Joplin man sentenced to five years for meth trafficking

During a hearing this afternoon in U. S. District Court in Springfield, a Joplin man was sentenced to five years in prison for meth trafficking.

U. S. District Court Judge Douglas Harpool gave Brice Bresee, 38, credit for two years served while awaiting trial. Bresee will be under supervised release for five years after he completes his sentence.

As part of the sentencing agreement, the U. S. Attorney dropped conspiracy and using a cell phone in the commission of a felony charges.

A grand jury indicted Bresee in May 2017.






The news release from that indictment is printed below:

Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that nine southwest Missouri residents have been indicted by a federal grand jury in relation to a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Jasper County, Mo.

Donald B. Loomis, 34, Katherine A. Stein, 26, Torrey L. Nigro, 25, Brice J. Bresee, 36, and Kelly C. Walker, 25, all of Joplin, Mo.; Alisha D. Courtney, 46, and Terrance E. Romero, 41, both of Webb City, Mo.; Adrian K. Gire, 30, of Lamar, Mo.; and Lisa M. Allison, 38, of Neosho, Mo., were charged in a 16-count indictment returned under seal on Nov. 2, 2016. That indictment has been unsealed and made public following the arrests and initial court appearances of the defendants.

The federal indictment alleges that Loomis, Stein, Walker, Courtney and Romero participated in a conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine in Jasper County from March 1, 2015, to Sept. 24, 2016.

The indictment also alleges that Stein, Nigro, Bresee and Gire participated in a conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine in Jasper County from May 10 to May 12, 2016.

In addition to the conspiracies, the indictment charges Stein, Nigro, Bresee and Gire together in one count of distributing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and in one count of using cell phones to facilitate the drug-trafficking conspiracy.

Romero is also charged with one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Romero allegedly was in possession of an F.I.E. Corp. Titan .25-caliber handgun on June 1, 2016.

Courtney is also charged with four counts of distributing methamphetamine.

Walker is also charged with one count of distributing methamphetamine and one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.

Stein and Allison (who is not charged in either of the drug-trafficking conspiracies) are charged together in one count of distributing methamphetamine and in one count of using a cell phone to facilitate a drug-trafficking conspiracy.

Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Abram McGull, II. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI, the Ozarks Drug Enforcement Team, the Joplin, Mo., Police Department, the Webb City, Mo., Police Department, the Newton County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Jasper County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Jasper County, Mo., Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and the Newton County, Mo., Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

Cassville Republican's bill deisgned to attack opioid traffic and distribution

(From Sen. David Sater, R-Cassville)

There is no question drugs are a destructive force in our country and in our communities.

Drugs destroy families, lead to a life of crime and incarceration, and are taking too many lives. Those problems have only grown with the rise of the opioid crisis. 

What starts as a prescription drug treatment for an injury or post-surgery in the form of painkillers often leads to addiction. The addiction continues after the prescription runs out and the user may seek more drugs through deception, doctor shopping and even theft and burglary. 

Somewhere along the way, the individual turns to the streets and heroin, and that leads further down the spiral of desperation and criminality. 

If heroin weren’t bad enough, drug users might then start cutting heroin with fentanyl, a highly-addictive painkiller, fentanyl analogues and carfentanil, a synthetic opioid that is 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times more potent than fentanyl. The end of this road, more often than not, is prison and/or, sadly, overdose and death.

There are people left out of this picture who are also victims and feel the pain and devastation of drug addiction: the user’s family and friends. Whether it’s a husband or wife who sees their spouse slipping away, or a child who is neglected or abused by a parent who cares more about getting their fix than feeding or caring for them, drugs are destroying families, and the reverberations are felt for years, as future generations fight the poverty, learned behaviors, and societal costs – all for a little pill or powder.

This epidemic requires our attention and effort to combat and that starts at the source. The War on Drugs is sometimes referred to derisively and dismissed out of hand without thinking about the whole picture. 

Too often, opponents of the War on Drugs point to unreliable statistics or the absence of complete victory to suggest that the United States and the State of Missouri should not do everything possible to prevent the proliferation of the drug trade. I’m not suggesting we lock up every user and throw away the key, but I am suggesting the punishment of the law should be in our arsenal in this fight.

