Coronavirus or COVID-19 Testing news graphic

Missouri Supreme Court declines to immediately hear appeal of COVID ruling

(Missouri Independent) – The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a request by five counties and health departments to quickly hear arguments and review a case that they say “upended the longstanding public health framework” in Missouri. The decision means an appeal of a Cole County judge’s November ruling will have to first go through […]

Budget news graphic

Missouri House signs off on $46.2 billion budget, leaves most of huge state surplus untouched

(Missouri Independent) – The Missouri House gave first-round approval Tuesday to a package of budget bills spending $46.2 billion, with Republicans defeating repeated Democratic efforts to tap the state’s record surplus. The budget includes boosts to higher education funding, both for institutions and scholarships, as well as funding one of last year’s most controversial issues, Medicaid […]

Rape Kit or DNA Testing

Missouri clearing backlog of untested, unreported rape kits, getting FBI matches on suspect DNA

In a major milestone, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced at a press conference earlier that the Attorney General’s Office has worked with 169 law enforcement agencies to clear their backlogs of untested, report sexual assault kits. In total, 3,298 untested, reported kits have been sent to the lab to be tested. Further, because of […]

Preferred Family Healthcare

Preferred Family Healthcare to pay more than $8 million in fines related to embezzlement, bribery investigation

Springfield, Missouri-based nonprofit Preferred Family Healthcare will pay more than $8 million in forfeiture and restitution to the federal government and the state of Arkansas under the terms of a non-prosecution agreement announced, which acknowledges the criminal conduct of its former officers and employees. “Preferred Family Healthcare must relinquish the illegal profits it garnered from […]

Coronavirus or COVID-19 Death

Two area health departments report COVID-19 deaths

A COVID-19-related death has been added in Harrison County. The county’s COVID-19 dashboard shows 34 deaths total. There have been 2,002 total cases. There have been 1,557 confirmed cases and 445 probable cases. No cases are active for Harrison County. The Sullivan County Health Department announces an additional COVID-19-related death. That brings the total to […]

Brookfield Main Header Photo

Fire on Wednesday destroys two buildings in downtown Brookfield

Two downtown Brookfield buildings were among properties destroyed by fire on Wednesday. Joining Brookfield in fighting the blaze were fire departments from Marceline and Chillicothe. The fire was reported around 7:30 am at 305 North Main Street in Brookfield.  A space heater is suspected as the cause of the fire. One of the buildings was […]

Wright Memorial Hospital

With COVID-19 infection rates declining, Wright Memorial and Hedrick Medical Center relax visitor guidelines

With the decline in COVID-19 infection rates, Saint Luke’s Health System, including Hedrick Medical Center in Chillicothe and Wright Memorial Hospital in Trenton, is relaxing some visitor guidelines across the health system. These guidelines are consistent with CDC and OSHA guidelines. Beginning Wednesday, March 16, Saint Luke’s will transition to Level 2 protocols, which include […]

Coronavirus or COVID-19 Death

Three health departments report on new COVID-19 cases; two COVID-19 related deaths reported by Caldwell County

A report from the Grundy County Health Department released Tuesday night shows a dozen cases of COVID-19 in the past seven days. The report indicated 11 cases were active. In the past two years, Grundy County has experienced 2718 COVID-19 cases. 68 deaths have been attributed to COVID for Grundy County. Two COVID-19-related deaths have […]

Missouri Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick (photo by Tim Bommel - Missouri House Communications)

Schools left ‘scrambling’ after Missouri treasurer tied bond deals to Attorney General’s COVID demands

(Missouri Independent) – It was just after 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 10, when the forms arrived from the state treasurer’s office. Without warning, and with little explanation, school superintendents discovered they were now required to certify their district had complied with Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s demands to drop all COVID-19 mitigation measures, such as […]

Grants News Graphic

NCMC one of seven universities receiving Nursing Education Incentive Program grant

The Missouri State Board of Nursing recently announced the award of substantial nursing education program grants to seven Missouri universities and colleges. The Nursing Education Incentive Program grants were established in 2011 in order to increase the physical and educational capacity of professional nursing programs in Missouri. The funding, through legislative appropriations, comes from the […]