Cole County Judge Jon Beetem (Screenshot courtesy KRCG-TV)

Judge orders state to immediately allow Missourians to enroll in expanded Medicaid

(Missouri Independent) – The Missouri Department of Social Services must allow newly eligible residents that qualify for benefits under voter-approved Medicaid expansion to enroll and cannot impose greater restrictions on them, a Cole County judge ruled Tuesday. Cole County Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetem sided with the plaintiffs who urged him to allow Medicaid expansion to take […]

Wolfner Library

Secretary of State announces Bicentennial-Day release of the State of Missouri Constitution in audiobook format

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, in commemoration of the two-hundredth anniversary of Missouri’s entry into the United States, has announced that the Constitution of the State of Missouri will be released in audiobook format on August 10, 2021. This 13-hour recording, produced by the Wolfner Talking Book and Braille Library, is the first audio version […]

Missouri seeks to boost prizes in local vaccine incentive program

(Missouri Independent) – Prizes awarded through a vaccine incentive program offered by local public health departments in Missouri may get boosted to $100-per-person under a new federal allowance. After previously rejecting Missouri’s proposal to exceed a $25 limit on prizes paid for with federal funding to incentivize immunizations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently […]

Desks in classroom of school or education or student

Missouri agency begins implementation of new law to regulate unlicensed boarding schools

(Missouri Independent) – Unlicensed youth residential facilities across Missouri are expected to submit materials notifying the state of their existence by mid-October, but background checks for facility staff required under a new law likely won’t be completed by that time. That’s because the Department of Social Services (DSS) is still working to make hires in […]

BTC Bank

BTC Bank announces the purchase of Home Exchange Bank

BTC Bank announces that it has signed an agreement to purchase Home Exchange Bank with locations in Jamesport, Gilman City, and Oregon, Missouri. Terms of the purchase provide for BTC Bank to acquire substantially all of the assets, deposits, and liabilities associated with Home Exchange Bank. The purchase is subject to regulatory and stockholder approval, […]

Brandon Gentile

Chillicothe teenager charged in connection with auto theft and stolen firearm

An 18-year-old has been charged following an investigation by the Chillicothe Police Department involving reports of a stolen vehicle and a firearm on August 3. Brandon Gage Gentile of Chillicothe faces felony charges of first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle; second-degree burglary; stealing a firearm, explosive weapon, or ammonium nitrate; attempted second-degree burglary; armed criminal […]