(Missouri Independent) – From statehouses to Congress, Republicans have launched into a fight against the teaching of “critical race theory,” which just a year ago was a niche academic term. Experts in critical race theory say it’s about acknowledging how racial disparities are embedded in U.S history and society, and the concept is being mischaracterized […]
A north Missouri businessman who was involved in the largest organic fraud scheme in American history has been sentenced to probation and fined. Federal prosecutors in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, say Steven Whiteside has been sentenced to three years probation and fined 45-thousand dollars. Whiteside lives near Chillicothe, which is east of St. Joseph. […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that, through joint efforts with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Christopher Meagher, proprietor of “Metro Restoration,” has been arrested on account of consumer fraud charges filed by the Missouri Attorney General in Clay, Jackson, and Platte Counties in December 2019. Meagher has been extradited to Missouri to stand trial […]
Court dates have been set following multiple arrests this past weekend on various charges. Forty-year-old Caleb Ray Ingraham of Trenton has been charged with felony assault in the third degree, felony exhibiting a weapon and misdemeanor peace disturbance. Bond is $7,500 pending an appearance Tuesday in the Associate Division of Grundy County Circuit Court. Court […]
A Gallatin man has been charged with three felony counts of second-degree statutory rape after he allegedly had sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl several times. Bond has been denied for 25-year-old Michael Starr. A probable cause statement from Sergeant Jared Hogan with the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office accuses Starr of having sexual intercourse with […]
Missouri non-farm payroll employment showed little overall change from March 2021 to April 2021, and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by a tenth of a percentage point. Employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 600 jobs over the month. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in April 2021, down from 4.2 percent in […]
A Braymer, Missouri, man was indicted by a federal grand jury for a $215,000 cattle fraud scheme that he attempted to cover up by murdering two Wisconsin brothers. Garland Joseph Nelson, 27, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo. The indictment charges Nelson with one count of […]
(Missouri Independent) – At least once a day, housing advocate Melissa Pashia speaks to someone living in a car. Once the situation gets to this point, it’s hard to get people back into stable housing, said Pashia, a housing resource specialist for the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing and Opportunity Council. “Landlords don’t want to […]
Colonel Eric T. Olson, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, announces the following promotions. Sergeant Scott A. Ballard, Troop F, will be promoted to the rank of lieutenant and transfer to Field Operations Bureau, General Headquarters, Jefferson City, MO, effective June 1, 2021. Ballard was appointed to the Patrol on June 29, 2003, as […]
State Auditor Nicole Galloway said her office has begun regularly scheduled audits of Schuyler County and Sullivan County, both located in northern Missouri. Schuyler County received an overall rating of “good” in its most recent audit, issued in June 2015. The most recent audit of Sullivan County was completed in December 2016, with the county receiving an […]
A jury trial has been scheduled in Livingston County for a Polo man charged with first-degree murder following a shooting in Polo in January. The trial for 35-year-old Kevin Lynn Barnett Junior is scheduled to start on January 18th, 2022. A pre-trial conference is set for December 9th. Barnett has also been charged with the […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri lawmakers must finish work on the fiscal 2022 budget by Friday. And while the biggest spending issue of the session, Medicaid expansion, is off the table, there are other big issues to resolve in the state-run health care program. One of the largest is whether to provide a cushion for hospitals that […]
The Missouri Senate has passed a $34 billion state budget proposal without funding an expansion of Medicaid. The upper chamber sided with the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Missouri House of Representatives by rejecting attempts to put expansion funding into the budget that begins in July. Gov. Mike Parson’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2022 […]
Three Albany residents accused of not bringing a vehicle to a disabled woman after taking money from her to do so have been charged in Caldwell County. Forty-two-year-old James Michael Gordon II, 36-year-old Trista Boley, and 31-year-old Christa Danielle Lycan face felony charges of financial exploitation of an elderly or disabled person, stealing–$750 or more, […]
The Drug Enforcement Administration announced a new initiative, Project Wave Breaker, to disrupt the flow of deadly fentanyl into the United States. Project Wave Breaker will direct interdiction, enforcement, and outreach efforts to high-impact areas to disrupt the flow of fentanyl in and around the United States. The initiative will also employ analytical intelligence assets […]
The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office and Chillicothe Police Department have announced plans to operate out of the same building. Sheriff Steve Cox and Police Chief Jon Maples brought the plans to the city administrator and county commission, and the plans are moving forward. The goal date for moving is May 10th. The Chillicothe Police Department […]
An Iowa woman pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court to hate crime charges for attempting to kill two children because of their race and national origin. According to admissions Nicole Poole Franklin, 42, made during the hearing, on the afternoon of December 9, 2019, Poole Franklin was driving her Jeep Grand Cherokee on Creston Avenue […]
State Auditor Nicole Galloway announced that her office has begun a regularly scheduled audit of Caldwell County, located in northwest Missouri. The most recent audit of Caldwell County was issued in December 2016, with the county receiving an overall rating of good. “Audits can help government agencies be more efficient and effective with taxpayer dollars,” Auditor Galloway […]
Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.), along with U.S. Representatives Sam Graves (Mo.) and Emanuel Cleaver II (Mo.), led a bipartisan, bicameral letter urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to quickly and fully utilize the tools and resources Congress provided in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2020 and the FY2020 Energy and Water […]
(Missouri Independent) – Help may be coming for Missouri homeowners behind on their mortgage payments because of COVID-19 income losses. The Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday added $150 million in federal mortgage assistance funds to the supplemental spending bill for the current fiscal year, one of several new sections using money from pandemic relief bills passed by Congress […]
