward the end of the day. She waited on hold for an hour only to be told by a caseworker that the agency couldn’t process any more cases that day.

“I even have a [phone] line that I get through faster than a consumer calling for themselves,” she said. “If it’s hard for me, it’s very hard for consumers who are trying to call on their lunch break at work.”

South Carolina planned to hire “a couple hundred workers” beginning this spring to help manage renewals at the end of the public health emergency, said Nicole Mitchell Threatt, deputy director of eligibility, enrollment, and member services at the Department of Health and Human Services. The turnover rate among eligibility workers was about 25% from July 2020 to June 2021, jumping from a 15% rate in the previous 12 months.

In Missouri, Dolce said her department hopes a recently approved pay increase will help recruit more workers and improve staff morale and retention. The department is being sued over delays in enrollments for SNAP benefits, which it also oversees.

Kim Evans, director of the Missouri Department of Social Services’ Family Support Division, told the state Medicaid oversight committee in February that her division was offering overtime and she was even offering to buy pizza to speed up the processing of applications. But the department is enrolling fewer than 3,000 people per week, leaving tens of thousands waiting and delaying their care.

In the suburbs of Kansas City, Missouri, Stacey Whitford, 41, applied in December for Medicaid for herself and her 13-year-old son. Her son needs hearing aids that she said cost $2,500 apiece without insurance. She also lined up a support worker for the boy, who has autism, through the Department of Mental Health but said she was told the worker can begin only once her son is enrolled in Medicaid.

“It’s just like hanging a golden ticket right in front of your face and saying, ‘Here it is, but you can’t touch it,’” she said in early March.

Whitford spent hours on the phone trying to sort out the status of their applications, then on March 31, just shy of four months after applying, they were finally approved.

“I am so excited! We can run with scissors now,” she joked.

But Elliott, the mother of four in Salem, is still waiting. She gave up calling the state’s Medicaid helpline after growing frustrated from spending hours on hold and being disconnected because of high call volumes. Instead, she checks on her application through the enrollment specialists at the clinic where she applied.

She was sent home from the ER with ibuprofen and Tamiflu and has yet to see a bill. If her Medicaid application is approved, her coverage will be backdated to the month she applied, likely covering her ER trip. But if her application is rejected, that cost will be added to her medical debt, which Elliott estimates is already tens of thousands of dollars.

“It makes me feel like it’s a joke,” Elliott said of Missouri’s expansion of Medicaid. “Like they’re just throwing it out there to get all these people to apply for it, but they’re not going to really help anybody.”

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

Sheena Greitens says she has photos, records to document abuse by former governor

By Rudi Keller

Missouri Independent

Former Missouri First Lady Sheena Greitens says in a new court filing that she has photos and other evidence to back up her claims that former Gov. Eric Greitens physically abused her and their children as his political career unraveled.

In a statement embedded in a court filing Thursday in Boone County Circuit Court as part of her ongoing child custody battle with the former governor, Sheena Greitens said she tried to resolve differences without a public fight. But she said that Eric Greitens’s attacks on her character, push for records to be sealed and demands that the case be sent to mediation show he cares more about his campaign for U.S. Senate than his sons.

Her attorney, Helen Wade, wrote in the latest filing that Sheena Greitens asked for mediation on eight previous occasions and her ex-husband refused.

The abuse claims, made in an affidavit filed March 21, stated that as he faced criminal charges and possible impeachment in 2018, Eric Greitens repeatedly threatened to commit suicide unless she showed “specific public political support” for him. In one incident of child abuse, that she swore in the affidavit occurred in November 2019, one of their sons came home from a visit his father with a swollen face, bleeding gums and loose tooth and said his father had hit him.

Eric Greitens, both publicly and in court filings, has challenged those statements, noting that prior to their divorce in 2020, Sheena Greitens signed a document stating there were no undisclosed material facts and agreeing to a parenting plan of joint custody. In his first statement issued after the filing, Eric Greitens called his ex-wife “a deranged individual” and said she had “a documented history of mental illness and emotionally-abusive behavior.”

