The 30×30 initiative, also called the “America the Beautiful” campaign, aims to preserve 30% of the nation’s lands and water by 2030. But its pledge to fight the climate crisis could face hurdles. Announced by the Biden administration earlier this year, the initiative acknowledged what’s called a tipping point in damage done to the natural world and […]
The Grundy County Commission digitally signed a document on May 25th regarding the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Streambank Stabilization project near the Thompson River Bridge on Highway 6. Presiding Commissioner Phillip Ray reports the document will allow the State Highways and Transportation Commission to allocate 12.5%, or $43,750, for the project that will then go […]
The North Central Missouri Board of Trustees received a consolidated budget update on May 25, 2021. The 2021-2022 budget projection includes total operating revenue of $11,111,547. With auxiliary operations of $12,151,045, the total consolidated income is projected at $13,262,592. Revenues include $7,433,078 for tuition and fees and $2,939,169 in state appropriations. The budget projection also […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that, through joint efforts with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Christopher Meagher, proprietor of “Metro Restoration,” has been arrested on account of consumer fraud charges filed by the Missouri Attorney General in Clay, Jackson, and Platte Counties in December 2019. Meagher has been extradited to Missouri to stand trial […]
May 16th marked the 30th anniversary of the start of the Trenton Downtown Improvement Association. TDIA Board Member Cathie Smith says the organization began as a partnership between a group of businessmen and the City of Trenton to get a Neighborhood Assistance Program credit grant to redo sidewalks. She considers one highlight of the group […]
(Missouri Independent) – Republicans in the Missouri Senate should move to shut off debate if a filibuster blocks anti-abortion lawmakers from putting their stamp on provider taxes that fund Medicaid, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said in an interview with The Independent this week. The advice was not, however, well received by the Senate’s Republican or […]
(Missouri Independent) – As the case counts of the novel coronavirus began to tick up last March across Missouri, providers who offer tests for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) found their resources were being pulled in two directions. Swabs were in short supply as they became needed for COVID-19 testing. Contact tracers, who reach out to […]
(Missouri Independent) – At least once a day, housing advocate Melissa Pashia speaks to someone living in a car. Once the situation gets to this point, it’s hard to get people back into stable housing, said Pashia, a housing resource specialist for the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing and Opportunity Council. “Landlords don’t want to […]
(Missouri Independent) – On Monday morning, Jeremy Cady, state director of Americans for Prosperity, filed paperwork with Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s office to begin the process of putting the 12.5-cents a gallon tax increase on a statewide ballot. To succeed in forcing a referendum on the bill, the campaign would have to gather about 110,000 […]
(Missouri Independent) – The pathway to renewing provider taxes essential to funding Medicaid before Missouri lawmakers adjourn for the year became much narrower when issues raised by abortion opponents forced removal of the taxes from a health care bill. When a conference committee met to work out differences between the House and Senate on the bill, […]
Governor Mike Parson signed HB 15, which allows for the continued current operations of state government through FY 2021. HB 15 totals over $2.1 billion, including $254.8 million in general revenue, $1.7 billion in federal funds, and $116.7 million in other funds. The supplemental budget bill contains funding for several items, including the USDA’s Summer […]
The Missouri Department of Social Services submitted a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services formally withdrawing its State Plan Amendments for MO HealthNet expansion. On August 4, 2020, Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment expanding MO HealthNet eligibility to individuals between 100 and 138 percent of the federal poverty level. However, the […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri will not expand Medicaid coverage to working-age adults on July 1 because lawmakers refused to include funding for the health care program in the state budget, Gov. Mike Parson announced Thursday. In a news release, Parson said the state was withdrawing documents submitted to the federal government necessary to add the approximately 275,000 […]
The Mercer County Health Department will hold a Wellness Challenge for individuals who live or work in Mercer County. The six-week program will go from June 6th through July 17th. Registration will be at the health department in Princeton on June 3rd and 4th from 8 o’clock to 4:30. Registered Nurse Amanda Snow says registrants […]
The Newtown-Harris R-3 Board of Education approved the 2021-2022 salary schedule May 10t. It is the same salary schedule as for the 2020-2021 school year, which Superintendent Doctor Lucas McKinnis notes has a base salary of $31,000 for a first-year teacher with a bachelor’s degree. The salary schedule is expected to change after further review […]
Preliminary hearings were waived on Tuesday, May 11, by at least three defendants in the Associate Division of Grundy County Circuit Court. Keith Edward Larson of Bethany is charged with felony stealing of a vehicle. He was bound over to the Division One session on Thursday, May 13, 2021. Trenton resident Tracie Leigh Todd is […]
(Missouri Independent) – As the state of Missouri battles its second year of the novel coronavirus’ spread, lawmakers on Wednesday sent to the governor’s desk a bill that aims to rein in local public health orders and ban vaccine passports. The provisions were included in House Bill 271, which deals with local government transparency. It grew […]
The Trenton R-9 Board of Education on Tuesday, May 11, discussed non-certified payroll annualization with district Bookkeeper Mona Loyd and Administrative Assistant Susan Leeper. Loyd started by saying she had been willing to try annualization at the time the board originally voted to implement it for non-certified staff. She did not have the forethought to […]
To address workforce shortages across the state, Governor Mike Parson directed the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to notify the U.S. Department of Labor that Missouri will end participation in all federal pandemic-related unemployment insurance programs effective Saturday, June 12 at 11:59 p.m. “From conversations with business owners across the state, we know […]
(Missouri Independent) – States, cities, and counties can begin to tap their share of the $350 billion in federal funds intended to spur a national recovery from the economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic, White House officials announced Monday. Missouri will receive $2.7 billion in federal funding, with another $2.5 billion in direct aid for counties […]
