A Springfield, Missouri man has been sentenced in federal court for his role in a conspiracy to distribute large quantities of fentanyl and for illegally possessing firearms. Jerry Wheeler, also known as “Love,” 48, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark on November 21, 2023, to 35 years in federal prison without parole. On […]
Category: State News
Ohio man transported 27 kilos of meth through Kansas City aboard bus
An Akron, Ohio man faces federal charges for allegedly transporting over 27 kilograms of methamphetamine through Kansas City, Missouri, on a bus. Rogeric Romone Clark, 39, faces a charge of possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute, as stated in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Missouri. Currently in federal […]
Pedestrian killed in accident on Interstate 49 in Bates County
An accident occurred in the early hours of December 5, 2023, on Interstate 49 at the 137.6-mile marker in Bates County. Jerry D. Urick, 57, from Kansas City, Missouri, was struck and killed by a northbound 2019 Chevrolet Malibu driven by Brian N. Moss, 30, from Nevada, Missouri. The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported that […]
Audio: Graves provides update on defense bill negotiations
(Missourinet) – Negotiations continue between U.S. House and Senate conferees on a final version of the National Defense Authorization bill. Northern Missouri Congressman Sam Graves is one of the conferees. He says a good portion of defense funding will find its way to Missouri: “Whether that’s dealing with Fort Leonard Wood or Whiteman […]
Missouri child welfare agency reports increased efforts to find missing foster kids
(Missouri Independent) – A state investigative team has helped locate 628 foster kids this year who were missing from state custody in Missouri, state lawmakers were informed at a House budget hearing Monday. That effort began officially in 2022, after the Department of Social Services was under fire for the high number of children in […]
Missouri abortion-rights amendments face ‘torturous’ process to make it to 2024 ballot
(Missouri Independent) – Pulling off a successful ballot initiative campaign in Missouri is an undertaking so difficult that one Democratic political consultant compares it to skiing the slalom at the Olympics. There is a laundry list of deadlines to meet, an army of signature gatherers to hire, and a host of legal battles to fight […]
Missouri AG obtains 295 year sentence in Franklin County statutory rape and sodomy case
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced that his office obtained a 295-year sentence for Brett Pendleton of Franklin County, Missouri, in connection with the sexual abuse of his eight-year-old daughter in 2018. In October, the Attorney General’s Office obtained convictions against Pendleton for Statutory Rape in the First Degree, five counts of Statutory Sodomy in the […]
Accident on Highway 136 east of Luray injures Alexandria man
A serious motor vehicle accident occurred on December 5, 2023, at 6:27 a.m. on Highway 136, half a mile east of Luray, Missouri. Todd A. Sedore, a 57-year-old man from Alexandria, Missouri, suffered severe injuries in the crash. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Sedore was driving a 1999 Ford F150 truck westbound when […]
Missouri man sentenced to 7 years in prison for possessing child pornography
District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. sentenced a Missouri man to 88 months (7.3 years) in prison on Tuesday for possessing over 900 images of child pornography. Timon Odell Mouser, 54, from Iron County, will also undergo lifetime supervised release following his prison term. In July 2022, the FBI, supporting the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department, […]
Missouri man sentenced to 17 years in prison for sexually exploiting a child
U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. on Tuesday sentenced a Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri, man to 210 months (17-1/2 years) in prison for producing photos of the sexual abuse of a young boy. Noah Church, 22, pleaded guilty in September to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor. Church admitted to sending images […]
Lake St. Louis man admits guilt in child pornography case
A Lake St. Louis, Missouri, man admitted to sexually abusing a young girl and capturing the acts in photographs, in a U.S. District Court in St. Louis on Tuesday. Steve G. Flores, 51, appeared before U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White, pleading guilty to a single count of producing child pornography. The case surfaced following […]
Jefferson County man accused of sexual exploitation of a minor
A man from Pevely, Missouri accused of recording his sexual abuse of a minor was arrested and appeared in federal court in St. Louis Tuesday. Matthew Gamel, 36, was indicted on November 8 on one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of receipt of child pornography. He pleaded not guilty Tuesday. […]
Woman from Dixon, Missouri sentenced to 23 years in prison for methamphetamine trafficking
A Dixon, Mo., woman has been sentenced in federal court for possessing methamphetamine to distribute. Connie M. Gonzales, 53, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark on Aug. 31, 2023, to 23 years in federal prison without parole. On Nov. 17, 2022, Gonzales pleaded guilty to one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent […]
Rate changes ahead for Evergy Missouri customers
Evergy Missouri West and Evergy Metro have filed applications with the Missouri Public Service Commission seeking to adjust the demand-side investment mechanism charge on customer bills. The charge appears as a separate line item on customer bills and allows Evergy to recover demand-side management program costs and incentives under the Missouri Efficiency Investment Act. According […]
New Bills aim to resolve Missouri’s childcare accessibility crisis
The Missouri Champion of Children coalition, which includes child advocates, law enforcement, military, and business and healthcare leaders, is praising bipartisan efforts in the Missouri legislature to provide solutions to address Missouri’s childcare and early education accessibility and affordability crisis. Recent polling shows that Missourians overwhelmingly support investments in childcare and early education. Polling from October showed 86% of Missourians […]
Audio: Missouri gubernatorial candidates sound off on foreign ownership of ag land
(Missourinet) – The race for governor is heating up with a hot-button topic being foreign ownership of agricultural land. During a Missouri Farm Bureau candidate forum, Republican candidate, state Senator Bill Eigel, accused China of manipulating their currency to drive the market value of Missouri farmland. “In fact, it’s not just China that […]
This land is our land: States crack down on foreign-owned farm fields
(Missouri Independent) – Andy Gipson gets concerned even when American allies such as the Netherlands and Germany invest in large swaths of Mississippi’s farmland. “It just bothers me at a gut level,” he said. For Gipson, Mississippi’s commissioner of agriculture and commerce, the growing trend of foreign ownership could threaten what he views as the […]
Missouri State Treasurer urges Legislature to expand MOBUCK$ program
Missouri State Treasurer Vivek Malek urged the Legislature to approve a $400 million expansion of the successful MOBUCK$ program. The low-interest loan program is administered by the Treasurer’s Office to boost economic growth while helping borrowers beat inflation. “Since I became State Treasurer in January, I have focused on promoting MOBUCK$ as a relief valve […]
St. Louis man pleads guilty to shooting two women, one fatally, during carjackings
A St. Louis, Missouri man on Monday admitted killing a woman while stealing her car in 2022 and shooting another woman during a carjacking a few weeks later. Loyse Dozier, 21, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to four felonies: carjacking resulting in death, attempted carjacking resulting in serious bodily injury, being […]
St. Louis County man sentenced to 3 years in prison for ID theft and stealing rental car
U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Monday sentenced a St. Louis County, Missouri man who used counterfeit identification and a fake credit card to steal a rental car to three years in prison. Kelvin N. Ford, 32, of Dellwood, pleaded guilty in September to aggravated identity theft and access device fraud. He admitted stealing […]