(Missouri Independent) – Most of the enormous surplus accumulating in Missouri’s general revenue fund will be off-limits to members of the House Budget Committee when it prepares the fiscal year 2023 spending plan for floor debate. Gov. Mike Parson’s $47.3 billion budget proposal projects a $1.6 billion general revenue surplus at the end of June 2023. […]
Tag: administration
Expanded rural broadband likely a focus of federal farm bill
(Missouri Independent) – The coronavirus pandemic highlighted the need for federal assistance to develop high-speed internet connectivity in all parts of the country, members of a U.S. House subcommittee agreed this week as they reviewed provisions that are likely to be included in the next farm bill. “I represent a largely rural district in north-central, […]
Audio: Transportation Security Administration extends mask mandate
Missouri travelers have to continue wearing face coverings on airplanes, buses, and trains for at least another month. The TSA is extending the federal mask mandate through April 18th. It was set to expire next Friday. The one-month extension was based on a CDC recommendation. Most mask mandates have ended as COVID numbers […]
U.S. Senate Republicans attack Biden on energy costs, regulations after new inflation report
(Missouri Independent) – Nebraska’s Deb Fischer and fellow U.S. Senate Republicans slammed President Joe Biden on Thursday for the sharp rise in consumer prices, calling for policy shifts to increase U.S. energy supply, roll back regulations and curb spending. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday the consumer price index rose nearly 8% in February over the […]
North Central Missouri College Foundation announces honorees for the Distinguished Alumni Class of 2021
North Central Missouri College Foundation announces the Distinguished Alumni Class for 2021, John Hunolt, Janet (Boyd) Lake and Nick Sottler. Honorees will be recognized during the Pirates Ball on March 26, 2022, at the Ketcham Community Center on the campus of North Central Missouri College. The Pirates Ball is to honor distinguished alumni, Voyage Fund […]
Congress reaches deal on massive spending package with billions for COVID aid, Ukraine
(Missouri Independent) – Democrats and Republicans forged an agreement early Wednesday on a spending package that will fund the government for the next eight months, as well as provide billions in emergency funding for COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine. The announcement means Congress should be able to avert a government shutdown when a spending […]
House Republicans renew calls for the Biden administration to drop “Waters of the United States” expansion
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-MO), Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Ranking Member David Rouzer (R-NC), and Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (R-WA) are leading 201 House Republicans in renewing calls for the Biden administration to drop its plan to expand the scope of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS). House […]
Trenton Board of Education approves 2022-2023 salary schedule which sets base pay at $36,000
The Trenton R-9 Board of Education on March 8th approved, on a vote of five to one, salary schedules for the 2022-2023 school year. Approval was given after hearing a proposal from Charley Crimi with the Salary and Welfare Committee and a recommendation from Superintendent Mike Stegman. The certified salary schedule for next school year […]
Corn and soybean groups sue EPA over revised greenhouse gas emissions standards
Several state corn and soybean groups are suing the EPA over its revised greenhouse gas emissions standards that would focus clean energy efforts on electric vehicles. The groups’ petitions to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia argue the rule change would be detrimental to the biofuel sector by only allowing electric […]
California man pleads guilty to smuggling four kilos of meth aboard bus stopping in Missouri
A Desert Hot Springs, California, man pleaded guilty in federal court to smuggling more than four kilograms of methamphetamine from Los Angeles, Calif., to Indianapolis, Indiana aboard a bus traveling through Kansas City, Missouri. Gary A. Aquerrebere, 63, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent […]
Parson digs in against evidence absolving reporter he accused of being a ‘hacker’
(Missouri Independent) – Gov. Mike Parson on Thursday once again refused to accept the conclusions of an investigation by the highway patrol and Cole County prosecutor surrounding a reporter who uncovered a security flaw in a state website. Speaking to a gathering of reporters and editors in the governor’s mansion for Missouri Press Association Day, […]
White House wants $10 billion for Ukraine aid, $22.5 billion for more COVID help
(Missouri Independent) – The Biden administration is asking Congress to provide $10 billion in assistance to Ukraine and $22.5 billion in COVID-19 funding on a fast timeline — within the next week. White House acting budget director Shalanda Young wrote in a letter to lawmakers that this likely won’t be the last emergency funding request for either […]
Missouri man sentenced to 12 years in prison, without parole, for meth trafficking
A Missouri man was sentenced in federal court for distributing more than a kilogram of methamphetamine. William Austin Lee Crabtree, 30, of Russellville, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 12 years in federal prison without parole. On Aug. 24, 2021, Crabtree pleaded guilty to one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent […]
Bill that would decriminalize needle exchange programs passes Missouri Senate committee
(Missouri Independent) – A bill that would decriminalize needle exchange programs that aim to reduce the spread of infectious diseases was voted out of the Senate General Laws Committee Tuesday. Needle exchange programs allow drug users to swap out used syringes with clean, new ones in an effort to decrease the chances of contracting or […]
North Central Missouri College Foundation Scholarship application deadline is April 1
North Central Missouri College Foundation announces scholarship application deadline of 4:30 pm on April 1st for the 2022-2023 academic year. The 2022-2023 NCMC Foundation scholarship application can be found on the NCMC website at www.ncmissouri.edu/foundation/. All students planning to attend NCMC in the fall as a full-time student are strongly encouraged to apply. “One application […]
Biden OKs release of 30 million barrels of oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve
(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden authorized on Tuesday the release of 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, part of an international boost to the global oil supply that has been disrupted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The reserve is a complex of four sites with deep underground storage caverns in salt […]
Biden in State of the Union urges ‘unmistakable’ support for democracy in Ukraine
(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden used his first State of the Union address on Tuesday night to reassert America as a leading global voice for democracy and condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin for starting an “unprovoked” war in Ukraine. “Throughout our history, we’ve learned this lesson – when dictators do not pay a price […]
Missouri receives $42.2 million federal grant through the NTIA’s Broadband Infrastructure Program
The Department of Economic Development (DED) announced today that Missouri has been awarded a $42.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for broadband expansion. The funds received through the NTIA’s Broadband Infrastructure Program will be used for projects benefiting more than 13,000 households in 12 Missouri counties: […]