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~ covering government and politics in Missouri – since 2007

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Monthly Archives: July 2020

Summer pandemic

31 Friday Jul 2020

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Ashley Beard-Fosnow, Corona virus, COVID-19, missouri, pacified, pandemic, Polio

My name is Margaret Ashley Beard-Fosnow. I am a 36 year old Missouri mom raising kids in what feels a maddeningly never ending, constantly changing without improving COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. I was named after my paternal grandmother pictured here holding the baby and surrounded by her other 7 children. This photo, probably her last, was taken a few months before she contracted a virus, 65 years ago, and died at the age of 36.

On July 30,1955 Margaret Beard and my grandfather, Bill, attended a church social where she served pies that she had baked fresh, in true 1955 farm wife fashion, earlier that day. While at the event, Margaret started to feel sick. She told Bill, “I need to go to the car and lie down.” Bill said, “I will go tell everyone ‘goodbye’ and I’ll be out.” On the drive home Bill noticed from the rearview mirror that every so often Margaret would sit up suddenly and then lay back down on the back seat without a word.

When they got home Bill got out, opened the back door and said, “Come on, Marg, we’re home.” But she couldn’t get up. He reached in and pulled her out of the car and carried her into the house. After a series of calls to multiple physicians, an ambulance was summoned to rush Margaret to the University of Missouri Hospital in Columbia, were the only unoccupied iron lung in the region awaited her. She made it to hospital but never reached the ventilator; she died in the elevator at 8:30am on July 31, 1955 of bulbar polio.

Polio spreads from person to person through contaminated food or water, fecal matter entering the mouth, or saliva. The disease is diagnosed by detecting antibodies in the blood. In 98% of the cases, polio is a mild illness with little or no viral-like symptoms. While 95-99% of people who contract polio are asymptomatic, they can still spread the virus for up to 6 weeks. Fewer than 1% of people who contract polio become paralyzed. In severe cases the throat or chest become paralyzed. Death may result if one such patient does not receive artificial breathing support. The type Margaret contracted, bulbar polio, occurs when the virus destroys nerves within the bulbar region of the brain stem. She died of a highly contagious rare disease that rarely killed people of her age. She died 3½ months after Salk’s vaccine was declared “safe and effective” on April 12, 1955. Distribution just didn’t make it to a poor Missouri farmer’s wife in time which makes me wonder how they decided who got the vaccine first as it was rolled out?

My father was 13 years old the morning that his father drove up the gravel rode to tell my dad and his brother Larry, who were hauling water to the house- because they were too poor for indoor plumbing, that their mother was dead and that they need to come up to the house. Vera is 13 this summer and it is hard for me to imagine how she would react to such traumatic news. At the same time, thinking about it makes the disappointments of 2020 feel rather trivial.

While more people died in car accidents than polio in those days, public terror of the disease closed schools and businesses in communities across the nation. An outbreak in Festus, Missouri in 1946 cancelled all 4H events for the year, local schools shut down, and public officials warned the public not to congregate in large groups. In 1949, Kansas City pools closed for the summer because of polio. Campfire Girls’ camp also closed that year in Knob Knoster. In 1952, a wave of polio struck Warrensburg, Missouri. Three polio deaths and twelve cases of the disease within the city, caused officials to regard it as an epidemic. All public schools and parks in Warrensburg, Centerview and Leeton were ordered closed and classes for the 1,400 students of Central Missouri State College were halted.

If you remember what the world was like with polio or can recall the summer of 1955 in Missouri- I would really love to hear your stories. [….]

Ashley Beard-Fosnow [2015 file photo].

How not to escalate

31 Friday Jul 2020

Posted by Michael Bersin in meta

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Jefferson City, meta, missouri, police brutality, protest

“…Apparently [yesterday] a few people staged a die in on the street next to the Governor’s Mansion. In the afternoon in July in Jefferson City. Really? It’s not like they were blocking rush hour traffic…”

Jefferson City Police overreacted.

