Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that, through joint efforts with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Christopher Meagher, proprietor of “Metro Restoration,” has been arrested on account of consumer fraud charges filed by the Missouri Attorney General in Clay, Jackson, and Platte Counties in December 2019. Meagher has been extradited to Missouri to stand trial […]
The Missouri Conservation Commission recently approved proposed regulation changes from the Missouri Department of Conservation related to chronic wasting disease surveillance and management efforts. The changes were approved at the Commission’s May 21 open meeting. They add four counties to the CWD Management Zone and reinstate mandatory CWD sampling requirements. The approved MDC regulations add […]
Grundy County Health Department Administrator Elizabeth Gibson gave COVID-19 update at the Trenton Rotary Club meeting on May 20th. She reported several weeks of little to no activity in the county, but there had been 10 new cases in the last seven days. As of May 20th, there were eight active cases. There had been […]
Iowa farmers have been busy with the spring planting season. As operations hire workers for the summer, a nonprofit connects them with aspiring ‘ag’ professionals who could represent the industry’s future labor force. For nearly a decade, the group Practical Farmers of Iowa has carried out its Labor-4-Learning initiative, where participating farms provide on-site training for […]
U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Sherrod Brown (Ohio) introduced bipartisan legislation to require states to report data on all child abuse-related deaths and develop recommendations to prevent child abuse deaths from occurring in the first place. The senators’ bill would provide policymakers and public health officials with a clearer picture of the number of […]
(Missouri Independent) – Republicans in the Missouri Senate should move to shut off debate if a filibuster blocks anti-abortion lawmakers from putting their stamp on provider taxes that fund Medicaid, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said in an interview with The Independent this week. The advice was not, however, well received by the Senate’s Republican or […]
U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), co-chairs of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption, announced that they have reintroduced the Safe Home Act to protect adopted children from unregulated custody transfers. This legislation would add UCTs to the federal definition of child abuse and neglect under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act. […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri regulators on Tuesday eased the rules governing the design of massive industrial hog facilities in a move critics claim was meant to help one controversial facility. The state’s Clean Water Commission voted 5-1 to narrow the definition of groundwater in the state’s rules governing the construction of “concentrated animal feeding operations” […]
U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Co-Chairs of the Congressional Adoption Caucus, announced that they have reintroduced legislation to improve the intercountry adoption process. “There are millions of children around the world without a safe, stable home,” said Blunt. “We can help connect these children with the families they deserve by making […]
The health and safety of Hy-Vee’s customers and employees have been the company’s top priority since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and the grocer has consistently followed the CDC’s recommendations as guidance is provided. Given the CDC’s mask announcement on Friday, starting today Hy-Vee no longer requires fully vaccinated customers and employees to wear face coverings […]
(Missouri Independent) – On Monday morning, Jeremy Cady, state director of Americans for Prosperity, filed paperwork with Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s office to begin the process of putting the 12.5-cents a gallon tax increase on a statewide ballot. To succeed in forcing a referendum on the bill, the campaign would have to gather about 110,000 […]
The Missouri Department of Conservation is set to launch a new canine unit through its Protection Branch this summer. The new unit, consisting of five dogs and their conservation agent-handlers, will be stationed around the state and used as necessary to work throughout Missouri. According to MDC, the capabilities of canines are extensive in conservation-related […]
The Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of the Treasury have announced that the first monthly payment of the expanded and newly-advanceable Child Tax Credit from the American Rescue Plan will be made on July 15. Roughly 39 million households, covering 88% of children in the United States, are slated to begin receiving monthly […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri will not expand Medicaid coverage to working-age adults on July 1 because lawmakers refused to include funding for the health care program in the state budget, Gov. Mike Parson announced Thursday. In a news release, Parson said the state was withdrawing documents submitted to the federal government necessary to add the approximately 275,000 […]
Missouri voting-rights advocates joined a national call to action Saturday to promote the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the For the People Act. The Lewis Act would require states with a history of voter discrimination to get approval from the Justice Department before making legal changes to voting rules. Julie Steiger, co-president of the League of […]
As demand for the COVID-19 vaccine has significantly decreased in recent weeks, Governor Mike Parson announced the Missouri National Guard (MONG) has begun scaling back its involvement at mass vaccination site locations in May. The drawdown of National Guard members is set to be completed by June 1, 2021. “We are in a far different […]
Advocates for public schools are urging the Missouri Legislature to bolster funding for public education rather than shift resources towards charter schools and school voucher programs. A bill pending in the House would provide tax credits for paying for private school tuition. Another would change school funding formulas to give more resources to charter schools, specifically […]
Governor Mike Parson directed all state workers to return to their offices for in-person work no later than Monday, May 17, 2021, and that all state buildings be open and accessible to the public during normal business hours. “Since the start of COVID-19, our state team members have gone above and beyond to keep state government running and […]
Wright Memorial Hospital in Trenton is the only critical access hospital in the state of Missouri to receive a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The new ratings were released by CMS on April 28. There are 35 critical access hospitals in Missouri. The rating also places Wright Memorial in the […]
The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) will continue initiatives to integrate conservation with agriculture practices and help restore and manage sand prairies after being awarded two partnership projects through the Natural Resources Conservation Service Regional Conservation Partnership Program. Through RCPP, conservation partners work in collaboration with NRCS to help farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners throughout […]
