State public libraries at risk to lose funds, up to 3% local loss

State funding has a chance at being pulled from public libraries in Missouri. Missouri House Budget Chair Cody Smith made a draft budget that dropped annual supplementary funding for public libraries.

The start of this was when Missouri legislators passed Senate Bill 775, a bill on sex trafficking, assault and explicit imagery in schools. After this was passed, the Missouri Library Association, a nonprofit lobbying group, joined a lawsuit against Missouri. A lot of librarians are due paying members of the association. Since the original budget was made, the funding was reinstated in the draft that the Missouri Senate is reviewing.

Maryville Public Library Director Stephanie Patterson said the public libraries are still getting new information, and nothing is set in stone.

“We’re learning new details every few days, but right now it looks like if the Senate does not follow through in restoring library funding, it could result in a loss of revenue of up to $9,000 for the Maryville Public Library in the coming year, or roughly 1-3% of our annu-

Crime Log

for the week of April 20

Northwest Missouri State University Police Department

April 15

There is a closed investigation for a fire alarm in Bearcat Stadium. There is a closed investigation for a peace disturbance and an alcohol violation in Dieterich Hall.

There is a closed investigation for an alcohol violation in Franken Hall.

April 14

There is a closed investigation for a fire alarm in South Complex.

There is a closed investigation for a fire alarm in Tower Suites West.

There is a closed investigation for a fire alarm in the Robert and Virginia Foster Fitness Center.

April 12

There is a closed investigation for property damage in Parking Lot 42.

April 11

There is a closed investigation for a fire alarm in Perrin Hall.

There was an accident between Evan Pigg, 24, and Ben McCollum, 41, in Parking Lot 64.

Maryville Police Department

April 12

A summons was issued to Thomas J. Dean, 30, for a code violation of maintaining a nuisance on the 1100 block of East Thompson Street.

April 11

A summons was issued to Joni J. Sheridan, 59, for a dog at large on the 600 block of South Fillmore Street.

April 10

There was an accident between James S. Travalent 84, and Tanner W. Walker 43, on the 100 block of South Depot Street.

There is an ongoing investigation for assault on the 2000 block of South Main Street.

April 9

There is an ongoing investigation for a hit and run on the 1200 block of South Main Street.

April 8 al operating budget,” Patterson said in an email to The Missorian.

Sherry A. Ashford, 60, was involved in an accident on the 1600 block of South Main Street.

A summons was issued to Leah E. Powers, 40, for not having a driver’s license and an equipment violation on the 300 block of North Market Street.

A summons was issued to Desiree P. Willis, 31, for larceny on the 1600 block of South Main Street.

This cut will affect the Maryville Public Library by making funds that go toward things, such as free events and free library cards, less accessible. Though it is not a large percent of the funding, it still will have an impact on the opportunities the library provides to the community.

The cut will be around $4.5 million in public library funding, according to the Associated Press. There are around 400 public libraries in Missouri that are going to lose funding if the funding is not reinstated by the Missouri Senate.

Most of Maryville’s Public Library funding is from local property tax dollars, so it is not losing a lot. Even if a library is not losing a lot of money, if the budget is approved, it would cause many libraries to need to restructure their own budgets if the funding is lost.

“There are over 100 public library districts in Missouri that would need to trim back spending unless the Senate restores that support,” Patterson said in an email to The Missourian.

The budget for the Maryville Public Library would have to be adjusted to match the funding it will be getting without the normal state funds.

If Senate Bill 775 is violated, it results in a $2,000 fine or a year in jail for the violator. The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri helped the Missouri Library Association during the lawsuit. Smith has said he does not support any state funding going toward those going against the bill, according to Public Broadcasting Service News Hour. State funds are not going towards the lawsuits.

“Smith said the drop in funding was directly influenced by the lawsuit,” Patterson said in an email to The Missourian.

Most libraries do receive a lot of funding from local taxes, but the state funding can also help cover expenses, like new books. The association will also be against this and will try to ensure the Missouri Senate keeps funding for public libraries in the state budget.

Many senators have been expressing their views on the proposal and the lawsuits surrounding everything happening, such as Sen. Rusty Black.

“As a supporter of this bill, I was proud to be a part of the overwhelming bipartisan majority that helped make it a reality and the recent lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is disappointing,” Black said in an email to The Missourian. “With that being said, I was surprised to learn of the removal of state funding for public libraries and I plan to learn more during further Senate Appropriations Committee hearings. As someone who has long supported library funding in the past, I expect to continue to advocate for its importance and funding in the future.”

The proposal is still waiting for approval and any recommendations can be made within other steps of the pro-

GRAPHIC BY JULIANNA LAWRENCE DESIGNER

cess. The loss of public library funding is not set and still has to go through the Missouri Senate and committees before it can be officially passed and go into effect. The budget will go into effect in July.

GREEN CONTINUED FROM A1

With more traffic coming through locations, Sunrise has been trying to push more online ordering, going through drive-thrus and educating people on what the process of going in store is like.

