u/como365

From https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu

'MORALLY WRONG' | State Rep. David Tyson Smith, a Democrat from Columbia, argued against the resolution (HJR 173) that would allow state lawmakers to raise sales taxes on any goods and services in order to shift the state's tax burden away from high income earners.

He describes the resolution as immoral, because it recklessly disregards the thousands of Missouri seniors who don't pay state income taxes right now and therefore would only see their daily costs increase under the plan being pushed by Missouri Republican politicians.

Missourians have one more chance to stop this: The 2026 ballot.

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#Missouri #MoHouseDems #moleg #mogov

Screenshot from ABC17

https://www.dvidshub.net/news/559499/dry-outlook-persists-missouri-river-despite-early-spring-runoff-navigation-support-begin-mid-march

From the State Historical Society of Missouri

https://digital.shsmo.org/digital/collection/Maps/id/6/rec/3

https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places/natural-areas/oumessourit

"The name Oumessourit (pronounced "oo-meh-soo-ree") is the French word for the indigenous peoples that lived in this region and had initial contact with French traders and missionaries in the 17th century. The natural area includes a marsh remnant in the Missouri River floodplain and mesic forest associated with nearby steep loess-mantled hills. The Missouri River floodplain is nine miles wide in this location. When the Missouri Indians lived in the area it was a vast complex of bottomland prairies, marshes, and sloughs. The river was dynamic and always shifting its course. Today along this stretch of the river productive row crop fields dominate and less than 5% of the original wetlands remain.

In the natural area emergent aquatic plants such as river bulrush, common bur reed, water smartweed, and shoreline sedge cover large areas of the marsh where the water depth reaches two feet. The north end of the marsh, with water depths over four feet, supports floating and submerged aquatic plants such as eel grass, pondweeds, and humped bladderwort. Along the edges of the marsh a variety of sedges, rice cut grass, and fowl manna grass thrive. Over 100 native plants have been documented including four species of conservation concern.

Wetlands such as these are extremely important for the conservation of amphibians and rare marsh breeding birds. These marsh species of conservation concern are highly secretive and more often heard than seen. The American bittern, least bittern, king rail, sora, and marsh wren all depend on marshes like this for breeding habitat.

At one point the Missouri River channel was located where the marsh is today. Over time the river abandoned this site and an oxbow lake was left that eventually filled in with sediments and created the marsh of today. In 1918 a drainage ditch was built along the western border of the marsh and today still empties directly into the Missouri River. The spoil from digging the ditch was placed directly east of the ditch and created the levee which remains today along the west boundary of the marsh. The core of the park was donated to the state by Annie Van Meter and her brother Charles Pittman. Beginning in 1990 park staff has worked to restore a more natural hydrology of the marsh. At Annie and Abel Van Meter State Park visitors can gain an appreciation of the beauty and diversity of a historic landscape within the context of a significant archaeological site. The park is also the site of Missouri’s Native American Cultural Center

https://youtu.be/kKMQvqcz\_xs?si=0qefrJWADK9eJxI-

Chris Engelage’s family takes care of goats, cattle and a mule on their farm in Warren County. Engelage also loves to hunt.

But if he were to eat a burger made from his own meat, he would be hit with joint pain, stomach aches and excruciating headaches.

Engelage has alpha-gal syndrome, an acute mammalian meat allergy caused by the lone star tick. Those who have the condition can be allergic to meat — beef, pork, lamb — as well as other products like eggs, dairy, gelatin and even some medications.

“I walked into a butcher shop one time, and just from all the fumes and everything in there, I got very light-headed and almost passed out,” Engelage said.

There is no cure for the syndrome, and the condition is on a steep rise in the United States as warmer temperatures increase habitats for ticks. From just a few cases in 2009, the number of people affected by Alpha-gal may now be close to 500,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As cases continue to climb, what scientists know about the syndrome remains scarce and unpredictable. But one medical researcher at the University of Missouri is looking for answers.

The incidence of alpha-gal

Benjamin Casterline, an immunologist and dermatologist at the Mizzou School of Medicine, has been studying alpha-gal to better understand how it works and ways patients might be desensitized so they can eat meat again.