Michael Bersin @MBersin
Replying to @MO_HouseDems and @SharkFu
The nerve. Blocking a street and hindering traffic in Jefferson City during the busiest time of day. In July. I feel sorry for the tour groups waiting to get into the Governor’s Mansion who had to see this. Oh, wait…
5:18 AM · Jul 31, 2020

We get comments, directed at Show Me Progress:

They have no right to be in the street and they were told so. Look what they did in Columbia. You give you protesters an inch and you take a mile. Peaceful is not blocking streets and other taxpayers rights to drive down the streets. The protesters need to learn the definition of peaceful

This crap of protests needs to be squashed before it turns in Seattle. Protesting on the sidewalks, bullhorns, signs are fine, but when you move into the public thruway, stop it.

Hand wringing concern trolls. They try to post comments here. We usually let them languish in comment moderation for eternity (or until we stop paying the hosting bill).

There was no street traffic. And if there was, knowing that area of Jefferson City, approaching from the Capitol, all a driver would have to do is turn right to detour, drive up a block, and then turn left and then right to return to the same street. How inconvenient. A freakin’ block. Maybe our concern trolls consider this a slippery slope of some sort.

How do other towns in Missouri handle such outrageous behavior?

In Warrensburg, at the end of May:

Interesting. People in the street. Police are present. No escalation. Peaceful protest. No pepper spray or tear gas.

George Floyd – Protest – Warrensburg, Missouri – Sunday afternoon, May 31, 2020 (May 31, 2020)

George Floyd – Protest – Warrensburg, Missouri – Sunday afternoon, May 31, 2020 – part 2 (June 1, 2020)

In Warrensburg, in June:

Interesting. People in the street. Police are present. No escalation. Peaceful protest. No pepper spray or tear gas.

March for George Floyd and Justice – Warrensburg, Missouri – June 8, 2020 (June 8, 2020)

March for George Floyd and Justice – Warrensburg, Missouri – June 8, 2020 – part 2 (June 9, 2020)

And in July:

Silent March for Justice – Warrensburg, Missouri – July 4, 2020 (July 4, 2020)

Again, interesting. People in the street. Police are present. No escalation. Peaceful protest. No pepper spray or tear gas.

Previously:

So, today in Jefferson City (July 30, 2020)

Missouri DHSS – COVID-19 Outbreak Statistics – July 31, 2020 – 2:00 p.m.

31 Friday Jul 2020

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Corona virus, COVID-19, DHSS, missouri, pandemic, statistics

The most recent statistics on the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak for Missouri from the Department of Health and Senior Services:

Cases in Missouri: 50,323
Total Deaths: 1,243
Number of cases in the last 24 hours: 1,489
7 Day Percent Positive of PCR Tested Individuals: 9.7%
Number of New Deaths Reported in the Last 24 Hours: 10

Johnson County
Confirmed cases: 454
Cases per 100K Population: 846.19

Cass County
Confirmed cases: 621
Cases per 100K Population: 577.55

Pettis County
Confirmed cases: 405
Cases per 100K Population: 912.04

Henry County
Confirmed cases: 69
Cases per 100K Population: 307.45

Saline County
Confirmed cases: 407
Cases per 100K Population: 1,751.47

Lafayette County
Confirmed cases: 150
Cases per 100K Population: 450.95

Wear a damn mask. And while you’re at it, wear some damn gloves.

Stay Home. Wash your hands. Don’t touch your face. Good luck to us all.
#FlattenTheCurve

6 to 10 inches of rain

31 Friday Jul 2020

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

flooding, Johnson County, missouri, rain, Warrensburg

This morning in Johnson County, Missouri:

Nothing succeeds like success

31 Friday Jul 2020

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Corona virus, COVID-19, DHSS, Donald Trump, Johnson County, Mike Parson, missouri, right wingnuts, statistics, yard signs

Yesterday, Missouri DHSS COVID-19 statistics:

Today, in rural Johnson County:

Keeping America great.

So, today in Jefferson City

30 Thursday Jul 2020

Posted by Michael Bersin in Resist

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

#resist, ACLU, escalation, governor's mansion, Jefferson City, missouri, protest

This evening from Missouri ACLU:

Breaking: Statement regarding unconstitutional use of chemical agents and arrests outside of the Governor’s Mansion.

