(Missouri Independent) – Missouri is offering Department of Corrections employees routinely shorted on their pay a $49.5 million settlement to drop a lawsuit scheduled for trial in June. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the money Tuesday as a budget amendment from Gov. Mike Parson’s administration. The budget will also include ongoing funds to pay officers for the […]
(Missouri Independent) – A Southwest Missouri Republican upset with Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s aggressive campaign of lawsuits against local governments and school districts cut $500,000 from Schmitt’s budget on Wednesday. Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, won committee support for cutting money added by the Missouri House. The extra funds would have allowed Schmitt to […]
United States District Court Judge John A. Ross sentenced Jalon Moore, age 25, to 25 years in federal prison for several counts of armed robbery and possession and brandishing of a firearm in furtherance of crimes of violence. Moore previously pleaded guilty in January. According to the plea agreement, Moore and two co-defendants committed a […]
A Missouri man who was injured in a shoot-out when his drug-trafficking customers tried to rob him has been sentenced in federal court for his role in a conspiracy to distribute marijuana, including selling marijuana near a public school, and illegally possessing firearms. Carreon L. Brown, 20, of Gladstone, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge […]
The Missouri Senate is the next stop for an attempt to overturn a voter-approved expansion of Medicaid. House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, a Republican from Carthage, is sponsoring a proposed ballot measure that would ask Missouri voters to let the Legislature decide whether to fund the expansion population. The plan would also require adults […]
A federal judge in Florida struck down a national mask mandate on airlines and mass transit on Tuesday. Northern Missouri Congressman Sam Graves, the ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee, has been pressing the Biden Administration to end the requirement on public transportation. Graves says he isn’t sure all public transit systems […]
A new report shines a spotlight on problems facing ten of the nation’s most endangered rivers, and possible solutions. It includes the Mississippi, which ranks sixth most at risk. The river and its 30-million-acre floodplains, including in Missouri, are home to more than 850 fish and wildlife species. It’s also a migratory corridor for birds, […]
Governor Mike Parson joined 25 other Governors in signing a memorandum of understanding establishing the American Governors’ Border Strike Force. The strike force will help increase collaboration and improve intelligence sharing and analyses across participating states to disrupt and dismantle criminal organizations and cartels, combat human smuggling, and stop the flow of illegal drugs to states. […]
Those interested in competing at the State Fair this year can now access the livestock shows and contests rules and classes on the Fair’s website, mostatefair.com. Rules and classes are organized in the online Premium Guide, a comprehensive tool for State Fair exhibitors. Exhibitors are encouraged to explore the Premium Guide for information and to note […]
(Missouri Independent) – Foreign investment in U.S. cropland has nearly tripled in the past decade, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. The total cropland controlled by foreign interests in 2020 was 10.9 million acres, up from 4.1 million acres in 2010. This increase has been largely driven by foreign-owned wind companies signing long-term leases […]
A Missouri man who confessed to trading 150 firearms for illegal drugs was sentenced in federal court for illegally possessing a firearm. Kyle M. Vaughn, 26, of Springfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to seven years in federal prison without parole. On Oct. 5, 2021, Vaughn pleaded guilty to one count […]
A Missouri man was sentenced in federal court for enticing a 15-year-old victim to engage in illegal sexual activity. Nathaniel Hibdon, 31, of Raytown, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to 10 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Hibdon to pay a $5,000 special assessment under the Justice […]
Members of the Missouri House of Representatives have given their stamp of approval to a $46.5 billion state operating budget. The state spending plan, which received support from both sides of the aisle, makes a record investment in the state’s system of education while also allocating funds to help the state’s most vulnerable citizens, pay […]
National Volunteer Week is April 17-23 and the American Red Cross of Missouri and Arkansas honors the work of its volunteers who give their time to help people in need. Across the country, more than 300,000 Red Cross volunteers serve their communities by responding to thousands of disasters; supporting the collection of blood to help […]
There’s still time to apply to the Missouri Century Farm Program. The deadline is May 1. If your farm has been in your family since Dec. 31, 1922, you can apply to have it recognized as a Missouri Century Farm. To qualify, the same family must have owned the farm for 100 consecutive years. The […]
Captain Clark N. Stratton, commanding officer of Troop H, announces the following reassignment effective April 1, 2022. Sergeant Shane M. Hux, Troop H, has been selected as the new Public Information and Education Officer assigned to Troop H, St. Joseph, Missouri. Hux was appointed to the Patrol on March 15, 2000, as a member of […]
Missouri could cut unemployment benefits to as little as eight weeks. The state House has passed a bill that would base the amount of time someone could get jobless benefits on the unemployment rate. State Representative J. Eggleston, a Republican from northwest Missouri’s Maysville, is sponsoring the bill. Several House Democrats say the […]
A southwest Missouri man is accused of killing his live-in girlfriend over the weekend in Lebanon. The Laclede County Sheriff’s Office says it received a 911 call of a woman being shot in a mobile home Saturday afternoon. Deputies discovered 21-year-old Megan Bailey Nicol Glasser of Lebanon dead at the scene. Twenty-two-year-old Dillion […]
(Missouri Independent) – Thousands of children in the Midwest continue to have elevated levels of lead in their blood. On Tuesday at 7 p.m., join The Missouri Independent and NPR’s Midwest Newsroom for a Facebook Live discussion of the issue, which is the subject of a months-long collaborative investigation by the two organizations. Tune in to […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and 15 other state attorneys general sent a letter calling on President Joe Biden to reinstate the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline following reports his administration is seeking to import more oil from Canada. The coalition also called on the President to stop federal efforts to impose excessive regulations […]
