(Missouri Independent) – There’s no point trying to spin it: While the 2020 election was a mixed verdict nationally, with Republicans gaining congressional seats and minimizing Senate losses even as Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump, the Missouri verdict was unequivocal. It started atop the ticket with Trump’s dominance. He and Gov. Mike Parson set […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri Gov. Mike Parson needs to issue a statewide mask mandate and “safer-at-home” policy to prevent the state’s health system from becoming overwhelmed, Dr. Alex Garza, the incident commander of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, said Friday. “Unfortunately, as has been painfully obvious to even a casual observer, we are […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missourians should not hold big family Thanksgiving or Christmas gatherings this year, but they will likely be able to get a COVID-19 vaccine by the spring, the state health director said Thursday. In an interview on KCMO radio, Randall Williams said the rapid spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, especially in outstate […]
The Missouri House voted Tuesday to give preliminary approval to a proposed $1.27 billion supplemental budget, a supplemental that is the reason for the special session. The supplemental budget includes funding for school nutrition programs, job training grants, $1 million for witness protection funding, and money for child support payments. Governor Mike Parson (R) called […]
Missouri schools continue to struggle with having enough teachers available to educate kids in traditional classrooms this year. The Show-Me State has had a chronic problem with teacher shortages, but COVID-19 has made the can of worms open even more. Missouri has about 70,000 pre-K through 12 teachers instructing roughly 900,000 public school students. Many […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri Democrats had another disappointing night in legislative elections Tuesday, losing in two state Senate districts crucial to their hopes of cracking the Republican supermajority in the upper chamber. Republicans held a key Senate seat by re-electing Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden of Columbia in the 19th District in central Missouri. As […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri voters on Tuesday repealed a constitutional amendment they enacted in 2018 that would have required legislative districts be drawn to ensure partisan fairness. They replaced it with one that critics contend could forgo the use of total population to draw districts and instead exclude all non-voters, specifically children and non-citizens — tilting the political […]
Grundy County experienced a 76 percent voter turnout in yesterday’s general election – favoring Republicans in their races and each of the unopposed Republican candidates for countywide offices. Donald Trump received 81 percent of the presidential vote from Grundy County while Joseph Biden had 18 percent of the vote. Also receiving huge majority support in […]
(Missouri Independent) – A Missouri family that was denied a license to grow medical marijuana alleged in court this week that outside groups and individuals had undue access to top state officials — and that access led to an opaque process and contributed to the decision to cap the number of licenses granted. To buttress […]
(Missouri Independent) – State governments are unique political bodies that allow for experimentation in how rules and laws affect political outputs. As Justice Louis Brandies pointed out – states are laboratories of democracy. State governments have broad jurisdiction to “tweak” institutional rules and laws. Through this system of government, we can observe the aftermath of […]
State officials began shipping thousands of antigen test kits to public and private schools across the state today. Nearly 330 districts/schools applied to participate in Missouri’s BinaxNOW Antigen Testing Program for K-12 Institutions, requesting a total of nearly 583,000 test kits for use among symptomatic students and school personnel. These minimally invasive nasal swab tests […]
(Missouri Independent) – Two minutes into our interview, I counted five yawns as the young teacher from southwest Missouri caught herself, and apologetically assured me that my questions weren’t dull. “I just feel like I am working all the time,” she added. “I don’t know how I am going to keep doing this for the […]
Both sides in the debate on Missouri’s Amendment Three November ballot measure presented their case to voters Wednesday evening, in a virtual forum hosted by Springfield’s Drury University. Missourians approved “Clean Missouri” in 2018, which required a nonpartisan demographer to draw state legislative districts. Amendment Three transfers that responsibility to governor-appointed bipartisan commissions. State Sen. […]
The North Mercer R-3 Board of Education the evening of Monday, October 12th set graduation and approved supplemental coaching responsibilities. The graduation is scheduled for the afternoon of May 9th, 2021 at 2 o’clock. Supplemental coaching responsibilities included retired teacher Dave Fuller to continue as the head boys and girls track coach. Fuller has directed […]
The Missouri Association of School Nurses says school nurses are playing an even more critical role during the COVID-19 crisis. The state had about 1600 school nurses among Missouri’s more than 500 K-12 public school districts. Linda Neumann (pronounced newman), executive director of the association, says school nurses have been going above and beyond the […]
Missouri’s two major gubernatorial candidates clashed during a Friday afternoon debate in Columbia on numerous issues, including Clean Missouri, COVID, Medicaid expansion, and valet parking at the Capitol. The debate, which took place at the Missouri Theatre in Columbia, was sponsored by the Missouri Press Association. Missouri voters approved Clean Missouri in November 2018. It had […]
Missouri’s governor has announced that he is releasing about $133 million in funding that was previously withheld, saying the state’s unemployment rate has improved and state revenues outpaced expectations. Governor Mike Parson (R) made the announcement Wednesday afternoon in Jefferson City while addressing Capitol reporters. He’s releasing $95 million in CARES Act funding and $40 million […]
Some members of a Missouri House subcommittee say teachers who are struggling to reach a number of their students learning remotely this school year. That was the message given to a group of Missouri education officials Thursday submitting their state budget requests. Representative Brenda Shields, a Republican from northwest Missouri’s St. Joseph, said a teacher […]
The Grundy County Commission voted to modify the county employee handbook, accepted a resignation, and approved Coronavirus Relief funding. The modification to the employee handbook states employees must submit all required paperwork to the county clerk’s office. The information must be verified prior to their first day of employment. A resignation was accepted from Blake […]
U.S. Attorney Tim Garrison, at a joint press conference with Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith, announced that 518 arrests have been made by local and federal law enforcement officers in Operation LeGend. “On behalf of the team of federal law enforcement agencies involved in this groundbreaking initiative, I […]
