A man who is a registered sex offender was sentenced in federal court for downloading child pornography to his cell phone. Michael Ray Jones, 60, of Marshfield, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips to 15 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Jones to serve 10 years on […]
A Missouri man was sentenced in federal court for secretly video recording a 14-year-old victim in the victim’s bedroom. Jonathan Rodger Nelson, 42, of Kansas City, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 17 years and six months in federal prison without parole. On Nov. 2, 2021, Nelson pleaded guilty to […]
A Missouri man was sentenced in federal court for his role in a nearly $10 million conspiracy to distribute almost 1,000 kilograms (2205 pounds) of methamphetamine. Jesus Banuelos, 23, Kansas City, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 18 years and nine months in federal prison without parole. On Aug. 23, 2021, […]
The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reminds deer hunters that it is again offering free voluntary sampling and testing of harvested deer for chronic wasting disease during the entire deer season at select locations in the region, including some MDC offices and participating taxidermists and meat processors. MDC is also offering self-service freezer drop-off locations […]
Christina Andrade Melly, an English teacher at Ritenour High School in the Ritenour School District, was selected by a committee of her peers and education partners across the state as the 2023 Missouri Teacher of the Year. She becomes the 54th Missouri Teacher of the Year since the program’s inception in 1957. Andrade Melly sees […]
The State Senate will begin debate in special session three bills. Senate budget chairman Dan Hegeman gleaned those bills from 13 proposed. Two sets of bills have now been combined into two bills just dealing with income tax rates. One of those bills mirrors what the governor has asked for in this session. Dallas County […]
Another attempt at legalizing sports betting in Missouri. A state House committee held a hearing Monday on a bill that would allow Missouri adults to place bets on sporting events. The state Legislature’s special session that is underway does not include a bill to legalize sports betting and Governor Mike Parson’s Office says that is […]
(Missouri Independent) – Eighty open cases of child abuse and neglect sat on Matt Cordova’s desk in 2017 during the height of the “hole I found myself buried in,” he remembers. Twenty open cases would have been a lot to handle; 80 was impossible. An investigator at Missouri’s child welfare department for two years, Cordova […]
(Missouri Independent) – Two Newton County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a trailer park north of Neosho to evict a man and his wife on Nov. 13, 2017. According to the deputies, the man refused to leave, fought off the deputies, and stole a patrol car that he would later crash in town. The local […]
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urging the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to require TikTok to sever all ties with ByteDance and any other Chinese companies. Senator Hawley wrote, “Last week, the Chief Operating Officer of TikTok testified in response to my questions that […]
A Homosassa, Florida man pleaded guilty in federal court to his role in a $223,000 money-laundering conspiracy, which was part of an email hacking scheme that targeted a program at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., as well as victims in Tennessee and Idaho. Franklin D. Huggins, 54, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge David P. […]
(Missouri Independent) – Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who last week accused Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine of dodging debates, refused to show up for the first debate of Missouri’s U.S. Senate campaign on Friday. Organized by the Missouri Press Association as part of its annual convention in Lake Ozark, Valentine, Libertarian Party candidate Jonathan Dine and Constitution […]
(Missouri Independent) – Despite all the economic dislocation caused by the coronavirus pandemic, child poverty and uninsurance were at record lows last year, U.S. Census data show. And those lows are largely the result of large government interventions, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said in a statement that was published Tuesday. The percentage of Americans […]
A jury on Friday convicted a former reality show star from Jackson, Mississippi of murder-for-hire and insurance fraud charges connected his successful plot to have his nephew killed in 2016. After seven days of evidence, jurors found James Timothy Norman, 43, guilty of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit mail and wire […]
Almost 150 Missouri 4-H youth applied their evaluation and communication skills on September 10 during the University of Missouri Extension State 4-H Livestock Judging Contest at the Trowbridge Livestock Center on the MU campus in Columbia. Youths involved with the livestock judging program develop key life skills to aid in their future career success, said […]
The temperatures are cooling down and trees are beginning to change color – a sure sign that fall has arrived. The Missouri Department of Conservation encourages people to enjoy fall foliage through camping, driving tours, hiking, or even floating. To help, MDC offers weekly online fall color updates from agency foresters all over the state […]
(Missouri Independent) – The first time Maureen Loyacono voted was in 1960 when she cast a ballot for John F. Kennedy. “And I’ve never missed an election since,” said Loyacono, 84, a Kansas City resident who also served as a poll worker for 40 years. But she’s worried this might be the first election where […]
(Missouri Independent) – Hospitals across Missouri are facing a “crisis” caring for patients in acute care settings who can’t find long-term care through the Department of Mental Health due to the agency’s chronic shortage of workers. Patty Morrow, vice president of behavioral health services for Mercy Health, testified during a legislative hearing Wednesday that “the […]
(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. Senate won’t vote on legislation to secure marriage equality for millions of Americans until after the midterm elections, bipartisan negotiators announced Thursday. The move follows weeks of behind-the-scenes discussions among five U.S. senators from both political parties who have been drafting an amendment to the House-passed legislation that they hoped […]
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services transferred $13 million in funds from Missouri’s medical marijuana program to the Missouri Veterans Commission. This marks the fourth transfer to date for a total of $26,978,820. Missourians voted in November 2018 to adopt Constitutional Amendment 2, known now as Article XIV. The amendment includes a provision requiring […]
