Jon Angell

Welcome to Summer! This summer will be particularly special as our nation celebrates 250 years of Independence. The founding and evolution of the U.S.A. is a remarkable story that is certainly worthy of celebrating. I hope that you and yours are able to enjoy the holiday, I know that I will.

Up front, we have another story that involves a ranch family being persecuted by our government. I find it frustrating to see good people up against the government and all the power afforded by the state. The Kings have an interesting and troubling story.

In this issue comes news of another health challenge. We have tick-born alpha-gal syndrome, anaplasmosis and Theileria, a big concern of recent years. Adding to our worries and risks, the New World Screwworm fly has finally crossed the Mexican border. We suspected it would. This will be an ongoing concern for all of us.

I have heard some suggest that it may not be much of a problem for the North and would be more of a problem in the hot humid areas of the southern states. As for us, don’t believe it. As a kid I was told armadillos could not live in Missouri because they needed a warmer climate. Have you seen how many armadillos are dead on the side of the highway now? I’ll be surprised if we don’t see NWS reports in Missouri by this time next year, if not sooner. We have a very mobile society… not just people, but livestock, pets and wildlife.

Also on the front page is a story of USDA staffing issues. I hope that they are able to right size the departments workforce. Maybe we are asking the USDA to do too much? One of the largest contributions the Trump Administrations that I support, is a massive federal employee reduction. The federal workforce dropped from over 2.3 million employees prior to the election to approximately 2.08 million. This historic shrinkage was driven by hiring freezes, strict probationary firings, and a mass departure initiative.

The government has been too big, and generally unhealthy. A bloated workforce is expensive to tax-payers and works against the private economy in many ways. Stop looking to create job programs by making unnecessary government jobs, it is a burden to most all of us.

In other big news in this issue, you will see more reduction in beef packing and processing capacity. The one most likely to impact us will be the closure of the JBS plant in Souderton, Pa. A surprising number of fed cattle in our trade territory made the trip there. It was one of the largest packing plants east of the Mississippi River with 2000 head per day capacity. It was an older plant built in 1974 originally owned by the Moyer family, which began producing meat products in the Philly suburbs in 1877.

You might see more of these older less efficient plants close due to a combination of recently opened modern plants and a 75-year low in domestic cattle numbers. It will be disruptive for sure, but our industry is evolving to fit a changed reality of where and how many cattle are available.

Elsewhere in these pages, I’d highlight the following: Page 10 has an interesting article on Ted Turner’s land ownership. Page 11 has an article on the passing of cowboy artist with ties to our local trade territory. Page 12 Trent Loos tells an energy story. I know coal gets a bad rap, but I think we made a mistake ditching coal fired plants for other less dependable and sustainable options. I still like coal, and like nuclear power even more… Go ahead; send the hate mail and tell me how mistaken I am. Page 13 Carolyn tells a grand story of local historical interest.

This is just four pages in order of 24. As always, take a copy along with you and plan to invest some time among our pages.

We have an election coming up August 4. Consider the following information on social media about the Missouri Amendment 4. The source a post from Daniel Seitz who I believe is a conservative politician from South Missouri:
“There are a lot of people out there claiming to be conservative who are either intentionally spreading misinformation, or are themselves misinformed about what Amendment 4 will do, so I want to help clear some of that up. This is fact based, not opinion. Take the information and do with it what you will.

Currently, for the Legislature to pass a constitutional amendment they have 20+ legislative steps they have to go through, and then they have to go to a vote of the people and get 50% plus one.

Currently, for ballot initiatives outside the legislature, signatures have to be gathered for an issue (no requirement about where, all can be obtained from the same area and usually are), submitted to the SOS, and if enough are gathered, the issue then goes on the ballot to obtain a 50% plus one vote. There is no other stipulation or requirement.

So what has happened is:
-Leftist money from outside the state funds signature gathering for Leftist cause in only the major cities (Dem areas)
-Leftist money from outside the state funds ad campaign into the same area signatures were gathered (Dem areas) to get support.
-Dems in major cities change constitution.

Amendment 4 adds necessary protections for changing the constitution by IP by requiring 50% plus one statewide and in each congressional district. So those outside groups that have been changing our constitution, almost at will, can’t ignore the rural areas of Missouri anymore.

It doesn’t change the threshold for getting something on the ballot, it just adds one more step to secure passage.

This has been a Republican priority for decades. Missouri is one of only a few states whose constitution can be changed by IP, and of those states our process is one of the least restrictive.

Maps [posted on on Seitz’s Facebook page on June 18 (https://www.facebook.com/dseitzgop)] show how the state voted on Medicaid expansion, removing the abortion ban in 2024 and legalizing marijuana. We have GOT to stop the constant and regular Leftist changes to our constitution. This is how we do that.”

It should not be easy to change the constitution. The Missouri Constitution has been abused. I always thought a constitution was a broad framework or guide for government to follow. But we are legislating by ballot initiatives to the Constitution far too often. What is worse, these ballot proposals are set before a generally disengaged and ill-informed citizenry.

This has been a train wreck for Missouri that is getting nothing but worse. I am in support of Missouri Amendment 4.

Thanks for reading and your continued support!

Send questions, story ideas, criticism, encouragement to:
Jon Angell
Publisher CA
PO Box C
Centralia MO 65240