(Missouri Independent) – A handful of Republican lawmakers lashed out at the state’s medical marijuana industry Thursday, lobbing accusations of corruption into a Missouri House debate over whether to make it harder to amend the state’s Constitution. On a mostly party-line 98-53 vote, the Missouri House signed off on legislation Thursday that would require a two-thirds […]
(Missouri Independent) – A COVID-19 vaccine for young children will be delayed by at least two months as Pfizer and BioNTech gather more information on a three-dose regimen. The disappointing news for many parents came after the Biden administration earlier had announced it was preparing to get the vaccines out to states as soon as […]
The School Superintendents Association says Missouri is the only known state in the nation that has not authorized the distribution of federal coronavirus funds designated for schools. Sasha Pudelski, director of Advocacy for the national organization, says the Missouri Legislature has not yet allowed the state Department of Education to dole out the nearly two-billion […]
At the joint request of attorneys representing Daviess County and a defendant, new dates have been set for 41-year-old Jamey Griffin of Trenton to go on trial in connection with the shooting of a Trenton police officer on June 14, 2019. Circuit Court Judge Ryan Horsman on Thursday rescheduled the trial for the week of […]
(Missouri Independent) – The Missouri Senate refused to confirm Donald Kauerauf as Gov. Mike Parson’s health director on Tuesday, leaving Kauerauf banned from the position for life. Hours later, Parson named Richard Moore, the Department of Health and Senior Services’ general counsel, as acting director of the agency. He slammed senators who blocked Kauerauf’s nomination […]
Governor Mike Parson signed Executive Order 22-02 declaring a State of Emergency in Missouri and activating the Missouri National Guard in preparation for the severe winter storm forecasted to affect most of the state over the next two days, including significant accumulations of snow, sleet, and ice. “Severe winter weather isn’t something we are strangers to here in the […]
(Missouri Independent) – State health director Donald Kauerauf adamantly spoke against mandating face masks and COVID-19 vaccines during a hearing Monday, as anti-vaccination demonstrators protested his confirmation in the halls outside. While protesters chanted outside the Capitol hearing room, senators inside grilled Kauerauf for nearly two hours on his views on how best to mitigate […]
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft reiterated that his office will not be swayed from following the law and the Missouri Constitution with regard to certifying initiative petitions. On Friday, January 28, Ashcroft’s office received service of a lawsuit filed by David Roland – who has submitted numerous initiative petitions to the secretary of state’s office […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri state employees counting on seeing a big raise in their February paychecks may be disappointed, as lawmakers fiddle with a $5.4 billion spending bill pushed by Gov. Mike Parson. When the Republican governor in December proposed a 5.5 percent pay raise for all state workers, he said he wanted it in effect by […]
(Missouri Independent) – A bipartisan group of senators is exploring legislation to overhaul how Congress counts Electoral College votes, but backers of stalled voting rights legislation are lukewarm on the effort as a substitute. The Electoral Count Act is an obscure law that has come under recent scrutiny, a year after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. […]
(Associated Press) – A Kansas City man released from prison after serving more than 40 years for a wrongful conviction is suing the company that provides medical care for Missouri prison inmates. Kevin Strickland alleges in his lawsuit that medical care provided by Corizon LLC officials left him dependent on a wheelchair and able to […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri is continuing to see record daily coronavirus infections, near-peak COVID-19 caseloads in hospitals, and threats from Attorney General Eric Schmitt that he will sue school districts that require masks or send students home when they are infected or exposed to the virus. In a statement issued Tuesday morning, Schmitt said school mask rules […]
A project to repair scour around the piers and abutments of two bridges will begin soon. Phillips Hardy, Inc. was awarded a contract by the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission to Phillips Hardy, Inc. to repair the Grand River Bridge on Interstate 35 in Daviess County and a box culvert at Burris Creek on U.S. […]
(Missouri Independent) – If school districts want to take advantage of a lower interest rate on bonds, Missouri Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick is requiring them to certify compliance with a recent court ruling targeting local health orders before his office will approve of the deal. Fitzpatrick detailed the decision he described as “unprecedented” in an interview Wednesday […]
Missouri WIC is extending the temporary increase of the Cash Value Benefit for Fruit and Vegetable Purchases for January, February, and March 2022. The increase is the same amount as November and December: $24.00 per month for child participants, $43.00 per month for pregnant and postpartum women participants, and $47.00 per month for breastfeeding women […]
(Missouri Independent) – Faced with over a year’s delay from the state social services department on implementing extended mental health care for new moms, a bipartisan effort now aims to expand health care coverage more broadly for low-income pregnant women. Legislation filed last week by Sens. Elaine Gannon, R-De Soto, and Jill Schupp, D-Creve Coeur, would extend […]
(Missouri Independent) – The omicron variant of COVID-19 has made its way to Missouri, with the first case announced Friday. In a news release, the Department of Health and Senior Services said it was notified by public health partners of a presumed positive case for the variant that came from a St. Louis resident who […]
Health advocates are pressing the U.S. Senate to pass the Build Back Better Act after it passed the House last month. The bill would improve Medicaid and CHIP, the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program, by offering 12 months of continuous coverage to children who qualify and making federal CHIP funding permanent. Casey Hanson, director of outreach and […]
A Missouri man was sentenced in federal court for illegally possessing firearms after leading law enforcement officers on a high-speed chase from Bolivar, Mo., to Springfield, Mo. Milton W. Sparks, 38, of Aurora, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 15 years in federal prison without parole. On April 15, 2021, Sparks […]
In addition to frigid temperatures and snow and ice, winter brings dangerous driving conditions and the potential for damaging and deadly storms. That’s why the National Weather Service, the State Emergency Management Agency, and Missouri’s local emergency managers are teaming up to promote Nov. 15-19, 2021, as Winter Weather Preparedness Week in Missouri. “Most Missourians have […]