Last year, I filed legislation tackling the opioid crisis from the health care provider side with reasonable limits on first-time prescriptions and strategically located drug take-back kiosks to get drugs off the streets. This year, I filed Senate Bill 6 to attack this problem from the trafficking and distribution side.

First, the bill would update the state’s controlled substance list and create a better process for updating the the list as new drugs hit the street. Prosecutors cannot charge criminals with these new drugs until they are added to the list, so the more quickly they are added, the faster we can get them off the street. Next, the bill makes the manufacture, delivery or distribution of certain illegal drugs that lead to the death of an individual, second-degree murder. Currently, there is no specified crime for drug-induced homicide, and this tougher penalty will give prosecutors another tool to put drug dealers behind bars.

The bill also allows for tougher penalties for nursing home or home health workers who steal certain prescriptions. This is a growing problem, with the consequences of patients not getting the treatment they need and more illegal drugs finding their way into the wrong hands. Lastly, the bill adds fentanyl to the trafficking statutes and creates an enhanced penalty for distributing, delivering, manufacturing or producing fentanyl. This is a very dangerous drug. So much so, the Highway Patrol has changed the way it field screens the drug. First responders and firefighters are often affected, just from close contact. Trafficking charges are different than other types of charges, so adding fentanyl to the drug trafficking statutes allows for enhanced penalties.

This bill won’t solve the whole problem, but it’s another step. Then, we can take another step, and another until we finally start taking our communities back. Our children deserve to grow up in homes without drugs, and no parent should have to face the pain of seeing their son or daughter lose their freedom, or life, to a bag of powder or a needle. We didn’t get to this place in society overnight and we won’t fix it overnight, but we can say, “thus far, but no further.” That starts with saying right is right and wrong is wrong and putting the people responsible for the drug crisis behind bars is right and just.

Billy Long's reason for supporting emergency declaration: They love Trump in my district

Constitutional checks and balances did not seem to be on Seventh District Congressman Billy Long's mind when an Associated Press reporter asked him about the president declaring an emergency to fund a border wall.

Even many GOP lawmakers who view themselves as protectors of Congress' power of the purse say they are deferring to Trump in this case, saying he has the authority under a mid-1970s statute. 

"They love Trump in my district," said Rep. Billy Long, R-Mo. "I'm for Trump."

Cynthia Davis: If anti-God Democrats take control they will target Christians, guns, border security

(Cynthia Davis a former Republican state representative from O'Fallon and is the host of an internet talk show.)

Sometimes it seems like our human race will self-destruct! I can hardly believe the debates going on about how we treat the unborn and the newly-born! Some people think technology is furthering our progress because we now have the ability to see the baby on an ultrasound and know so much more about fetal development. Yet, here we are watching some states push for unthinkable and horrific treatment of our most innocent youngsters. 19 states have legitimized the right to kill the baby up until the minute before he or she is born and some after the baby is born!

People used to claim they were confused about whether it was a baby or when it had a heartbeat or when the baby felt pain. Now, we have seen the humanity of babies and it's far past time to confront this as blatant evil. We should have been past this discussion 45 years ago!

Shockingly, 19 states now allow infanticide. Even if a mom doesn't want to raise her baby, there is no medical reason to kill the baby. Attempts at late-term abortions have resulted in premature births. When this happens, the doctor should be prosecuted for malpractice having caused a deliberate premature birth at enormous medical and physical cost. There is no reason the baby should have to suffer or die just because the mother doesn't want to raise him or her. It is never acceptable to kill people we don't like!

Thankfully, President Trump did what was right. He single-handedly removed 60 Million taxpayer dollars from Planned Parenthood. The Congress could have done this --- YEARS AGO --- but it didn't.

Finally, we have someone in the White House who just accomplished more than the Republican Party ever did to set things straight. It took the power of the executive office and someone not beholden to any political party to accomplish this.

If the Democrats ever get in full control of the White House, the Congress and the Judiciary, we have good reason to believe they will go after Christians, Pro-2nd Amendment, Pro-Border Security and will not hold back their hatred for us. We could be targeted to be slandered, falsely accused, vilified and imprisoned and even killed because they are so anti-God and against those who accept His Word as our authority.

If they don't have a conscience about killing the most vulnerable of our civilization, they don't care about the Constitution or following the rules. They are out to cause us harm. These are angry and mean-spirited people motivated by evil.

