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The Missouri Times
AUGUST 24, 2020
WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS ADVISOR PRAISES MISSOURI’S TESTING STRATEGY Kaitlyn Schallhorn
Missouri’s “box in” testing strategy during COVID-19 outbreaks received praise from Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House Coronavirus Task Force response coordinator, while visiting the Missouri Capitol. “This ‘box in’ strategy that is being used here in Missouri I think really is an important example of how to protect vulnerable individuals. When you see what Missouri has done with the longterm care facilities, when you see what they’ve done with the VA care facilities, it’s really an important, critical message,” Birx told reporters. The “box in” approach involves testing all staff and residents specifically in longterm and other congregate living facilities to keep the virus contained and prevent further spread. It focuses on contact tracing and quarantine as well. The method was first introduced to Missouri officials by Birx during a conference call in early April and officials “aggressively” used the strategy throughout Missouri, according to the Governor’s Office. Nearly 470 longterm care facilities in Missouri have reported at least one positive case of COVID-19 among staff, residents, or both, according to the Governor’s Office. The state has used “box in” testing on nearly 400 congregate living facilities, administering more than 115,000 tests through this method. Birx met with Gov. Mike Parson, Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Director Randall Williams, and other state officials Tuesday as part of her 20 state tour in the U.S. Birx has served as the response coordinator for the White House task force since February. “It was an honor to host Dr. Birx in Missouri today and learn more about where we stand from a national per-
spective,” Parson said. “I want to thank her, the president, vice president, and the entire Trump administration for all they’ve done for both the country and Missouri throughout COVID-19. We appreciate their continued support and guidance during this unprecedented time.” In April and May, more than 7 percent of all coronavirus cases in Missouri were fatal. But so far in August, less than half a percent have turned deadly, officials said Tuesday. More than 69,000 people in Missouri have tested positive for coronavirus as of Tuesday afternoon, and 1,402 people have died. Birx also said the outbreak seen in March and April was different than the spike following Memorial Day weekend. While the earlier outbreak was mostly in metro areas throughout the U.S., the more recent spike “was really a reflection of Americans moving into summer and traveling around the country.” BIRX on page 11
SPECIAL SESSION REBOOT WHERE DO WE STAND WITH THE ANTI-CRIME BILLS?
Cameron Gerber After a chaotic stint in the Senate, the major provisions of the special session on violent crime have made it to the lower chamber — albeit in six pieces. It all started with SB 1, the flagship anti-crime bill on the Senate side. The bill was contentious in the upper chamber from the beginning, leading to a 12-hour debate a week and a half into the special session, before a compromise could be reached on juvenile certification and residency requirements. But after the anti-crime bill passed out of the Senate and sat in a House committee, Gov. Mike Parson changed the course of special session; he expanded the call to include concurrent jurisdiction in the city of St. Louis. The controversial move would give the Attorney General’s Office the power to prosecute certain homicides in St. Louis: if a case is
at least 90 days old, the chief law enforcement officer makes the request, and the circuit attorney has not yet filed charges. It does not yet have a bill in the House. The Senate bill stalled, and with no appetite for how it looked in Rep. David Gregory’s Judiciary Committee, House leadership ultimately decided to start over and take a piecemeal route. “In an effort to protect the integrity of the lawmaking process, and to ensure these important issues are thoroughly vetted, we intend to simplify the process with single-subject bills so we can focus on the merits of each bill individually to produce legislation that makes our streets and neighborhoods safe,” a joint statement from Republican House leadership said. Though 69 bills and one resolution have been filed in the House, only six have pro-
gressed through committees. And as of Thursday, no concurrent jurisdiction bill has been assigned to a committee. HB 2, sponsored by Rep. Barry Hovis, covers witness tampering and intimidation: An otherwise inadmissible witness statement could be used if the court finds evidence that the defendant attempted to prevent the witness from testifying and the witness failed to appear despite requests from the court. Proponents from law enforcement and legal backgrounds testified in committee that the bill would clarify existing law. The bill passed unanimously through the Judiciary Committee. Rep. Ron Hicks sponsored HB 46, which would remove residency requirements in St. Louis for officers hired prior to Sept. 1, 2023. Supporters testified in committee that the ROBOOT on page 7
A LOOK BACK AT MISSOURI’S FIRST ELECTIONS Cameron Gerber As Missouri prepares to celebrate the bicentennial of its entry as the 24th state in the U.S. in 2021, another important anniversary for the Show-Me State comes this year: Missouri’s first statewide election was held on Aug. 28, 1820. Before it officially reached statehood, Missouri was already on its way to establishing a government. The territory first applied for statehood in 1817 and was given the authority to draft a constitution as part of the Missouri Compromise. The first of four state constitutions was ratified on July 19, 1820, outlining the state’s structure and system of government and allowing it to proceed with
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an election. Missourians voted for the governor, lieutenant governor, one congressman, county officers, the president, and the first members of the Missouri House and Senate on Aug. 28. William Clark, known for being a co-leader at the helm of the Corps of Discovery Expedition that explored the newly acquired Lousiana Territory in the early 1800s, had served as governor of the Missouri Territory since 1813. He would face St. Louis frontiersman Alexander McNair in the gubernatorial election. Jeffrey E. Smith, a trustee of the Missouri Historical Society, said in his 2008 article “Missouri’s Era of Not-So-Good Feelings”
that Clark hadn’t taken a hard enough line for the expanding population of the territory. “Clark had done all he could, he thought, to balance the land rights of all the parties — the federal government, Native American tribes, and individual settlers ... Oddly enough, his efforts at reaching an arrangement fair to all sides satisfied none,” Smith said. Clark himself wrote a letter to Missourians encouraging them to pass on the mantle in the forthcoming election. McNair beat Clark in the election by a wide margin, overtaking the famed explorer by nearly 4,000 ballots, or 72 percent of the vote. McNair served as HISTORY on page 3 governor for one