(Missouri Independent) – On the final day of the 2021 legislative session in May, Missouri lawmakers passed a “law enforcement bill of rights” that gives officers special legal protections and closes files to police misconduct. When Gov. Mike Parson signed it into law in July, the bill of rights portion was largely overshadowed in press […]
Missouri non-farm payroll employment increased from July 2021 to August 2021, and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by two-tenths of a percentage point. Employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 7,300 jobs over the month, with job gains in both goods-producing and service-providing industries. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.0 percent in August 2021, […]
(Missouri Independent) – Work to bring a new contractor for prisoner health care services online in Missouri can continue, but the actual transition from Corizon, the current provider, won’t occur until at least early November, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green ordered Tuesday. Green issued a temporary restraining order blocking the state from canceling its […]
(Missouri Independent) – Despite increasing legal access to medical and recreational cannabis in states across the U.S., veterans face unfair treatment and stigmatization because the U.S. refuses to recognize marijuana as a viable treatment option. While the VA has embraced the federally illegal status of the drug, agency policy does not allow discrimination against veterans […]
(Missouri Independent) – A trial will be held in early November to determine whether a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Centene will take over the contract for prison health care in the Missouri Department of Corrections. In a hearing Thursday, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green set Nov. 3 as the first day in the trial where current […]
(Missouri Independent) – Kevin Strickland was hopeful Thursday was going to be his first step towards freedom after 40 years in prison. A new law that went into effect on Aug. 28 gave Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker a legal avenue to free Strickland, who she says is innocent and wrongly incarcerated. But opposition […]
(Missouri Independent) – Calls from tenants seeking emergency rental assistance are escalating in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that blocked a national eviction moratorium. The Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) has 60 application processors working to distribute hundreds of millions in federal aid and has been fielding about 500 calls and responding to […]
(Missouri Independent) – The dispute over the $1.4 billion contract to provide prisoner health care in Missouri is moving into the courts. Corizon Health, which has held the Department of Corrections contract since 1992, filed a lawsuit Monday in Cole County alleging that unfair treatment and improper scoring gave the contract to Centurion Health, a Virginia subsidiary of […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and the Texas Attorney General’s Office have prevailed over the Biden Administration for a 3rd time in their lawsuit over the “Remain in Mexico” policy as the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Missouri and Texas in a 6-3 denial of the Department of Justice’s appeal for an emergency stay. […]
On August 23, 2021, The Empire District Gas Company (d/b/a “Liberty”) filed a request with the Missouri Public Service Commission to adjust natural gas base rates. The new rates would take effect in 2022 and reflect Liberty’s efforts to maintain a safe, reliable natural gas system, enhance the customer experience, and expand support for limited-income […]
Missouri non-farm payroll employment increased from June 2021 to July 2021, and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by a tenth of a percentage point. Employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 15,000 jobs over the month, with job gains in both goods-producing and service-providing industries. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.2 percent in July […]
Trenton’s Utility Committee got the first look Tuesday evening at a preliminary engineering report regarding proposed improvements and probable costs for major improvements at the 55-year-old water treatment plant. Committee members also recommended bids be accepted for lime sludge removal and tree trimming services. Each of the three recommendations will advance to a meeting of […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that his office, along with the Texas Attorney General’s Office have prevailed in their lawsuit against the Biden Administration over President Biden’s cancellation of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), or “Remain in Mexico” policy. A federal court in northern Texas, where the case was filed, issued a nationwide permanent […]
The Princeton R-5 Board of Education approved the proposed tax rate on Monday evening. The total tax rate is $5.1757 per $100 of assessed value. That includes $4.0425 for incidental, 95.32 cents for debt service, and 18 cents for capital projects. This year’s total tax rate is 1.08 cents more than last year’s. The board […]
(Missouri Independent) – Many of the staff and residents in Shunda Whitfield’s St. Louis County nursing home were sick before they even realized what was going on. It was April 2020, and masks weren’t yet standard practice. Little was known about COVID before it swept through nursing homes, and as a certified nursing assistant, Whitfield […]
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s Securities Division issued a final cease and desist order against Monarch Capital Investment Fund, LLC, and top executive Timothy Patrick Peabody after several investors in Missouri were defrauded. Missouri Commissioner of Securities David Minnick found that between April 2015 and October 2016, Peabody, “engaged in fraudulent or deceitful acts and […]
A Missouri legislator is scheduled to go on trial soon in two alleged fraud schemes. Nixa State Representative Tricia Derges is scheduled to go on trial beginning August 16 for 23 felony counts. Last March, a federal grand jury indictment alleges Derges fraudulently received about $300,000 in federal coronavirus aid for nonprofit medical […]
A Texas man pleaded guilty in federal court to defrauding two Kansas City-area brothers who have also been convicted in the investment fraud scheme. Duc Nguyen, also known as “Doug,” 57, of Houston, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to one count of wire fraud. By pleading guilty, Nguyen admitted that he engaged […]
State Auditor Nicole Galloway released her second report on unemployment benefits received by Missourians through COVID-19 response funding from the federal government. The report shows that, through April 2021, more than 600,000 Missouri citizens received more than $4.9 billion in benefits made available under several programs. Several federal laws enacted and executive actions taken in […]
A California-licensed homeopathic doctor was arrested for her alleged scheme to sell homeoprophylaxis (the controversial use of homeopathy as a preventive against serious infectious diseases) immunization pellets and to falsify COVID-19 vaccination cards by making it appear that customers had received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized Moderna vaccine. Juli A. Mazi, 41, of […]