But in last week’s filing, Sheena Greitens said she did report and document the abuse. She only agreed to the parenting plan as the best option to move with their two boys to Texas.

“In fact, they were reported to multiple lawyers, therapists, and our mediator, in 2018 and afterward,” Sheena Greitens said. “I will provide contemporaneous documentation of the relevant communications, as well as photographic evidence of my child’s 2019 injuries, to the court at an appropriate time.”

She also challenged his characterizations of her mental health. The “documented history” is therapy she sought from January 2018 to April 2020, first in an attempt to save their marriage and later to cope with her ex-husband’s behavior.

In the filing, Wade wrote that Eric Greitens “has launched an all-out, calculated, and purposely public attack on (Sheena Greitens) – outside the confines of the courtroom, off the witness stand and notably without being under oath.”

Sheena Greitens is trying to move court control of the child custody case from Missouri to Texas, where she works as an associate professor at the University of Texas. At the time of their divorce, she was employed at the University of Missouri.

The allegations of domestic violence come as Eric Greitens is attempting a political comeback as a candidate for the U.S. Senate in a crowded Republican primary.

Prior to the allegations becoming public, Greitens was leading in polls. Since then, he has slipped into a statistical dead heat with his leading rivals, U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler and Attorney General Eric Schmitt.

The affidavit overshadowed another event, a guilty plea from former FBI agent William Tisaby admitting evidence tampering in the 2018 investigation, that Greitens had hoped would boost his image as a man wronged by political enemies.

Greitens has used right wing media to tie the two events together, accusing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and former presidential advisor Karl Rove as masterminding the affidavit.

In her latest filing, Sheena Greitens denied she had consulted with any of her former husband’s political enemies prior to filing her abuse claims.

“I drafted the previously filed affidavit,” Sheena Greitens said. “Neither Karl Rove, nor Mitch McConnell, nor any other so-called political operatives drafted it for me. The only person I have been ‘victimized’ by is Eric.”

The next hearing in the case is set for May 10, when Associate Circuit Judge Leslie Schneider will hear arguments on whether to order AT&T and Verizon wireless to turn over phone logs and text messages for phones assigned to Sheena Greitens, her sister, Catherine Linkul, Rove and Greitens’ campaign manager for his 2016 run for governor, Austin Chambers.

Rove, Sheena Greitens and Linkul, who works for Pathway Public Affairs, a consulting firm run by a close ally of McConnell, did not respond to messages seeking comment. Chambers said Monday that he had no contact with Sheena Greitens about the affidavit before it was filed.

“I did not talk to her about the contents of the affidavit,” Chambers said. “I learned about the affidavit when it was filed, like everybody else.”

Sheena Greitens’ veracity

Several of the allegations Sheena Greitens made in her March 21 affidavit are familiar to law enforcement and service agencies that deal with domestic abuse. To help victims understand the level of threat in their relationship, a questionnaire called a “Danger Assessment” asks 20 questions about coercive or violent actions.

The allegations of abuse contained in Sheena Greitens’ affidavit would check off seven of the 20 actions included on the assessment, including threats to commit suicide, controlling daily activities and physical violence. That, according to the scoring matrix, would put a person in severe danger as they left the relationship.

In Kansas City, police use the Danger Assessment on domestic violence calls and help victims connect to services, said Lisa Fleming, CEO of the Rose Brooks Center, a domestic violence shelter in Kansas City.

“It lets them know, and that is the really blunt, direct message, that people in your situation that have experienced similar things have been killed and we are worried about your safety,” Fleming said.

The creator of the Danger Assessment, Jacquelyn Campbell, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, conducted research to test its predictive value in cases where women were murdered by partners. Campbell found that more than half of women involved in attempted murder cases had been in the extreme danger category, one step above where Sheena Greitens would have scored based on her affidavit.

The assessment helps victims make choices to keep themselves and their children safe, said MaryAnne Metheny, CEO of Hope House, a shelter in eastern Jackson County.

