Tag: missouri

Kansas City poured millions into a grocery store. It still may close.

It was the lone tomato in the produce bin that nearly made Marquita Taylor weep.

She’d stopped in her neighborhood grocery store, the place that was cause for celebration when it opened seven years ago. Area residents had long lived without a decent supermarket on Kansas City’s east side, and KC Sun Fresh was the city’s attempt to alleviate a lack of access to healthy food in its urban center.

But the store, in a city-owned strip mall, is on the verge of closure. Customers say they are increasingly afraid to shop there — even with visible police patrols — because of drug dealing, theft and vagrancy both inside and outside the store and the public library across the street.

KC Sun Fresh lost $885,000 last year and now has only about 4,000 shoppers a week. That’s down from 14,000 a few years ago, according to Emmet Pierson Jr., who leads Community Builders of Kansas City, the nonprofit that leases the site from the city. Despite a recent $750,000 cash infusion from the city, the shelves are almost bare.

“We’re in a dire situation,” Pierson said.

As grocery prices continue to climb and 7 million Americans face losing federal food assistance, more cities and states across the country — in Illinois, Georgia and Wisconsin — are experimenting with the concept of publicly supported grocery stores as a way to help provide for low-income neighborhoods.

Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City, has attracted attention for his campaign pledge to combat “out-of-control” prices by establishing five city-owned supermarkets that he says will pass savings onto customers by operating “without a profit motive.”

Yet these experiments, like the one in Kansas City, often don’t account for social issues that can make success even more challenging. Critics say the efforts are unrealistic regardless because grocery stores have such slim profit margins and struggle to compete with the prices offered by big-box chains like Walmart. High-profile projects have failed in recent months in Florida and Massachusetts.

“Running a grocery store is a difficult business,” said Doug Rauch, a former Trader Joe’s president who founded a chain of low-cost stores in the Boston area that shuttered in May. “You can have religion about the mission, but if you don’t have vast experience and knowledge about how to run these operations, you’re really going to be in trouble.”

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Missouri Marijuana Officials Are Reviewing Rules On Purchase Limits For Medical Patients

Cannabis advocacy organizations are sounding the alarm about guidance from state regulators limiting how much medical marijuana patients can purchase from licensed dispensaries.

By law, dispensaries are required to track how much medical marijuana patients buy so they don’t exceed their limit.

According to a FAQ that was added earlier this year to the website of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the state’s cannabis regulatory agency, if patients reach their limit they are not legally allowed to buy marijuana like as a recreational consumer.

“…patient ID card holders are not allowed to purchase as a consumer in a licensed dispensary,” the website states. “These regulations help ensure patients and consumers stay within their allowed possession limits.”

In general, medical patients are limited to a 6-ounce allotment of dried, unprocessed marijuana every 30 days. Recreational consumers are allowed to purchase up to 3 ounces every day—but can’t possess more than 3 ounces.

The state is prohibited by law from tracking the purchases of people who don’t have patient ID cards without their permission.

Andrew Mullins, executive director of the Missouri Marijuana Trade Association, sent a letter to leaders of the Division of Cannabis Regulation in April claiming the policy is unconstitutional.

“We believe that DCR’s interpretation that a Missourian must either be an adult-use consumer or a medical patient is neither good public policy nor a constitutionally sound interpretation,” he wrote.

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Missouri governor activates National Guard, declares state of emergency

Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) on Thursday declared a state of emergency and activated the state’s National Guard in anticipation of protests across the state — and in response to “civil unrest” across the country.

Missouri Executive Order 25-25 declares a State of Emergency and allows the Adjutant General to order service members to aid state officials.

The order comes after the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Missouri National Guard and Missouri Department of Public Safety established a Unified Command to monitor situations across the state and prepare local law enforcement.

Additionally, the order also declares that the Adjutant General may employ necessary equipment to support authorities and provide assistance.

While nationwide protests continue to flare up in response to the Trump administration’s immigration policies, Kehoe said his order is purely precautionary.