He recently received a grant from the Institute for Clinical and Translational Sciences to research the syndrome. Casterline is now in the midst of collecting blood samples and symptom data from patients in Missouri, using artificial intelligence to find patterns and trends in the demographics.

He sees patients at MU Health Care clinics in Columbia, Jefferson City and Versailles, including those with alpha-gal syndrome.

“We don’t know why the tick bite causes the allergy. We don’t know why the symptoms are so variable between different people,” Casterline said, but the unknown nature of the syndrome continues to intrigue him.

Alpha-gal is a molecule that is naturally produced in the bodies of most mammals but not in people, according to the CDC. It is also found in the saliva of lone star ticks.

When a tick bites, it can transfer alpha-gal from its saliva to a person’s blood. The body’s immune system then sees it as a threat and triggers an allergic reaction.

When someone with alpha-gal gets a reaction after eating mammalian products, symptoms can present in several ways: hives, joint pain, gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms, swelling of the airway and even anaphylaxis.

Casterline described the syndrome as “extremely heterogeneous.” Sometimes people are bitten by the tick and have no symptoms at all. But sometimes the reaction can be severe and even fatal if it causes a dangerous drop in blood pressure, difficulty breathing or fainting. That makes it much more difficult to tackle.

The study of alpha-gal

Casterline grew up playing baseball in Westchester County, New York, then studied medicine in Chicago, where he was interested in the immunology and microbiology of the skin. He moved to Columbia for his residency.

He heard about alpha-gal after he moved to Missouri, which has a higher incidence of the syndrome than Illinois. But when looking at the published literature, he saw a lot of gaps and inconsistencies.

For instance, Engelage said he has to use special Arm & Hammer toothpaste to prevent his mouth from blistering, but his daughter, Cali, who also has the syndrome, can use normal toothpaste with no issues.

These manifestations may present from two to 10 hours after ingestion, which can make alpha-gal even more difficult to identify.

Casterline said the prevalence of the syndrome in Missouri is yet another mystery he is trying to solve.

According to a 2022 study that examined the presence of alpha-gal on military bases across the country, 14% of military personnel at Fort Leonard Wood had the antibody for alpha-gal. That was the highest among all military sites surveyed.

Adapting to a new normal

In February 2021, Annie Kittrell Poehlein woke up one day with a swollen face and eyes. It turned out to be alpha-gal, adding to her existing gluten and soy allergies.

“In our home, I have separate pots and pans and cutting boards,” she said. “I have my own barbecue grill; we have two ovens.”

Kittrell Poehlein works for the Missouri Department of Conservation and loves the outdoors, often venturing out to paddle board, kayak, hike, canoe and garden. But for someone with alpha-gal, those hobbies come with risks.

Like the Engelage family, Kittrell Poehlein chooses prevention and adaptation over spending her life indoors. When she goes outside, she carries an Auvi-Q auto-injector, similar to an EpiPen, in case she has a severe allergic reaction.

With no cure, we just adapt,” Engelage said. “I always told myself, if my daughter can deal with it, I surely can deal with it.”

On the farm, he wears long sleeves to prevent animal hair from irritating his skin. During deer hunting season, the family donates the meat and makes sure to wear gloves while handling it.

Engelage said he would rather make changes and continue to do what he loves.

“They say it can make it worse,” he said. “But I don’t limit myself to not going outdoors.”

Looking ahead with hope

Casterline hopes his research can improve the quality of life of patients with the syndrome so they can hike, hunt, camp and enjoy the outdoors.

Most of what he’s done so far is to study patients and their health records in an anonymous way to understand their different symptoms, he said. “To try to get a better handle on how the disease presents here in Missouri.”

A recently published study used data from 343 local patients with the syndrome. Most of this work took place on a computer or in a lab, but his goal is to eventually recruit patients for clinical trials.

Until then, people like Engelage and Kittrell Poehlein say they will continue to do what they love with a little more precaution, awareness and bug spray.

“I will not change. I know it’s scary for some people, but when you walk outside in nature, it makes you so happy, you can feel it in your heart,” Kittrell Poehlein said.

“You can’t stop doing those things, because that’s what keeps us sane in an insane world: holding onto those things that make your heart happy,” she said.