Before his talk tonight at Wyatt Park Baptist Church at the Patriot Day Tribute, Captain Guy Gruters visited the 139th Airlift Wing at Rosecrans. 

Base commander Colonel Barrett Golden says it means a lot to have someone with Gruters experience come onto the base and give young airmen motivation as they train 

"And you do that through providing history,” Golden tells reporters.  “And we always talk about you want to do lessons learned and not lessons observed, well if you can provide some of those lessons learned that he provided, it gives airmen some inspiration to continue to do their job and be prideful of how they serve their country.” 

Gruters says it meant a lot to him as well to get to speak to so many young people preparing to serve the country 

"I love service people, I just really do, they put their life on the line for the country and for each other and I think the world of them,” Gruters says. 

Gruters is a retired Air Force Captain who was taken prisoner during the Vietnam War and is the subject of the book Faith Conquers Through Courage Tested.   

The name of the book is also the name of Gruters talk tonight and Gruters hopes people take two things away from the talk. 

"If you trust in God everything will turn out ok, but you have to pray to have that happen,” Gruters explains.  “Another wards the basic thing is, whether it’s macro or micro, as a country or as an individual, you have to pray and do the right thing and then just trust God for the outcome because it’ll be good.” 

Golden says he hopes hearing the stories of how Gruters unit never quit, despite the hardships, motivates those young servicemen who attended 

"So, I think it inspires some of our airmen to absolutely never quite in the most dire of circumstances,” Golden says. 

During his visit to the 139th Gruters got a mission brief on the operations at the air guard base.  

Golden says it's special to be able to advocate for the base to an American hero like Gruters 

"Not only would he potentially take that forward and then maybe perhaps when he’s at the national level can go you know I just saw an amazing place like the 139th Airlift Wing and they have this thing called the Advanced Airlifts Tactics Training Center, sure that’s like a one off opportunity for him to advocate for us,” Golden says. 

But what Golden is more prideful to have shown off to Gruters is the history of the base, and how far they've come with the Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Center 

"From four years ago to know in the Advanced Airlifts Tactics Training Center, and to see the smile on his face that we’re still getting after things, we’re still the best United States Air Force, the best Air National Guard in the entire world,” Golden explains. 

Gruters, and others, will speak tonight at Wyatt Park Baptist Church beginning at 6pm during the Patriot Day Tribute.  Doors open at 5pm. 

You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

Former POW, speaking in St. Joseph tonight, inspires 139th

HOLT COUNTY—One person was injured in an accident just before noon Wednesday in Holt County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2017 Nissan Rogue driven by a 26-year-old Lee's Summit woman was northbound on Interstate 29 five miles east of Oregon. The rear-ended a MODOT dump truckd driven by a 52-year-old Forest City man that was stopped in the left lane.

Atchison-Holt EMS transported the Nissan driver to Mosaic Life Care. The drump truck driver was not injured. Both drivers were properly restrained, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.

Mo. woman injured after SUV rear-ends a MODOT dump truck

KFEQ Morning Sports

KFEQ Morning News

Free speech advocates and internet companies assailed the rule as an attack on First Amendment rights. Bailey, now co-deputy director of the FBI, withdrew the rule but claimed it did not infringe free speech

BY:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/rudi-keller/">RUDI KELLER</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>

One of former Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s headline-grabbing actions — a rule that would have required social media companies to provide third-party content moderators — was quietly dropped just before he resigned.

Bailey became co-<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/08/18/andrew-bailey-stepping-down-as-missouri-attorney-general-for-job-in-trump-administration/">deputy director of the FBI</a>&nbsp;on Monday and was&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/09/09/catherine-hanaway-missouri-attorney-general-andrew-bailey/">replaced as attorney general by Catherine Hanaway</a>. The rule for social media companies was announced in May and hailed by Bailey as a protection for individual free speech on popular platforms.

“This rule marks the beginning of a sustained effort to dismantle the ‘Big Brother’ speech-control machinery of corporate America,” Bailey said in a May 6 news release.

The proposed rules were published in the Missouri Register on June 16. Comments closed on July 16, opening a 59-day window for the next step, filing the proposal with the legislature’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules.&nbsp;

The rule was filed with the committee but withdrawn on Friday. Bailey’s office did not put out a news release about the decision to withdraw the rule.

The proposal sought to use the attorney general’s authority under Missouri’s consumer protection laws to impose the requirements. Any user would be allowed to select a content moderator of their choosing — either the system provided by the social media platform or a third party — when they created an account and every six months it is active.

Free speech advocates and lobbying groups for the communications industry filed comments arguing Bailey had overstepped his authority, was imposing unworkable requirements and violated the free speech rights of the social media providers.

“This rule is economically inefficient, technically unworkable and legally vulnerable, representing a regulatory solution that is demonstrably worse than the problems it purports to address,” the&nbsp;<a href="https://laweconcenter.org/resources/icle-comments-to-missouri-attorney-general-on-moderator-choice-rule/" target="_blank">International Center for Law &amp; Economics</a>, a Portland, Oregon,-based think tank, said in its comments.