If life isn't sacred to them now, they won't have a conscience about taking our lives either. If we don't fight to preserve the lives of the pre-born and the newly-born, we will find ourselves fighting for our own lives.

We should be beyond these fights. But if we must have them, they belong on the state level, not the National level. Murder is a state crime, not a federal crime. Therefore, it should be addressed by states.

What can be done when a state denies a person his life without due process? If the Congress is debating these crimes, the correct remedy is to implement sanctions against any state that refuses to abide by the US Constitution.

The best course of action is to elect good county sheriffs and prosecuting attorneys who will arrest and prosecute on charges of murder anyone who kills a child who survives an abortion. If those officers fail in their duty, then it is the duty of the state to prosecute and/or remove them. If the state lacks the fortitude to enforce its own laws against murder, then it is no longer operating by the rule of law and thus has failed to fulfill its Constitutional requirements.

When the Federal Government refuses to enforce Constitutional provisions, it means "we the people" have failed to elect candidates of character at the local, state, or federal level, which brings us back to the root of the problem.

Parson: Court ruling preventing Columbia facility from performing abortions is huge victory for women's health, right to life

(From Gov. Mike Parson)

Last week, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri denied a motion for preliminary injunction filed by Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains (Planned Parenthood) in their lawsuit v. Williams and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).

As a result of this decision, the Columbia, Missouri, Planned Parenthood Facility remains unable to perform abortions due to its inability to adequately care for women should complications arise following an abortion.

“This is a huge victory for protecting women’s health and the right to life,” said Governor Mike Parson. “It’s sad that Planned Parenthood continues to fight against ensuring that a woman’s abortion provider has privileges to a nearby hospital when complications arise. As a former member of the Missouri General Assembly, I was proud to cast votes in support of protecting life and women’s health that have now been upheld in the court of law.”

“As other states in our nation, like New York and Virginia, venture further and further away from the American ideal to uphold the right to life, I’m honored to lead a state with so many people committed to standing up for those without a voice. Thanks to decades of conservative, pro-life leadership, Missouri recently hit an all-time low for the number of abortions.”

In October 2018, the same federal court declined to issue an injunction against state law requiring physicians performing abortions at the Columbia Planned Parenthood facility to have hospital privileges. As the court stated, this is because the Columbia abortion facility was not compliant with state sanitation regulations, after a routine safety inspection discovered apparent black mold and bodily fluid in equipment used to treat patients.

“We appreciate the District Court’s ruling that permits the same standards of care for women that is associated with other invasive surgical procedures,” said Dr. Randall Williams, DHSS Director. As stated in his attestation to the Court, “This is not a burden but a responsibility that physicians dedicated to caring for their patients exercise daily to ensure their patients’ safety by timely providing care at a time patients need it the most, during complications.”

Ed Emery rerun: Removing the Bible from public schools led to increasingly troubled youth, declining scores

(From Sen. Ed Emery, R-Lamar)

Ask any literary scholar to name the most important and influential books of all time and one title will likely make the list. This book has been read in its current form for more than 1,500 years. The newest accounts within its pages date back 2,000 years, the oldest predate time.

This book was the first to be printed using modern methods, and is the undisputed best-seller of all time, with more volumes distributed than any other written work. It has informed, inspired and fascinated readers for centuries. People have sacrificed their lives in defense of this book. Others have traveled into the most inhospitable conditions to spread its message. Governments have imprisoned their subjects for possessing mere pages.

Despite all this, the book is absent from most American school curriculums.

What we call “the Bible” is actually a compilation of many writings, the oldest dating to at least 600 B.C., six centuries before the birth of Christ. Divided into two sections, the Old and New Testaments, the Bible recounts the history of man’s relationship to his creator from the Garden of Eden through the years following the crucifixion of Christ.

Obviously, the Bible is essential reading for those who believe in the God of Judaism and Christianity – or as Islam calls them, “the people of the book.” But the Bible is so much more than that. No other book has influenced law, morals and culture like the Bible – especially in America. Its influence extends far beyond people who worship at churches and synagogues.

The writings contained in the Bible influenced early civil lawmakers and inspired English Common Law. Monarchies throughout the world were modeled on stories of biblical rulers. Our own Founding Fathers relied on the lessons of scripture as they brought forth revolutionary ideas about government and man.

