Barnes Signs Off

On his blog (see it here), Rep. Jay Barnes offers some final thoughts as he’s termed out.… “In the Trump era, the national Republican Party has become dangerously close to a cult – with followers willing to throw aside policies, foreign and domestic, that had defined the party for decades, ignore reams of outright lies from the leader, and stand quietly aside as basic human decency is tossed away as a fundamental principle of presidential leadership.

MOScout Poll: Approval Numbers

Survey conducted January 2 through January 3, 2019. 812 likely 2020 General Election voters participated in the survey. Survey weighted to match expected turnout demographics for the 2020 General Election. Margin of Error is +/-3.4%.

Q: Do you think Missouri is heading in the right direction or do you think it is going off on the wrong track?

Right direction: 36%

Wrong track: 40%

Not sure: 24%

Q: Do you approve or disapprove of the job Mike Parson is doing as Governor?

Approve: 43%

Disapprove: 27%

Not sure: 30%

I want to say one word to you. Just one word. Hemp.

Cannabis advocate Eapen Thampy posts on Facebook: Today I drove to Warrensburg MO to meet some large landowners and speak about hemp agriculture...tomorrow I'll be in Brookfield/Chillicothe doing the same thing. In the last several months I've been to Dexter, Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Saint Genevieve, Vandalia, Arnold, Hallsville, Harrisonville, Marshall, Sedalia, St. Joseph, Fulton, Lexington, and a dozen other places with the same message -- Hemp is here to shake things up. The amount of acreage that will transition from other uses to hemp agriculture in Missouri is millions of acres. It's unreal thinking about what's coming.

Kurt to Take Over Children’s Division

Word is that David Kurt will be the new Director of the Missouri Children’s Division.  He’s from Kansas.  According to his LinkedIn, Kurt has been at the Kansas Department For Children and Families for the past seventeen years.  His most recent job title was “Interim Director, Child Support Services.”

One MOScouter says “This is big news in child welfare world, and for policy related to kids...”

Clinton Depletes Reserve Fund

Auditor Nicole Galloway released an audit of Clinton County (see it here) showing that “the cash balance of the county's General Revenue Fund went from $512,000 at the end of 2016 to a projected balance of only $264 at the end of 2018…”  Yikers!

Clinton County is represented by Sen. Dan Hegeman and Rep. Jim Neely.