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...

In my opinion, Joplin’s urban hunting ordinance exposes a hidden danger: homeless encampments in wooded parcels where poachers and bowhunters may operate. From my perspective, this isn’t just about wildlife it’s about policy gaps, neighborhood trust, and the human cost of decisions made without safeguards. As the ordinance takes effect, I believe a quiet danger grows in the woods one that few officials are willing to name. It’s not just about deer. It’s about people. Local advocate Brian Evans recently shared photos and commentary on his public Facebook page, documenting homeless encampments in wooded areas across Joplin. His post, Joplin’s Homeless Crisis: The High Cost of Enabling , describes how public spaces and private parcels have become informal shelters for unhoused individuals many living in tents, brush shelters, or abandoned structures near creeks and rail lines. These same wooded parcels may now be subject to bowhunting under Joplin’s ordinance, which allows harvests ...

    Why Chronic Wasting Disease is changing hunter behavior and what it means for Joplin’s urban hunt. Across Missouri, deer hunters are quietly making a choice: to sit out the season. While the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) continues to promote its deer management programs, including urban bow hunting ordinances like the one passed in Joplin in 2025, on Joplin MO   many hunters are opting out not because of lack of interest, but because of growing concern over Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects deer, elk, and other cervids. It spreads through saliva, urine, feces, and carcasses, and it can persist in soil and vegetation for years. According to the research I found that a  deer infected with CWD may appear perfectly healthy, and the only way to confirm infection is through post-mortem testing.  In 2023, a CWD-positive deer was detected in Jasper County, prompting MDC to add both Jasper and Newton C...