The rule, the&nbsp;<a href="https://ccianet.org/news/2025/07/ccia-opposes-missouri-rules-that-would-undermine-content-moderation-and-threaten-online-safety/" target="_blank">Computer &amp; Communications Industry Association</a>&nbsp;said in its comments, would force platforms to allow outside entities to manage content without oversight or privacy protections.&nbsp;

“This approach would make it harder to remove scams, harassment, and other illegal or dangerous content, while violating websites’ First Amendment right to decide what speech they host,” said the association, which is the lobbying arm of the computer industry.

And NetChoice, a trade association of online businesses that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2023/22-277" target="_blank">successfully sued</a>&nbsp;to block laws in Florida and Texas that had similar objective, said in its comments that Bailey had misunderstood the U.S. Supreme Court decision in its favor.

In that ruling, the court said the Florida and Texas laws violate the First Amendment rights social media companies enjoy as publishers of content.&nbsp;

NetChoice wrote in its comments that “rather than respecting regulated websites’ First Amendment rights recognized in (the court decision), the rule would trample over those protections.”

In the withdrawal notice, the attorney general’s office said it agreed with the concerns from commenters about the feasibility of implementing the rule as drafted and that more work would be required.

“The attorney general’s decision to withdraw this rulemaking,” the notice stated, “is not due to comments suggesting he lacks legal authority to issue the rule.”

Former Missouri AG shelves rule on social media moderation as he leaves office

President Donald Trump spoke to GOP state senators during a caucus meeting and later in the day they moved to shut down debate over new rules intended to make it easier to pass a new congressional map

Just hours after hearing from President Donald Trump during a caucus meeting, Republicans in the Missouri Senate showed they are&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/07/25/trump-white-house-pressing-missouri-republicans-to-redraw-congressional-map/">ready to please him</a>&nbsp;by shoving a new congressional district map to passage over opposition from Democrats.

The General Assembly is meeting in special session to revise the state’s eight congressional districts so Republicans are likely to win seven instead of the six they currently hold. The Missouri House has&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/09/09/missouri-house-passes-gerrymandered-congressional-map-limits-on-initiative-petitions/">already approved the map</a>&nbsp;sought by Trump, who on Tuesday demanded on social media that the Senate do the same.

“The Missouri Senate must pass this Map now, AS IS, to deliver a gigantic Victory for Republicans in the ‘Show Me State,’ and across the Country,” Trump wrote.

To push the bill to final passage by Friday, Republicans had to get the two bills passed in the House into position for committee hearings on Thursday. But before that could take place, the chamber had to vote on rules for the session and Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin rolled out revisions intended to make House bills the Senate’s top priority.

And to get those revisions passed, they voted to shut off debate — using a once-rare motion known as the previous question. This year saw a major break from tradition, when Republicans used the motion to slam through partisan priorities at the&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/05/14/missouri-republicans-shut-down-senate-debate-to-pass-abortion-ban-repeal-sick-leave-law/">end of the regular session</a>&nbsp;in May.

It was the first time since 2017 when the previous question was used during a regular session.

The proposed rule changes triggered a Democratic-led debate that consumed two hours before Republicans forced a vote.

For about two hours, Democrats accused the Republicans of cheating by substituting the new rules instead of using the rules used&nbsp;<a href="https://www.senate.mo.gov/webPDFs/RuleBook.pdf" target="_blank">during this year’s regular session</a>&nbsp;— and for the veto session that took place just minutes before the chamber convened for the special session.

“For those of you that are going to be here for a few years, why would you give away your power just to make today a little bit easier?” said state Sen. Stephen Webber, a Democrat from Columbia. “That doesn’t make any sense, and it really saddens me, because I don’t know where it stops.”

The new rules were not distributed before the session convened and many Republicans were not informed in advance the changes were coming.

State Sen. Joe Nicola, a Republican from Independence, said he was given the new rules and the bill on congressional maps&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/09/09/missouri-house-passes-gerrymandered-congressional-map-limits-on-initiative-petitions/">approved in the Missouri House</a>&nbsp;with the expectation he would be an automatic vote in favor of both. But Webber’s point was valid, he said, and he’s not ready to go along.

“I’m nobody’s puppet. I will never be anybody’s puppet,” Nicola said. “I’m not going to come down here and be expected to rubber stamp anything. That is not what I was elected to do.”

But when the chamber voted on the previous question, Nicola went along.

The previous question motion is used commonly in the Missouri House, but until this year it was considered a last resort in the Senate. When the votes were held, Democrats started calling the presiding officer of the Senate “Speaker” instead of “President.”

“There are no speakers in the Missouri Senate,” said state Sen. Jason Bean of Holcomb, who was presiding at the time.

Following the vote, the House bills were read and the Senate will meet at 9 a.m. Thursday to move them to committees for hearings later in the day.

