By Jordan Feyerherm, Community Development Manager, Center for Rural Affairs
Leaders are the life-blood of small towns and rural communities. The success or failure of community development efforts often rests with the degree of leadership local residents are willing to provide.
Editorials
COVID can’t be reason for poor Memorial Day crowd
There was one thing notably missing from the Memorial Day service at Kinder Cemetery in Cuba on Monday—a crowd!
Tide may be turning toward religious exemptions from vaccine mandates
By Richard T. Foltin
Freedom Forum Fellow for religious freedom
Even as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) eases mask and distancing recommendations for people who are fully vaccinated, there remains an urgent need to increase the percentage of the population that has been vaccinated to stem further spread of the COVID-19 virus. Policymakers, business owners and schools are wrestling with whether and to what extent to mandate proof of vaccination to access services such as schooling and public transportation, as well as large gatherings like concerts and sporting events.
Legislature tallied some hits, but left key Farm Bureau priorities on base in spring session
By Garrett Hawkins
Baseball is a magnificent game. From the bright lights, rich traditions and smell of hot dogs found at a big league stadium to the loud pop of a mitt in the backyard, the sport is ingrained in all of us. But to me, while a game by rule ends after nine innings, the chance to savor a pace not dictated by a clock always reminds me of simpler, less demanding times.
Sikh Americans defend religious freedom for all
By David Callaway, Religious Freedom Specialist for the Freedom Forum
Being an American means you do not have to choose between your deepest beliefs and your country—thanks, in part, to the work of these Indian Americans.
A most unusual legislative session
By Phill Brooks
The 2021 Missouri legislative session was one of the most unusual and unpredictable of the legislative gatherings I've covered in some 50 years.
Despite Republicans holding an overwhelming majority in both the House and Senate, Democrats scored some major victories for issues they pushed including restrictions on police choke holds, extending court-order protection orders against abusers and establishing a statewide database to track opioid drug prescriptions.