(AUDIO): Missouri’s attorney general calls on CPS parents to get involved

Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe (second from left) poses with performers after the January 19, 2023 Columbia Values Diversity Celebration. (photo courtesy of Columbia Mayor Buffaloe’s Twitter page)

Missouri’s attorney general wants to see Columbia school board candidates make a campaign issue out of a recent drag queen performance at a Columbia diversity breakfast.

Attorney General Andrew Bailey tells 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Mid-Missouri” that drag shows have no place in the curriculum for schoolchildren:.


“This was shameful behavior. And what we’ve done is we’ve empowered parents to take a stand on this issue,” Bailey says.

Columbia’s mayor Barbara Buffaloe has defended the performance, saying that as hate crimes against drag show locations and performers are committed elsewhere, she and others wanted to reaffirm that Columbia is a community that supports all.

Missouri’s attorney general confirms also there’s an ongoing investigation into the now-closed Mexico and Fulton hospitals.

“So I’m somewhat limited in how far I can go on that issue. But I’ll tell you, we’re not finished with that. (The) investigation is ongoing and we anticipate some forward-progress on that at some point. And we’ll be happy to discuss that more in-detail at a later date,” Bailey says.

State Rep. Kent Haden (R-Mexico) and former Mexico hospital employee Marissa Hagedorn both have told 939 the Eagle that while money was taken out of paychecks of former employees at the Mexico hospital, the company didn’t pay the insurance premiums.