The Republicans’ target is the 5th Congressional District, currently held by U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City, a Democrat who has been in office since 2005. The map being considered would split the district into pieces, putting portions in the 4th and 6th districts and adding enough Republican votes to what remains to flip the district to the GOP.

Gov. Mike Kehoe also wants lawmakers to pass a state constitutional amendment&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/09/08/missouri-house-advances-bill-to-make-it-harder-for-voters-to-amend-state-constitution/">raising the majority requirement</a>&nbsp;for passing constitutional amendments proposed by initiative petition.&nbsp;

Instead of a statewide majority deciding the questions, initiative proposals would have to win majorities statewide and in every congressional district. That would allow&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/09/04/as-few-as-5-of-voters-could-defeat-initiative-petitions-under-missouri-gop-legislation/">as few as 5% of voters</a>&nbsp;to decide the question.

But it is Trump’s insistence on a new congressional map to shore up the GOP’s shaky majority in the U.S. House that is the main focus of the special session.

During a caucus of the Republican senators Wednesday, Trump called Kehoe and spoke to the members through the governor’s phone.

State Sen. Nick Schroer, a Republican from Defiance, insisted in an interview that the special session was not called just because Trump wanted it. The proposed new map puts all of Schroer’s county into the 3rd Congressional District — it is now split between the 3rd and the 2nd districts — and he said that will keep a community together in the same district.

But when asked whether Kansas City, which is almost entirely in the 5th District but would have its population split among three in the proposed map, deserved the same consideration, Schroer said it did not.

“Donald Trump is encouraging Republicans to grow a spine, and stop bending the knee to the Democrats to avoid filibusters like we did in 2022,” Schroer said. “It’s really helped and it’s binding the Republican Party back together.”

After hearing from Trump, Missouri GOP muscle gerrymandered map forward in state Senate

Tomorrow Northwest Missouri State University will honor lives lost in the tragic events of 9/11  

The university will host a stair climb at Bearcat Stadium, to give students and community members the opportunity to honor the lives lost on that day.  

Coordinator for the Disaster and Emergency Management program at Northwest Travis Surprise says events like this are important to not only remember, but to help teach younger students  

"This is what happened and this is a really bad day inside of our lives that we lived through and then faced the consequences, not with just losing the firefighters and the first responders, but just also the chaos that ensued afterwards with 20 years of the global war on terrorism and all the other stuff that came along with it and the changes to our policy,” Surprise tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post.  “Basically, everything that’s happened now and in your life is somehow affected by what happened on that tragic day in 2001.” 

Additionally, Missouri Western State University is doing a stair climb at Spratt Stadium tomorrow  as well, challenging participants to climb the equivalent of the 110 flights of stairs found in the World Trade Centers, to honor the 3,000  lives lost on that tragic day.

Angie Osborn with the MoWest Military and Veteran's Office says it’s not only important to remember the event for its history, but also for the way Americans responded by coming together 

"There’s a lot of emotion that went into planning this event and trying to make sure that we’re honoring obviously all of the victims, but also all of the heroes that were there that day and continue to work on that site for months to come,” Osborn explains. 

During the stair climb, both universities will do special thing to pay tribute to the lives lost during the attacks on September 11th, 2001.  

Surprise says as students walk, the news ceremony from the day of the attack will play on the scoreboard at Bearcat Stadium. 

"And it’s really sombering to watch some of these kids who have never seen this before, and even some adults who have forgot, to watch and be like oh man those feelings I felt were real and I remember exactly what I was doing and how I felt that day,” Surprise says. 

Additionally, bells will toll from the center of campus at the four times planes crashed on that day.  

Osborn says climbers at Spratt Stadium will carry a picture of one of the people lost in the attacks 

"There’s a photo and it tells a little bit, a little clip about that person, and their age when they passed away,” Osborn says.  “And then we play some music as they climb.” 

Osborn says they will also pause at the time of each significant moment to talk about how America was feeling.  

MoWest's stair climb will begin with check in at 8am, the climb starting at 8:46 when the first plane struck.  Northwest's will go from 6 to 8pm.  Both are free to attend. 

You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Annual stair climb events to honor victims of 9/11 attacks

Missouri Western
State University’s nursing program has received a prestigious honor.

<a href="https://www.registerednursing.org/state/missouri/">Registerednursing.org</a>
has ranked it the best nursing school in the state.

“Missouri Western
being ranked number one in Missouri and we obviously have some pretty tough competition
out here in Missouri. So, we’re super proud that we are considered number one,”
Chelsea Norton, Nursing and Health Professions Admissions and Advisement
Director at Missouri Western, tells KFEQmmunity, adding MoWest’s small class
sizes and remarkable performance on the licensure tests propelled the program
to the top.

Assistant
Professor, Laura Nold, points out 98.8% of Missouri Western nursing graduates
pass the national licensure test the first time.

“We strive for
100% pass rates and we have been successful in that several times, which is not
a very common thing for programs to achieve that,” Nold says during her joint
appearance with Norton on KFEQmmunity.

