Law book with gavel and document labeled Restraining Order on a desk

Missouri Attorney General begins filing motions for temporary restraining orders in school mask mandate lawsuits

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced his Office has begun filing motions for temporary restraining orders in his lawsuits against school districts illegally enforcing mask mandates. The Missouri Attorney General’s Office filed suit against 45 school districts for continuing to enforce mask mandates. The Office filed motions for temporary restraining orders in the lawsuits against […]

Trenton House Fire 213 East Crowder Road

Fire damages home on Crowder Road in Trenton

A fire early Saturday evening caused extensive damage to a vacant house at 213 East Crowder Road in Trenton. Firefighters from the Trenton and Grundy County rural departments arrived to find heavy smoke coming from the two-story structure, and a downstairs front room was fully involved in flames. Grundy County Rural Fire Chief Kenny Roberts […]

USDA website

USDA invests $1 billion to improve community infrastructure for people living in rural towns across the country

United States Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Dr. Jewel Bronaugh today announced that USDA is investing $1 billion to build and improve critical community facilities in 48 states, Puerto Rico and Guam (PDF, 449 KB). This infrastructure funding will increase access to health care, education, and public safety while spurring community development and building sound […]

Audio: Missouri school board group responds to attorney general’s lawsuits against schools

The Missouri Attorney General’s Office is suing 45 K-12 public school districts around the state for what it calls illegally enforcing mask mandates. All of Missouri’s charter schools have mask requirements but they are not being sued. Attorney General Eric Schmitt, a Republican running for U.S. Senate, cites a recent Cole County Court ruling he […]

A gavel and a name plate with the engraving Lawsuit

Missouri Attorney General sues nine additional schools to halt mask mandate policies

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt on Monday filed suit against nine more school districts to halt their illegal mask mandate policies. Districts that were sued include Bayless, Jennings, Lexington, Kirkwood, Ritenour, Hancock Place, Special School District of St. Louis, Meramec Valley, and University City. “As we’ve made clear from the beginning, the power to make […]

Unemployment Benefits Graphic

Missouri Senate hears bipartisan push to forgive mistakenly overpaid unemployment benefits

(Missouri Independent) – Tracie Engelmeyer was among hundreds of bus drivers who were furloughed in St. Louis County in March 2020 because of the pandemic. School-district authorities told them that even though drivers are contracted labor, they would qualify for unemployment benefits and urged them to apply. Engelmeyer recalled the conversation she had with a […]

United States Supreme Court (Phot credit Laura Olson - States Newsroom)

Supreme Court blocks Biden workplace vaccine rule, allows health care workers mandate

(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday dealt a blow to the Biden administration’s fight against the pandemic, blocking a federal mandate that workers be vaccinated or regularly tested for COVID-19 — though the court allowed a separate rule requiring vaccinations for some health care workers. The two rulings represented a split victory for Republican attorneys general […]

Missouri Attorney General Seal and Gavel

Missouri Attorney General’s office delivers oral arguments at Supreme Court in vaccine mandate case

The Missouri Attorney General’s Office appeared in front of the United States Supreme Court to deliver oral arguments in Biden v. Missouri, the lawsuit brought by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office that challenges the federal vaccine mandate on health care workers. “Missouri was the first state to file suit against the Biden Administration’s private employer […]

United States Supreme Court (Phot credit Laura Olson - States Newsroom)

Supreme Court appears wary of Biden vaccine-or-test employer mandate

(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared unconvinced Friday of the Biden administration’s authority to impose a vaccine-or-test mandate on private businesses, casting doubt on a key piece of the White House COVID-19 response. The justices seemed potentially more comfortable with another Biden administration rule to fight the virus that requires certain […]