(Missouri Independent) – A federal appeals court last week decided to allow the Biden administration to keep in place a temporary two-year rule that restricts asylum at the U.S. border, while the legal challenges to a lower court’s ruling play out. The decision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals aids the Biden administration, […]
(Missouri Independent) – The top priority of many Missouri parents and educators is school safety, according to a survey presented at the latest State Board of Education meeting. But statewide safety improvements for schools didn’t garner much traction during the legislative session that ended in May, with most proposals dying without ever making it to the full […]
A woman who worked for a pet food company in Montgomery City, Missouri on Friday admitted fraudulently obtaining pain pills meant for animals. Mackenzie Noel Deeker, 39, of Montgomery County, Missouri, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk to a felony count of acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, […]
A second man involved in a drug robbery conspiracy that resulted in the fatal shooting of three people in 2021 pleaded guilty Friday to federal drug and gun charges. Demorion Little, 24, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk to one felony marijuana distribution conspiracy count and one count of aiding […]
U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Friday sentenced a man from St. Louis County, Missouri who impregnated a minor and sexually abused her when she was in foster care to 27 years in prison. Edward L. Wiseman, 43, sexually abused a minor for multiple years and impregnated her when she was 14. After […]
The owner of two jewelry stores in the Independence Center Mall in Independence, Mo., pleaded guilty in federal court to evading federal reporting requirements for cash transactions. Junaid “Jay” Sahibzada, 37, of Lenexa, Kan., waived his right to an indictment and pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips to a federal information that […]
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s securities division announced that Kansas resident MacKenzie S.C. Hoambrecker and two Missouri-registered entities, H & Z Enterprises HI, LLC and H & Z Cultivation, LLC, have settled charges that they misrepresented and omitted material information in the course of raising capital from investors. The consent order, signed on June 15, […]
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) has published A Multi Year Look at Maternal Mortality in Missouri: 2018-2020 Annual Report on behalf of the state’s Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review (PAMR) Board. The report is an aggregate of three years’ worth of work of the PAMR and is based upon the most recent data available. […]
The United States Attorney’s Office announced that Jammie Renfro, 35, of Kennett, Missouri, was sentenced Thursday to 130 months in federal prison for the offenses of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and distribution of methamphetamine. Renfro appeared for his sentencing hearing today before United States District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. at the federal courthouse in […]
U.S. District Court Stephen R. Clark on Thursday sentenced a man from St. Louis, Missouri who repeatedly harassed and threatened to rape five women to 71 months in prison. After his release from prison, Robert D. Merkle, 54, will be on supervised release for three years, during which he will be barred from using or […]
A Missouri man was sentenced in federal court for illegally possessing the firearm used in the fatal shooting of an off-duty Kansas City, Mo., firefighter. Ja’Von L. Taylor, 24, Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to seven years in federal prison without parole. On March 8, 2023, Taylor pleaded guilty […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri has begun checking the eligibility of everyone on its Medicaid rolls — a review process that was paused for three years because of pandemic-era federal protections. Many advocates hope to continue to get the word out about how to navigate what is, for many, an unfamiliar process, will help those who are eligible […]
The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) has released an independent report outlining recommendations to enhance safety at passive rail crossings in the state. The report focuses on the three rail lines that carry passenger rail, a response to the tragic Amtrak crash near Mendon, Missouri, on June 27, 2022, which claimed four lives. The new […]
Construction workers are more likely to die by suicide or of a drug overdose than workers in almost any other field, and a St. Louis-based peer support system and hotline wants to change it. According to the American Addiction Centers, those who work in construction have nearly twice the rate of substance use disorders as the national […]
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced that his office filed additional charges against Kenneth Lee Simpson, 35, of St. Louis County, in connection with the shooting and killing of Hermann Detective Sergeant Mason Griffith and the shooting of Hermann Officer Adam Sullentrup earlier this year. “My primary focus will always be to protect the people […]
A man from St. Louis County, Missouri on Wednesday admitted fraudulently applying for and receiving a $149,900 pandemic loan. Cecil Jones, 41, pleaded guilty to unlawful transfer of an identification document and admitted submitting a fraudulent application for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan from the Small Business Administration. The July 25, 2020, online application contained […]
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey sentenced the leader of a large-scale, long-term St. Louis fentanyl trafficking ring to 15 years in prison. Jamore Clark, 40, of unincorporated St. Louis County, admitted in a guilty plea in January that he had been caught with over 800 grams of fentanyl on March 6, 2020, […]
A Missouri man with a history of child sex crimes was sentenced in federal court for making plans to coerce the fictional child of an undercover federal agent to engage in illegal sexual activity. Jarrett Lee Vann, 49, of El Dorado Springs, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips to 35 years […]
A Missouri man who was arrested after he drove two victims of an accidental shooting to the hospital emergency room was sentenced in federal court for his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and for illegally possessing firearms. Jason Ruben Breedlove, 42, of Independence, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 15 […]
(Missouri Independent) – The ACLU of Missouri is suing the Platte County School District for banning transgender students from using restrooms and locker rooms corresponding to their gender identity. The lawsuit, filed Monday in Platte County Circuit Court, says the district’s policy discriminates on the basis of sex, transgender status and disability — violating the Missouri Human […]