“We respect, and will defend, the right to peacefully protest, but we will not tolerate violence or lawlessness in our state,” the governor said.

“While other states may wait for chaos to ensue, the State of Missouri is taking a proactive approach in the event that assistance is needed to support local law enforcement in protecting our citizens and communities,” he added.

To read Kehoe’s full order, click here.

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Missouri AG Sends Cease And Desist Letters To 18 Hemp Companies, Warning More Are On The Way

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R) has sent several cease-and-desist letters to companies selling a hemp product called THCA flower that looks exactly like marijuana flower sold at dispensaries.

Bailey’s letters threaten legal action, including injunctions, civil penalties and attorney’s fees if the companies continue to sell the products.

“When purchasing products, Missourians deserve to know if they are being exposed to dangerous side effects like psychotic episodes, hallucinations or other life-threatening risks,” said Attorney General Bailey in a statement to The Independent. “We have issued 18 cease and desist letters so far, and more are forthcoming.”

Cannabis lobbyist Eapen Thampy said about a dozen smoke shops in St. Louis received the letters, and in some cases, THCA flower makes up 60 percent to 80 percent of the companies’ inventories.

Thampy said he’s working with the companies to put together a response to the letters and preparing for potential litigation.

The action is the first major move since Bailey created a new specialized unit last fall, with the aim to assist the state’s alcohol and tobacco regulators in cracking down on intoxicating hemp products.

In September, Bailey vowed his new unit would work with the Missouri Alcohol and Tobacco Control (ATC) Division to bring legal action against licensees selling unregulated psychoactive cannabis products that violate the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act.

“The ATC will assist by making its investigators available as witnesses for legal proceedings resulting from actionable referrals,” Bailey said in September. “Our enforcement toolkit will be robust from cease-and-desist letters and investigations to subpoenas and lawsuits to referrals for criminal prosecution where appropriate.”

The letters that went out last month state that the companies are “directed to cease and desist from selling” hemp products that contain more than 0.3 percent THCA on a dry weight basis. THCA is a naturally abundant cannabinoid that transforms into Delta-9 THC when smoked or heated.

However, this is not what an official cease and desist order looks like, said Jefferson City-based attorney Chuck Hatfield.

“It is an informal cease and desist,” Hatfield said. “It is not a letter that has the force and effect of law. It’s more in the nature of a request to stop.”

Under state law, if Bailey wanted to issue an official cease and desist order—as he did for Planned Parenthood in March—Hatfield said Bailey would have to issue a notice of intent first. The company would have the right to appeal through an administrative hearing, as well as challenge the order in court.

“But he hasn’t done any of that,” Hatfield said.

Bailey could also file a lawsuit under Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, and that doesn’t require a cease and desist order, he said.

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FBI Recruiting Weekend: Patriot Front Fed Group Resurfaces in Kansas City, MO 

Suspected FBI front group, Patriot Front, made headlines again on Saturday afternoon when they appeared at Kansas City, Missouri’s Liberty Memorial Museum.

The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the organization as “a white nationalist hate group” to make conservatives seem radical.

As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, charges were dropped against the Patriot Front group leader in Idaho after 22 duped recruits were found guilty in court.

In June 2022, 31 members of the Patriot Front group were arrested in Idaho for planning a protest at the Gay Pride rally.

They were traveling to a gay pride event with homemade shields in the back of a U-Haul. They had no other weapons. Despite committing no violence, they were arrested because they possibly could have. Law enforcement in Idaho later admitted they had informants inside the Patriot Front group before the arrests were made.

Since the Patriot front group first appeared, The Gateway Pundit has always suspected they had links to the Feds. We were convinced federal agents infiltrated the group.

The Patriot Front group founder, Thomas Rousseau, first made headlines in 2017 when he participated in the famous Tiki Torch march in Charlottesville, Virginia. Now, he is the leader of the Patriot Front.

