Kristin Bowen

"This is supposed to be an oversight hearing" -- Schiff helpfully ticks through all of the incriminating questions -- and there are many of them -- that Bondi refused to answer during today's hearing

Airport delays hit second day amid government shutdown Staffing shortages have already caused delays at airports in Denver; Burbank, California; and Newark, New Jersey.

SHUTDOWN UPDATE
Airport delays hit second day amid government shutdown www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

City Manager Seewood clarifies that this work could get underway soon, but a timeline is needed too. The positions in the Office's work would be in place to hire people in 2027.
Council member Caroll speaks just to underscore the URGENCY of moving forward.

Columbia is special but it's not unique, Thomas-Brown concludes. There is much we can learn from the other communities he's citing in his presentation, bringing best practices to our city.
Council member Sample raises a question about fast-tracking the hiring of additional roles in this office.

The Bullet Related Injury Clinic (BRIC) The Bullet Related Injury Clinic (BRIC) is a community-based clinic in St. Louis that helps people heal after they have been injured by a bullet. The BRIC provides FREE support for bullet related inju...

Thomas-Brown alludes to a contract that has been under development with NICJR--something that would help us move beyond current strategic planning.

He also alludes to the development of a relationship with the BRIC in St. Louis that he would want to see brought to Columbia: www.thebric.org

Referring to the quick work he's been charged with doing since taking this role, Thomas-Brown reviews the HUGE list of community organizations and groups he's met with, presented to, and heard from--including Missouri @momsdemand.bsky.social. He's clearly taking community engagement seriously.

The CPD and violence prevention strategies together are working, he says, to bring down incidence of gun violence in our city.

Describing violence disruption work to break cycles of violence, he reminds Council of Chief Schlude's point: There are too many guns in our community.

Ending the Columbia City Council meeting, D'Markus Thomas-Brown shares the mission and purpose of his office, and shares that he has *personally* known 54 individuals over his lifetime in Columbia who've died as a result of community violence. He sees the issue from long, awful personal experience.

U.S. Supreme Court won't revive Missouri gun law that banned enforcement of federal rules Missouri’s Second Amendment Preservation Act, passed in 2021 and signed by then-Gov. Mike Parson at a Kansas City gun shop, was criticized by local governments, local police and others. The U.S. Justi...

Missouri’s controversial GOP-backed gun law that banned local police from enforcing federal gun laws was rejected by SCOTUS.

The law imposed $50K fines for officers who enforced federal gun laws, including possession of firearms by some domestic violence offenders & weapons registration/tracking.

Also those of us who believe in journalists and ethics and journalistic ethics

If I am going to hear of two priorities that our chief of police says would help CPD do their jobs, she is going to listen, says Mayor Buffaloe. She does not elaborate further, but it's easy to imagine where those voices are coming from.

After public comment from 2 residents who praise the Council for taking a position on public safety in these priorities, Mayor Buffaloe takes a moment to praise her colleagues for their support. In spite of what she's been told, she said, that advocating for gun safety is a "nonstarter" in #moleg.

The presentation of the legislative priorities by staff begin and are immediately amended by Mayor Buffaloe to include a measure that she identified as a concern from CPD: adding legislation that would require reporting of firearms stolen from vehicles.

Well, that's the end of that.

I will be interested to hear D'Markus Thomas-Brown share with the Council about several points on the Office of Violence Prevention--
- Intervention strategies in use
- More info on the initiatives underway
- Performance and engagement thus far
- Performance indicators and evaluation methods

At the end of the agenda is a report from Columbia's Office of Violence Prevention. The administrator for the office, D'Markus Thomas-Brown, began work just this April. The agenda includes his Strategic Plan Update, listed here: gocolumbiamo.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=...

The agenda includes gun safety policy in a few points. First, Council will vote on the list of priorities to direct our city's lobbyists in Jeff City. The 2026 legislative priorities include: “Amending the State law to match Federal law regarding the possession of handguns by minors.”

Chief Schlude described current work to address recent perceptions and rates of crime, specifically downtown. She points to the need for legislative action to address an underlying problem: that MO law allows for no restriction on minors carrying firearms. #moleg would need to act.

Missouri @momsdemand.bsky.social volunteers are in attendance tonight for Columbia City Council's meeting because gun safety policy is on the agenda. 🧵

Early in the meeting, CPD Chief Jill Schlude was given time to share a public safety report.

Agenda: gocolumbiamo.legistar1.com/gocolumbiamo...

Stephen Miller Implies He Intended for Trump's Nutjobs to Kill Democrats - emptywheel Stephen Miller just confessed on Fox News that when he uses dehumanizing language -- when he calls Democrats "fascists" or "Marxists" or "radical" -- he intends it as a message to "all the crazies and...

Stephen Miller Implies He Intended for Trump's Nutjobs to Kill Democrats

www.emptywheel.net/2025/10/02/s...

A Timeline of High-Profile Shootings at Houses of Worship The attack on a Mormon church in Michigan was one of many similar shootings over the past 20 years, according to an analysis by The Trace.

The September 28 attack on a Mormon church in Michigan was at least the 20th high-profile shooting at a U.S. house of worship over the past two decades.

Many of the shootings were motivated by hate, while others stemmed from domestic disputes or a grudge the attacker had.

Missouri National Guard to help ICE with statewide deportations, governor says The announcement comes as the first-year governor has tried to align himself more closely with the Trump administration in recent months.

The announcement comes as the first-year governor has tried to align himself more closely with the Trump administration in recent months.

Getting the title of The Handmaid’s Tale wrong even though there’s a picture of the cover, really walking the walk on being anti-reading

If you are waiting to see if Trump follows through before acting or becoming alarmed (or worse, condemning people for overreacting until he acts further), you have already surrendered to authoritarianism. The moment to act is now, when our flailing institutions might still have a modicum of power.

Trump: "The ones that are run by radical left Democrats -- what they've done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles. They're very unsafe places & we're gonna straighten them out one by one. This is gonna be a major part for some people in this room. That's a war too. It's war from within"

There's no good news for the current Oklahoma students whose educations and well being have been disrespected and devalued by this Christian nationalist and his enablers. But if there's a silver lining maybe it's that HR departments exist to protect us all from perverts perving out at work?

It's National Day of Remembrance for Homicide Victims and Columbia, Missouri survivors will gather this evening at 6:30PM in Again Street Park. #moleg #mogov
This vigil is organized by Boone County Community Against Violence:

*** UPDATES/CORRECTIONS ***

Springfield's Nexstar station is actually "KOLR 10" not "KORL 10."

&

ABC 3 KTVO in Kirksville was recently sold to Rincon Broadcasting Group.

A big THANK YOU and shout out to the amazing local print shop The Crackerjack Shack @gototheshack.bsky.social
for the speedy turnaround on our Leslie Jones shirts!

Come see me at Republic Pumpkin Daze next weekend and get one while they’re hot!

Participants at a previous Greene County suicide prevention walk. (Photo provided by April Cox)

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Out of the Darkness Greene County Walk is Sept. 27. April Cox, of Springfield, invites the community to join her and help bring hope to those affected by suicide.

Read it: sgfcitizen.org/voices-opini...