The Bethany Police Department is requesting the public’s assistance as it conducts investigations regarding motor vehicle break-ins from the weekend. The Bethany Police Department, via Facebook, says the department received a large number of calls regarding vehicles being broken into. Vehicle owners are reminded to lock their vehicles when unable to secure the vehicle inside […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri Republicans assailed President Joe Biden’s push to require employees of private businesses to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing, vowing a legislative response and legal action. Gov. Mike Parson promised to “fight back against federal power grabs and government overreach” in a tweet Thursday afternoon, calling Biden’s plan “an […]
The winners of the second drawing of the MO VIP were announced. At the time of the Aug. 27 drawing, a total of 566,151 MO VIP entries were received. The MO VIP incentivizes vaccination for those who have not yet been vaccinated, as well as provides an opportunity for rewards for the more than 3.2 […]
(Missouri Independent) – In the first test of a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, drug middlemen last week argued that federal law gives them a right to limit which pharmacies patients with health insurance can use — or at least make it more expensive if patients get their medicine at a shop that isn’t preferred […]
A state appeals court has upheld another employee discrimination case against the Missouri Department of Corrections. The case could potentially cost taxpayers more than $700,000. The St. Louis Post Dispatch says it’s the latest in a series of big-ticket judgments against prison system administrators revolving around an employee’s concern about an attempt to […]
(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 […]
Farmers of color are urging Congress to end a slew of lawsuits delaying a loan-forgiveness program designed to make amends for years of loan discrimination against minority farmers. White farmers are claiming in court Congress’s $4 billion debt relief for Black farmers, part of a COVID-19 stimulus package, amounts to reverse discrimination. John Boyd Jr., president of […]
The pandemic presents some future funding challenges to benefits for older Americans, according to the 2021 Social Security and Medicare Trustees’ Reports. Walt Dawson, assistant professor in the School of Public Health at Oregon Health and Science University, said the programs are foundational to Americans’ health and economic security as they age. While the reports are […]
(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) – Under a new state law that went into effect late last month, Missouri will become the final state to enforce a federal law designed to ensure mental health care is covered by insurance providers the same as treatments for physical ailments. The provisions were included in House Bill 604, an omnibus insurance bill […]
(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 […]
While litigation over the mask mandates continues, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt sent a letter to Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and Jackson County Executive Frank White noting the exceptions to the City and County’s mask mandates and providing “legal direction” to the public on these important exceptions, specifically for those with disabilities or those […]
(Missouri Independent) – Clay LaRue, superintendent of the Van Buren R-1 School District, made a tough decision Sunday. With COVID-19 cases spiking in Carter County in southeast Missouri, and many of those infections among very young children, LaRue shut down the district’s pre-kindergarten program for two weeks. He had previously directed faculty, staff, and students […]
Governor Mike Parson awarded Missouri Public Safety Medals to a total of 15 first responders and 7 civilians for heroic and life-saving actions during 2020. The awards are Missouri’s highest recognition for first responders acting during critical incidents. The civilians, who include a 12-year-old boy who performed a life-saving rescue at age 11, were honored […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that Christopher Meagher, proprietor of “Metro Restoration,” has pled guilty to seven counts of felony deceptive business practices in Clay, Jackson, and Platte Counties. Through Metro Restoration, Meagher transacted with numerous consumers in the Kansas City area to provide home repair and renovation services. Upon taking consumers’ upfront payments, […]
The Cole County Circuit Court sided with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office in our defense of the Governor’s termination of federal pandemic-related unemployment benefits. “As Missouri’s economy continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses are still struggling to hire workers for a large number of open, available jobs. Too often, businesses can’t compete with […]
(Missouri Independent) – Federal education officials have launched civil rights investigations in five Republican-led states that have prohibited school districts from mandating mask-wearing, saying those policies could amount to illegal discrimination against students with disabilities. The Biden administration notified the education chiefs in Iowa, Tennessee, South Carolina, Utah, and Oklahoma of the investigations through formal letters Monday. The new investigations will examine […]
The Missouri Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics is responding to Attorney General Eric Schmitt suing to block mask mandates in Missouri’s K-12 public schools. Schmitt, a Republican running for U.S. Senate, says a mask mandate “flies in the face of science, especially given children’s low risk of severe illness and death and their […]
(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 […]
State Attorney General Eric Schmitt is suing Columbia Public Schools and any Missouri K-12 public school requiring students and staff to wear masks. Schmitt, a Republican running for U.S. Senate, says a mask mandate “flies in the face of science, especially given children’s low risk of severe illness and death and their low risk of […]
