Spickard School

Spickard Board of Education adopts budget and accepts bids

The Spickard R-2 Board of Education adopted a budget and accepted bids July 19th. Superintendent Erica Eakes reports anticipated revenues for the 2021-2022 budget are $1,033,529, and anticipated expenditures are $1,006,038. There is a surplus of $27,491. The 2020-2021 budget was also amended to match actual revenues and expenditures. Bids were accepted from AE Dairy […]

Map of The Border Wall in Arizona & New Mexico July 2021

Group says border wall map reveals damage to landscape and migration routes

A newly-released map identifies portions of the U.S.-Mexico border wall built by the Trump administration, and for conservation groups and wildlife advocates, it is alarming. The Biden administration halted construction and said it will use federal funds to assess the damage caused by the new, higher walls. Myles Traphagen, borderlands program coordinator for the Wildlands Network who created […]

Missouri State Flag

Groups urge those in charge of voting-district maps to put Missouri voters over partisan interests in redistricting

Redistricting reformers urged the people charged with drawing new voting-district maps in Missouri to commit to putting the voters over partisan interests. Governor Mike Parson has appointed a bipartisan group of commissioners to draw state legislative maps. The Legislature draws congressional maps. Caroline Fan, founder and president of the Missouri Asian American Youth Foundation said in […]

Unemployment Benefits Graphic

State auditor issues second report detailing unemployment benefits received in Missouri through federal COVID-19 response funding

State Auditor Nicole Galloway released her second report on unemployment benefits received by Missourians through COVID-19 response funding from the federal government. The report shows that, through April 2021, more than 600,000 Missouri citizens received more than $4.9 billion in benefits made available under several programs. Several federal laws enacted and executive actions taken in […]

Chicken CAFO (Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Unsplash)

While Cedar County, Missouri awaits ruling in CAFO lawsuit, a large chicken operation moves in

(Missouri Independent) – When the attorney general’s office asked a judge in 2019 to lift a temporary restraining order blocking a Missouri law pre-empting county regulations on concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, that were stricter than the state’s, the argument was straightforward. No one was trying to build a large animal feeding operation in Cedar […]

Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety or Save More Lives website

Video Contest: Enter the “Buckle Up Phone Down” public service announcement competition

Here’s your chance to release your inner Spielberg as the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety seeks your help in creating their next Buckle Up Phone Down public service announcement. “We know that Missouri has a lot of talented individuals,” said Nicole Hood, Missouri Department of Transportation state highway safety and traffic engineer. “We’re asking you […]

Guilty Plea news graphic

Missouri man pleads guilty to botched robbery at auto dealer; robbery attempt ended in firefight with owner and shooting of employee

A Missouri man pleaded guilty in federal court to the botched robbery of a Grandview, Mo., auto dealership that ended when he shot an employee while fleeing after a shootout with the owner, who was also armed. Lyndale E. Watson, also known as “Red, “Blood,” and “Stoni Blud,” 36, Kansas City, pleaded guilty before U.S. […]

Grants Graphic

Secretary of State announces grants awarded to local governments for records management, electronic records and preservation projects

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s Local Records Division is pleased to announce 23 grants totaling $283,584.  These awards include 17 Local Records Grant Program awards totaling $144,809 and 6 Electronic Records Grant Initiative grants worth $139,775.   “My office is pleased to help local communities in our state with records preservation,” Secretary Ashcroft said.  “It’s a […]

Court News graphic

News from the Associate Division of Grundy County Circuit Court for Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Preliminary hearings were waived by four defendants when they appeared Tuesday in the Associate Division of Grundy County Circuit Court. Chillicothe resident Tesse Janell Carman faces two felony drug possession counts and three misdemeanor counts stemming from a June 25 arrest. Tristan Lee Vencill of Trenton is charged with delivering a controlled substance from August […]

U.S. Senate Building

Coalition of lawmakers introduce SHIELD Act to preserve Title 42 expulsions of illegal immigrants

Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) joined U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in introducing the Securing the Homeland from International Entrants with Life-threatening Diseases (SHIELD) Act to codify the Trump administration’s public health order under Title 42 that required U.S. border officials to promptly remove illegal immigrants to stop the spread of COVID-19.  Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Tom Cotton […]

The Missouri Supreme Court hears arguments Tuesday over Medicaid expansion. (Screenshot from pool video provided by KMIZ-TV)

Fate of Missouri Medicaid expansion in the hands of the state Supreme Court

(Missouri Independent) – After an eight-year fight over Medicaid expansion, the arguments are over.  The question of whether 275,000 people will receive state-paid health care coverage is in the hands of the Missouri Supreme Court. Oral arguments took place Tuesday in an expedited appeal. The seven judges must decide whether Medicaid eligibility will expand, as directed by the […]

Linn County Prosecuting Attorney Shiante McMahon speaks during an April 23 mock trial of the Big Bad Wolf put on for students in local schools. (Photo courtesy Linn County Prosecuting Attorney's Office via Facebook)

Linn County roiled by prosecutor’s charge of racism, sexism in Marceline Police Department

(Missouri Independent) – When Linn County Prosecuting Attorney Shiante McMahon saw a photo of one of her campaign shirts defaced with obscene, racist, and sexist writing — and learned it had been on display in the headquarters of the Marceline Police Department — she decided a complaint with the city wouldn’t do any good. So she posted the photo […]