“That is part of the goal,” she said. “When the police officers ask those questions, they can say, based on how they answer, that research has shown you are at a high risk of being killed if you stay in this relationship.”

A person inside an abusive relationship can feel trapped, underestimate the danger or realize that others have experienced similar abuse, Metheny said.

“People don’t understand how difficult it is to navigate out of that,” she said.

Schneider will be the judge of which side is more credible when Sheena Greitens’ motion to move the proceedings to Texas is heard on May 27.

Eric Greitens, through attorney Gary Stamper, has told the court she is lying.

“Common sense suggests no parent would agree to share joint legal and physical custody with the fictional parent described in the filing leaked to the press before it was accepted by the circuit clerk and available to the court or the inquiring public,” Stamper wrote.

So far, as Wade noted in her filing, Eric Greitens has not been questioned under oath about the allegations in Sheena Greitens’ affidavit. And in the statement included with the filing, Sheena Greitens said the pattern she saw in 2018 to 2020 has begun again.

“Eric’s behavior since 3/21 is consistent with several patterns that I have previously experienced,” she said. “When his public future is at risk, he becomes erratic, unhinged, coercive and threatening. He accuses me of things that are untrue and generates conspiracy theories about me collaborating with his ‘enemies’ when I have done no such thing. He uses words like ‘nasty’ and ‘vicious’ to describe my behavior, and threatens to take my children away.”

Last week, Gov. Mike Parson – who took office when Eric Greitens resigned – noted that swearing to a false affidavit carries the risk of a perjury charge and added that he had a “great deal of respect” for Sheena Greitens.

“I have no reason to doubt Sheena Greitens on what she said,” Parson said.

Going public

In her statement included in the latest court filing, Sheena Greitens warned that she is under immense pressure to tell her story through the media. She is trying to avoid that, she said, but the delay until May 27 will make that difficult.

“I would like to continue to restrict my comments on this to the courtroom, but it will be difficult to do so if we cannot resolve the question of where this case should be decided until May 27, because I expect I will have to go through two months of untrue public attacks on my character, motherhood and professionalism,” she said.

Since her affidavit was filed, Eric Greitens has produced a video attacking her claims, done interviews on friendly conservative media and used press conferences with his attorneys to claim he is the victim of a coordinated political attack.

The attack campaign uses a few facts and makes many assumptions based on those facts. One fact is that Sheena Greitens was in Washington when she signed the affidavit; the assumption is that she had contacts with Rove and, through her sister, to McConnell.

In the latest filing, she denied that.

“I went to Washington, D.C., to discharge my responsibilities as a paid employee and fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and my conversations there were about American national security and U.S. policy toward China – subjects about which I publish frequently and testified last year to the Senate Armed Services Committee,” she said.

The best place for the case is in Texas, where it would receive much less public attention, Wade wrote in Thursday’s filing.

Eric Greitens wants it in Missouri, Wade wrote, because “this is perhaps the only place in the United States where the respondent believes that he can effectively leverage his influence to punish petitioner for speaking the truth, to intimidate her into retreating into silence once again, and doing so in the name of protecting the children.”

Since the affidavit was filed, Greitens has weathered calls from rivals for the Senate nomination, and others, to withdraw from the race. Some Republican women leaders have also begun to question the party’s official silence on whether Greitens should remain in the field.

He has remained defiant and has only lost a few points in recent polls. Greitens’ success in the Aug. 2 primary could hinge on whether the public believes him or his ex-wife. In her latest statement, Sheena Greitens said her concern in how the political fight bleeds into the court proceedings.

“Because this is so public,” she said, “I am desperately worried about how it could impact the legal process, and feel immense pressure to respond to set the record straight – or else risk my silence, or delay in responding, being construed as an endorsement of the truth of Eric’s false public statements.”
The affidavit was unnecessary for a case only about jurisdiction, attorney Tim Parlatore said in a Washington, D.C., press conference where he tried to link Sheena Greitens to Rove and McConnell.