The greatest authors, artists and musicians of old were steeped in the Bible and included references to it throughout their works. William Shakespeare is said to have alluded to the Bible more than 1,200 times in his 36 plays. Visit any museum of classical art and you will see masterpieces depicting biblical events in nearly every gallery.

Even our common expressions are often based on the Bible. “Cast the first stone.” “A drop in the bucket.” “A twinkling of the eye.” “A sign of the times.” “Go the extra mile.” “Wolves in sheep’s clothing.” “The writing on the wall.” “Put words in one’s mouth.” These and many other pithy sayings that we repeat every day have their “genesis” in the Bible. Clearly, “there is nothing new under the sun” (another biblical idiom).

How is it possible that a book so influential is not part of our school curriculum? How are students expected to grasp history, law and culture if they don’t know the conceptual origins?

The short explanation for how the most important piece of literature and history ever compiled by man came to be excluded from our schools is that American educators over-reacted to two U.S. Supreme Court decisions in the 1960s, when the court opined that compulsory prayer and scripture reading was unconstitutional. Schools panicked or were threatened and removed the Bible completely.

For education, it hasn’t proved to be a good decision. Student performance began to fall sharply at almost the very moment schools stopped exposing children to the Bible. We’re told correlation does not equate to causation, but numerous studies suggest that student behavior and academic performance suffer when “character instruction” is absent. Given declining student proficiency and an increasingly troubled youth population, perhaps it’s time to consider going back to the old practice of exposing students to the Bible.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 13 encourages Missouri high schools to offer an elective course in Bible content, character, and narratives. The goal is not to teach the Bible to students, but rather to teach students about the Bible. There is a clear and noteworthy difference. If students are to truly appreciate art, literature, language, history and culture they need to be exposed to the Bible, which has had such a profound impact on Western civilization.

It’s important to understand, this resolution does not require schools to offer Bible classes. It merely encourages them to do so. It also spells out the ground rules. Such classes may not endorse, favor or promote belief in any particular religion or religious perspective ­– nor may the lessons disfavor belief. No effort can be made to encourage students to adopt a particular belief or engage in the practice of religion in any way. Teachers must be selected without inquiry into their own religious beliefs.

Presenting the Bible as a literary and historical document, from an academic rather than evangelical perspective, is not a new idea. A number of states have adopted similar resolutions, among them Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kentucky. These measures have largely come about in recent years, as schools have realized the folly of teaching a curriculum devoid of morality and the wisdom contained in sacred texts.

The argument about whether the Bible should be part of the classroom is much older, however. This column is prefaced with a quote from Dr. Benjamin Rush, a prominent early-Americanphysician, politician, social reformer and educator. He wrote those words in 1791 as part of an essay defending Bible instruction in schools. Truly, there is nothing new under the sun.

“I know there is an objection among many people to teaching children doctrines of any kind, because they are liable to be controverted,” Rush wrote. “But let us not be wiser than our Maker . . . By withholding the knowledge of this doctrine from children, we deprive ourselves of the best means of awakening moral sensibility in their minds.”

Hartzler co-sponsors bill to combat Lyme Disease

(From Fourth District Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler)

Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler (MO-04) announced today her co-sponsorship of H.R. 220, the National Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases Control and Accountability Act of 2019. If enacted, this bill would create a new national strategy for combating Lyme disease and other tick-borne disease and strengthen efforts across the federal government to fight, treat and prevent tick-borne disease.

“I have heard from many people in the community who have been affected by Lyme Disease,” Hartzler said. “We know so little about this illness, yet it affects so many. Patients are consistently misdiagnosed, or if they are correctly diagnosed, they don’t have many treatment options. We must make more progress in this area so the many individuals affected by Lyme disease can stop hurting and go on living.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 300,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease in the United States each year, which is 1.5 times the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer and six times the number of people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Because Lyme disease is so often misdiagnosed, many experts believe the true number of cases is even higher.

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that primarily transmitted by ticks, and it is found throughout the United States. It affects people of all ages, but the CDC states it is most commonly found in children, older adults, and people who spend a lot of time in the outdo

Ed Emery: SAT scores have fallen since BIble removed from the classroom

SAT scores have steadily declined since a 1962 U. S. Supreme Court decision outlawing prayer in the classroom.

