Jennifer Moore

A Missouri State University professor who researches political violence says he’s concerned about a Missouri bill that would establish minutemen who could be called to take up arms in defense of the state. Dr. David Romano, the Thomas G. Strong Professor of Middle East Studies, said he sees some similarities between the minutemen force that would be created under Senate Bill 528 and militias in other parts of the world.

KSMU’s Jennifer Moore spoke with Romano, and you can hear their interview below.

In this month's episode of Engaging the Community, Missouri State University President Clif Smart talks about the importance of Black History Month, and what the university is doing to stand up against racism in the community. You can listen to the audio for this program below:

Smart said it's important that the university recognize the contributions of all citizens.

"So many times, we focus on our Founding Fathers, and it is predominantly a white history. And so it is really appropriate what everyone in the history of our country has brought to the table," Smart said.

Tim Garrison, the US Attorney for Missouri's Western District, is resigning.   Garrison submitted his resignation at the request of President Joe Biden this week. The Biden administration is removing nearly all of the federal prosecutors that were appointed by former President Donald Trump, which is expected when a new administration comes to The White House. 

Garrison talked to KSMU's Jennifer Moore on Friday about the news. You can hear the interview below.

Garrison said the news did not come as a surprise to him.

In this segment of Engaging the Community, Missouri State University President Clif Smart speaks with KSMU's Jennifer Moore about coronavirus testing, international students and legislative priorities for this year. Listen to the episode below.

Smart and his executive team at Missouri State University will host another virtual town hall meeting Friday afternoon from 3:00 to 5:00  to update the campus community in more detail about the pandemic—including details about testing and the vaccine rollout.

In this segment of our Sense of Community series, "On The Front Lines," we hear the story of a young chaplain who comforts the grieving and dying in Cox South hospital in Springfield. 

As a chaplain, Landon Loftin provides emotional and spiritual support to patients, families, and now, also to co-workers struggling through a historic pandemic.

Listen to the audio feature below.

In this episode of our monthly program, Engaging the Community, Missouri State University President Clif Smart and Director of University Safety David Hall discuss the coronavirus vaccine and the campus community. 

You can listen to the program by clicking the "Play" button below. 

Q:  Will faculty, staff and students be required to get the vaccine?

MSU President Clif Smart says he doesn’t anticipate that for several reasons, the first one being challenges surrounding timing.

In this tenth and final part of our series, Unsheltered, we look at how other communities are using federal CARES Act funds to shelter their homeless citizens—and ask whether Springfield might glean insights from their experiences.

Each community’s response to homelessness during the pandemic has been unique.  And in a year when extraordinary sums of money are flowing from federal CARES Act coronavirus relief funding, this has led to some creative solutions nationwide.

So far, Springfield has managed to avoid an outbreak of COVID-19 in its homeless shelters. Not every city can say that. For example, San Diego and Colorado Springs are both dealing with outbreaks in shelters this week.

“We've been very fortunate. We haven't seen an outbreak in our population,” said Adam Bodendieck, the director of homeless services at Community Partnership of the Ozarks, which administers the local Continuum of Care mandated with orchestrating help for the homeless.

“Get a job, you lazy bum!”  That phrase—or a colorful variation of it—is something many homeless people in Springfield have heard before.

So for this segment, we’re going to hear from three men who are trying to do just that:  get a job...while experiencing homelessness during a pandemic.

Struggle to obtain official documents

The first person is 21-year-old River Herron. On the night before Thanksgiving, he was huddled under a blanket with a friend outside a building downtown.

On the cold morning of Monday, November 23, Laura Schaeffer was at a drop-in center for the homeless in central Springfield. The National Weather Service confirms the temperature dropped to 28 degrees overnight, but Springfield’s two emergency cold weather shelters did not open.

“I cannot disclose where I was [last night]. But it was in a community that fights for all kinds of things, including your life,” she said.

Schaeffer said violence erupted at the first location. One man ended up in the Emergency Room, she said.

Rhonda Galbraith knew she wanted her church to serve as an emergency cold weather shelter for homeless women. But there was a catch:  the church she pastors, Grace United Methodist Church in Springfield, was located near a school. And she knew that would make things delicate.

"But we made an appeal to Planning and Zoning and City Council three years ago. And we have a working relationship with the school across the street from us, and they gave us their blessing," Galbraith said.