It looks like Rousseau was leading the group on Saturday, saying to a camera, “Patriot Front is here in Kansas City, Missouri. In honor of Memorial Day, we are here at the National World War I Museum and Memorial to give a speech and to demonstrate our ideals to the country and the world.

Members are seen marching behind him in a military-like formation with various flags, wearing khaki pants, navy blue shirts, white masks, and tan baseball caps, and chanting, “Reclaim America.”

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‘No trace of alcohol’: Police thought Amazon worker’s stroke was a DWI, then threw him in jail for 7 hours and caused him to go blind, lawsuit says

A Missouri man who was wrongly arrested for DWI while he was exhibiting symptoms of a stroke is suing the sheriff’s office for not getting him the medical treatment he needed.

In a complaint filed in federal court in April, Paul Espinosa, 54, claimed that while he was arriving at the parking lot of the Amazon Warehouse in Republic, Missouri, where he worked, he was pulled over by Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Kyle Winchell. Winchell claimed that Espinosa’s car was “weaving,” and the deputy suspected he was driving while intoxicated. Espinosa agreed to a field sobriety test, including a Breathalyzer test, which yielded a reading of 0.000% — indicating there was “no trace of alcohol in his system,” the lawsuit states.

However, Espinosa showed signs of “swaying” during other parts of the test, and Winchell arrested Espinosa on suspicion of DWI. Espinosa was put in the back of Winchell’s vehicle and transported to the jail. Espinosa began “sweating profusely” during the transport, despite the car’s air conditioning running throughout the trip. Upon their arrival at the jail, Espinosa’s “motor skills were declining,” the lawsuit states.

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Black female mayor unleashes on white voters after being booted from office

A Missouri mayor publicly criticized her white voters, accusing them of turning their backs on Black women in leadership after voting her out in favor of a new, white candidate.

Tishaura Jones, the former St. Louis mayor, suffered a staggering 28-point defeat to Mayor Cara Spencer last month, marking one of the worst losses for an existing mayor in the city’s last 50 years, St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

However, the 53-year-old politician blamed her loss to racial bias amongst her voters, accusing them of booting her from office because she is Black.

‘I think St. Louis needs to have a conversation with itself about why it no longer trusts Black women to lead,’ Jones said in an interview with St. Louis Public Radio on Thursday.

‘My dad always told me – and it’s an old phrase – that Black women have to work twice as hard to get half as much,’ she added.

‘Well, I feel like we work five times as hard and get nothing in return.’

Just four years ago, voters from St. Louis’s north side and its white progressive neighborhoods rallied behind Jones, propelling her into the mayor’s office.

Fast forward to last month’s re-election, and Jones’ voter base had ultimately crumbled – white progressive neighborhoods that once championed her shifted their support to Spencer, the very candidate Jones defeated in 2021.

Explanations for the shift varied – disappointment in her activist base, missteps with grant programs, etc. 

However, voters on both the north and south sides repeatedly voiced frustration with Jones’ handling of basic city services – from trash pickup to pothole repairs – as well as her response to the massive snowstorm that hit the state in January.

What may have swayed voters was Spencer’s straightforward yet resonant promise to St. Louis: a swift return ‘back to basics’, Post-Dispatch reported.

Yet Jones believes that even her Black voter base on the north side turned away from her, claiming they held unrealistic expectations during her four years in office.

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Missouri Senate Passes Constitutional Money Act

Today, the Missouri Senate passed the Constitutional Money Act, a bill that would treat gold and silver as legal tender and eliminate state capital gains tax on the same.

The proposed law would recognize gold and silver as legal tender and make them receivable in payment of all debts contracted for in the state of Missouri. It would also permit any entity doing business in this state to compensate its employees, in full or in part, in the dollar equivalent of specie legal tender.

Sen. Mike Moon successfully had the Constitutional Money Act language amended to House Bill 754 (HB754), which passed the Senate by a 21-10 vote. On May 1, the full bill cleared the Senate by a 20-11 vote. It will now have to go back to the House for concurrence with the amendments.

