The Missouri Legislature has passed a proposal that would boost the state’s gas and diesel tax for the first time in about 25 years. The state House of Representatives voted Tuesday night 104-52 in favor of increasing the user fee by 12.5 total cents over five years. The plan would also give most drivers a […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a lawsuit against St. Louis County Executive Sam Page, Dr. Faisal Khan, and the St. Louis County Department of Public Health for the arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable application of COVID-19 restrictions in St. Louis County. Specifically, the suit takes issue with the restrictions on religious institutions, masking requirements for […]
The city of Trenton and its municipal utility expect to save money on interest costs with the re-financing of three long-term debts. It was announced the savings amounts to $658,000 over the length of the loans. Two involve 2012 issued bonds and the 2014 issued bonds for Trenton Municipal Utilities projects done at the water […]
(Missouri Independent) – Lawmakers slammed the Department of Social Services on Thursday for underreporting the number of substantiated cases of abuse and neglect at youth residential facilities during a previous legislative hearing. For nearly an hour-and-a-half on Thursday, the House Special Committee on Government Oversight pressed DSS officials on why the number of findings of […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that Brandon Rusin of Rocky Mount, Missouri, has been charged with consumer fraud in both Morgan and Camden Counties. In Morgan County, Rusin faces one count of financial exploitation of the elderly, a class C felony, and one count of deceptive business practice, a class E felony. In Camden […]
Carroll County Memorial Hospital’s Home Health has been named a national best practice agency by Fazzi Associates. In March, CCMH Home Health was honored as a Home Health Care Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HHCAHPS) Award of Distinction recipient for patient satisfaction in 2019. The HHCAHPS Patient Satisfaction Award of Distinction is presented […]
Missouri KidsFirst presented the 2021 Standing with Children Awards at a virtual event hosted by the organization at 12:00 PM on Monday, April 26, 2021. The 2021 recipients of the Standing with Children Awards are Laura Bauer and Judy Thomas, investigative reporters with the Kansas City Star, Dr. Linda Shaw, child abuse pediatrician with SSM […]
Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that Donald L. White, 41, of Festus, has been charged with additional felony counts in Jefferson County relating to allegations of contractor fraud and theft. The Attorney General’s Office is prosecuting the case in conjunction with the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office previously filed […]
Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) reintroduced his legislation to ban all federal employees from using TikTok on government devices. Despite reports that TikTok is a unique threat to data security, the Biden administration shelved plans by the Trump administration to force a sale of TikTok’s American operations. Text of the legislation, cosponsored by Senators Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and […]
(Missouri Independent) – As bills expanding charter schools and creating new scholarship accounts for private school tuition make their way through the process, one piece of legislation is trying to give students more options within the public schools that already exist. House Bill 543, sponsored by Rep. Brad Pollitt, R-Sedalia, would establish the “Public School […]
March 2020 would have been the fifth year of Camp CaPow—College Access-Planning Our Way. Held at the University of Missouri’s Family Impact Center in Columbia, Camp CaPow is a weeklong opportunity for middle school students to explore career and postsecondary education options through workshops, tours of Missouri college campuses, meetings with professionals from a range […]
(Missouri Independent) – A bipartisan coalition of state Senators was unable to stop politically connected Kansas City attorney Todd Graves from winning a seat on the University of Missouri Board of Curators. After a two-round filibuster — three hours last week and eight more hours ending around 1 a.m. Wednesday — the Senate voted 19-13 to […]
There will be two new members each for the Trenton R-9 Board of Education and the Trenton City Council following the election on Tuesday. Voter approval was given to the local use tax for the city of Trenton and brush control for Grundy County. It was a 17% voter turnout (992 votes out of 5,859 […]
(Missouri Independent) – While playing politics with healthcare in Missouri is certainly nothing new, holding Missouri Medicaid hostage over basic birth control is a stunning — and consequential — shift. As captured in headlines across the state, state Sen. Paul Wieland has put the entire Missouri Medicaid program in jeopardy with his late-night amendment to a […]
The Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) says its officers at Missouri airports discovered a total of 85 firearms in travelers’ carry-on luggage in 2020, despite a dramatic reduction of travelers because of the coronavirus global pandemic. Since each of the firearms was discovered by TSA officers during the routine screening of carry-on property at airport security […]
Large government payments helped 2020 Missouri net farm income match or exceed the 2014 record of $3.4 billion, according to Abigail Meffert, senior research associate with the University of Missouri Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI). Missouri’s outlook falls in line with the U.S. Agricultural Market Outlook, a summary of 10-year baseline projections presented […]
U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.), Mazie K. Hirono (Hawaii), Susan Collins (Maine), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and Tammy Duckworth (Ill.) announced that they have introduced the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2021. The bipartisan bill would close a loophole in the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 (CCA), which has prevented internationally-adopted children, who are […]
Governor Mike Parson announced that he has authorized a transfer of $300 million in federal Coronavirus Relief Funds from the State Treasury into the state’s UI Trust Fund to help keep the Trust Fund balance above the level that would trigger an increase in contribution tax rates for Missouri businesses. “With over 96 percent of […]
Advocates for family farms, rural neighborhoods, and the environment are asking Iowa lawmakers to find a more equitable balance between the interests of factory farms and of the communities they’re in. Research has shown higher levels of nitrates and phosphorus in the water, as well as air quality issues, in communities with nearby concentrated animal feeding […]
(Missouri Independent) – Legislation creating a path to citizenship for undocumented people brought to the U.S. as children face a new border crisis and old partisan objections, diminishing the chances it will become law despite full Democratic control of Congress and the White House. On Thursday, the U.S. House is poised to pass the American […]