Norton says that
high a rate in passing the NCLEX-RN test on the first try just isn’t common. 

“So, the national average
on pass rates (is) typically high 80s, low 90s percent,” according to Norton. “So,
to have so many cohorts that every single student who graduated passed, 100%,
on that first try is huge.”

Nold says the
program emphasizes hands-on learning in which students practice on mannequins
before moving into clinical experience.

“So, we give them
that opportunity before going and interacting with real patients and then they
learn from that,” Nold says. “And I have students frequently tell me, hey, I
really messed this up, but I learned so much when we debriefed. And debriefing
is very important process in that learning. We are able to talk through what
went wrong, what went well, and how do we fix it next time.”

Norton says the
ranking will help as Missouri Western recruit students to its nursing program.

“We have something
really special here that not a lot of people know about,” Norton says. “So, to
finally have that recognition and it to be official and it’s out there, it
feels like we’re finally being recognized for the amazing program that we are.”

You can follow&nbsp;Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ

MoWest gets big honor:  nursing program ranked #1 in Missouri

A 10-year-old
child suffered a gunshot wound while sleeping when gunmen opened fire in the
900 block of South 18th Street, hitting a duplex.

The St. Joseph
Police Department reports dispatchers received multiple shots fired reports at
approximately 3:20am Wednesday. Officers responded to the duplex on South 18th
and discovered it had been hit by gunfire. Officers located the 10-year-old,
who had been shot in the left thigh while asleep in an upstairs bedroom. First
aid was administered at the scene. Emergency crews transported the child to Mosaic
Life Care who is reported to be awake and in stable condition.

Officers recovered
more than 40 shell casings, from both a handgun and a rifle, across the street
southeast of the duplex. Gunfire also struck two vehicles parked on South 18th
Street.

Anyone with
information about this incident is encouraged to contact the St. Joseph Police
Department at (816) 271-4777 or submit an anonymous tip through the TIPS
Hotline at (816) 238-TIPS (8477) and receive up to a $1000 reward. 

St. Joseph 10-year-old shot and wounded while asleep in bedroom (UPDATE)

Applications are
being accepted for the Cotillion for Achievement.

The Cotillion is entering
its 39th year, offering scholarships, enrichment opportunities, and
leadership training for high school seniors pursuing college or other post-secondary
education.

Scholarship
applications approved by the state are being distributed to public and private
high schools throughout the area.

A student can
receive an application from their school counselor. Information can also be
obtained by visiting the Cotillion for Achievement website:
<a href="https://www.cotillionforachievement.org/">https://cotillionforachievement.org/</a>. Applications are due Friday, October 17th
5pm. Applications postmarked on that date will be accepted as well.

Applications will
be scored on each student’s scholastic achievement, extracurricular activities,
community involvement, plus a written essay.&nbsp;
A panel of five community leaders will review the applications. Finalists
are eligible for a $1,000 scholarship. They will be recognized at a reception
on December 7th.

Finalists will
participate in three Adventure in Achievement seminars during January 2026, promoting
leadership skills, self-image, communication abilities, and community
engagement.

Applications being accepted for Cotillion for Achievement

The USDA’s Economic Research Service says net cash farm income, defined as gross cash income minus cash expenses, is forecast to increase by $36.5 billion, or 25 percent, from 2024 to $180.7 billion in 2025 inflation-adjusted dollars. U.S. net farm income is forecast to increase by $48.8 billion, or 37 percent, to $179.8 billion in 2025. Net farm income is a broader measure of farm sector profitability that incorporates non-cash items like changes in inventories, economic depreciation, and gross imputed rental income. 

Most of the projected increase in 2025 corresponds with higher direct government payments to farmers, projected to increase from $10.4 billion in 2024 to $40.5 billion in 2025. The increase is expected largely because of supplemental and ad hoc disaster assistance for farmers and ranchers from the American Relief Act of 2025, which authorized economic assistance payments to producers and payments for losses in 2023 and 2024. 

USDA says farm sector profits to grow in 2025

As farmers prepare to harvest what may be a record-large soybean crop, their largest export customer has yet to make a buy. Without a deal with China, North Dakota farmers may not get a bid for their soybeans. According to North Dakota Soybean Council Chair Jim Thompson, the local cash market is pushing growers to store their beans. 

North Dakota Soybean Growers Association President Justin Sherlock says the trade dispute with China needs to end. “Maybe it’s getting an interim trade deal with a country like China so we have somewhere to just physically move and sell those soybeans,” said Sherlock. He said farmers want the export markets restored first. “We just need to get rid of the crop right now, then we can figure out where we’re at financially as we go into the winter months and loan renewal season.”

Soybean leaders see export window narrowing with China

December corn closed down 2 3/4 cents and March corn was down 3 cents. November soybeans closed down 6 cents and January soybeans were down 5 3/4 cents. December KC wheat closed down 3 1/4 cents, December Chicago wheat was down 5 1/4 cents, December Minneapolis wheat was down 4 1/2 cents.

