Missouri
Amber Alert canceled after twin infants found safe in Missouri
![Amber Alert canceled after twin infants found safe in Missouri Amber Alert canceled after twin infants found safe in Missouri](https://gray-kctv-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/ZNPG3B7FZJHOXNWVZQQMMLEHJY.png?auth=e6bfae041500ecbabb2457e97edbe54684f1b38f19b1eff8a8a63faebcd3174a&width=1200&height=600&smart=true)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – The search is over after twin infant girls were found safe as the man who took them from their mother while threatening her with a firearm was taken into custody.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol says that around 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 8, law enforcement officials were made aware that Malik K. Hardy, 21, was last seen with Iris and Halo Gannaway, 9-month-old twin girls.
State Troopers said Hardy threatened the mother of the girls with a firearm before he took the children from their home.
Investigators indicated that the twins were taken from their home near Spring Valley Rd. and Bel-Ray Blvd., Near South Haven Baptist Church, in Belton on Sunday.
Law enforcement officials said they are searching for a silver 2016 Ford Fusion out of Belton with Missouri license plate TK7Z6U driven by Hardy which was last seen headed north on I-49 from Missouri Highway 58.
Detectives noted that Iris had a birthmark on her right leg and was last seen in a blue shirt with no pants. Halo was last seen in an unknown color shirt with no pants.
Hardy has been described as a 21-year-old black male who weighs 150 lbs and stands at about 5-foot-9. He has black hair and brown eyes. No pictures or further identifying information about the twins have been made available.
The girls were found safe by law enforcement officials around 6:20 p.m.
State Troopers have reminded residents that Amber Alerts are only issued in the most serious child abduction cases.
![Malik Hardy was last seen taking twin infant girls from their Belton home in his silver Ford...](https://gray-kctv-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/LG2XRRCPIFCF5JQAD2HEPLWRTA.jpg?auth=250a6a431e216b393b3be05494f2843146f32ed9477a9e2e9a7e8c149d22df93&width=980&height=550&smart=true)
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Missouri
How a looming Missouri Supreme Court ruling could upend the Nov. 5 ballot and initiative process
![How a looming Missouri Supreme Court ruling could upend the Nov. 5 ballot and initiative process How a looming Missouri Supreme Court ruling could upend the Nov. 5 ballot and initiative process](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/104d986/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1760x924+0+88/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F02%2F25%2F11f675964d439af7cf9214b0ded1%2Fanna-spoerre-moindependent-abortion-vote.jpg)
The fate of an abortion rights amendment is now in the hands of the Missouri Supreme Court — and it has just a few days to reach a decision.
Missouri’s high court will have to issue a ruling by Tuesday, the final day that a measure can be removed from the Nov. 5 ballot.
How the court rules could be decisive for an effort to undo the state’s near total ban on abortion in November and affect voter turnout on Election Day. The decision could also ultimately reshape how constitutional amendments are presented to Missouri voters in future elections.
Late Friday evening, Cole County Judge Christopher Limbaugh ruled that the full text of the ballot measure, known as Amendment 3, failed to meet state requirements by not naming sections of existing law or the constitution that would be repealed if voters pass the measure.
Proponents of Amendment 3 filed an appeal Saturday to the Missouri Court of Appeals’ Western District, which transferred the case to the state Supreme Court.
Mary Catherine Martin, an attorney representing four plaintiffs seeking to remove Amendment 3 from the ballot, said she was grateful Limbaugh rendered a quick decision after he held a hearing on the case on Friday morning. She had argued that backers of the amendment obscured the ability of petition signers to gauge the impact of its potential passage by omitting from the petition mention of laws the amendment would repeal.
“The disclaimer needed to be within the full text of the measure attached to the petitions that were circulated,” Martin said. “So the error is not in the law’s text. And the error is not with the text on the ballot. The error that he found was in the circulated petitions.”
Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes CEO Emily Wales said Saturday afternoon that Limbaugh’s decision is merely a “distraction.”
“We’re going to be on the ballot,” Wales said. “But it is incredibly frustrating to have a last ditch effort to throw so much chaos into this process.”
