U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), and eight colleagues sent a letter to Senate Armed Service Committee Chairman Jack Reed (D-R.I.) calling for hearings on the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Specifically, the senators requested sworn testimony from senior military leaders, including Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General […]
A Livingston County Deputy is now a Rape Aggression Defense Training Instructor. Deputy Jennifer Plummer is now certified to help women learn and put to use techniques if they find themselves in a situation where their physical safety is at risk. Sheriff Steve Cox said Plummer attended RAD training in Grain Valley during August. Cox […]
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 […]
The body of a Missouri Marine killed in Afghanistan came home to the U.S. on Sunday. It was a somber and silent ceremony as President Biden, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and others witnesses the dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base of 13 service members killed in Afghanistan […]
A Missouri Army National Guardsman and two owners of an Illinois scrap metal company have been indicted for allegedly plotting to steal and eventually sell military gear. A federal grand jury in East St. Louis returned the indictment on Wednesday against three men subcontracting for the US Department of Defense including 47-year-old Brandon […]
The abbreviated descriptions below are intended to make the public aware of some of the new legislation enacted by the Missouri General Assembly, which is related to crime and motor vehicles. The listed legislation has been signed into law. Unless otherwise noted, these laws will go into effect on August 28, 2021. SB 26 PROVISIONS […]
(Missouri Independent) – The first U.S. stop for the nearly 2,000 Afghan interpreters and other refugees evacuated so far amid the collapse of the Afghan government has been central Virginia’s Fort Lee military base. Tapped for its East Coast location and its ability to quickly ramp up to serve as a temporary host installation, the Army […]
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced the Global Force Management Oversight Act. This legislation will ensure Congress has the information it needs to help the Department of Defense (DoD) balance between combatant commanders’ seemingly unlimited requests for forces and the need to stay focused on China and the Indo-Pacific. “The Department of Defense says it’s prioritizing the […]
(Missouri Independent) – Melissa Pashia is hoping for any kind of good news today. The federal eviction moratorium ended Saturday, and she’s got her fingers crossed one of her clients will finally get approved for the rental assistance that they applied for in April through the State Assistance for Housing Relief Program (SAFHR). The aid approval […]
The World Health Organization has added a coronavirus strain, known as lambda, to its variant watch list. West-central Missouri Republican Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler says the variant has made its way to the U.S. from people crossing the southern border. The Washington Post reports the WHO does not yet consider lambda to be a […]
Missouri Attorney General joins a coalition of 26 states to protect Americans’ right to self-defense at the United States Supreme Court. The states filed an amicus brief in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, urging the justices to declare New York’s subjective-issue, or “may issue,” firearm license regime unconstitutional and reverse the […]
Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.), a member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, helped introduce the Intelligence Community Workforce Agility Protection Act of 2021. Currently, active-duty members of the military can deduct certain moving expenses from their federal taxes, but that benefit does not extend to intelligence community professionals. The bipartisan bill would expand the […]
A former corrections officer at northern Missouri’s Moberly prison is heading to prison for the rest of his life, for killing his secret mistress three years ago. 54-year-old James Addie of Mexico, Missouri has been sentenced to life in prison without parole plus ten years, for the 2018 killing of Molly Watson in […]
(Missouri Independent) – Kendra Findley had thought the Springfield area had seen the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic in December — a month when cases regularly surpassed 200 a day and that saw a record 98 residents die of the virus. Looking back, that was when the Alpha variant, first identified in the U.K., was […]
U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) sent a letter to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF) and Explosives expressing concern over two of their newly-proposed gun rules that could threaten Americans’ Second Amendment rights. The rules, 2021R-05 and 2021R-08, would require the retention of firearms transaction records forever, paving the way to […]
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced he will reintroduce the Taiwan Defense Act (TDA), following new signs of China’s increasing belligerence in the Asia-Pacific and imperial ambitions worldwide. Sen. Hawley’s bill ensures the United States is able to defeat any attempted Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Originally introduced in June 2020, TDA is co-sponsored by Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas), Steve […]
(Missouri Independent) – Retired St. Louis Judge Evelyn Baker once sentenced a 16-year-old Black boy to 241 years in prison for two armed robberies. No one was seriously injured in the robberies, but the boy “didn’t express any remorse,” Baker said, remembering the sentencing hearing. Now, when she thinks back, Baker deeply regrets the sentence […]
U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Ranking Member and Chairwoman of the Committee on Rules and Administration, and Gary Peters (Mich.) and Rob Portman (Ohio), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, released a bipartisan report on the security, planning, and response failures related to the violent […]
The Associated Press reports a Kirksville man has been convicted of murder after prosecutors argued he encouraged another man to shoot a victim. Twenty-year-old Andrew Head was found guilty June 3 of second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the February 2019 death of 17-year-old Izaiha McFarland at a Kirksville apartment. The case was continued […]
Senator Josh Hawley has teamed up with Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. Though they are often on opposite sides, in this case, they agree on how the military should handle sexual assault cases. “This legislation would aid the Department of Defense in identifying next steps to professionalize the role of Sexual […]