Ag futures and row crops specifically were generally on the lower side on Wednesday, but still within their recent trading ranges as traders aren't really looking to commit to big position swings ahead of USDA insight into the markets on Friday. Outside markets were mixed with energy futures higher after a fresh wave of geopolitical uncertainty after Poland reportedly shot down Russian drones in their airspace Tuesday night. Meanwhile, stock indices were mixed with the S&amp;P 500 surging to a new record amid a cool reading of the PPI Index on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve's favorite inflation gauge for guiding rate decisions, leaving less doubt in investors' minds that the Fed will cut rates in their meeting next week.

The live cattle complex&nbsp;traded softly higher into Wednesday's closing bell as the market is recovering some position lost from Tuesday's meltdown. The spot October contract continues to trade slightly above the market's 40-day moving average ($229.74), which will be a threshold to continue to monitor. If traders let the contracts fall below that point, a downward trend will likely continue. A few bids are currently on the table at $236 in Kansas and $235 live and $375 dressed in Nebraska, but no new sales have been reported following Tuesday's business. On Tuesday afternoon, there was a thin movement in the North at $378, which is $5.00 lower than the previous week's weighted average, but there weren't enough cattle traded to say that an accurate trend has been set for the week. Asking prices in the South are firm at $243 and in the North at $380.

The feeder cattle complex&nbsp;did not recover as much as the live cattle contracts, as only its nearby contracts traded higher while the deferred months continued to trade moderately lower. It seems as though Tuesday's sharp descent took the air out of the feeder cattle contracts, which is why they were slower to recover today.

The lean hog complex was chopping merely sideways as the market traders want to support the complex, but neither do they believe that they possess enough support to really push the contracts beyond the market's resistance. It is helpful that again this morning, the carcass price was higher, which is mainly because of the ham's $3.45 jump, and the belly's $2.71 gain.

<a href="https://dehayf5mhw1h7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/356/2025/09/10150329/web-closing-markets.mp3">Click HERE for audio</a>

Commodity markets daily recap

The U.S. agricultural trade deficit widened further in July, highlighting the challenge facing President Donald Trump as he vows to reverse the trend. Agricultural exports lagged imports by $4.97 billion in July, a gap 9% wider than a year earlier and the largest on record for the month. According to data released Monday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture That pushed the sector’s deficit to an unprecedented $33.6 billion for the first seven months of the year. 

The widening farm trade gap this year has been mostly driven by a jump in imports, just as Trump slapped tariffs on other countries in a push to shrink the overall deficit. That further cements a shift that has been building since the president’s first term, with a sector that has long run major trade surpluses becoming a consistent net importer. 

Ag trade deficit hit another record high in July

China imported a record volume of soybeans for August to build a buffer against possible shortages as a protracted trade war with the U.S. — its second-largest supplier — drags on. Reports show that China, the world’s biggest soybean importer, purchased 12.3 million metric tons in August, the highest ever recorded for the month, shoring up local availability before U.S. supplies begin to dominate the global market. China has traditionally sourced a large share of its soybean imports from the US, but ongoing trade tensions have pushed it to favor Brazil. 

The recent purchases reflect a strategic move to reduce reliance on US shipments ahead of the export season that is expected to peak in the coming months. Abundant imports, mainly from Brazil, have left Chinese crushers better prepared for a winter possibly without US soybeans. China’s stockpiles of imported soybeans totaled about 6.8 million tons as of last Friday, nearly the highest amount since March.

China soybean imports at record high in August, but not from U.S.

December corn closed down 2 cents and March corn was down 2 cents. November soybeans closed down 2 1/2 cents and January soybeans were down 2 1/4 cents. December KC wheat closed down 7 cents, December Chicago wheat was down 3 1/2 cents, December Minneapolis wheat was down 2 3/4 cents.

Row crop futures were lower for the most part across the board on Tuesday, correcting from Monday's positive action as traders are really just sitting on their hands currently, waiting for USDA clues on Friday in terms of what to expect for the impending U.S. corn and soy harvests. Corn and soybean conditions fell again week over week, but it is somewhat normal to see some degree of decline ahead of harvest, and the cuts were not as large as some were expecting, which dampened bullish motivation somewhat for Tuesday. Outside markets on Tuesday were mixed and mostly quiet as well, with most of the attention going to the revisions lower in U.S. job creation stretching back to April 2024 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which in turn has investors waiting to see how the Federal Reserve will react in their meeting next week.

Tuesday was quite the tumultuous ride for the live cattle complex. At the day's initial start, the market was trading slightly lower, but as the morning progressed, traders exacerbated the day's decline to be one that was sharp and painful to watch, as most of the live cattle contracts traded $4.00 to $6.00 lower. And why, you ask? More than anything, today's move seemed to be triggered by technical nervousness, as traders continue to worry about the market's position and know that fundamental support could be slightly weaker for the next little while, as cash prices could be lower and seasonally boxed beef prices could decline as well. No developments have surfaced in the fed cash cattle market and aren't expected to until Wednesday or later this week.