Despite the change in state law, Carriger said there is still a lot of gray area because everything to do with marijuana is still federally illegal.

“That shows up in all kinds of different ways,” he said. “Whether it be what type of bank you can use, can you have a credit card? Can you transfer money from this company to that company? Can you transfer money out of state? Can you have investors from out of state? Can you get a loan?”

Since this is such a new industry, there is a gap in training for professionals. AgriGenesis is partnering with Truman State University to work on a cannabis curriculum and an internship program to allow students to work with growing and production at the facility.

“What we’re trying to establish with Truman is a degree path for people who want to be on the cultivation side, a path for people who want to be on the extraction side, a path for people who want to be on the retail or entrepreneurial side,” Carriger said. “They’re even having a path for holistic medicines, where it’s not just cannabis.”

Over 170 miles away from Maryville sits the Agri-Genesis cultivation facility in Macon, Missouri. Gunnels, a lifelong resident of Macon, Missouri, built the Agri-Genesis cultivation facility in the town he grew up in. The facility has a footprint of 56,000 square feet that sits on 15 acres of land. The company has three cultivation licenses and a manufacturing license all under the same roof.

Growing Stages

For Agri-Genesis, there are three distinct stages of the growing cycle: clone, vegetative and flower/bloom.

All of their cultivation at the facility starts from clones from female plants. Clippings are taken from a larger plant that is in the vegetative state. Then, clippings are taken from the mother plant.

Carriger said they typically take anywhere between 2,000-3,000 clones a week and there are only four or five people that work in the cloning and propagation stage.

After the clones are taken, they are labeled based on the different strain of the plant, and stay in the room for two weeks until they are ready to move on to the next stage. During that time, the room is kept at a 70-75% humidity range to help the roots form on the base of the plant, preparing it for the vegetative stage.

“So it’s all artificially controlled, lighting, all the HVAC, temperature, humidity, (carbon dioxide) supplementation, etc,” Carriger said. “Growing indoors gives us the most control, which also gives us generally the best outcome.”

The entire facility is run on environmental control software that controls the temperature and moisture in each room tailored to that stage of the growing cycle.

In the vegetative stage, the plants are transferred into cocoa pods and kept for four weeks. The vegetative rooms are structures with the smallest plants at the top, moving down as they get bigger and ready to move on to the next stage.

With the limited space in each room, Carriger said the stacking of plants is for labor efficiency. The rows of plants in each vegetative room are able to move to allow the dozen staff members to move in and out of the space easily while still having as many rows as possible.

“It is agriculture, but it just happens inside,” Carriger said. “So we go to great lengths to try to keep everything super, super clean. But what we do is inherently very dirty.”

The bloom room, or flower room, is the longest part of the cycle for cannabis, allowing for the final stage of growing for nine to 10 weeks. Every Monday a full room gets harvested and torn down before being taken to different areas to make cannabis products.

“So we’re on a routine schedule of having a fresh harvest every week,” Carriger said. “For some perspective, these rooms will typically yield around 250 to 300 pounds of flower or bud on a weekly basis.”

In each room, there are anywhere between six and 10 different variants of cannabis strains. Agri-Genesis works with breeders to create new genetics from the plants they grow to offer more variety to customers.

“We had definitely the highest testing and most potent cannabis in the state with a dozen varieties that are testing over 30% THC consistently,” Carriger said. “We had one that’s tested over 40%, (it’s) really kind of unheard of.”

When it comes to the genetics of medical marijuana and recreational marijuana, there is no difference. There are products that are catered to medical marijuana users, but the cannabis used for medical use is the same used for recreational products.

“In Missouri, it’s really a tax difference at the register,” Carriger said. “All products are actually the same that you had to opt in and fill out the paperwork in order to sell products within the recreational market.”

The facility grows for Willie’s Reserve, Willie Nelson’s cannabis brand, and grows for two internal brands, Notorious and Farmer G. Farmer G is named after Gunnels.

After being taken from the bloom room, the product is hang dried for two weeks before it can go to the harvest room. While harvesting the bud, there is a byproduct called trim that is used to make oils for concentrates and vapes.

The facility is also home to the manufacturing side of operations. Staff work to package the bud, and extraction is also done at the facility. There is a Class 1 Division 1 explosion-proof room that is used when extracting medical grade products for concentrates, shatter and other oil products.

The packaging is done by hand, having visual inspection and quality control before being shipped to stores.

Agri-Genesis has five dispensaries that are fulfilled from this cultivation site that take about 50% of what is grown, and the rest of the cannabis product it produces is wholesaled out to different buyers and made available to other dispensaries.

Carriger said the higher volume of customers has helped them empty rooms of product, but there are plans in the works to continue to grow over the next couple of years.

“We do already have plans to expand this indoor facility for an additional 103,000 square feet,” he said. “So basically, you know, two and a half times the size of this building.”

Carriger said alongside the expansion and the partnership with Truman, working with more retailers is something upcoming.