Brian Munoz
/
St. Louis Public Radio
Precedent setting?
Limbaugh’s opinion cited a 2018 ethics and redistricting measure known as Clean Missouri that had a disclaimer at the top of the petition stating that its passage could result in the repeal of a number of statutes.
“The drafters of prior amendments had no reason other than compliance with [state law and the Missouri Constitution] to inform potential signers of the enormously broad impacts, both direct and implied, of their proposed measures,” Limbaugh wrote. “Their inclusion of long lists of affected laws was mandatory in order to protect potential signatories.”
But a number of other constitutional amendments placed before voters didn’t have similar disclaimers as the Clean Missouri measure. For instance, the 2022 initiative that legalized marijuana for adult use didn’t say at the top of the petition that the measure would repeal state laws inflicting penalties for possession or purchase of cannabis products. And another initiative on the November 2024 ballot that would legalize sports betting in Missouri also didn’t mention any state statutes that could be repealed.
Wales, of Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes, said doing what Limbaugh would have asked is “functionally impossible.”
“We can’t predict every existing or potential future statute that would conflict with a constitutional change,” Wales said. “The way that this works is the voters get to understand what they’re voting on, what established right they would be adding to the Constitution. And then the courts go through and say: ‘Here’s where the conflicts are.’”
Wales also said if Limbaugh’s ruling is upheld, it would make the initiative petition process “a right in name only.” Requiring petition organizers to “predict and identify every tiny conflict” with state law or the constitution would make the process too difficult, she said.
Martin, the attorney who argued to remove Amendment 3 from the ballot, said whether other constitutional amendments had the appropriate disclaimers is not relevant to this case. “They could very well have broken the law and gotten away with it,” she said.
High stakes
The looming Missouri Supreme Court decision could be a major turning point for the fight for legal abortion in Missouri.
Polling from St. Louis University and YouGov in August found that 52% of poll respondents supported Amendment 3. And that was before the campaign supporting the amendment launched its advertising campaign.
While Republican elected officials have promised to organize an opposition campaign to the initiative, they will almost certainly be outspent. Since the middle of August, the campaign committee backing the passage of Amendment 3 received more than $8 million in donations of $5,000 or more.
By comparison, a group recently formed to oppose Amendment 3 raised about $80,000 in donations of $5,000 or more throughout the entirety of 2024. And a committee that Missouri Right to Life organized raised about $545,000 in large donations since April.
Even some Republicans who oppose Amendment 3 have publicly conceded that it may be an uphill battle to defeat the initiatives at the polls. That includes state Sen. Jason Bean, who represents a Senate district that voted for Republican Donald Trump in 2020 by landslide margins.
“Everything that I’m kind of hearing and seeing, unfortunately, yes, I think it’s going to pass,” said Bean, R-Dunklin County, on a recent episode of Politically Speaking.
Missouri Democrats are banking on the abortion initiative boosting turnout for their candidates — particularly legislative contenders in suburban districts. The SLU/YouGov poll showed that abortion initiative provided limited coattails for statewide Democratic contenders.
Other GOP elected officials, including gubernatorial nominee Mike Kehoe, have said they believe abortion rights opponents can defeat Amendment 3. Back in 2006, an underfunded, but well-organized, group of social conservatives almost defeated a measure enshrining protection for embryonic stem cell research despite being heavily outspent.
“I believe the people who are interested in protecting innocent life will show up as well, and we will do everything we can to make sure Missourians understand how important it is to protect innocent life and come out and defeat that amendment,” Kehoe said last month on the Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air.
Martin’s lawsuit against Amendment 3 also contended that the measure violated a prohibition against an amendment having more than one subject. Limbaugh didn’t rule on that point.
Send questions and comments about this story to feedback@stlpublicradio.org.
Copyright 2023 St. Louis Public Radio. To see more, visit St. Louis Public Radio.
Jason Rosenbaum
Jason is the politics correspondent for St. Louis Public Radio.
