(Missouri Independent) – The Missouri House gave first-round approval Wednesday to a bill that would allow betting on major college and professional sports. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Dan Houx, R-Warrensburg, is the proposal preferred by the casinos and major sports teams, who would all get a piece of the action. A major part of the […]
Category: State News
Former federal contract employee charged with child pornography
A former Kansas City, Missouri, man has been charged in federal court after child pornography was found on the cell phone he carried into a secure area at the U.S. Department of Energy national security campus in Kansas City, Mo. Shaun Walker, 39, currently a resident of Springfield, Mo., was charged in a criminal complaint […]
Missouri jobs report shows unemployment drops to 3.7% in February
Missouri non-farm payroll employment increased from January 2022 to February 2022, and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by one-tenth of a percentage point. Employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 9,200 jobs over the month, with job gains in both goods-producing and service-providing industries. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.7 percent in February 2022, […]
No MOre Trash! Seeks volunteers to help clean up Missouri roadways
As snow and ice fade to an unpleasant memory, attention turns to trash that has accumulated on roadsides during the winter months. The Missouri Department of Transportation would like to invite all who use Missouri roads to join us in doing some spring cleaning throughout April. MoDOT spends about $6 million annually to remove litter […]
Audio: Bill would add oversight on money flow from medical pot program to Veterans Commission
The House Veterans Committee heard from bill sponsor Jason Chipman, a Republican from Steelville in southeastern Missouri. He wants to ask voters to add extra reporting on the tax revenue that comes from legal medical cannabis after the cannabis program pays its bills. The rest of the tax revenue is supposed to go to the […]
Audio: Missouri House committee removes controversial provisions from abortion bill
The Missouri House Committee on Government Oversight has voted in favor of legislation that would criminalize the importing, distributing, or administering of abortion-inducing drugs. Committee chair, state Representative Jered Taylor of Nixa, explains two key provisions were removed from the bill. A fetus cannot survive an ectopic pregnancy and it can put the […]
Video: Senator Hawley questions Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson over record of lenient sentencing for pedophiles
During the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination for U.S. Supreme Court today, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) focused his questioning on the alarming trend of lenient sentencing in child pornography cases that he first mentioned in a tweet thread last week and his opening comments yesterday. During his time, Sen. Hawley focused on Judge […]
Ketanji Brown Jackson defends her record under grilling from U.S. Senate Republicans
(Missouri Independent) – Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday sharpened their criticisms of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, probing her work as a public defender on behalf of terrorism suspects, the judicial sentences she has handed down for child pornography offenses, and her views of critical race theory. Jackson defended her […]
New Eric Greitens abuse allegations reignite GOP fears of losing Missouri Senate seat
(Missouri Independent) – The prospect of Eric Greitens capturing the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate in Missouri was already terrifying to his party’s leaders. He had been forced out of the governor’s office in 2018, resigning to settle felony charges and avoid impeachment by a Republican legislative supermajority. Yet despite all that, he’s consistently led […]
Woman from Missouri charged with meth trafficking
A Missouri, woman was charged in federal court with possessing methamphetamine to distribute. Connie M. Gonzales, 51, of Dixon, was charged in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Springfield, Mo., with one count of possessing methamphetamine to distribute. According to an affidavit filed in support of today’s federal criminal complaint, law […]
Republicans push work requirements for coverage under Missouri Medicaid expansion
(Missouri Independent) – When the Good Samaritan Care Clinic opened in 2006 in Mountain View, only about 5% of the free clinic’s clients were eligible for Medicaid. When it closed late last year, that number had risen to 70%, Dr. John Roberts, one of the clinic’s founders, told the Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday. Medicaid […]
Sheena Greitens stands by allegations of abuse against her ex-husband
(Missouri Independent) – Former Missouri First Lady Sheena Greitens said Tuesday that she stands by her allegations against her ex-husband of physically abusing her and their children and denies any insinuation that her motivations are political. Greitens released a written statement Tuesday after her ex-husband — former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens — alleged she had […]
Missouri State Auditor launches audit of Dent County
State Auditor Nicole Galloway announced that her office has begun a regularly scheduled audit of Dent County, located in south-central Missouri. The county received a rating of “good” from the most recent state audit, issued in July 2019. “Audits can help local officials take steps to make government more efficient and effective for taxpayers,” Auditor […]
Former Missouri police officer sentenced to 1 year and 1 day in prison on multiple counts of fraud
United States District Court Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk sentenced former St. Louis Metropolitan Police Officer Brad Stephens to one year and one day in federal prison for 3 counts of Mail Fraud by obtaining taxpayer money from the Tower Grove South Concerned Citizen Special Business District (“Tower Grove South”) by means of material false representations. […]
Missouri man pleads guilty to possession of illegal firearms
A Missouri man pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally possessing several firearms. Fredrick Lee Mixon, Jr., 47, of Columbia, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Willie J. Epps, Jr., to one count of being a felon in possession of firearms. By pleading guilty, Mixon admitted that he was in possession of a Smith & […]
Audio: Missouri Senator Josh Hawley tells Supreme Court nominee of his concerns
Before her opening statement Monday, Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson heard remarks from U.S. Senators including Josh Hawley of Missouri. After a Twitter barrage of criticism last week, Senator Hawley voiced his opinion Monday about what he claims is evidence of Judge Jackson not being tough enough on sex offenders. He cited seven cases […]
Audio: Missouri bill would tie college funding to graduate earnings
A bill in the Missouri Legislature would tie state funding for public universities and colleges to student earnings after enrollment. The University Rewarding Workforce Readiness Act would give more money to schools that deliver higher earnings for their graduates. Missouri’s nine universities and 13 community colleges would receive a performance score based on […]
Audio: Missouri bill would create grant program to incentivize K-12 learning based on mastery of skills
Missouri’s current K-12 education system goes by chronological age and time in class. State Representative Doug Richey, a Republican from western Missouri’s Excelsior Springs, wants to award grants to eligible school districts to provide competency-based learning. This type of learning is based on students showing that they have learned the knowledge they are expected to […]
Audio: Missouri unemployment benefits could be on the chopping block
The Missouri Senate debated a bill Monday night that could cut unemployment benefits from 20 to 8 weeks if Missouri’s average jobless rate is at or below 3.5-percent. State Senator Mike Bernskoetter, a Republican from Jefferson City, says his bill aims to put more people back to work while so many jobs are open. State […]