Did you think Monday afternoon that come Tuesday, the feeder cattle complex would be trading limit lower in most of its contracts? I hate to speculate, but I think it's safe to say that most of us didn't foresee the cattle complex toppling down so aggressively, given that from a fundamental perspective, feeder cattle demand is incredible -- the CME feeder cattle index closed at $367.03 Monday afternoon. But what's important to keep in perspective here is that even though it's frustrating, and even though so many factors say that today's actions simply shouldn't be, traders don't have to obey sound logic, and not every move aligns with the reality of the countryside's fundamentals.

While the cattle complex fell flat on its face, the lean hog complex saw most of its contracts drift slightly lower, but not to the severe degree in which the cattle contracts were trading. More than anything, the slight pullback in the hog sector seems to be because traders are noting resistance pressure, and midday pork cutout values were lower, too.

<a href="https://dehayf5mhw1h7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/356/2025/09/09140923/web-closing-markets.mp3">Click HERE for audio</a>

The California Legislature has approved a bill to authorize the immediate sale of E15, a gasoline blend with 15% ethanol, but the measure still needs the signature of Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose administration signaled strong opposition to advancing E15 ahead of a California Air Resources Board regulatory review. In testimony at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing last month on Assembly Bill 30, California Department of Finance officials labeled the bill as duplicative and unnecessary. 

A budget official pointed to the $2.3 million and 10 positions the Legislature approved this year for CARB to implement the new E15 standards, resources that will not be available until the agency completes its review. The administration’s opposition to AB 30 centers on new costs to the California Department of Food and Agriculture for enforcing petroleum product quality standards. Increasing fuel fees would run counter to the administration’s priority to lower gas prices.

California E15 fate now in hands of Newsom, who opposed bill

On Monday the U.S. House passed a five-year reauthorization of USDA’s grain inspection program. The bipartisan United States Grain Standards Reauthorization Act includes some updates to the existing law, which expires September 30th, that are aimed in part at promoting new technology.

 The bill would require USDA to prioritize the adoption of improved grain grading technology to enable the efficient, accurate, and consistent grading of grain, and the legislation would exempt equipment and technology costs from a 30% cap on administrative and supervisory expenses that may be incurred under the law. The cap is intended to limit the overall cost of the program. The president and CEO of the National Grain and Feed Association, Mike Seyfert, calls the legislation “a must-pass bill for the entire grain value chain.”

House passes grain inspection extension

Hundreds of struggling Arkansas farmers are pleading with the federal government to provide emergency funding amid a farm economy crisis. Almost everything that could go wrong for Arkansas farmers went wrong this year. A dismal global market and plunging commodity prices mean there’s little hope of breaking even, even as input costs soar because of inflation and tariffs—on top of bad weather earlier in the year. Inputs costs have gone up, fertilizer has gone up, commodity prices have gotten worse. 

“After a horrible year last year where most farmers in Arkansas lost money, this year is going to be worse,” said Derek Haigwood, a farmer from Independence and Jackson County. The “Big, Beautiful Bill” provided a much-needed update to safety net subsidies for farmers, they won’t see those federal dollars until late next year. By then, some have projected that as many as one-fourth—or even one-third—of Arkansas farmers could face bankruptcy or be forced out of business.

Arkansas Farmers Seeking Emergency Aid

California lawmakers voted Wednesday to allow the sale of a higher-ethanol gasoline blend that could help bring down fuel prices in the largest U.S. auto market. The sale of E15, a blend containing 15% ethanol, would be allowed immediately once the bill is signed by Governor Gavin Newsom. California had been the only U.S. state that did not allow sales of the fuel. The move likely will benefit biofuel producers and corn farmers, as it will expand the market for their products to the most populous U.S. state. 

California’s state Senate passed the bill, AB 30, in a unanimous 39-0 vote. The measure passed the state Assembly in June. California has been grappling with how to rein in skyrocketing pump prices while maintaining its ambitious environmental goals. California consumers cannot wait any longer,’ California Senator Laura Richardson said on the Senate floor while introducing the bill. She pointed to a University of California study that estimated that the fuel’s availability could lower gas prices in the state by 20 cents per gallon.

California Assembly Votes to Allow E15 Sales

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/ashley-murray/">ASHLEY MURRAY</a>

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans on Wednesday stopped a Democratic amendment to the annual defense authorization bill that would have compelled the release of the government’s investigative files on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In a procedural vote, senators voted 51-49 to table the amendment filed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, effectively stopping the chamber from considering the measure. Republicans Josh Hawley of Missouri and Rand Paul of Kentucky voted with all Democrats to advance the amendment.

The move by Schumer was the latest attempt in Congress to force Republicans on the record about the Trump administration’s announcement in July that it would not release any further materials from the federal sex trafficking case against Epstein.