“They were filed solely for the purpose of having a statement in the court record that could be used for political purposes,” said Parlatore, who has not entered an appearance in court on Eric Greitens behalf.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES 

Cleaver sponsors Stop Gas Price Gouging Tax and Rebate Act

(From Fifth District Congressman Emanuel Cleaver)

Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the March Jobs Report, showing that the United States added another 431,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell to 3.6 percent. 

Since President Biden took office, the United States has seen 7.9 million new jobs created and regained 93% of jobs lost during the global pandemic, marking the fastest economic recovery in American history. But now is not the time for Congress to rest on its laurels.

While I'm pleased that the American Rescue Plan and the economic policies of the Biden Administration are getting Americans back to work at a historic rate, it's critical that Congress continue to focus on legislation that will address inflation, combat corporate price gouging, and lower costs on hardworking Missouri families. 

As your Representative, those are the issues I have been laser-focused on, and I wanted to take this opportunity to share some of the actions the House of Representatives and I have taken recently to help on that front, as well as a historic piece of legislation that was signed into law last week.

House of Representatives Votes to Cap Insulin Costs at $35 per Month

Right now, the American people pay 10 times the price for insulin compared to other high-income countries--and it's due to nothing more than lack of competition and corporate greed. Last week, I was proud to join my colleagues in the House of Representatives to pass the Affordable Insulin Now Act, which would cap out-of-pocket costs for insulin at no more than $35 per month in Medicare Part D and commercial health insurance.

With 1 in 4 Americans who rely on insulin admitting to having cut back or skipped doses due to cost, the Affordable Insulin Now Act ensures vital and affordable access to life-saving medication for more than 37 million Americans who have diabetes. To lower costs on Americans who rely on insulin, the bill would:

-Require Medicare Part D plans and commercial health insurance plans to cover insulin, ensuring that plans cover at least one of each type and dosage form of insulin;

-Cap out-of-pocket costs at no more than $35 per month, requiring private insurance to cap cost-sharing at the lesser of $35 or 25 percent of a plan's negotiated price, and requiring all Medicare prescription drug plans to cap cost-sharing at no more than $35; and

-Be completely paid for without adding to the deficit by delaying the implementation of the Rebate Rule that was published by the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services on November 30, 2020.

While this bill still needs to be passed in the Senate, I'm hopeful that we can find 10 Senate Republicans to support this commonsense proposal to lower medical costs for Americans with diabetes. 

As this bill heads to the Senate, I will continue working to find ways in which we can lower prescription drug costs for Missourians of all backgrounds, but you can find more information on my support for the Affordable Insulin Now Act here.

Rep. Cleaver Cosponsors Legislation to Combat Price Gouging from Big Oil, Lower Gas Prices, and Provide Rebates to American Consumers

As the Biden Administration vaccinated hundreds of millions of Americans and pandemic restrictions were loosened, the global consumption of oil and gas increased substantially in 2021. 

As a result of increased global demand, 24 of the top oil and gas companies made more than $127 billion in profits last year. Rather than reinvesting those profits to expand production and reduce prices on consumers, Big Oil instead awarded shareholders, with 14 oil companies alone giving more than $35 billion in dividend increases and stock buybacks. 

In the first quarter of 2022, nearly $80 billion in shareholder returns have already been announced by Big Oil, even as gas prices remain extraordinarily high around the world.

In an effort to combat the potential for price gouging and to lower prices at the pump, I announced last week that I have cosponsored H.R. 7099, the Stop Gas Price Gouging Tax and Rebate Act. This bill would help to curb profiteering from major oil and gas companies by creating a windfall profit tax on excessive corporate profits of Big Oil. 

Additionally, the revenue created from the windfall profit tax would then be returned to American consumers in the form of a tax rebate, providing desperately needed relief to Missouri families. 

By incentivizing major oil and gas companies to reinvest their exorbitant profits toward expanding production, increasing supply, or simply keeping costs lower for American consumers as we weather the lack of supply caused by Putin's despicable invasion of Ukraine, I believe this legislation is one way Congress can help to address high gas prices.

