Preferred Family Healthcare

Preferred Family Healthcare to pay more than $8 million in fines related to embezzlement, bribery investigation

Springfield, Missouri-based nonprofit Preferred Family Healthcare will pay more than $8 million in forfeiture and restitution to the federal government and the state of Arkansas under the terms of a non-prosecution agreement announced, which acknowledges the criminal conduct of its former officers and employees. “Preferred Family Healthcare must relinquish the illegal profits it garnered from […]

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

U.S. Senate panel bickers over Supreme Court nomination but sets vote next week

(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee reopened partisan disagreements Monday as members scheduled a vote for April 4 on Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Republicans’ criticisms of Jackson’s record and responses were either untrue or disingenuous. Meanwhile, ranking Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa again raised […]

Jimmy Ishmael large (Daviess Dekalb Jail)

Gallatin man facing felony charges of child molestation, statutory sodomy and deviate sexual intercourse with two children

A Gallatin man faces multiple felonies after allegedly sexually exploiting girls. Seventy-one-year-old Jimmy Ishmael has been charged with fourth-degree child molestation involving a child less than 17 years of age, first-degree harassment, and two counts of first-degree statutory sodomy involving deviate sexual intercourse with a person less than 14 years old. He has also been […]

Eric Greitens after filing for Missouri Senate 2022 (Photo by Madeline Carter via Missouri Independent)

Eric Greitens faces calls to drop out of Missouri Senate race after ex-wife’s abuse allegations

(Missouri Independent) – Former Gov. Eric Greitens is facing calls to abandon his campaign for U.S. Senate following accusations that he abused his ex-wife and children that surfaced in a sworn affidavit made public Monday. U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, who has been the only major GOP Senate candidate to publicly criticize Greitens over the accusation of violent […]

NCMC Distinguished Alumni 2022

North Central Missouri College Foundation announces honorees for the Distinguished Alumni Class of 2021

North Central Missouri College Foundation announces the Distinguished Alumni Class for 2021, John Hunolt, Janet (Boyd) Lake and Nick Sottler.  Honorees will be recognized during the Pirates Ball on March 26, 2022, at the Ketcham Community Center on the campus of North Central Missouri College.  The Pirates Ball is to honor distinguished alumni, Voyage Fund […]

Smithfield Food Logo

Missouri fines CAFO, owned by Smithfield Foods, $18,000 for polluting streams with 300,000 gallons of waste

(Missouri Independent) – Regulators ordered an industrial hog farm in northern Missouri to pay more than $18,000 for spilling 300,000 gallons of manure into miles of nearby streams.  An advocate for environmentally responsible agriculture called that “pathetic,” noting the fine amounted to less than $0.04 per gallon of waste spilled.  “You’re talking about a multi-billion […]

Donald Kauerauf, the director of the Department of Health and Senior Services, speaks during a press conference at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City on July 21, 2021

Before ouster, Missouri health director drafted a letter to senators that was never sent

(Missouri Independent) – On the Friday before a drawn-out confirmation battle ended with his ouster from office, Missouri state Health Director Donald Kauerauf wrote an impassioned letter meant to convince conservative legislators who were on the fence about his appointment.  The message: While he believed in vaccines and data and science, he didn’t believe in vaccine […]