Editorials

By Rik Hafer
    Whoever wins the upcoming presidential election, whichever party takes control of the House and Senate, our elected officials will face a formidable task. Obviously they will face the immediate social and economic effects of the ongoing pandemic. They also will confront an economic outlook that requires enacting policies that go beyond currying votes for the next election.

By Dr. Graham A. Colditz, Siteman Cancer Center
    “It’s September, and I’ve already had my flu shot.” If you want to know how important it is to get the flu vaccine this year, that note from a friend last month may help. Each year, he puts off his flu shot as long as possible and sometimes even skips it, against good advice.

By Eric Bohl
    In recent years, Missouri has become the worldwide epicenter of biotechnology and animal sciences research. No other place on earth has as dense a concentration of scientific talent and entrepreneurial companies of this type as our state.

By David Callaway
    The next time you are with a group of friends or colleagues, ask them this piece of trivia: “What freedoms are all Americans guaranteed by the First Amendment?”
    Do you know?

By Lata Nott
Freedom Forum Institute
    On Friday, Aug. 28, Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana introduced a bill called the “Support Peaceful Protest Act.” Despite the cheery title, its very purpose appears to be to make individuals think twice before attending any sort of protest. If the bill were to pass, it would make it so that an individual “convicted of a federal offense related to their conduct at and during the course of a protest” policed by federal law enforcement officers would be required to pay the cost of that policing, and would be deemed ineligible for COVID-19 unemployment benefits. This would be on top of the penalty imposed on the protester for committing that federal offense in the first place.

    We hope you will take time this week to check out our annual salute to area first responders, which can be found inside this week’s newspapers. And if you get a chance this week, thank one of your local first responders for all the work they do to keep our community safe.