A registered nurse in southeast Missouri’s Cape Girardeau is the first employee at St. Francis Healthcare to receive the COVID vaccine. KFVS’ Jeff Cunningham reports hospital officials praise Alicia Caldwell’s dedication in the COVID unit. St. Francis Healthcare System serves more than 700,000 southeast Missourians, along with residents from four other states. It […]
Category: State News
Audio: Holiday travel? Not so fast says AAA.
For most Missourians, there’s no place like home for the holidays. Meredith Terpstra, with AAA, says with the pandemic still a concern, some 34-million fewer people will travel between December 23rd and January 3rd. The travel forecast is down 29-percent and it marks the first drop in year-end holiday travel since 2008, with […]
Missouri families face added pressure to meet basic needs
The ability to meet basic needs is out-of-reach for many Missouri families because of the pandemic. The challenges facing households with children are detailed in a new national report. This week, the Annie E. Casey Foundation released findings for all states, using weekly Census survey data on such topics as food insecurity and housing instability. One […]
FDA advises consumers not to drink Green Gorilla Root Juice
The FDA is advising consumers to not drink Green Gorilla Root Juice sold by Green Gorilla Root Juice, LLC in St. Louis, Missouri. The product contains Yohimbine, an ingredient that can be dangerous at the levels found in this product. Green Gorilla Root Juice is offered for sale online at greengorillarootjuice.com. Consumers are advised to […]
Audio: Hawley’s attempt to give $1,200 payments to Americans has been blocked
Wisconsin U.S. Senator Ron Johnson has blocked an effort co-sponsored by Missouri U.S. Senator Josh Hawley that would give 1,200-dollar direct stimulus payments to many Americans. Johnson’s move comes as lawmakers in Washington continue to work on another coronavirus stimulus package. On the Senate floor today, Hawley, a fellow Republican, says what he is proposing […]
JC Penney closing another 15 stores, with one in Missouri included in latest announcement
JC Penney is closing another 15 stores nationwide next spring, including one in southern Missouri. The department store chain’s website shows the West Plains location is shutting down. The company closed its stores for two months when COVID-19 first came on the scene. It then chose to permanently shutter about 150 stores and file for […]
Missouri’s next shipment of COVID-19 vaccine to be short thousands of doses
Missouri is getting fewer doses of the COVID-19 vaccine next week than expected. The second shipment was supposed to include enough doses to vaccinate about 64,000 health care workers. During a Capitol briefing in Jefferson City, state Health and Senior Services Department Director Randall Williams says the federal government is giving Missouri about 25% to […]
Missouri State Auditor releases citizen-requested audit of Raytown
Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway today released an audit of the City of Raytown, located in Jackson County. The audit was completed after citizens petitioned for a review of the city’s finances and operations. In response to the audit, the city has committed to making changes to address the findings. “Citizens requested this audit for […]
Man charged in Missouri with trafficking 7-pounds of Fentanyl
A man was charged in federal court with fentanyl trafficking after law enforcement officers found seven pounds of fentanyl in his backpack when he arrived at a Kansas City, Missouri, bus station. Daniel Bonilla, 26, of Fort Smith, Arkansas, was charged with possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute in a criminal complaint filed in […]
Missouri Public Service Commission investigates possibility of requiring 10-digit local dialing
The Missouri Public Service Commission has opened a case at the request of the Public Service Commission to assist staff regarding an order from the Federal Communications Commission requiring ten-digit local dialing in four of Missouri’s six area codes by July 15, 2022. The change to ten-digit local dialing is necessary to allow for the […]
Missouri 4-H’ers warm state with handmade blankets
Missouri 4-H’ers have been hard at work making blankets since the State 4-H Fashion Revue in October. Fifty 4-H’ers from 19 counties donated 72 handmade blankets to Project Linus as a result of a philanthropy challenge at the event. Project Linus is a national nonprofit that facilitates the donation of handmade blankets and afghans to […]
Ohio man indicted for traveling to Missouri to meet 12-year-old child for sex
An Ohio man was indicted by a federal grand jury for traveling to Missouri in an attempt to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a 12-year-old child. Timothy M. Zukoski, 34, of Southington, Ohio, was charged in a three-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo. The indictment replaces a criminal […]
Missouri mail carrier indicted for stealing mail and checks
A U.S. Postal Service mail carrier was indicted by a federal grand jury today for stealing mail from customers on his route and depositing their checks into his own bank account. Lane A. Snider, 21, Kansas City, Kansas, was charged in a 13-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo. Snider […]
Missouri WIC changes infant formula manufacturer beginning January 1, 2021
WIC, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children will be changing the brand of standard infant formulas available to participating infants effective January 1, 2021. The Missouri WIC program will change its standard infant formulas from Enfamil to Similac. WIC federal regulations require all state […]
Missouri State Auditor issues audit on payroll and personnel issues in Jackson County
Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway released a report on the Jackson County government’s handling of payroll and personnel. The audit, part of an independent review of county government finances, found issues with the allocation of different funds to pay salaries and with the handling of vehicle allowances. The report gave a rating of “fair.” “Our […]
Missouri Attorney General joins multistate lawsuit against Google for anticompetitive practices and deceptive online display advertising
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt joined a multistate coalition of 10 states in filing a lawsuit against Google for multiple alleged violations of federal and state antitrust laws, including anticompetitive conduct, exclusionary practices, and deceptive misrepresentations in connection with its role in the multibillion-dollar online display advertising industry. “In this lawsuit, we allege that Google […]
Governor Parson announces $10.1 million in additional A+ scholarship funding
Governor Mike Parson announced an additional $10.1 million for the A+ scholarship program, including $4.9 million in CARES Act funding and $5.2 million in supplemental funding to be proposed in the Governor’s recommended budget. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused more students to utilize the A+ program than originally anticipated in the state’s budget. As a […]
November job report shows further improvement in 2020
The Missouri labor market showed further improvement in November 2020. Employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 17,400 jobs over the month. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points from October 2020 to November 2020, and the civilian labor force increased more than 23,000. However, the labor market still showed substantial losses from […]
17 illicit massage businesses in Missouri shut down for alleged sex and human trafficking
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced an update to his office’s efforts to evict illicit massage businesses through the Hope Initiative. Since launching the initiative, 10 additional illicit massage businesses have either been evicted, are in the process of being evicted, or their eviction is likely. “Human trafficking is a global scourge that affects millions […]
First shipment of COVID vaccines arrive in Missouri
Governor Mike Parson announced that the first shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines have arrived in Missouri. The Food and Drug Administration issued an Emergency Use Authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Friday, December 11, confirming its safety and effectiveness. “Today is an exciting day for Missouri as we have received the first of many […]