“If Republicans vote no, they’ll be saying to the American people, you should not see the Epstein files,” Schumer said on the Senate floor ahead of the vote. “I asked my Republican colleagues, after all those years you spent calling for accountability, for transparency, for getting to the bottom of these awful crimes, ‘Why won’t you vote yes?’”

The financier, who for years surrounded himself with powerful and influential figures, died awaiting trial in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019. He and President Donald Trump had a well-documented social relationship that Trump says turned sour before allegations against Epstein surfaced.

A bipartisan effort in the U.S. House aimed at forcing the Department of Justice to release all investigative materials has not gained enough Republican support to bypass House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, for a floor vote.

The discharge petition filed by Reps. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, and California Democrat Ro Khanna has the signatures of all Democrats and four Republicans, including Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Nancy Mace of South Carolina. The petition, which needs a majority of House members to sign to force legislation to the floor, is short two signatures.

Massie, Khanna and Greene stood outside the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 3&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/congress-must-choose-epstein-survivors-demand-vote-release-case-files" target="_blank">alongside women</a>&nbsp;who shared stories of abuse inflicted by Epstein.

The GOP-led House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is conducting its own probe into the Epstein case. On Tuesday, committee Democrats&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/democrats-share-alleged-trump-birthday-note-epstein" target="_blank">released</a>&nbsp;an image of a lewd birthday greeting allegedly created by Trump for Epstein’s 50th birthday.

Many lawmakers and members of the public, including some in Trump’s voter base, have zoned in on the release of what they refer to as the Epstein files since the FBI&nbsp;<a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1407001/dl?inline" target="_blank">declared</a>&nbsp;in a July memo that no more information would be made public.

US Senate votes down measure to force release of Epstein files

On Thursday morning, the FBI released photos of a person of interest in Charlie Kirk’s shooting investigation. If you can help call&nbsp; &nbsp;1-800-CALL-FBI

FBI releases images of person of interest in Charlie Kirk assassination

🎥US marks 24th anniversary of 9/11 terror attacks

🎥 FBI gives update on their work to ID Charlie Kirk's killer 

The Republican plan, urged on by Trump and approved by the Missouri House, would split a diverse community 3 ways

By:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jonathanshorman/">Jonathan Shorman</a> <a href="https://stateline.org/">Stateline</a>

<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jonathanshorman/"></a>KANSAS CITY &nbsp;— A man slept on the cool, gray steps of Independence Boulevard Christian Church, the building and its columns shielding his body from the midday sun on a recent weekday. A few others lingered in the shade under nearby trees.

On Monday evenings, the more-than-century-old church in Historic Northeast Kansas City opens its doors to people in need. It offers a free meal, hygiene products, clothing and a medical clinic. Hundreds often come.

President Donald Trump’s nationwide gerrymandering push has now also arrived at the church’s literal doorstep.

Northeast Kansas City currently sits comfortably inside Missouri’s 5th Congressional District, which encompasses much of the city and the surrounding metro area. U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, an 80-year-old Democrat who was the city’s first Black mayor in the 1990s, has held the seat for 20 years.

But Missouri Republicans are advancing a redrawn congressional map through the state legislature that aims to give the party a political&nbsp;advantage. It would crack the city’s urban core into three districts — with all of them converging on the corner of Independence Avenue and Gladstone Boulevard, home to Independence Boulevard Christian Church.

The intersection’s southwest corner, where the church is located, would move into the 4th Congressional District, currently held by U.S. Rep. Mark Alford, a second-term Republican who was previously a TV news anchor.&nbsp;The southeast corner, a parking lot, would stay in&nbsp;a&nbsp;5th District&nbsp;reshaped to embrace a much more rural and conservative constituency.

The northern side, lined by red-brick apartments and a meat market, would join the 6th District. Held by Republican U.S. Rep. Sam Graves since 2001, it would stretch across the state to the Illinois border.

Residents say they fear that dividing the area, with its complex interplay of problems and positive qualities, will dilute their voice in Washington, D.C.

“We need somebody to understand what poverty looks like,” the Rev. Mindy Fugarino, the church’s senior pastor, told Stateline as she described her problems with the gerrymander and how it will weaken the neighborhood’s representation.

“We need somebody to understand, what are the needs for housing,” Fugarino said. “We need somebody to understand what are the needs for fair wages and health care and those kind of things in a community where people are literally living and sometimes dying on the street.”

The Missouri House passed the new map in a 90-65 vote Tuesday, sending it to the state Senate. The Senate could begin work on the map as early as Wednesday.

The Missouri gerrymander marks the latest example of a Republican-controlled state heeding Trump’s call to redraw congressional districts. Creating more GOP-leaning districts would maximize the party’s chances of retaining control of the U.S. House after the 2026 midterm elections.

Democrats, both in Missouri and across the country, have condemned the effort as election-rigging. California has retaliated by asking its voters to approve a Democratic gerrymander. Republicans say they want to ensure Congress can advance Trump’s priorities, and they emphasize that federal courts allow partisan gerrymandering.