I want you to know that President Biden--who announced last week that he would release 180 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve--and I are working overtime to lower gas prices in the short-term, while also working to provide long-term investments that would accelerate our transition to renewable energy and electric vehicles.

While I continue to push for a vote on this legislation in the House of Representatives, you can find more information on the Stop Gas Price Gouging Tax and Rebate Act here.

President Biden Signs the Emmett Till Antilynching Act Into Law

Last week, after more than 200 attempts by Congress since 1900, President Biden finally signed legislation that would designate the horrific act of lynching as a federal hate crime in the United States. 

Having grown up in the throes of Jim Crow in Texas, I know firsthand how this evil practice was used to intimidate Black communities and enforce the hierarchy that white supremacists had cultivated since the end of Reconstruction in the late 19th century. 

And while no legislation can reverse the trauma or return the more than 6,500 African Americans who were killed by hate-fueled public lynchings, the enactment of the Emmett Till Antilynching Act is a powerful acknowledgement of the pain Black Americans were forced to endure during the Jim Crow era--and a critical step toward healing the wounds of the past so that we can build a better future for all.

I was honored to stand with President Biden, Vice President Harris, and members of the Congressional Black Caucus as the Emmett Till Antilynching Act was signed into law, and I will continue to work with the Biden Administration and Members of Congress who are focused on advancing racial justice and building a better America for each and every community across our great nation.

You can find my official statement of the enactment of the Emmett Till Antilynching Act here.

The Week Ahead

The House of Representatives returns to Washington this week, and we are prepared to vote on legislation that will provide additional relief to American small businesses that have been harmed by the global pandemic--which is something I have advocated for months now. As this piece of legislation makes its way to the House floor, as well as other bills to combat inflation and lower costs on hardworking families, I will be sure to keep you apprised of my work in Congress.

Joplin Police: Officer's bullet killed 2-year-old Clesslynn Crawford

(From the Joplin Police Department)

This press release is to update information concerning the officer involved shooting that occurred in Baxter Springs, Kansas on Saturday, March 26th, 2022. 

The Joplin Police Department felt it critical to update the public based upon recently preliminary findings. 

On March 26th, 2022, the Joplin Police Department responded to Baxter Springs, Kansas as part of a mutual aid request for assistance with an active threat and hostage situation relating to a domestic disturbance. 

An adult male, who was later identified as Eli Crawford, was barricaded in a travel trailer with his 2-year-old daughter, Clesslynn Crawford, and was actively shooting at law enforcement officers firing over 90 rounds. 

Crawford had shot and killed Taylor Shutte, the mother of Clesslynn Crawford, as Baxter Springs officers arrived on scene. 

The Joplin Police Department SWAT Team was activated and responded. After Joplin SWAT arrived on scene, the suspect continued firing at law enforcement officers. 

During the over two-hour incident, a member of the Joplin SWAT Team was involved in a shooting on scene. Following the conclusion of the incident, the officer was placed on routine administrative leave per department policy. 

Preliminary information has been found to show that Clesslynn Crawford was struck and killed by the round fired by the Joplin Officer. A separate internal investigation is ongoing. 

This is a horrific outcome to what had already started as a very tragic incident. Our heartfelt condolences go out to the families involved and the surrounding community. We ask that you pray for the victims and everyone involved.

Obituary of Clesslynn Crawford

Obituary of Taylor Shutte

***

Just Published

Stories about 56 people we will never forget.

Remembering: People Who Touched Our Lives is available now at Amazon.

The first local signing for the book will be Saturday, April 23, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Always Buying Books in Joplin.

GOP women speak out against Eric Greitens as party remains silent

By Jason Hancock

Missouri Independent

In just two weeks since allegations of domestic violence surfaced, Eric Greitens’ campaign for the U.S. Senate has been under siege from fellow Republicans urging him to drop out of the race.

With one notable exception.

The state party, which in recent years has denounced several candidates running under the GOP banner for behavior it considered beyond the pale, has remained silent on allegations by Greitens’ ex-wife that he physically abused her and their children.