See stories by Jason Rosenbaum
Missouri
Surprised? Here’s why, even after back-to-back shutouts, Missouri football’s defense is not
![Surprised? Here’s why, even after back-to-back shutouts, Missouri football’s defense is not Surprised? Here’s why, even after back-to-back shutouts, Missouri football’s defense is not](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/09/08/PVIT/75129628007-usatsi-24183098.jpg?auto=webp&crop=2331,1312,x0,y874&format=pjpg&width=1200)
Marvin Burks Jr. had every reason to be surprised.
The Missouri football safety was all alone, after all, and there was a pass coming toward him like it had been hardwired and programmed to end up in his arms. There wasn’t a Buffalo receiver in the area code. Bulls quarterback CJ Ogbonna, on the first-quarter, third-and-10 heave, may as well have gift-wrapped it for Burks.
It was as simple and sweet an interception as Burks likely will ever pluck from the sky.
He had every reason to be a little surprised at the present, but he wasn’t. Not really.
“I don’t wanna say I was surprised, because, like I said, we were watching a whole lot of film,” Burks said postgame. “… Basically, (Bulls receiver Nik McMillan) was (Ogbonna’s) guy that he was trying to look to, and I kind of saw them looking at each other pre-snap. So I just made a great play.”
There have been a fair few of those from the Tigers’ defense through two games.
Through two straight shutouts.
Mizzou is 2-0, and it has cruised to 2-0. Its 38-0 win over Buffalo on Saturday night on Faurot Field in Columbia marked eight straight quarters without allowing a point to open the 2024 season.
Dating back to last season — and for the first time since 1941, per MU coach Eli Drinkwitz — the Tigers have gone 12 straight quarters without allowing a touchdown. It’s the first time Missouri has held two straight opponents without a single point since 1935.
The transition wasn’t supposed to go this smoothly.
The Missouri defense was supposed to be one of the team’s foremost question marks.
Through two games — through two shutouts — consider any concerns resoundingly answered.
“It’s impressive. I think, you know, the general thing, and all offseason you see in the media, … ‘Oh, what’s the defense going to be?’” Missouri quarterback Brady Cook said. “You know, it’s still going to be that same ‘Death Row’ defense that we’ve had.”
For a unit that lost five starters to the NFL Draft, five more key pieces to graduation and had to replace a defensive coordinator all in the same offseason, that’s surely been a little bit of a surprise, right?
But there’s a reason Burks wasn’t shocked. There’s a reason nobody in the Mizzou camp even seems remotely surprised.
Under defensive coordinator Corey Batoon, the Tigers are giving off the impression that they know what’s coming.
New linebacker Corey Flagg mentioned it after the Murray State win, saying that color-coordinated signs from the sideline put them in prime position to make plays.
Burks echoed that.
“We just kind of feel like we just know what’s going on every time we’re out there,” the sophomore safety said. “On third down, second down, first down, end of game, end of half, … we just know what’s going on throughout the game, I feel like.”
The shutouts are impressive. The numbers behind them are jarring.
Missouri’s opponents, Buffalo and Murray State, have not sniffed the end zone. The furthest either of them has made it up the field was the MU 30-yard line. Including turnovers on downs, Mizzou forced the Bulls into three first-half turnovers on Saturday, which takes the Tigers’ total for the season to six.
Buffalo quarterback CJ Ogbonna passed for just 55 yards. That was more than double what Murray State managed last week.
Crucial to it all, Missouri’s opponents have completed just 5-of-27 third-down attempts between them. Buffalo went 1-of-12 on third downs.
It hasn’t just been shutouts. Nobody has been close to scoring.
Sure, Murray State and Buffalo are far overmatched, but what’s making it so difficult for teams to sustain drives against these Tigers?
Maybe Theo Wease Jr., who had a career-high 149 yards on 13 catches against the Bulls, can answer that.
“That’s ‘Death Row,’” Wease said. “They’re out there flying around; Coach Batoon is doing a good job disguising … and sending pressures from different places; and then, at the end of the day, the plays are being made.”
How about Cook, who surpassed Blaine Gabbert for sixth all-time on Missouri’s career passing yards standings?
“I went against them for however many days in fall camp. You know, they suffocate you,” the quarterback said. “They don’t give up much.”
