It’s two Missouri thumbs down from our state’s U.S. Senators on the possibility of the nation’s first black female Supreme Court associate justice. Joey Parker tells us why our federal delegation is saying “nay” even before today’s (Monday’s) Senate Judiciary Committee vote. (Audio credit ABC News) U.S. Senator Roy Blunt announced his intent on […]
Category: State News
Control of Title X federal family planning funds remains with Missouri nonprofit
(Missouri Independent) – Despite facing competition from the state health department, the nonprofit Missouri Family Health Council Inc. will continue to administer federal Title X family planning funds. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded more than $250 million in Title X funding this week, including $5.3 million to Missouri. That money helps pay […]
Hawley introduces “PROTECT Act of 2022” which will toughen sentences for child porn offenders
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced the PROTECT Act of 2022, which protects children from sexual exploitation by enhancing the penalties for possessing child pornography and by preventing judges from sentencing offenders below federal guidelines. The bill is co-sponsored by Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). Representative Ken Buck (CO-4) is […]
Former Greenville, Missouri city clerk sentenced to 10 years in prison, ordered to pay $168,957 in restitution
The former city clerk of Greenville, Pam Birmingham, was sentenced on Thursday to 10 years in prison and ordered to repay $168,957 to the city after being convicted on a charge of receiving stolen property. A 2018 audit by State Auditor Nicole Galloway found improperly cashed checks, missing cash, and improper payroll and other payments during […]
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 […]
House Budget Committee rejects adding surplus revenue to Missouri public schools, colleges
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri’s record general revenue surplus was off-limits for spending plans as the House Budget Committee worked Thursday, defeating Democratic efforts to give boost money for public schools and state colleges. The only significant addition to education budgets approved by the committee was to restart the teacher Career Ladder program, providing $21 million to give experienced […]
Missouri man convicted of being a sex offender while in the Army in 2017, sentenced to 15 years in prison for child pornography
A Missouri man was sentenced in federal court after a law enforcement officer noticed child pornography on his cell phone during a traffic stop. Justin Barton, 34, of Lebanon, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 15 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Barton to spend the rest […]
Audio: EF-1 tornado damages home and church in St. Joseph
An EF-1 confirmed tornado in St. Joseph caused major damage to one home and minor damage in that area of town. A tornado warning was in effect around 8:30 Tuesday night for St. Joseph, lasting for about half an hour. City Emergency Manager Bill Lamar says the area most impacted by the storm was around […]
Grand Jury indicts former CEO of major construction company in Missouri in Minority Business Enterprise fraud scheme
A federal grand jury indicted Brian Kowert, Sr., former Chief Operating Officer of the HBD Construction Company, on March 30, 2022, for five counts of wire fraud relative to his falsifying of Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) participation in several construction and redevelopment projects from 2014 through 2022. Kowert, Sr. was an owner, executive vice president, […]
Missouri Secretary of state reports 506 candidates file for office in August Primary Election
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s office announced that 506 candidates have filed for the August 2 primary election. The filing period closed yesterday, March 29, at 5 p.m. Candidates that filed on the first day, February 22, drew a random number to determine the order their names will appear on the ballot. The names of […]
Governor Parson announces end to COVID-19 crisis in Missouri
Governor Mike Parson announced an end to the COVID-19 crisis in Missouri and that the state will be shifting to an endemic phase of the pandemic on Friday, April 1, 2022. A whole-of-government COVID-19 emergency response was taken for more than two years, an effort that responded to the needs of all Missourians during the […]
Missouri man sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for trafficking 100 pounds of meth and illegal firearms
A Missouri man who sold an assault rifle and methamphetamine to an undercover federal agent has been sentenced in federal court for his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and for illegally possessing firearms. Jacob Michael Richardson, 34, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips on Tuesday, March 29, […]
Audio: Missouri House sends eminent domain bill to Senate
The Missouri House is sending to the Senate an eminent domain bill for utility purposes. Lawmakers have been working for years to pass a plan like this due to the Grain Belt Express Line project planned across eight northern Missouri counties. Under the bill, in eminent domain proceedings, just compensation for agriculture or […]
Audio: Missouri Legislature considering bill to legalize recreational pot
The Missouri Legislature is considering whether to legalize the adult use of marijuana. This comes less than four years after nearly seven out of ten voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing for the use of medical marijuana. The 2022 “Cannabis Freedom Act”, sponsored by Republican State Representative Ron Hicks would authorize the recreational use, taxation, […]
Missouri House blocks effort to limit access to out-of-state abortions
(Missouri Independent) – A bill that would make it a felony to donate fetal tissue from abortions for research or therapies won first-round approval in the Missouri House Tuesday, but lawmakers blocked an effort to make it illegal to help women obtain an abortion outside the state. The bill sponsored by Rep. Hannah Kelly, R-Mountain Grove, […]
Missouri House bill would cut down on poisonous lead in school drinking water
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri children would be better protected from lead poisoning under a state legislative bill to require schools to nearly rid their drinking water of the dangerous toxin. The bill, heard Monday by the House Conservation and Natural Resources Committee, would require schools to test drinking water, remove old coolers and filter water where […]
Missouri Attorney General joins multistate action to end CDC’s mask mandate on public transportation
The Missouri Attorney General joined 20 other states in a multistate action against President Biden’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s continued use of the unlawful mask mandate on public transportation. The attorneys general argue that the mandate exceeds the authority of the CDC. The Biden administration continues to use a failed interpretation of a […]
A list of candidates that have filed for office in the upcoming August election
March 29th was the last day to file for the August 2nd Primary Election. Here is a list of candidates that have filed for office. There are no races in Grundy County. One candidate filed for each of the open positions. Incumbents filing include Presiding Commissioner Phillip Ray, Associate Circuit Court Judge Steve Hudson, Circuit […]
Missouri man pleads guilty to meth trafficking and an illegal firearm
A Missouri man who was arrested after he drove two victims of an accidental shooting to the hospital emergency room has pleaded guilty to his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and to illegally possessing firearms. Jason Ruben Breedlove, 40, of Independence, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Greg Kays on Monday, March 28, […]