A Missouri, man who caused an accident while fleeing from a police helicopter, then ran from police officers through the backyards of a residential neighborhood before being apprehended, was charged in federal court with illegally possessing firearms. Jonathon M. Pentlin, 24, of Belton, was charged with one count of being a felon in possession of […]
Tag: attempt
Audio: GOP Party moves to block lawmaker’s attempt to run for office
The Missouri Republican Party has refused to take a required filing fee from a southwest Missouri lawmaker attempting to run for office. Charlie Dalton, with the Missouri Republican Party, confirmed the move to block Representative Tricia Derges from running for office this year. Derges, of Nixa, has been indicted on federal Medicaid fraud […]
Missouri Senate passes $4.6B spending bill with pay raises, federal school funds
(Missouri Independent) – With a deadline looming that could cost Missouri almost $2 billion in federal education aid, the bill to distribute the money passed the state Senate on Wednesday after Democrats slammed a zero-dollar funding line as a partisan attack on Planned Parenthood. The $4.6 billion spending bill approved on a 25-7 vote is the first legislation requiring […]
Missouri man charged in failed restaurant robbery, after employees wrestle him to the ground and take his gun
A Missouri man was charged in federal court on Wednesday, February 23, 2022. The man attempted to rob an Independence, Missouri restaurant but was thwarted when employees wrestled him to the floor and took away his gun. Bryan C. Byers, 23, of Kansas City, was charged in a three-count criminal complaint filed in the U.S. […]
Coalition of 13 attorneys general call for resignation of Alejandro Mayorkas’ at Department of Homeland Security
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, along with 13 other attorneys general are calling for U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ resignation. In a letter, citing the continued failure to enforce federal law and secure the southwest border, the coalition of 14 state attorneys general is demanding that Secretary Mayorkas leave office as his […]
State judges across the U.S. face growing GOP pushback against rulings in election cases
Missouri Independent) – In mid-December, Texas’ highest criminal court revoked the state attorney general’s ability to use his office to prosecute election-related cases without the request of a district or county attorney. In an 8-1 opinion, the all-Republican court weakened Attorney General Ken Paxton’s power to independently go after perpetrators of voter fraud, a problem he says […]
Milan woman charged with assaulting clerk at convenience store
Milan Police say a woman was arrested for her alleged involvement in a reported assault on Friday afternoon at a convenience store in Milan. Chief of Police Gail Hayes said Ebony Marie Tolliver of Milan was a customer at the 7th Heaven Convenience Store when a dispute occurred with a cashier. Tolliver was attempting to […]
Audio: U.S. Supreme Court to review “Remain in Mexico” policy
The U.S. Supreme Court plans to review in April the Biden Administration’s effort to unwind the Trump-era “remain in Mexico” border policy. The program allows U.S. officials to send non-Mexican migrants to Mexico to await their U.S. immigration court hearings. Lower courts have rejected the president’s attempts to stop the program, forcing the […]
Man Indicted for sexual misconduct and kidnapping woman with developmental disabilities
A federal grand jury in Portland, Oregon, returned an indictment charging an Oregon Department of Human Services employee with kidnapping a woman with significant disabilities in his care, driving her to a secluded location, and engaging with her in sexual misconduct. Zakary Glover, 28, of Lebanon, Oregon, is charged with depriving the victim of her […]
U.S. House hearing on extremism toward minorities turns into ‘defund the police’ debate
(Missouri Independent) – Leaders of faith organizations and Historically Black Colleges and Universities told members of a U.S. House panel on Thursday how their institutions and places of worship have been roiled by bomb threats and extremism. They talked about the recent waves of bomb threats aimed at HBCUs, a terrifying hostage-taking at a Texas […]
Missouri state health agency seeks control of Title X funds that go to Planned Parenthood
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri’s state health department has applied to oversee federal family planning funds, a move reproductive health advocates fear would give the state power to cut off funding for providers who refer patients for abortion services. During his confirmation hearing late last month, former Department of Health and Senior Services Director Donald Kauerauf’s […]
Audio: Missouri voters could be asked to let Legislature decide whether to fund Medicaid expansion
Missouri voters could be asked in November to let the Legislature decide whether to fund Medicaid expansion. The Missouri House has given initial approval to the proposed ballot measure. Last year, the Legislature attempted to defund the expansion population, but the Missouri Supreme Court ruled against that move. House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith says […]
Missouri man sentenced to 27 years in federal prison for producing child pornography with 6 year old
United States District Court Judge Stephen R. Clark sentenced Andrew Hotchkiss to 27.5 years in federal prison to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release for the production of child pornography. Hotchkiss previously pleaded guilty in November 2021. Between the dates of March 1, 2019, and May 13, 2019, in St. Francois County, Missouri, […]
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 […]
Charges Filed: Man subdued by passengers, flight crew after causing disturbance on flight; plane forced to land in Kansas City
A California man was subdued by several passengers and flight attendants when he tried to open the exit door on an American Airlines flight en route to Washington, D.C., on Sunday afternoon, forcing the plane to land at Kansas City International Airport in Kansas City, Missouri. Juan Remberto Rivas, 50, was charged with one count […]
Trucker’s trailer strikes street sign and utility box on 17th Street in Trenton
No injuries were reported when a Freightliner truck’s towed unit struck a street sign and an AT&T phone utility box on Tuesday afternoon, February 8th. Officer Jeff Spencer reports 37-year-old Jimmy Rios Barela Junior of Garden Grove, California drove the truck on 17th Street before attempting to turn north onto Chestnut Street. That is when […]
Kansas man pleads guilty to racially motivated federal hate crime targeting black man
The Justice Department announced that Colton Donner, 27, pleaded guilty in federal court to threatening an African American man with a knife because of the man’s race, and in order to intimidate and interfere with the man’s right to fair housing. According to documents filed in connection with the plea, on Sept. 11, 2019, Donner […]
Missouri Attorney General opposes new Waters of the U.S. rule
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, along with 23 other states, submitted a comment to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan and the Army Corps of Engineers opposing the Biden Administration’s proposed rule that would revise the Waters of the United States rule and subject Missouri’s farmers and ranchers to strict government regulation. “Missouri’s farmers and […]
Bethany man facing multiple charges after alleged sexual assault incident
A Bethany man faces two felony counts of first-degree sodomy or attempted sodomy after an alleged sexual assault on January 29. Twenty-one-year-old Casey Joe Thurman’s bond was set at $150,000 cash only. A bond appearance hearing is scheduled for February 9th. A probable cause statement says the alleged sexual assault happened in Thurman’s bedroom, and […]