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Missouri fines CAFO, owned by Smithfield Foods, $18,000 for polluting streams with 300,000 gallons of waste

(Missouri Independent) – Regulators ordered an industrial hog farm in northern Missouri to pay more than $18,000 for spilling 300,000 gallons of manure into miles of nearby streams.  An advocate for environmentally responsible agriculture called that “pathetic,” noting the fine amounted to less than $0.04 per gallon of waste spilled.  “You’re talking about a multi-billion […]

Executive Action or session Trenton R-9 School Board

Trenton Board of Education announces resignations, new hires and salaries for school administrators

Following an executive session, the Trenton R-9 Board of Education on Tuesday night made several personnel decisions and set salaries for school administrators. Resignations were accepted from Kayla Horton for special education at the elementary level and Cara Leininger as a pre-school teacher. All probationary teachers at Trenton were offered a contract for next year. […]

Laredo R-7 School

Laredo Board of Education accepts health insurance bid; field trips approved for kindergarten through eighth grade

The Laredo R-7 Board of Education on March 7th took action on health insurance for 2022-2023. Ozarks School Benefits Association was accepted. The school will pay $540 plus vision and life insurance. Secretary Robin Griswold reports employees can choose between seven different plans, including HSAs and PPOs. Some of the plans cost more than $540. […]

Swan Lake Wildlife Refuge

Public comments sought on Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge headquarters and visitor facility relocation

A draft Environmental Assessment for Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Sumner, Missouri is available for public review on March 4, 2022.  The comment period will extend until April 4, 2022.  The Environmental Assessment provides an environmental analysis and cumulative impacts of alternatives for the new headquarters office at Swan Lake NWR.  During the floods […]

Gallatin City Hall

Gallatin Board of Aldermen pursue contract with organization for Daviess County Central 911 and sheriff’s department

The Gallatin Board of Aldermen February 28th approved pursuing a Missouri Uniform Law Enforcement System contract with Daviess County Central 911 and the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office. The vote was taken after it was announced City Administrator Lance Rains and Police Chief Mark Richards attended the 911 Board meeting to discuss running MULES in Gallatin […]

Accident-Crash graphic

La Plata man injured in rollover crash near Gifford

The Highway Patrol reports a La Plata man sustained serious injuries when the utility terrain vehicle he drove overturned one mile north of South Gifford on Wednesday afternoon, March 2nd. A private vehicle took 50-year-old Michael Gunnels to Samaritan Hospital in Macon. The UTV was in a field on private property, made a turn, and […]

Sleeping Baby in dark room (Photo by Kevin Keith on Unsplash)

House grants initial approval to bill that would allow prison nurseries in Missouri

(Missouri Independent) -The House gave initial approval Wednesday to a bill that would allow newborns to remain with their incarcerated mothers for the first year and a half of the baby’s life. The bill would permit the Missouri Department of Corrections to establish nurseries within the state’s correctional facilities, allowing children born to incarcerated women to […]

Cutis Cain Superintendent of the Year 2022 (Photo courtesy AASA)

The National Superintendent of the Year, Curtis Cain, is from Missouri

Curtis Cain, superintendent of Wentzville School District, in Wentzville, Mo., has been named the 2022 AASA National Superintendent of the Year. The announcement came at the National Conference on Education, hosted by AASA, The School Superintendents Association. The other National Superintendent of the Year® finalists were:  Quincy Natay, Chinle Unified School District No. 24, Chinle, Ariz. Kamela Patton, Collier County […]

Accident Graphic

Brookfield man injured in rollover crash on Highway 11

A Brookfield man was taken to a hospital following a single-vehicle rollover accident late Sunday morning three miles east of Brookfield. Sixty-five-year-old Norman Duncan received minor injuries and was taken by ambulance to Pershing Memorial Hospital. The sports utility vehicle was southbound when it traveled off the left side of Highway 11, went down an […]