(Missouri Independent) – Orders requiring school children to wear masks in class will be tested in court next week when a Boone County judge will be asked to decide if Attorney General Eric Schmitt can sue every district in the state in a single case. Circuit Judge Brouck Jacobs has set a hearing for 9 […]
(Missouri Independent) – With several months to go before state lawmakers return for the 2022 legislative session, Republicans are promising to once again push to require photo identification to vote. Committees in the Missouri House and Senate held hearings Tuesday dominated by discussions of requiring a government-issued ID for both in-person and absentee voting. Secretary […]
(Missouri Independent) – Work to bring a new contractor for prisoner health care services online in Missouri can continue, but the actual transition from Corizon, the current provider, won’t occur until at least early November, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green ordered Tuesday. Green issued a temporary restraining order blocking the state from canceling its […]
(Missouri Independent) – A trial will be held in early November to determine whether a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Centene will take over the contract for prison health care in the Missouri Department of Corrections. In a hearing Thursday, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green set Nov. 3 as the first day in the trial where current […]
(Missouri Independent) – Clay LaRue, superintendent of the Van Buren R-1 School District, made a tough decision Sunday. With COVID-19 cases spiking in Carter County in southeast Missouri, and many of those infections among very young children, LaRue shut down the district’s pre-kindergarten program for two weeks. He had previously directed faculty, staff, and students […]
(Missouri Independent) – The dispute over the $1.4 billion contract to provide prisoner health care in Missouri is moving into the courts. Corizon Health, which has held the Department of Corrections contract since 1992, filed a lawsuit Monday in Cole County alleging that unfair treatment and improper scoring gave the contract to Centurion Health, a Virginia subsidiary of […]
In January, student loan borrowers will have to start paying off their loans again, as the pandemic-related pause on payment is set to expire. Now, a new report looks at ways to fix problems in the student loan system. Report co-author Michelle Dimino – senior education policy advisor at Third Way, a public policy think tank in […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt today filed a class-action lawsuit against school districts forcing a mask mandate on schoolchildren and teachers. The lawsuit, which is a reverse class action that was filed earlier this morning, names Columbia Public Schools, the Board of Education for the School District of Columbia and their board members, and the […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has accepted 2.8 million acres in offers from agricultural producers and private landowners for enrollment into the Conservation Reserve Program in 2021. This year, almost 1.9 million acres in offers have been accepted through the General CRP Signup, and USDA’s Farm Service Agency has accepted over 897,000 acres for enrollment […]
Information has been released on action taken during an executive session of the Chillicothe City Council on August 9th. The council approved an ordinance regarding the sale of old prison property and the hiring of a street maintenance worker. The ordinance authorized an option for the sale of real estate with MBL Development Company of […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture extended through September 30 the eviction moratorium for homeowners of properties financed or guaranteed by USDA. “The United States is still reeling from a nationwide housing affordability crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. USDA is taking this important action today to allow individuals and families who face eviction from […]
(Missouri Independent) – Politicians are fighting over masks. Public health officials are begging people to get vaccinated. And meanwhile, the Delta variant continues to spread almost unchecked in the state. St. Louis County Executive Sam Page and St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones defended their mask mandates during separate appearances Wednesday. Page held a press conference […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed suit to stop the reimposition of a mask mandate in St. Louis County and St. Louis City. The suit, which was filed in circuit court in St. Louis County, names St. Louis County Executive Sam Page, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, and the respective directors of the county and […]
Officers were reelected at the Art’s Alive meeting in Trenton July 20th. Dan Maxey is president, Amy Guthrie is vice president, Shani Kinney is secretary, and Katie Kinney is treasurer. Their terms will expire June 30th, 2022. Board members reelected were Mike Baugher, Jim Norris, Terry Toms, Dan Wilford, and Shani Kinney. Their terms will […]
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 […]
(Missouri Independent) – For years, Lisa Zerbe said she biked, rode horses, and ran near Ameren Missouri’s largest coal-fired power plant in Franklin County because she “naively believed” state environmental regulators were protecting citizens from pollution. Now, she won’t. “It is truly a disheartening feeling of betrayal from an agency in my younger years I […]
(Missouri Independent) – With fewer than 12 hours to spare before the start of a new fiscal year, the Missouri House on Wednesday approved a bill extending medical provider taxes essential to balancing the budget, forestalling more than $700 million in cuts planned by Gov. Mike Parson. Divisions over how and whether to add provisions sought by […]
After discussing trash service complaints received by councilmen and the staff of Trenton City Hall, the Trenton City Council on Monday night requested the owner of Rapid Removal Disposal to attend an upcoming meeting of the council. Administrator Ron Urton, who brought up the topic, said the city does the residential billing for Rapid Removal […]
(Missouri Independent) – A bipartisan coalition handed anti-abortion activists a rare defeat in the Missouri Senate Friday night, rejecting a push to ban Planned Parenthood as a Medicaid provider as it passed a bill to secure billions for the state’s Medicaid program. And only a restatement of the state’s already existing ban on using public funds to […]
Representatives from Missouri’s nursing homes, hospitals, and pharmacies are urging state lawmakers to approve an extension for a critical funding mechanism for the state’s Medicaid program, saying jobs and services are at stake. The special session legislation from Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Dan Hegeman would extend the FRA for five years rather than […]