In Kansas City, the redistricting plan has set off a bitter political battle that’s left many people feeling angry and dismissed. Stateline spoke with residents, business owners, activists and local officials in Northeast Kansas City, where three districts would divide the area, to better understand the consequences of the national gerrymandering effort at the local level.

Northeast Kansas City residents and others broadly described a diverse, multicultural community with beautiful architecture, a strong civic fabric and neighborhood pride. In the blocks immediately surrounding the intersection of Independence Avenue and Gladstone Boulevard, less than a third of residents are non-Hispanic white, according to census data.

At the same time, homelessness and crime can be a part of life. Residents are balancing a need for local investment against the risks of gentrification. The poverty rate fluctuates wildly within the area, from less than 12% of residents in some blocks to more than 63% in others. Vacant storefronts are sometimes only a short walk from colorful, tidy houses.

Most community members Stateline spoke with oppose the redistricting effort.

“Nobody asked for this,” said Edgar Palacios, the founder of Latinx Education Collaborative and Revolución Educativa, nonprofit organizations based in Northeast Kansas City that seek to foster Latino representation in education locally. His own home would move into the 4th District under the plan.

Palacios, the son of Nicaraguan immigrants, worried the gerrymander would lead to new representatives for the area who won’t understand the challenges of an urban environment.

“They’re not going to understand the nuances of urban public education and they’re not going to appreciate the differences in how money gets spent or why it gets spent that way or why it’s necessary to do certain things,” Palacios said.

Dan Smith runs Eleos Coffee House on Independence Avenue. The 14-year-old coffee shop is a nondenominational Christian ministry that Smith said draws in both people coming to just work or hang out and individuals off the street wanting help.

Smith declined to offer an opinion on the redistricting proposal, but said he hoped politicians will “totally forget about those lines” when making decisions.

“Because that’s what we have to do here at Eleos,” Smith said. “We can’t draw lines, you know — ‘well, as long as you’re in this group of people or as long as you don’t identify this way or as long as you don’t do this’ — I mean, that’s not helpful for anybody.”

Trump set off a gerrymandering rush this summer in an effort to shore up Republican chances to keep control of the U.S. House in the 2026 midterm elections.

He initially demanded Texas redraw its maps to potentially provide up to&nbsp;<a href="https://stateline.org/2025/08/22/as-democrats-fight-fire-with-fire-gerrymandering-opponents-seek-a-path-forward/" target="_blank">five additional GOP seats</a>, and has since urged Republicans in other states to do the same. California has retaliated and other Democratic states may follow.

Republicans in Missouri and elsewhere have been upfront that they are shuffling the map with the intention of improving their party’s standing and say their efforts are in line with a U.S. Supreme Court’s 2019 decision that greenlit political gerrymandering. Missouri Republicans add that their proposed map splits fewer counties and cities than the current one.

“It is an improvement; it is a reform of our current congressional map,” state Rep. Dirk Deaton, the Republican sponsor of the legislation, said at a hearing last week in Jefferson City.

Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe, who called a special session to pass the map, said the state’s “conservative, commonsense values, rooted in faith, family and freedom, should be truly represented at all levels of government.” He also wants lawmakers to pass a measure that would pose new hurdles to citizen-proposed constitutional amendments.

Kehoe’s office released only rough outlines of the map. After redistricting legislation was introduced in the Missouri General Assembly last week, Stateline produced a detailed map based on census block information supplied by the Missouri House that shows three congressional districts would meet at Independence Avenue and Gladstone Boulevard.

Republicans already hold six of the state’s eight U.S. House seats. Cleaver is one of two Democrats, along with U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell of the 1st Congressional District in St. Louis.

At most, the new map would likely enable Republicans to take the 5th Congressional District — a single seat — at the cost of a divided Kansas City.

“Two words. One is&nbsp;‘horrible’&nbsp;and the second is&nbsp;‘divisive,’” Cleaver told reporters in Kansas City recently, summing up his reaction to the map.

Cleaver has promised to file a federal lawsuit challenging the map if it passes (other opponents are expected to file lawsuits in state court as well). Giving one example of how the gerrymander would affect the region, Cleaver said Kansas City Public Schools would have multiple U.S. representatives under the map.

“It’s conceivable that two members of Congress could be fighting each other when legislation occurs where one party takes a position and the other party takes the opposite position,” Cleaver said. “That’s absolutely crazy.”

Kansas City is home to some 516,000 people in an overall metro area of 2.2 million. The city is in the midst of a sports golden era that has been a boost to local pride: The Kansas City Chiefs have appeared in five Super Bowls over the past six years and won three; the city hosted the NFL Draft in 2023; it will host World Cup soccer matches next summer. Music star Taylor Swift’s frequent visits to the metro area to see fiancé Travis Kelce, the Chiefs player, have helped, too.

But gun violence remains a persistent problem. As other major cities have experienced falling homicide rates coming out of the pandemic, Kansas City broke its homicide record in 2023. Killings then fell last year, but nonfatal shootings jumped.

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