The Missouri Attorney General’s Office is suing 45 K-12 public school districts around the state for what it calls illegally enforcing mask mandates. All of Missouri’s charter schools have mask requirements but they are not being sued. Attorney General Eric Schmitt, a Republican running for U.S. Senate, cites a recent Cole County Court ruling he […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt on Monday filed suit against nine more school districts to halt their illegal mask mandate policies. Districts that were sued include Bayless, Jennings, Lexington, Kirkwood, Ritenour, Hancock Place, Special School District of St. Louis, Meramec Valley, and University City. “As we’ve made clear from the beginning, the power to make […]
A COVID-19 testing company with operations in the St. Louis area has temporarily shut down due to complaints about its rapid test sites and labs. Former employees of the Center for COVID Control told the website Book Club Chicago that samples were routinely spoiled and that they were instructed to lie to people […]
(Missouri Independent) – St. Louis hospitals straining to keep up with a record-breaking number of COVID-19 cases will get some relief in the form of a military medical team. A 40-member team will begin arriving at BJC-Christian Hospital in North St. Louis County on Wednesday, a news release from BJC HealthCare stated. The St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic […]
A man was sentenced to 15 years in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release for possessing images of the sexual abuse of children. Ian Andrew Zearley, 40, of Louisa County, Virginia, pleaded guilty to possession of obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children in July 2021. According to court documents, Zearley […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri is continuing to see record daily coronavirus infections, near-peak COVID-19 caseloads in hospitals, and threats from Attorney General Eric Schmitt that he will sue school districts that require masks or send students home when they are infected or exposed to the virus. In a statement issued Tuesday morning, Schmitt said school mask rules […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt released the following statement addressing school districts that continue to illegally enforce mask mandates and quarantine orders despite the recent Cole County ruling. “School districts have never been given the authority by the legislature to enact public health orders like mask mandates or quarantine orders – the recent […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that Navient, one of the nation’s largest student loan servicers, entered into a civil settlement agreement with his office and 38 other states for abuses originating in predatory student loans. The agreement resulted in a $53 million settlement for Missourians: $2.5 million in restitution and $51 million in private […]
(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday dealt a blow to the Biden administration’s fight against the pandemic, blocking a federal mandate that workers be vaccinated or regularly tested for COVID-19 — though the court allowed a separate rule requiring vaccinations for some health care workers. The two rulings represented a split victory for Republican attorneys general […]
(Missouri Independent) – Proposals that would bar COVID-19 vaccine mandates and provide greater exemptions for vaccinations more broadly faced a wave of opposition from Missouri business groups Wednesday. Representatives for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Associated Industries of Missouri, Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and other business associations made clear to lawmakers […]
A drug trafficker and money launderer for the Sinaloa Cartel was sentenced yesterday to 188 months in prison for supervising the smuggling of multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin from Mexico into the United States and the smuggling of drug proceeds from the United States to Mexico. Roberto Gallegos-Lechuga, 39, of Sinaloa, Mexico, was […]
The Missouri Attorney General urged the Federal Communications Commission to put in place measures that will help stem the tide of foreign-based illegal robocalls that attempt to scam Americans. “Combating annoying, and sometimes dangerous, robocalls is an important mission of the Attorney General’s Office. Using the latest technology and working with telecom partners to control […]
The Missouri Attorney General’s Office appeared in front of the United States Supreme Court to deliver oral arguments in Biden v. Missouri, the lawsuit brought by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office that challenges the federal vaccine mandate on health care workers. “Missouri was the first state to file suit against the Biden Administration’s private employer […]
(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared unconvinced Friday of the Biden administration’s authority to impose a vaccine-or-test mandate on private businesses, casting doubt on a key piece of the White House COVID-19 response. The justices seemed potentially more comfortable with another Biden administration rule to fight the virus that requires certain […]
(Missouri Independent) – If school districts want to take advantage of a lower interest rate on bonds, Missouri Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick is requiring them to certify compliance with a recent court ruling targeting local health orders before his office will approve of the deal. Fitzpatrick detailed the decision he described as “unprecedented” in an interview Wednesday […]
(Missouri Independent) – As a growing number of Missouri school districts drop COVID mitigation measures under threat from Attorney General Eric Schmitt, at least two closed the doors on their fall semester early due to large numbers of staff and students out sick. Meanwhile, local public health departments said Tuesday they still have not heard […]
St. Louis and County and Jackson County are returning legal fire after Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt sued to have the mask mandates effectively outlawed. A Missouri judge last month invalidated many orders, including mask mandates, from the state Department of Health and Senior Services. The counties are appealing the ruling. If an […]
The Pleasant View R-6 Board of Education on December 14th approved a bid from H and B Farms for the butcher of a hog. The bid was for $1 per pound live weight. A butcher date is set for January. The board approved Missouri United School Insurance Council insurance renewal for 2022. Superintendent Rebecca Steinhoff […]
(Missouri Independent) – Jackson and St. Louis Counties requested Monday that they be permitted to intervene and appeal a recent court ruling that they argue has “upended the longstanding public health framework” in Missouri. In a filing submitted Monday afternoon and obtained by The Independent, the two counties asked Cole County Circuit Court Judge Daniel […]
A former National Football League player, who played for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2012, was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining over $1.2 million through a Paycheck Protection Program loan guaranteed by the Small Business Administration under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. According to court documents, Joshua […]
