(Missouri Independent) – Missouri lawmakers were not obligated to fund Medicaid expansion, and the courts cannot force the state to pay the medical bills of people who would be eligible under an initiative that amended the state constitution, the state attorney general’s office argued in documents filed Monday in Cole County Circuit Court. The filing from Attorney […]
(Missouri Independent) – In the last week of April, the Linn County Health Department signaled that the COVID-19 pandemic had cooled enough that it could discontinue weekly reports on new cases. With only three active cases on April 21, the urgency for frequent updates seemed to have passed. But the coronavirus came roaring back this […]
A Kansas City, Missouri, man pleaded guilty in federal court to his role in a drug-trafficking conspiracy. He sold more than 14 kilograms of methamphetamine and 30 firearms to an undercover federal agent. Jose Alvarado, 28, a citizen of Mexico, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to one count of conspiracy to […]
A Fair Grove, Missouri, man who is a member of the Southwest Honkys violent prison gang was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a drug-trafficking conspiracy in which investigators intercepted a shipment of nearly 9.5 kilograms of methamphetamine. William F. Jones, 45, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to […]
(Missouri Independent) – The COVID-19 outbreak at Smithfield Foods’ northern Missouri plant — the focus of a worker safety lawsuit that garnered national attention last year — resulted in two worker deaths and was worse than previously thought, according to newly obtained federal documents. Early on in the pandemic, the Sullivan County Health Department told local […]
The Missouri Department of Social Services submitted a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services formally withdrawing its State Plan Amendments for MO HealthNet expansion. On August 4, 2020, Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment expanding MO HealthNet eligibility to individuals between 100 and 138 percent of the federal poverty level. However, the […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri will not expand Medicaid coverage to working-age adults on July 1 because lawmakers refused to include funding for the health care program in the state budget, Gov. Mike Parson announced Thursday. In a news release, Parson said the state was withdrawing documents submitted to the federal government necessary to add the approximately 275,000 […]
A new state report says the number of marriages and divorces declined in Missouri last year. The provisional report from the state Department of Health and Senior Services says about 34,400 people were married in Missouri in 2020 – the lowest Missouri marriage count since 1959. The figure represents a six-point-one percent decline […]
Nearly half of Missouri’s state prisoners have been given a coronavirus vaccination. Missouri Department of Corrections data shows nearly 10,800 prisoners have received their coronavirus vaccination. The number of active inmate cases is 71. The largest COVID-19 outbreak – 41 cases – is at the prison in northeast Missouri’s Vandalia, followed by 23 […]
Missouri is facing a teacher shortage, and for Teacher Appreciation Week, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is working to inspire more high school and college students to consider becoming educators. Halley Russell a government teacher at Jackson High School, said the shortage is nothing new but is getting more attention with the […]
(Missouri Independent) – With the Missouri Senate poised for what promises to be a lengthy debate over Medicaid expansion, legislative Democrats said Tuesday that the fight over funding will move to the courts if lawmakers don’t approve money for the new coverage. During a rally on the Capitol Building lawn, Senate Democrats promised to push […]
The North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees heard a report from the Faculty Senate Negotiations Committee on April 27th. History and Spanish Faculty Member Maryellen Harman and Psychology Faculty Member Lindsay Oram presented a proposal for a faculty salary schedule for 2021-2022. The proposal includes adding $1,000 to the salary base and continuing to […]
The Milan Police Department reports the arrest of an individual in connection with a domestic disturbance. According to Chief Gail Hayes, police responded Friday night at 7:40 pm to the 200 block of North Pearl Street. David Wayon Smith of Milan has been charged in court with two felonies including domestic assault in the third […]
Missouri non-farm payroll employment recovered strongly in March 2021 after a loss in February, and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by a tenth of a percentage point. Employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 15,400 jobs over the month. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.2 percent in March 2021, down from 4.3 percent in […]
Trenton Police issued a citation alleging an improper turn resulting in a recent traffic accident on April 7 at 2nd and Kitty streets in Trenton. One driver, 24-year-old Dillon Matthew Pratt of Trenton, reported his forehead struck the driver’s visor, breaking it during the accident when the impact occurred. He declined medical attention. The other […]
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to extend President Donald Trump’s executive order freezing visas for certain temporary foreign workers, which will expire today, March 31, 2021, unless President Biden acts. Senator Hawley writes that the temporary freeze, issued to protect American workers during the pandemic, should be extended […]
A collision involving two tractor-trailers blocked a portion of northbound Interstate 35 for a while on Wednesday afternoon in Clinton County. One driver, 53-year-old Ricky Huffman of LaCrescent, Minnesota, was taken by ambulance to the Cameron Regional Medical Center with serious injuries. The other truck driver, 54-year-old Terry Franksain of Traer, Iowa, declined medical treatment […]
A central Missouri man has been arrested in connection to U.S. Capitol riots in January that left five people dead. Court records show 55-year-old Matthew Eugene Loganbill of Versailles is accused of obstruction of a Congressional proceeding, unlawful entry, and violent entry or disorderly conduct. In a January 13 interview by the FBI, […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of the Treasury and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen over the interpretation of a mandate in the American Rescue Plan Act that would force states to choose between accepting COVID-19 relief funds or exercising their sovereignty over state tax policy. “As a […]
Two vehicles collided on Tuesday afternoon in DeKalb County, resulting in one driver being taken to a hospital. The wreck happened on Highway 6, at Route J, three miles north of Amity. Thirty-six-year-old Krystal Frame of McFall received minor injuries and was taken by EMS to the Cameron Regional Medical Center. The other driver, 50-year-old […]