The Tigers are likely to move up in the national polls Sunday after a loss from No. 5 Notre Dame. A top-25 matchup could be on deck next weekend, when Boston College, who surprised Florida State, comes to town.
Mizzou, a pair of shutouts in hands, has been all about no surprises so far, though.
“It’s a great confidence boost for us, but we’ve still gotta keep our head down,” Burks said. “And like I said, just keep working each and every day, each and every week because it’s … getting tougher and tougher each week as we go.”
Missouri
Instant Takeaways from Missouri’s Routing Win Past Buffalo
![Instant Takeaways from Missouri’s Routing Win Past Buffalo Instant Takeaways from Missouri’s Routing Win Past Buffalo](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_3345,h_1881,x_0,y_128/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/mizzou_central/01j77jaq7rhsaxw3m19k.jpg)
COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Missouri Tigers didn’t go out and score 51 tonight, but they didn’t let Buffalo have any more room to breathe than it allowed Murray State in Week 1.
It took a quarter for Missouri’s offense to thrive after a slow first 15 minutes, but its three rushing touchdowns in the second quarter were all it really needed to leave Faurot Field with another win. It had a stifling defensive performance, along with a strong run game throughout the contest.
The Tigers made quick work of their opponents once again, regardless of the significant disparity in talent between the two rosters. Here’s three takeaways from the shutout win:
Although Missouri’s rushing duo of Nate Noel and Marcus Carroll is leading the backfield, it found other ways to attack Buffalo in the run game.
Quarterback Brady Cook’s 28-of-36 pass completion and 228 passing yards were nothing to look past, but he found much of his success was found in the run game. He rushed for 62 yards on five attempts and two touchdowns on the night, the first of which coming on a 3-yard drive up the middle and the latter from a 31-yard scramble that ended with a flip into the end zone at the 1:51 minute mark in the second quarter.
The Tigers also opted to use receiver Luther Burden III as a rusher on two occasions in the first half before he exited from injury. It started with an 18-yard rush to the right at the 14:47 minute mark of the second quarter, followed up by a 3-yard jet sweep to score a touchdown at the end of the drive.
The depth in Missouri’s backfield is deep as-is, but using Cook and Burden in the run game helped throw different looks at the Bulls and resulted in three separate scores. Cook’s trend as a dual-threat quarterback seems to be continuing from last season, and Burden getting more looks as a rusher could be something to look for in the coming weeks.
In back-to-back weeks, the Tiger defense has decimated its opponents.
Once again Missouri held its opponents to a shutout, forcing Buffalo to just 168 total yards and 1-of-12 on 3rd down conversions. The Bulls struggled immensely to get any form of a strong offense building, even when the Tigers started to ease the foot off the gas pedal in the back half of the game.
Safety Marving Burks Jr. had himself a night, intercepting a pass into no man’s land off Buffalo quarterback C.J. Ogbonna at the 9:38 minute mark of the first quarter and taking it down the field for 15 yards — the first time of his career. As easy of a snag as it was, the quick read on the play helped start a wave of momentum for Missouri.
The Tiger defensive line recorded three sacks throughout the the game, led by freshman Jahkai Lang’s 1.5 sacks. Johnny Walker Jr. and Chris McClellan recorded the remaining sack and .5 sack respectively.
Missouri’s defensive performance was encouraging yet again, and it’ll enter next week’s matchup against Boston College without a single point allowed. It’s the only team in college football to currently hold that status.
Although the Tigers won without much of a fight from Buffalo, field goal opportunities were missed multiple times throughout the contest.
Kicker Blake Craig’s night started with a 51-yard field goal that gave Missouri its first three points of the game at the 10:47 minute mark of the first quarter, but he went on to miss two consecutive attempts after the make.
The freshman missed wide left on a 49-yard attempt at the 6:52 mark of the first quarter, and fell short and right at the end of second quarter from 52 yards out.
Being a first-year player, its not surprising to see Craig deal with struggles early on in the season. He made the distance on the first miss, but the second miss was ugly and his accuracy was off on both attempts. He showed the ability to make short and middle kicks against Murray State in a 3-for-3 outing, but he’ll need to build confidence to drill kicks from further back.
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