But even as the Missouri Republican Party itself keeps quiet — its executive director, Charlie Dalton, did not respond to several requests seeking comment about Greitens — a handful of women with prominent roles within the party have begun speaking out.

“I’m appalled that the Missouri Republican Party hasn’t put out a statement calling for Eric Greitens to withdraw from the U.S. Senate race,” said Rene Artman, a member of the party’s executive committee who also serves as chairwoman of the Republican central committee of St. Louis County.

“Eric Greitens disgraced the state as governor,” Artman continued, “and has somehow taken that disgrace to a new level with highly credible reports that he beat his then-wife and three year-old son. Eric Greitens does not have the character to represent Missouri.”

Joining Artman in publicly calling for Greitens to abandon his campaign are Carla Young, another member of the Missouri GOP’s executive committee; Pat Thomas, the party’s longtime treasurer; and the two women who led the party during the last election cycle, former Chairwoman Kay Hoflander and former Executive Director Jean Evans.

“By asking for our former governor to stop his campaign and focus on his family, I’m asking him to do the right thing for everyone,” Young said. “This is not the scandal-ridden leadership we need in Washington.”

Each has made it clear in their public statements that they are not speaking on behalf of the party.

Those familiar with discussions by Missouri GOP leaders told The Independent there was concern that a formal denouncement by the party itself would likely backfire and help Greitens’ anti-establishment campaign strategy. Any attempt to block him from the ballot, as the party has done with two state legislative candidates this year, was likely no longer possible since he’d already paid his filing fee.

And even if it could keep him off the August ballot, the party worried Greitens would simply run as an independent in the fall and surrender the seat to a Democrat.

The political conundrum may have the Missouri GOP biting its tongue, but it hasn’t dissuaded women who have long worked behind the scenes to build the party.

“If Republicans nominate Greitens, they seriously risk losing their credibility as the champions of family values issues,” said Thomas, who has served as treasurer for the party for years, including when Greitens was governor.

History of abuse allegations

Greitens was forced to resign from the Missouri governor’s office in 2018 to settle a felony charge and avoid impeachment.

His campaign to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt was pitched as his redemption tour, with Greitens claiming exoneration from the litany of accusations that ended his tenure as governor.

Since joining the campaign, he has led in polls of GOP primary voters, and a crowded field of candidates meant Greitens could claim the nomination without winning a majority — just like he did during his successful gubernatorial campaign in 2016.

But last month, an affidavit filed by Greitens’ ex-wife as part of an ongoing child custody battle threatened to upend his campaign.

Greitens was accused of “unstable and coercive” behavior, including physically abusing their children. His ex-wife described numerous acts of violence, and said Greitens became so unstable in the months before his resignation in 2018 that his access to firearms had to be limited.

A spokesman for Greitens’ campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story, but the former governor has denied all of his ex-wife’s allegations and has accused her of coordinating with his political enemies to undermine his campaign for Senate.

Yet the latest charges echo those made by a woman with whom Greitens had a brief affair in 2015.

She testified under oath in 2018 as part of impeachment proceedings that Greitens taped her hands to pull-up rings in his basement, blindfolded her, spit water into her mouth, ripped open her shirt, pulled down her pants and took a photo of her to use as blackmail to keep her from talking about their relationship.

The woman said that as she tried to leave the basement, Greitens grabbed her in a “bear hug” and laid her on the floor. Then he started fondling her, pulled out his penis and coerced her into oral sex while she wept “uncontrollably.”

The allegations led to a felony invasion of privacy charge that was dropped during jury selection when a judge agreed to allow Greitens’ attorneys to call the prosecutor as a witness. A special prosecutor decided against refiling charges, citing statutes of limitation that had or were about to pass and potentially missing evidence.

Evans, the former executive director of the Missouri GOP, said Greitens has a demonstrated pattern of abusive behavior, pointing to run ins he had with former political rivals, fellow Republicans in the legislature and the women who accused him of physical violence.

“He bullied his opponents in the gubernatorial primary, bullied legislators, bullied women and even bullied his own children,” she said.

