Laredo R-7 School

Laredo Board of Education accepts health insurance bid; field trips approved for kindergarten through eighth grade

The Laredo R-7 Board of Education on March 7th took action on health insurance for 2022-2023. Ozarks School Benefits Association was accepted. The school will pay $540 plus vision and life insurance. Secretary Robin Griswold reports employees can choose between seven different plans, including HSAs and PPOs. Some of the plans cost more than $540. […]

Swan Lake Wildlife Refuge

Public comments sought on Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge headquarters and visitor facility relocation

A draft Environmental Assessment for Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Sumner, Missouri is available for public review on March 4, 2022.  The comment period will extend until April 4, 2022.  The Environmental Assessment provides an environmental analysis and cumulative impacts of alternatives for the new headquarters office at Swan Lake NWR.  During the floods […]

Audit News Graphic

Missouri State Auditor gives Clay County Commission’s office rating of “Poor”; details how commissioners obstructed audit process

Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway today issued her office’s audit of the Clay County Commission, which was initiated by a citizen petition in 2018. The report follows repeated but ultimately unsuccessful efforts by former county commissioners to impede the completion of the audit. The report, which gave a rating of “poor” – the lowest possible […]

North Central Missouri College Website V2 (NCMC)

North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees hear reports, work continues on former US Bank building

Multiple reports were given at the North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees meeting February 22nd. Vice President of Student Affairs Doctor Kristen Alley reported NCMC’s graduation rate is 42%, and the withdrawal rate is 39%. NCMC is the only community college in the state to have a higher graduation rate than a withdrawal rate. […]

Life in Prison News Graphic

Man sentenced to life in prison for creating child sexual abuse material of 20 victims, ranging in age from infant to nine years old

A man was sentenced to life in prison for engaging in a child exploitation enterprise, creating child sexual abuse material (CSAM) of 20 victims whose ages ranged from infancy to nine years old, obtaining custody of a minor for purposes of producing CSAM, and possessing CSAM. Arlan Wesley Harrell, 27, of Hawthorne, California pleaded guilty […]

American Farm Bureau Federation president Zippy Duvall spoke at the organization’s 2022 annual convention in Atlanta, Georgia (photo provided by American Farm Bureau Federation)

American Farm Bureau Federation claims it’s the ‘voice of agriculture,’ Others beg to differ

(Missouri Independent) – This story was originally published as a collaboration between Investigate Midwest and Watchdog Writers Group. The American Farm Bureau Federation calls itself the “voice of agriculture,” a slogan it trademarked in 2007. But as the divide between agribusiness and small farmers has grown in recent decades, a unified voice of agriculture has become harder to […]