(Missouri Independent) – Last spring, as Missouri businesses shed hundreds of thousands of jobs, Gov. Mike Parson warned that the state was headed for the worst financial crunch since the 2008 recession. Ten months later, Parson presented a budget plan that anticipates a $1.1 billion surplus on July 1, the biggest in state history. And if the $1.9 trillion pandemic […]
With the prospect of having a potential buyer, the Trenton Building and Nuisance Board on Monday evening voted to release one property from restrictions and the board chose not, at this time, to release another property from its control. Building Inspector Wes Barone said title searches on both locations revealed the existence of a dangerous […]
In 2019, Gov. Mike Parson closed a prison in northwest Missouri’s Cameron. Most staff and inmates transferred to the other prison in town – Western Missouri Correctional Center. Now, Parson wants to reopen the Crossroads Correctional Center and turn it into a training academy for correctional officers. During a House Budget Committee hearing, Trevor Foley […]
A Tennessee resident with German citizenship was removed to Germany for participating in Nazi-sponsored acts of persecution while serving as an armed guard at a Nazi concentration camp in 1945. In February 2020, Friedrich Karl Berger, 95, was ordered removed from the U.S. based on his participation in Nazi-sponsored persecution while serving in Nazi Germany […]
The women’s prison in northeast Missouri’s Vandalia could have about half of its housing units permanently closed. Trevor Foley, with the state Department of Corrections, says Governor Mike Parson’s new state budget proposal would make the change. Gov. Parson’s proposed $34.1 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning in July includes about $802 million for […]
A former Second District Grundy County Commissioner has died. Grundy County Coroner Dewayne Slater says Joe Brinser took his own life on Wednesday, February 17th at his residence on Route Y. Brinser was 56 years old. No other information was released by the Coroner. Brinser served as Second District County Commissioner from 2008 to 2020 […]
(Missouri Independent) – The White House on Wednesday indicated that President Joe Biden would support studying reparations for slavery, the same day that House Democrats held a hearing on legislation that would set up a reparations commission. But White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki stopped short of saying Biden would sign the bill under consideration […]
Jill Eaton reports she accepted a position as the clerk for the probate division of Grundy County Circuit Court. That position is at the Courthouse and within the office of Associate Circuit Court Judge Steve Hudson. Mrs. Eaton was elected public administrator for Grundy county in 2012, taking office in January of 2013. She was […]
The Missouri House Budget Committee is scheduled to hear today Governor Parson’s state budget proposal for higher education. Kansas City State Senator Greg Razer says state funding provided to Missouri’s colleges and universities is almost identical to what the state gave to them in 1999. Razer says in 1999, 70% of the University of Missouri-Columbia’s […]
The House Budget Committee chairman says Missourians shouldn’t be taxed on federal stimulus checks. Brian Hauswirth spoke with Committee Chairman Cody Smith. House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith of southwest Missouri’s Carthage says under the state’s tax code, federal stimulus checks related to COVID are subject to personal income tax. Smith says Missourians […]
U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) released the following statement today after voting against the conviction of former President Donald Trump: “I said before this trial started that I believe the constitutional purpose for presidential impeachment is to remove a president from office, not to punish a person after they have left office. None of the […]
Angela McMunn pled guilty in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County to two class C felony counts of Receiving Stolen Property, one class D felony count of Receiving Stolen Property, and one class D felony count of Unlawful Merchandising Practices. “Stealing from law enforcement, including Officer Michael Flamion, who put his life on the line […]
A former Trenton police officer has waived formal arraignment and pleaded not guilty and has been released on bond during his appearance Thursday in Division One of the Grundy County Circuit Court. Michael Wilson of Trenton has been charged with statutory rape in the second degree from last September. An attorney for Wilson had filed […]
A Kansas City man who law enforcement reported escaped from the Mercer County Jail twice in August 2019 entered a plea of guilty to multiple charges on February 10th and was sentenced. Online court information shows, in one case, 29-year-old Drake Andrew Kately was sentenced to the Department of Corrections for five years on first-degree […]
Sentencing was held in Daviess County on February 10th for a former Coffey city clerk who pled guilty in November to felony stealing and forgery charges. Online court information shows Mary Lou Browning was sentenced to the Department of Corrections for five years each on stealing $750 or more and two counts of forgery. She […]
Aunt Jemima products will be gone from grocery shelves in June, and in their place will be bottles of syrup and boxes of pancake mix labeled Pearl Milling Company. The impending change was first announced in June of 2020, after the police killing of George Floyd and the ensuing protests over racial injustice. “We recognize […]
Bipartisan legislation aimed at improving safety on duck boats and other amphibious passenger vessels was unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate on Thursday. It was one of the first bills filed by U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) after he was sworn into office in January 2019. Hawley’s bill is very similar to one filed by former […]
Missouri could allow robots to deliver goods to your home. A bill sponsored by state Senator Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, aims to let robots cruise mainly along sidewalks and crosswalks to deliver items around the state. During a state Senate Transportation, Infrastructure, and Public Safety Committee hearing today, Hough says the effort is a work in […]
The second impeachment trial of now-former president Donald Trump begins today in Washington.— in the U-S Senate. The Democratic majority in the House argues that Trump incited the violence and the attack on the US Capitol on January 6. The former president’s lawyers argue that the trial itself is unconstitutional. Political Science associate professor Kevin […]
Former Missouri State Senator Scott Sifton has announced today his bid for the seat currently held by Republican U.S. Senator Roy Blunt. Sifton unveiled his decision today in a launch video critical of both Missouri U.S. Senators. “Our country is at a critical point in its history,” Sifton says in a press release. “We just […]