Public condemnation

Twice this year, the Missouri GOP has sought to block candidates from running under the party’s banner by rejecting their filing fee.

The party refused to accept filing fees from state Rep. Patricia Derges, a Nixa Republican under federal indictment over allegations she sold fake stem cell treatments, and Steve West, who has previously sought a Kansas City-area House seat despite years of racist and anti-semetic statements.

But because candidate filing ended last week, and Greitens filed and paid his fee in February, only a court order could remove him involuntarily from the August primary ballot.

That leaves public condemnation as the only strategy for Greitens’ critics, something the party has thus far declined to do.

His top two rivals for the nomination — U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt — haven’t been as reticent.

Hartzler, who demanded Greitens resign as governor in early 2018 after the first round of accusations emerged, called the latest allegations part of a “pattern of criminal behavior that makes Eric unfit to hold any public office.”

Even Schmitt, who was one of the few Missouri Republicans holding a major office who never weighed in during Greitens’ 2018 downfall, broke his silence soon after Greitens’ ex-wife’s affidavit became public.

He now says Greitens should “be in prison, not on the ballot for U.S. Senate.”

Greitens has shown no indication he’s even considering dropping out, doubling down on his campaign strategy of painting all allegations of wrongdoing as part of a “witch hunt” against him.

Hoflander, the former chairwoman of the state party, noted that the two women alleging abuse against Greitens did so under oath, something the former governor has steadfastly refused to do.

“What reasonable, even what sane, stable person, would run for office under these circumstances?” she said. “I call on him to step aside and get his life in order and not have his personal troubles ‘be’ the story.”

Bloodbath at MSSU: 40+ teachers, staff fired (thankfully, commitment to quality remains)

The bloodbath at Missouri Southern State University continued with the announcement Thursday that 20 staff members, some with decades of experience, were being fired or as President Dean Van Galen phrased it in a letter to staff and faculty "their employment will formally end on June 30."

Perhaps their employment "formally" ended June 30, but the last day for the staff members was Friday as they cleaned out their desks and said goodbye to co-workers and future paychecks secure in the knowledge that university officials would now be able to pursue whatever trend seems most likely to convince well-heeled donors to open their checkbooks.

The latest round of firings came less than two months after Van Galen and university officials gutted the faculty, eliminating more than 20 non-tenured teachers and offering buyouts to tenured faculty members.

The cuts included all teachers in the theater program, though university officials insist they are not eliminating theater just combining it with the music program. (Perhaps the students can just act naturally and belt out songs.)

Reportedly, Southern officials have also made steep cuts to the science program.

The elimination of the jobs comes at a time when university officials have purportedly circulated proposals for new building projects, including one seven figure proposal for a building that would house the department that seeks new donors for the university, something that apparently is needed to provide more room for phone banks.

When Van Galen announced the cuts in February, he offered assurances that no matter how many faculty members were sent packing, it would not affect the quality of education at MSSU.

"The current budget reduction model will result in the continuation of all academic programs. While there are organizational changes to our campus, our top priority remains maintaining the quality of our student learning and success."

Van Galen failed to cite any studies that would indicate that getting rid of those pesky teachers and staff members ensures student learning and success.

The letter sent by Van Galen and university officials to staff and faculty members is printed below:

Dear MSSU Staff and Faculty: Today was incredibly difficult for our Lion family. A number of staff were informed, in person, that their employment will formally end on June 30. Our thoughts are with those impacted, both directly and indirectly, by these decisions. With input from CEBAT [Campus Enrollment and Budget Advisory Team], we have worked hard to develop ways to support these employees in the days and months ahead, but it will still be difficult for everyone. All staff that are separating from the university have now been informed. The appropriate President’s Cabinet member and supervisors will have follow-up team meetings to discuss structure and duties within the next week. As you know, there is a need to significantly reduce future university expenses as we develop the fiscal year 2023 budget – beginning July 1. Over the course of this academic year, as members of the President’s Cabinet, we have strived to listen, to be informed by the work of CEBAT, and to come to the best decisions for the future of Missouri Southern.

