(Missouri Independent) – The Missouri House gave first-round approval Tuesday to a package of budget bills spending $46.2 billion, with Republicans defeating repeated Democratic efforts to tap the state’s record surplus. The budget includes boosts to higher education funding, both for institutions and scholarships, as well as funding one of last year’s most controversial issues, Medicaid […]
(Missouri Independent) – A Missouri task force assigned with overseeing the creation of a statewide prescription drug monitoring program has hired a former state health department veteran to serve as the program’s executive director. Dean Linneman, the former director of the Department of Health and Senior Services Division of Regulation and Licensure, was hired on […]
(Missouri Independent) – The Missouri Senate is poised to take up a long-running effort to stymie the Grain Belt Express, a massive transmission line meant to carry wind energy from southwest Kansas across three states. The $2 billion project would carry 4,000 megawatts of energy, dropping some off in Missouri before ending at the Illinois-Indiana […]
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) went to the Senate Floor on Tuesday to call for unanimous consent to pass his “Protect Act of 2022” which protects children from sexual exploitation by enhancing the penalties for possessing child pornography and preventing judges from sentencing offenders below federal guidelines. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) objected and blocked the […]
Three individuals were elected to the Trenton R-9 Board of Education, three for the Grundy County Health Department board, and three members of the Trenton City Council won re-election with a former councilman returning to a council seat. Each of the winners led from start to finish, meaning from the absentee ballots through the final […]
(Missouri Independent) – In just two weeks since allegations of domestic violence surfaced, Eric Greitens’ campaign for the U.S. Senate has been under siege from fellow Republicans urging him to drop out of the race. With one notable exception. The state party, which in recent years has denounced several candidates running under the GOP banner for […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry are suing the Biden Administration for rescinding the public health policy, Title 42, during the worst border crisis in decades. The revocation will result in an unprecedented crisis at the United States southern border that will have a devastating […]
Smithville Lake currently has a special crappie regulation that allows anglers to keep 30 crappies but no more than 15 over nine inches long. The change was made in 2019 and allows anglers to harvest more undersized black crappie while protecting the white crappie numbers. White crappie generally grows to a larger and more desirable […]
(Missouri Independent) – Despite facing competition from the state health department, the nonprofit Missouri Family Health Council Inc. will continue to administer federal Title X family planning funds. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded more than $250 million in Title X funding this week, including $5.3 million to Missouri. That money helps pay […]
(Missouri Independent) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday that the government will terminate a Trump-era policy that prevented migrants from claiming asylum during a health crisis, including the coronavirus pandemic. The policy will end on May 23, the CDC wrote in its notice. “There is no longer a serious danger that the […]
The former city clerk of Greenville, Pam Birmingham, was sentenced on Thursday to 10 years in prison and ordered to repay $168,957 to the city after being convicted on a charge of receiving stolen property. A 2018 audit by State Auditor Nicole Galloway found improperly cashed checks, missing cash, and improper payroll and other payments during […]
Springfield, Missouri-based nonprofit Preferred Family Healthcare will pay more than $8 million in forfeiture and restitution to the federal government and the state of Arkansas under the terms of a non-prosecution agreement announced, which acknowledges the criminal conduct of its former officers and employees. “Preferred Family Healthcare must relinquish the illegal profits it garnered from […]
Area residents will be recognized at a ceremony in May for earning a National Girl Scout award. Libby Hall of Trenton and Cynthia McWilliams of Carrollton will receive the award, which recognizes an individual’s service in Girl Scout leadership. Service Unit 820 Manager Abigail Looney says Hall and McWilliams have nurtured the Girl Scout program […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri’s record general revenue surplus was off-limits for spending plans as the House Budget Committee worked Thursday, defeating Democratic efforts to give boost money for public schools and state colleges. The only significant addition to education budgets approved by the committee was to restart the teacher Career Ladder program, providing $21 million to give experienced […]
A Missouri man was sentenced in federal court after a law enforcement officer noticed child pornography on his cell phone during a traffic stop. Justin Barton, 34, of Lebanon, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 15 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Barton to spend the rest […]
Additional charges have been filed against a teacher and coach for the Braymer C-4 School District who was originally charged last week after allegedly sending nude photos and videos to students. Additional charges for 29-year-old Zachary Wayman Douglas of Utica include four felony counts of first-degree sexual abuse, two felony counts of second-degree statutory sodomy, […]
The Trenton Middle School Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America will hide Easter eggs in yards as a fundraiser for the group’s general fund. FCCLA members will hide eggs for children on April 16th for Egg My Yard. Eighth-grade student Ali Cox reports there are four egg packages community members can purchase. […]
Details have been released regarding a reported incident at the Trenton High School/Middle School campus on March 30th. The Trenton R-9 School District reports it received information concerning the sighting of a suspicious package at or near THS in the afternoon. The Trenton Police Department reports the communication center received a call about the suspicious […]
Governor Mike Parson announced an end to the COVID-19 crisis in Missouri and that the state will be shifting to an endemic phase of the pandemic on Friday, April 1, 2022. A whole-of-government COVID-19 emergency response was taken for more than two years, an effort that responded to the needs of all Missourians during the […]
The Trenton R-9 School District announced on Wednesday afternoon that, due to an incident at the Trenton High School/Middle School campus, students were evacuated to the Rock Barn out of caution. High school and middle school car riders could be picked up at the Rock Barn by a parent, guardian, or documented emergency contact. Bus […]
