The Susang6 SW Missouri Report

  Did you watch President Trump’s State of the Union speech last night? I’m genuinely curious what you thought of it. My husband left when he shifted into the “we are winning” section, and I stayed to watch the entire speech. I’ve been wondering ever since how it landed with people across Missouri not the pundits, not the politicians, but the folks who get up every day and keep this state running. A Victory‑Framed Speech in a Year When Many Missourians Don’t Feel Like They’re Winning The speech was long, upbeat, and full of declarations about how well the country is doing. But I keep thinking about the families here who are juggling rising costs, medical bills, and credit card debt. When you’re standing in the grocery aisle doing mental math, it’s hard to feel like you’re living in the “winning” America he described. I wonder if anyone else felt that disconnect. Tariffs That Quietly Raise Prices and Barely Got Mentioned One thing that stood out to me was what wasn’t said...

  From produce aisles to parking lots, Joplin shoppers are pulling shirts over their noses like it’s normal. A sharp, funny satire of the town’s most awkward germ‑fighting habit If you ever want to feel better about your own quirks, take a stroll through the Joplin Walmart on a Tuesday afternoon. You’ll see everything from pajama pants in the automotive aisle to a man buying 14 cans of Vienna sausages like he’s prepping for the apocalypse. It’s a comforting reminder that no matter how odd you think you are, someone out there is doing something far stranger and doing it confidently. Flu Season: The Spark That Ignites Questionable Innovation And with the recent spike in flu and COVID cases in our area, residents have become… let’s call it creative with their germ‑protection strategies. Joplin has entered a full‑blown era of DIY public health, where anything with sleeves is apparently considered “equipment.” People are improvising like they’re auditioning for a survival show fi...

When Missouri was debating recreational cannabis legalization, the conversations happening in kitchens, workplaces, and checkout lines all sounded the same. My own husband told me and he wasn’t alone  that Missourians would get a yearly kickback , similar to the way Alaskans receive an annual oil dividend. People genuinely believed this. People voted based on this. And for many families, the idea of a yearly check felt like real relief. I remember hearing it everywhere: “Missouri will finally give something back to taxpayers.” “Cannabis sales will be huge  we’ll all get a piece of it.” “Just like Alaska. It’s about time.” But here we are, years later, with record‑breaking cannabis sales some of the highest in the nation  and not a single Missourian has received a penny . So what happened? Where did the idea come from? And where is all that money actually going? Let’s break it down.   The Promise People Heard But Was Never in the Ballot The 20...

  Looking back, I can still taste the St. Patrick’s Day dinner I once had at Fusion Bistro on 4th Street a meal so good it ruined me for every “green beer special” that came after. It wasn’t just corned beef and cabbage. It was the owner’s mother’s recipes from Cork, Ireland , cooked with the kind of care you can’t fake. Traditional St Patrick's Day meal recipe card  (recipe on the back)  The corned beef was tender, the cabbage perfectly seasoned, and the whole plate came with warm, made‑in‑house Irish soda bread that melted under a swipe of butter. And then came dessert Irish Mist liqueur poured over vanilla ice cream , simple and elegant, the kind of thing you remember twenty years later. Irish coffee recipe card  The place was packed that night. People lined up out the door, shoulder to shoulder, waiting for a taste of something real. And as if the food wasn’t enough, Rich Roberts stood in the corner singing “Oh Danny Boy,” giving the whole room that soft,...