Candidates Forum

Audio: Candidates for Trenton R-9 School Board answer questions from the public during forum on Wednesday

Three candidates for the Trenton R-9 Board of Education participated in a forum in the Rissler Elementary School Library on March 30th. Incumbent Dorothy Taul, Toby Havens, and Jeff Spencer are running for two three-year terms. The forum was relocated after the evacuation of Trenton High School, where the event was originally to be held. […]

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

U.S. Senate panel bickers over Supreme Court nomination but sets vote next week

(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee reopened partisan disagreements Monday as members scheduled a vote for April 4 on Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Republicans’ criticisms of Jackson’s record and responses were either untrue or disingenuous. Meanwhile, ranking Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa again raised […]

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Missouri State Auditor launches audit of Nodaway County

The office of State Auditor Nicole Galloway has begun a regularly scheduled audit of Nodaway County in northwest Missouri. The county received a rating of “good” in a state audit released in July 2015. “These audits will provide independent reviews of county government operations to ensure taxpayer resources have been used appropriately and to recommend improvements that will […]

Audio: Senator Josh Hawley says he will vote “no” on Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson

Now that the confirmation hearings are complete, Senator Hawley says the Judge did nothing to assuage his concerns of what he claims is her record of leniency on sex criminals. Although the U.S. Sentencing Commission numbers show the majority of NON-production child pornography offenders in 2019 were sentenced to a punishment beneath the guideline ranges, […]

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson photo courtesy Wikipedia

Senate winds up grueling Supreme Court hearings on Ketanji Brown Jackson nomination

(Missouri Independent) –  Representatives of the American Bar Association reiterated their finding that Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is well qualified to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, and law enforcement groups rebutted GOP accusations Jackson is soft on child pornographers during the final day of Jackson’s confirmation hearings Thursday. Republicans, however, called in witnesses to […]

Video: Senator Hawley questions Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson over record of lenient sentencing for pedophiles

During the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination for U.S. Supreme Court today, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) focused his questioning on the alarming trend of lenient sentencing in child pornography cases that he first mentioned in a tweet thread last week and his opening comments yesterday. During his time, Sen. Hawley focused on Judge […]

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Missouri State Auditor launches audit of Dent County

State Auditor Nicole Galloway announced that her office has begun a regularly scheduled audit of Dent County, located in south-central Missouri.  The county received a rating of “good” from the most recent state audit, issued in July 2019. “Audits can help local officials take steps to make government more efficient and effective for taxpayers,” Auditor […]

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson photo courtesy Wikipedia

Ketanji Brown Jackson vows to decide U.S. Supreme Court cases from a ‘neutral posture’

(Missouri Independent) – Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson began her four-day confirmation process to become the nation’s first Black female associate justice on Monday, listening to hours of opening statements from Senate Judiciary Committee members before giving her own. In her first public remarks since President Joe Biden nominated her last month, Jackson, who grew […]

Emily Hartley photo courtesy Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council

Emily Hartley appointed to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Advisory Committee for Missouri

Emily Hartley, Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council Deputy Director, was appointed to the Missouri Advisory Committee by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, effective Feb. 18, 2022.   Advisory Committees have recently examined water affordability, school discipline disparities, policing practices, mental health and the criminal justice system, legal financial obligations, fair housing, hate crimes, voting rights, maternal […]