(Missouri Independent) – A trial to determine whether Missouri must expand Medicaid coverage as mandated by a 2020 initiative will take place Friday as scheduled, Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem ruled Tuesday. The ruling against adding new plaintiffs to the case came a day after Beetem heard arguments over whether two people who would become eligible for Medicaid […]
Tag: gains
Missouri Attorney General files suit against Hickory County dog breeder
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt today filed suit against Laurie Lund of Cridder Creek Kennel for multiple violations of the Animal Care Facilities Act and for operating without a license since January 2021. “The vast majority of Missouri’s commercial breeders comply with the Animal Care Facilities Act, however, when my Office finds repeat violations of […]
As massive livestock operations move in, fighting them gets harder for rural neighbors
(Missouri Independent) – Jeff Jones has lived on his family’s land east of Columbia, Missouri, his entire life. Some of the family’s farms are more than 150 years old. And Jones, who raises cattle and grows row crops, has no intentions of going anywhere. But after years of fighting, his community is home to a […]
Missouri lawmakers passed a host of reforms aimed at keeping kids out of jail
(Missouri Independent) – Retired St. Louis Judge Evelyn Baker once sentenced a 16-year-old Black boy to 241 years in prison for two armed robberies. No one was seriously injured in the robberies, but the boy “didn’t express any remorse,” Baker said, remembering the sentencing hearing. Now, when she thinks back, Baker deeply regrets the sentence […]
Audio: Trenton student to compete in national spelling bee on Saturday
The word “volition” comes from Latin and French roots meaning “wish” or “will.” Titus Kottwitz, a seventh-grader at Trenton Middle School in northwest Missouri, got his wish when he spelled the word “volition” correctly to earn a spot in this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee. “I’m excited that I got this far because […]
‘Defund the police’ was designed to provoke a response. In Missouri, it worked
(Missouri Independent) – For years after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, activists and community leaders have pushed to “re-envision public safety.” Inspired in part by the Ferguson Commission, which recommended that cities focus more resources on the root causes of crime, organizers across the state echoed these calls. But they largely fell on deaf ears. […]
Missouri man charged with drug trafficking, illegal firearms after calling 911
A Missouri man who called 911 to aid his mother was charged in federal court after police officers responded to their residence and found evidence of drug trafficking and illegal firearms. Michael Cummings II, 39, of Kansas City, was charged with possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and with possessing firearms in furtherance of […]
Kansas City man facing multiple felony charges in Caldwell County after high-speed pursuit
A Kansas City man faces several felony charges in Caldwell County after he allegedly misidentified himself and fled from police, starting from Polo, in April. Forty-six-year-old Billy Leon McCollum has been charged with first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle; resisting or interfering with an arrest for a felony; resisting arrest, detention, or stop by fleeing, […]
Attorney General says Missouri lawmakers can refuse to fund Medicaid expansion
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri lawmakers were not obligated to fund Medicaid expansion, and the courts cannot force the state to pay the medical bills of people who would be eligible under an initiative that amended the state constitution, the state attorney general’s office argued in documents filed Monday in Cole County Circuit Court. The filing from Attorney […]
Missouri Attorney General files civil suit against St. Louis County illicit massage business
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a civil lawsuit against an illicit massage business, Royal Day Spa, located in St. Louis County. This lawsuit is the fifth filed by Attorney General Schmitt as part of his Office’s Hope Initiative to combat human trafficking in illicit massage businesses. “Human trafficking is a scourge on our society […]
Missouri, Kansas utilities may use loophole to charge customers for fossil fuel lobbying
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri and Kansas residents’ utility bills may be helping to bankroll the energy sector lobbying against policies aimed at lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Federal and state rules prohibit utility companies from passing their lobbying costs on to customers through bills. But in both Kansas and Missouri, utilities like Evergy, Ameren, and Spire […]
Lawmakers condemn recent surge of antisemitism, call on leaders to act
U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) along with Senators Jacky Rosen (Nev.) and James Lankford (Okla.) introduced a bipartisan resolution condemning recent antisemitic incidents in the U.S. and around the world. The resolution also calls on leaders to denounce antisemitism and take specific steps to address it and prevent it. “The recent rise in acts of […]
Audio: Missouri resumes in-person visits at state prisons
Visiting hours at Missouri’s 20 prisons have resumed, with some rules. Prisoners who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can have visitors. Masks and on-site health screenings are required. Visits must be scheduled in advance with the prison. The Missouri Department of Corrections does not require visitors to be vaccinated, but it strongly […]
Audio: Midwest economy, including Missouri’s, expected to be back to pre-COVID levels in first quarter of 2022
The Midwest economy, including Missouri’s, is expected to be back to pre-COVID levels in the first quarter of 2022. That’s according to Dr. Ernie Goss, an economist at Creighton University in Nebraska. He says the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows average hourly wages for Missouri’s manufacturing sector is strong with record high price gains […]
Four plead guilty to multi-state dogfighting conspiracy
Four defendants pleaded guilty to federal dogfighting and conspiracy charges for their roles in an interstate dogfighting network across the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and New Jersey. The Honorable John A. Gibney Jr., U.S. District Judge in Richmond, Virginia, accepted the following pleas: On June 1, Odell S. Anderson Sr., 52, of the District […]
Linn County Health Department also reporting COVID-19 variants circulating within county
Linn County Health Department has received notification from the state of Missouri that the Indian variant of COVID-19 is circulating in Linn County. Both variants are highly contagious. B.1.617.2-Indian is labeled a variant of interest by the CDC, seems to take a smaller viral load to infect and may be up to 50 percent more […]
Livingston County Health Center confirms United Kingdom and Indian variants of COVID-19 circulating within the county
Livingston County Health Center has announced lab confirmation from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services of both U.K. and Indian variants of COVID-19 circulating in Livingston County. B.1.1.7-UK is labeled a variant of concern by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and has shown to be 50 percent more contagious than […]
COVID-19 surge in north Missouri creates worries for summer as vaccinations decline
(Missouri Independent) – In the last week of April, the Linn County Health Department signaled that the COVID-19 pandemic had cooled enough that it could discontinue weekly reports on new cases. With only three active cases on April 21, the urgency for frequent updates seemed to have passed. But the coronavirus came roaring back this […]