Funding for the University of Missouri was a top priority for former Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee chairman Kurt Schaefer (R-Columbia), who served in the Missouri Senate from 2009-2016. Schaefer was only the second Republican in history at the time to hold that seat (Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden is now the third). Former Senator Schaefer has filed to run in Missouri’s new third congressional district, which includes Columbia south of Broadway, Ashland, Hartsburg, Jefferson City, Boonville, California and Fulton. Governor Mike Parson (R) and state lawmakers in both parties joined Mizzou officials in October to break ground on a $20-million expansion of the MU Research Reactor (MURR), which is down the hill from Faurot Field. The MURR is the top-ranked University research reactor in the nation, producing a medical isotope that battles various cancers worldwide. Former Senator Schaefer tells 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Mid-Missouri” that the University of Missouri is the largest employer in the new district and that, if elected, he will do all he can to help them and the MURR as well. Former Senator Schaefer is also calling for term limits for congressional members and is focusing on illegal immigration. Schaefer tells listeners that eight million illegal immigrants have entered the United States in the past three years, more than the population of 36 other states:
(LISTEN): Missouri’s governor says state government pay must be competitive with the marketplace
We’ll learn this month whether Missouri’s governor will propose a state employee pay raise in his budget.
Governor Mike Parson will unveil his budget blueprint during his January 24th State of the State Address. The governor tells 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Mid-Missouri” that state employees have been on his mind since he became governor in 2018.
“I have put them through the ringer, I mean of things they’ve had to go through whether it was COVID, civil unrest, floods, droughts, you name it, tornadoes, in five-and-a-half years. And I realized how important each one of them were, especially the front-line employees. So I’m a big supporter,” Governor Parson tells 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Mid-Missouri”, from the Governor’s Prayer Breakfast.
More than 14,000 state employees work in Cole County, making state government Jefferson City’s largest employer. Governor Parson tells listeners that he wants state government to be competitive with the marketplace, emphasizing the importance of keeping good employees. He proposed and signed an 8.7 percent state employee pay raise last winter.
More than 600 people packed Jefferson City’s Capitol Plaza hotel Thursday morning for the 2024 Governor’s prayer breakfast. University of Missouri athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois served as the emcee for the breakfast, which was hosted by Missouri Governor Mike Parson.
“Great to have MU, the representation they’ve had. And what a great year they’ve had, all the way from academic to the nuclear reactor to sports I mean it’s just been huge for the university this year. And then to win the Cotton Bowl (in Arlington), so it’s kind of fun,” says Parson.
The Missouri Tigers defeated #7 Ohio State to win last Friday’s Goodyear Cotton Bowl. Governor Parson was at the game in Arlington, and he was also in Columbia for the October groundbreaking ceremony for the $20-million expansion of the MU Research Reactor (MURR), which produces a medical isotope that battles various cancers worldwide.
State Rep. Kathy Steinhoff (D-Columbia) has told 939 the Eagle that MURR is the nation’s top-ranked University research reactor.
Mizzou says proposed new reactor is critical to treating cancer and heart disease
Mizzou officials say building a new and larger research reactor in Columbia is critical to ensuring a lifetime supply of isotopes needed to diagnose heart disease and to detect and treat cancer.
Mizzou’s Sarah Chinniah delivered a detailed presentation to Columbia’s Regional Economic Development Incorporated (REDI) board on Wednesday at the Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health building on-campus. The proposed reactor would be built on Mizzou property near Discovery Ridge, near Highway 63 in south Columbia.
Ms. Chinniah tells business leaders that the proposed new reactor would cost about $1-billion and will take about ten to 12 years to build. She notes the current MU Research Reactor (MURR) near South Providence is licensed through 2037. That facility was built in 1966, and cost about $1.5 million to build. The current facility is down the hill from Faurot Field. It operates 52 weeks a year, 24 hours a day, six-point-five days a week.