The Board of Public Buildings, chaired by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, met on Sept. 13, 2021 (Photo courtesy Jason Hancock/Missouri Independent)

LGBTQ history exhibit goes unmentioned by Missouri Board of Public Buildings, governor cited for its removal

(Missouri Independent) – When news broke that an LGBTQ history exhibit was suddenly and without warning removed from the Missouri Capitol, Gov. Mike Parson contended the reason was that it didn’t get pre-approval from a board he chairs, but at that board’s first meeting in more than a year on Monday, neither the exhibit nor the […]

Gavel and Missouri Flag

Judge orders no change – for now – in Missouri’s prisoner health care contractor

(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 […]

COVID-19 Delta Variant

COVID cases among children rising as Missouri Delta variant wave enters fifth month

(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 […]

Hospital Bed (Photo by Frederic Köberl on Unsplash)

Missouri ICUs filling as Delta variant wave moves into northeast, southeast regions

(Missouri Independent) – New cases from the Delta variant wave that has killed more than 1,150 Missourians since June 1 have plateaued, but hospital ICUs continue to fill — and small, rural hospitals are among the hardest hit. There were 690 patients in ICU beds across the state on Tuesday, the most recent day reported by the state Department of Health […]

Medicaid Expansion in Missouri

Attorneys argue Missouri is violating federal law, courts on Medicaid expansion delays

(Missouri Independent) – Attorneys who successfully sued to force Missouri to enact voter-approved Medicaid expansion argued in a letter to state officials Thursday that delays in implementation violate not only the court order but also federal law. The plaintiffs’ attorneys, Chuck Hatfield and Lowell Pearson joined with Joel Ferber, director of advocacy for Legal Services […]

Traffic Accident

Three injured in crash west of Hamilton

Three people were injured in a two-vehicle crash early Wednesday evening in Caldwell County, four miles west of Hamilton. A Pleasant Hill couple received moderate injuries and were taken by ambulance to Cameron Regional Medical Center. A Hamilton resident, 83-year-old Wayne Vincent, received moderate injuries but declined treatment at the scene. The Vincent car was […]

Job Opening or Now Hiring or Employment

Missouri payrolls add 15,000 jobs in month after Parson stopped federal unemployment aid

(Missouri Independent) – Missouri payrolls added exactly 15,000 non-farm jobs in July as the unemployment rate ticked down 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted data from the federal Bureau of Labor Standards shows. The state’s labor force of 3.08 million, however, declined by 177, and overall employment, which includes self-employed people and farm labor, grew by 4,462 […]

Cole County Judge Jon Beetem (Screenshot courtesy KRCG-TV)

Judge orders state to immediately allow Missourians to enroll in expanded Medicaid

(Missouri Independent) – The Missouri Department of Social Services must allow newly eligible residents that qualify for benefits under voter-approved Medicaid expansion to enroll and cannot impose greater restrictions on them, a Cole County judge ruled Tuesday. Cole County Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetem sided with the plaintiffs who urged him to allow Medicaid expansion to take […]