That is just one of the claims made by Sen. Ed Emery, R-Lamar, in his latest podcast as he talks about Senate Concurrent Resolution 13, which he is sponsoring, that recommends that public schools teach the Bible as literature.

"When the Bible is taught, not as a religious study, but as a literature, it has really positive impacts," Emery said.

Emery cited a study that he has in his office by Dr. William Jeynes that takes information going back to 1962 "when the Bible was taken from classrooms, well, I say it was taken, it was the interpretation of the Supreme Court opinion was that it could no longer be taught."






Since that time, Emery said, SAT scores "have continued to decline pretty steadily starting with that time and they have continued to decline ever since.

"The only event that aligns with that was when the Bible was removed from the classroom." That was taken from Dr. Jeynes' study, Emery said, noting that Jeynes is a professor at the University of California-Long Beach.

Jeynes study was done by examining information from other studies, government data and information provided by numerous Bible advocacy groups.

Emery said the study shows "GPA improvement success when you introduce into the curriculum with a definite impact on character."

The professor Emery sites, William Jeynes, goes even further though Emery did not have time to mention it in his podcast. Not only did the Supreme Court decision cause the decline of SAT scores, the professor indicates, but he told CNS News that the removal of the Bible has resulted in increased out-of-wedlock births, increased illegal drug use, increased juvenile crime and a deterioration of school behavior.

While noting that his resolution is only a recommendation, Emery thinks it could be even more for his constituents.

"I am hoping schools across the district I serve will take a hard look at this and realize this really benefits their students, their communities and their families if they could figure out a way to fit this information into their curriculum."

The resolution reads as follows:

This concurrent resolution encourages public high schools to offer an elective course to high school students regarding the Bible and require all world literature courses to include information on wisdom literature from the Bible.

The resolution declares that the purpose of such courses is to teach students the biblical content, characters, and narratives of the Bible that are prerequisites to understanding contemporary society and culture. The resolution urges the offering of such courses if the courses do not endorse or favor any particular religion, are taught by teachers selected without inquiry into religious beliefs or lack thereof, allow students to choose their preferred translation of the Bible, and award commensurate course credits.

The resolution urges the offering of such courses only if school districts make teacher training available regarding best practices for teaching the Bible in a public school setting. Finally, the resolution declares that no state entity, school district, or local educational agency should prevent the teaching of the Bible if the courses meet guidelines consistent with the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Roy Blunt: Not even George Washington could stand up to investigations Trump is going through

During an interview Sunday on the CBS program Face the Nation,  Sen. Roy Blunt, R-MO, criticized the number of investigations focusing on President Donald Trump:

(T)he problem with all these investigations which is why we don't do that totally independent special counsel anymore- Democrats and Republicans let that lapse- is not that they're too narrow, but they get too broad. I'm- I'm not sure that George Washington's expense account could stand up against the entire force of the federal government if you looked at everything related to everything as opposed to really focusing on what was supposed to be the charge here which is collusion.

Our chairman, Chairman Burr, said two or three weeks ago that we have so far found no evidence of collusion and you can see everybody backpedaling now - House and Senate - both on the idea that collusion is going to be in the report. They want to come up with lots of other things that I think are going to be much more arguable than a pure finding of collusion would have been because I don't think that's there--

Under further questioning from the program's host, Margaret Brennan, Blunt acknowledged the committee had not completed its investigation so evidence of collusion may yet be found and that he would "like to have a little more access to the Mueller investigation," before reaching any conclusion.

A look at the proposed Joplin R-8 calendar for the 2019-2020 school year

The Joplin R-8 Board of Education will set the calendar for the 2019-2020 school year following a special public hearing 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Memorial Education Building.

State law requires districts that start the school year more than 10 days before Labor Day to hold a public hearing.

The calendar calls for school to start Thursday, August 15, and includes 170 student instruction days and seven professional development days for teachers.







Half-days are scheduled for Halloween and Valentine's Day.

The last day of school, barring weather or other unforeseen cancellations, is scheduled for Friday, May 22.

The calendar was created by the Joplin Schools Calendar Committee, which consisted of a board member, parents, teachers, principals and support staff members representing both elementary and secondary schools.