The state would be required to accept gold and silver in electronic form for the payment of public debts. Private debts could be settled with gold or silver in physical or electronic form at the parties’ discretion.

The Director of the Department of Revenue would be tasked with “promulgating rules on the methods of acceptance of specie legal tender as payment for any debt, tax, fee, or obligation owed.”

The enactment of the measure would make Missouri the eighth state to recognize gold and silver as legal tender, as they always should have been doing. Utah led the way, reestablishing constitutional money in 2011. Wyoming, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Idaho, and Alabama have since joined.

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Missouri 13-Year-Old Suspended for Making a Rifle Out of Dr. Pepper Cans

A 13-year-old Missouri middle school student was suspended for sharing a photo of his weekend art project on his private Snapchat account. The student, W.G., and his mother Riley Grunden are now suing the school district, principal, and superintendent for violating W.G.’s constitutionally protected First Amendment right to creative expression and for labeling him a “cyberbully” on his permanent record. 

While at home after school on September 14, 2024, W.G. took a photo on his personal electronic device of Dr. Pepper cans assembled into the shape of a rifle to mimic a social media trend of “can art,” according to the lawsuit filed by Goldwater Institute’s American Freedom Network. He then posted the photo on his personal Snapchat story to share with his friends. The post was accompanied by a trending audio file, titled “Ak47,” which includes a voiceover saying, “This is the famous AK47, with over 50 million manufactured in ten countries, the AK47 is the most popular assault rifle in the world.” 

The following day, W.G.’s mother received a phone call from W.G.’s school principal, who informed her that another parent had reported the Snapchat post and that W.G. would be subject to a search before entering the school premises the next day. The day after the search, Grunden met with the principal, superintendent, and school resource officer, where she and W.G. were told that, even though the superintendent had found “no credible evidence of any danger,” the Snapchat post had “brought fear to other students” and could be interpreted as a “terrorist threat.” As a result, W.G. would receive three days of out-of-school suspension for cyberbullying. Before this incident, W.G. had no history of bullying or cyberbullying. Now, Grunden is suing on behalf of her son’s free expression rights. 

Although adolescent social media and internet use is one of today’s hot topics, the Supreme Court has made it clear that schools do not have the right to punish students for constitutionally protected speech that has no connection to school safety. 

The Court’s 2021 Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. opinion reiterated schools’ limited ability to regulate off-campus speech only when speech materially disrupts the educational environment, and hedged against the temptation to censor all off-campus speech. Rather, the Court warned that “courts must be more skeptical of a school’s efforts to regulate off-campus speech, for doing so may mean the student cannot engage in that kind of speech at all.” Additionally, in the 2023 Counterman v. Colorado opinion, the Court established that speech could only be punished as a “true threat” if the speaker anticipated that the expression would be perceived as threatening. 

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Missouri moving to seize China-owned farmland, assets to collect landmark $24 billion judgment

Fresh off winning a landmark lawsuit, Missouri is moving quickly to seize Chinese-owned farmland and other assets in a bid to collect its landmark $24 billion civil judgment against Beijing for harm caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Attorney General Andrew Bailey told Just the News. 

“Missouri will start to identify and begin going to court to have court orders issued to seize those assets to make good on that judgment,” Bailey said on the “John Solomon Reports“ podcast this week.

Earlier this month, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr declared that China’s communist government was liable for covering up the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and had engaged in “monopolistic actions” by hoarding protective equipment (PPE). He ruled Beijing should reimburse Missouri $24 billion for harm it inflicted on the state’s residents.

“China was misleading the world about the dangers and scope of the Covid-19 pandemic,” the judge ruled. “Missouri has demonstrated that the State has suffered significant harm in the form of lost net general tax revenue the State of Missouri would have collected but-for Defendants’ hoarding of PPE,” Limbaugh added.

You can read the ruling here.

ChinaCOVID-19Ruling.pdf

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