Governor Mike Parson announced that Missouri’s Electoral College members will meet on Monday, December 14 at 2 p.m. at the State Capitol to cast their votes for President and Vice President of the United States. The meeting and subsequent vote of the electors provide the official assignment of Missouri’s 10 electoral votes to the candidates […]
Category: State News
Missouri Department of Corrections implements technology to cut COVID-19 infection rate within prisons
Implementation of three technological innovations in the Missouri Department of Corrections aims to cut COVID-19 infection rates in Missouri state prisons and other facilities. These strategies: Kill the virus in the air Kill the virus on surfaces Detect the virus in wastewater The department now has ionization generators — air purifying devices that destroy 99.4% […]
Audio: Northern Missouri Senator proposes to limit pay for Missouri’s K-12 public school superintendents
State Senator Cindy O’Laughlin of northern Missouri’s Shelbina wants to limit pay for Missouri’s K-12 public school superintendents. Under a bill she has pre-filed, total compensation could not exceed 3.5 times the average total compensation provided to all certified, full-time teachers employed by the district. Missouri has about 551 public and charter schools. The Missouri […]
Audio: Missouri Senator emphasizes rural broadband during address to Missouri Farm Bureau
Missouri’s senior senator says he’s working to ensure that the Show-Me State is getting a healthy share of federal broadband funding. Republican Roy Blunt addressed Missouri Farm Bureau members during their annual meeting this weekend, saying the Re-Connect program has invested 200-million dollars in Missouri, which is 20 percent of all support nationwide. […]
Audio: Missouri Senator to pre-file a Bill he calls the ‘last piece to end the AIDS epidemic’
Current Missouri law requires preventative HIV medication to be prescribed by a doctor. Newly-elected Kansas City State Senator Greg Razer plans to pre-file a Bill that would allow pharmacists to give an emergency dose over the counter to those exposed to the virus. Razer calls the bill the last piece to end the AIDS epidemic. […]
Audio: Missouri Attorney General announces settlement with mortgage servicer Nationstar
Missouri’s Attorney General and 50 other attorneys general have reached an 86-million dollar settlement with the nation’s fourth-largest mortgage servicer. Schmitt says the consent judgment resolves allegations that Nationstar violated consumer protection laws during its servicing of mortgage loans. Schmitt says the agreement will provide 850-thousand dollars in relief, for more than 800 […]
Audio: Judge says Missouri Secretary of State unconstitutionally delayed group’s effort to overturn abortion law
A Cole County judge says Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft unconstitutionally delayed a group’s effort to overturn an abortion law. Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetum’s ruling says Ashcroft used an unconstitutional set of laws to delay the collection of referendum signatures attempting to overturn new abortion regulations. The ACLU and another group […]
Audio: New White House Coronavirus task force report shows COVID-19 risk is at ‘historic high’
A new White House Coronavirus Task Force report says the COVID-19 risk is at a historic high. The latest report, dated November 29, says “America is in a dangerous place” due to the current, extremely high COVID-19 baseline and limited hospital capacity. It says a further post-Thanksgiving surge will compromise COVID patient care […]
Audio: Missouri’s U.S. House members vote along party lines to decriminalize marijuana
The Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives has voted largely along party lines in favor of decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level. Missouri’s Democratic members voted in support and Republicans voted against the plan. GOP Congresswoman Ann Wagner did not vote on the measure. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, or MORE Act, would remove […]
Missouri State Auditor issues report on Clay County Collector as part of citizen-initiated audit
State Auditor Nicole Galloway released an audit of the Clay County Collector’s office. The report, which gave an overall rating of “good,” is the fourth released as part of an ongoing audit of Clay County that was initiated through a citizen petition. Previously released audits of the County Clerk, Recorder, and Public Administrator gave the […]
Nine Missouri state parks to temporarily close for managed deer hunts
To safely and effectively manage the deer population in some state parks, managed deer hunts are held in a coordinated effort between the Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ Division of State Parks and the Missouri Department of Conservation. The following parks may be temporarily closed on the specified dates listed below. Bennett Spring State Park […]
Medical marijuana subpoena may have been connected to Independence, Missouri FBI probe
(Missouri Independent) – The head of Missouri’s medical marijuana program testified under oath that a grand jury subpoena his agency received late last year was likely connected to an FBI investigation in Independence. The revelation by Lyndall Fraker, director of medical marijuana regulation at the Missouri Department of Health and Seniors Services, is the first […]
Audio: Missouri prepares to launch new program to help rural hospitals with covid struggles
On Tuesday, Missouri is launching a program focused on helping rural hospitals with their problems of limited staffing, bed capacity, and equipment during the pandemic. In southwest Missouri’s Appleton City, many low-income families are waiting for care. Jamie O’Farrell tells Springfield television station KOLR she treats patients at Ellett Memorial Hospital’s clinic. Through […]
Audio: New data shows 57% of Missouri K-12 students have access to school-based healthcare
New statewide data says 57% of Missouri’s more than 900,0000 K-12 public school students have access to at least one school-based health care service. The Show-Me School-Based Health Alliance of Missouri conducted the report about services in schools like mental and behavioral support, physical health services, primary care, telehealth, to oral and vision care. Rachel […]
Audio: $76 Million in to be deployed to Missouri’s K-12 schools, once Governor signs supplemental budget
About $76 million in federal money will be heading to Missouri’s k-12 schools, once Governor Mike Parson signs the supplemental budget bill. House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, says the $1.27 billion supplemental budget includes $75.6 million for school nutrition services. “i.e., paying for meals in k-12 education,” Smith says. “So this […]
Missouri’s new Cold Case Unit has filed its first charges in 1986 murder case
The new cold case unit in Missouri has already charged its first murder case. The Missouri Attorney General’s Cold Case Unit will take a fresh look at cold cases across the state and work to investigate and charge those cases. “Since entering office, I’ve made it one of my missions to prosecute the state’s […]
Audio: All healthcare, long-term care residents and staff in Missouri should begin receiving vaccinations this month
Missouri’s state health department chief says the state should be able to begin vaccinating this month all hospital and long-term care staff and residents against COVID-19. Dr. Randall Williams says the state is expected to get enough doses this month to begin vaccinating all of Missouri’s roughly 340,000 healthcare workers and long-term care […]
Audio: Two people face criminal charges after malnourishment of 6 year old girl
Two people accused in a Wright County child abuse investigation in southern Missouri now face criminal charges. Twenty-eight-year-old LaTisha Cantrell, and 27-year-old Joey Moore, of Mountain Grove, are accused of the malnourishment of a six-year-old girl. The girl required hospitalization in St. Louis in August 2020 due to her health condition and weighed […]
Audio: Convicted Missouri killer Richard Davis, once subject of massive national manhunt, dies in hospital
A high-profile Missouri prisoner who was waiting for an execution date has died, from apparent natural causes. The Missouri Department of Corrections says 56-year-old Richard Davis died of natural causes this week, at a hospital. Davis was sentenced to death in 2007 for the separate gruesome killings of Marsha Spicer and Michelle Huff […]