“The brutality inflicted on peaceful protesters and journalists by the rogue police force in front of the governor’s mansion today was reprehensible. Under the First Amendment, protestors have the right to assemble and demand accountability from their government. Journalists have the right and duty to report those demands. This especially rings true in front of the taxpayer-funded Governor’s mansion and down the street from the Missouri State Capitol building.

Police have no right to pretend that a law has been violated to justify arrests. But even when protestors can be arrested shooting chemical agents at protestors who were in the process of complying with officer orders is a callous and inappropriate response to dissent. This is another shameful example of police officers unable to accept criticism who then demonstrates that criticism is valid by resorting to the gratuitous use of force. No official who fails to denounce these tactics can be taken seriously if they claim in the future that care about our constitutional rights. Missouri must reevaluate its priorities and recognize that true public safety starts with police reform.”

And:

Kaitlyn Schallhorn @K_Schallhorn
I identified myself as a reporter multiple times and followed instructions the police gave as to where to stand. I had one officer yell at me multiple times to move, I did as instructed. He threatened to arrest me several times.
2:04 PM · Jul 30, 2020

Apparently a few people staged a die in on the street next to the Governor’s Mansion. In the afternoon in July in Jefferson City. Really? It’s not like they were blocking rush hour traffic.

Escalation is not a smart strategery. Not now. Not during a leadership crisis. Not during a pandemic.

Missouri DHSS – COVID-19 Outbreak Statistics – July 30, 2020 – 2:00 p.m.

30 Thursday Jul 2020

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Corona virus, COVID-19, DHSS, missouri, pandemic, statistics

The most recent statistics on the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak for Missouri from the Department of Health and Senior Services:

Cases in Missouri: 48,834
Total Deaths: 1,233
Number of cases in the last 24 hours: 2,084
7 Day Percent Positive of PCR Tested Individuals: 9.6%
Number of New Deaths Reported in the Last 24 Hours: 13

Johnson County
Confirmed cases: 445
Cases per 100K Population: 823.83

Cass County
Confirmed cases: 592
Cases per 100K Population: 553.68

Pettis County
Confirmed cases: 382
Cases per 100K Population: 888.53

Henry County
Confirmed cases: 64
Cases per 100K Population: 293.69

Saline County
Confirmed cases: 399
Cases per 100K Population: 1,734.00

Lafayette County
Confirmed cases: 145
Cases per 100K Population: 435.61

Wear a damn mask. And while you’re at it, wear some damn gloves.

Stay Home. Wash your hands. Don’t touch your face. Good luck to us all.
#FlattenTheCurve

Campaign Finance: Yes

30 Thursday Jul 2020

Posted by Michael Bersin in campaign finance

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

campaign finance, initiative, Medicaid expansion, missouri, Missouri Ethics Commission

Today at the Missouri Ethics Commission in support of Medicaid Expansion on the August 4th ballot:

C190918 07/30/2020 Missourians for Healthcare The Fairness Project 1342 Florida Ave NW Washington DC 20009 7/29/2020 $50,000.00

C190918 07/30/2020 Missourians for Healthcare North Fund 1101 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 450 Washington DC 20036 7/29/2020 $205,000.00

[emphasis added]

Yes, it is.

The smell of fear

30 Thursday Jul 2020

Posted by Michael Bersin in social media

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Donald Trump, Fascist, social media, Twitter

This morning:

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???
7:46 AM · Jul 30, 2020

Bad combover. Check. Too long red tie. Check. Orange spray tan. Check. Tiny hands. Check. Cluelessness. Check…

Yesterday

30 Thursday Jul 2020

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

birds, Carpodacus mexicanus, House Finch, missouri

In the early morning, west central Missouri:

House Finch. Carpodacus mexicanus.
Canon 5D III, 2.8 70-200 mm., 2x III.
F 5.6, 1/100, ISO 3200, 400 mm.

House Finch. Carpodacus mexicanus.
Canon 5D III, 2.8 70-200 mm., 2x III.
F 5.6, 1/100, ISO 3200, 400 mm.

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