Budget development steps that have already been announced include implementing ideas that came from the campus survey, administrative reductions, a voluntary retirement incentive program, and decisions to not fill some open positions. However, it is still necessary to take actions that impact the employment of some non-tenured faculty (announced earlier) and staff across campus. We understand that there will continue to be questions and work to be done as Missouri Southern changes and prepares for the future. We will do our best to continue to engage and communicate with campus. Your patience, involvement, and support for your fellow Lions is appreciated during this difficult time. Sincerely, Dean Van Galen, President Brad Hodson, Executive Vice President Lisa Toms, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Rob Mallory, Director of Athletics Julie Wengert, Interim Vice President for Student Affairs Rob Yust, Vice President for Business Affairs Heather Lesmeister, Director of Communications and External Relations

***

Just Published

Stories about 56 people we will never forget.

Remembering: People Who Touched Our Lives is available now at Amazon.

The first local signing for the book will be Saturday, April 23, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Always Buying Books in Joplin.

Roy Blunt: I won't be supporting Ketanji Brown Jackson

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-MO confirmed this morning on ABC's This Week what everybody already knew- he will vote against confirming Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U. S. Supreme Court:

I think she’s certainly going to be confirmed. I think it’ll be a high point for the country to see her go on the court. But I don’t think she’s the kind of judge that will really do the kind of work that I think needs to be done by the court. And I won’t be supporting her, but I’ll be joining others and understanding the importance of this moment.”

Billy Long: Biden's budget doubles down on failed liberal policies

(From Seventh District Congressman Billy Long)

This week, President Biden released his Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 budget, and it's a humdinger. After 14 months of President Biden, we are seeing the worst inflation in 40 years and gas prices are higher than a cat's back. 

It's a given that the Democrats radical spending plans have caused these price hikes, but apparently President Biden hasn’t gotten the memo. This is evidenced by his budget proposal, which would increase spending for his pet projects and raise taxes, all while worsening inflation and ballooning the deficit.

In his budget he wants people to pay capital gains tax on unrealized gains. Many people own stocks for years - some years the value goes up and some years their value goes down. Paper gains and paper losses they are called, but neither a gain or a loss is realized until you sell the stock. If they want tax to be collected on these paper gains, what happens with paper losses, are they deductible?

President Biden’s budget comes in at a whopping $5.8 trillion. Included in that proposal is $2.6 billion for gender equity, $3.3 billion for clean energy and $18 billion for other Green New Deal climate policies. 

These are just some of the priorities that President Biden is focusing on in his budget, and they show that he is more concerned with appeasing his far-left base than he is helping American citizens. This budget calls for $2.5 trillion in tax hikes, including a huge increase for businesses. I can’t think of anything worse to combat high prices than to hike taxes on businesses and ramp up already out of control levels of spending.

What Americans need right now is relief from the worst inflation in 40 years. The cost of everything continues to rise and wages are failing to keep up. This is because of President Biden’s tax and spend policies that he pursued all last year. 

Our economy was on track for a great recovery from the COVID pandemic, that is until President Biden started spending money like he has his own printing press -never mind that's a bad analogy because he does. After that, inflation started rising. 

Unfortunately, President Biden is like a kid in a candy store. He just couldn’t help himself. This budget proposal shows that he hasn’t learned his lesson about out of control spending and it's correlation to rampant inflation.

President Biden’s budget for FY 2023 does nothing to lower the deficit. In fact, his proposal would add $15 trillion to the national debt in the next 10 years. 

Our national debt is already at $30 trillion and growing. We should be working on ways to reduce spending and lower the deficit, not increase spending and balloon the deficit. 

President Biden is using his budget proposal to double down on his failed liberal policies instead of finding ways to end the inflation crisis that he created. That’s what we should be focusing on in our next budget. 

Sadly, President Biden hasn’t learned from his disastrous first year in office. And oh yeah, one other thing that would help all Americans - 'Drill Baby Drill.'