(Missouri Independent) – State health director Donald Kauerauf adamantly spoke against mandating face masks and COVID-19 vaccines during a hearing Monday, as anti-vaccination demonstrators protested his confirmation in the halls outside. While protesters chanted outside the Capitol hearing room, senators inside grilled Kauerauf for nearly two hours on his views on how best to mitigate […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, along with seven other attorneys general, filed suit against the Biden Administration for their unlawful reinstatement of the ineffective Central American Minors (CAM) Refugee and Parole Program. The lawsuit alleges that illegal aliens with pending asylum claims can petition the government through the CAM Program to allow their minor children […]
(Missouri Independent) – Parents hoping to vaccinate their young children against COVID-19 will need to be patient, Dr. Anthony Fauci cautioned. The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said while he expects the vaccine regimen for children under 5 will be three doses, he couldn’t provide a timeline on when the […]
Legislation that would make it easier for state lawmakers to block funding for abortion clinics is moving through the Missouri House. The bill would make it illegal for any public funds, including federal dollars, from being spent on abortion clinics or any facility with ties to abortion providers. It would also bar the […]
U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer is retiring from the high court. His retirement won’t change the make-up of the six to three divide between conservative and liberal justices. Missouri U.S. Senator Roy Blunt weighs in on President Biden’s plan to nominate a Black woman to the bench. U.S. Supreme Court Associate […]
The Grundy County Clerk’s Office has provided corrected information on the election filing for the Laredo Fire Protection District Board of Directors. Kevin Eckert filed for the open position. Information originally provided to the Grundy County Clerk’s Office contained a mistake. The Laredo Fire Protection District will forgo an election on April 5th because there […]
Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway announced her office has begun an audit of the city of Cuba, located in Crawford County. City residents requested the audit through the petition process. “The petition audit process allows citizens to be engaged and ensure accountability with their local government,” Auditor Galloway said. “I look forward to conducting this […]
Some governmental jurisdictions in Grundy County will forgo an election on April 5th. That is because of a law that allows them to go without an election when the number of candidates is equal to the number of positions to be filled. The candidates will assume the responsibilities of their offices at the same time […]
The United States Attorney’s Office reports that Joshua J Damon, age 35, was sentenced today to serve 148 months (12.3 years) in federal prison following his guilty plea to attempted enticement of a minor. The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge Stephen R. Clark at the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. According […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri state employees counting on seeing a big raise in their February paychecks may be disappointed, as lawmakers fiddle with a $5.4 billion spending bill pushed by Gov. Mike Parson. When the Republican governor in December proposed a 5.5 percent pay raise for all state workers, he said he wanted it in effect by […]
Citing winter weather conditions and/or illness among owners, the Trenton Building and Nuisance Board on Monday evening granted time extensions to five properties of concern. Granted a 90-day extension was 604 Linn Street where repairs were done to a basement wall. It remains in the category “findings of fact.” Given a 60 day extension was […]
Senator Josh Hawley wrote to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding answers on the agency’s Climate Change Professionals Program and why they are focusing on woke partisan government programs while ignoring the crisis at our southern border. Senator Hawley wrote, “In a press release, you said, ’The Climate Change Professionals Program will be instrumental in […]
A former Kansas man pleaded guilty in federal court to embezzling $3.1 million from his employer and failing to pay nearly $1 million in taxes owed to the federal government and the state of Kansas. Richard Scott Simkins, 56, now residing in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty […]
(Missouri Independent) – Gov. Mike Parson proposed massive new spending on infrastructure and college buildings, and still found money to set aside for pensions and future revenue shortfalls, in the budget submitted Wednesday to lawmakers. Missouri will enter the new fiscal year with nearly $3 billion in surplus general revenue, an anticipation of record future tax collections, […]
(Missouri Independent) – Gov. Mike Parson praised his administration’s handling of the still-unfolding COVID-19 pandemic Wednesday, telling a joint session of the Missouri General Assembly that the state has emerged ready to make long-term investments in its future. “The bottom line is Missouri’s economy is strong,” Parson said in his annual State of the State […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri is continuing to see record daily coronavirus infections, near-peak COVID-19 caseloads in hospitals, and threats from Attorney General Eric Schmitt that he will sue school districts that require masks or send students home when they are infected or exposed to the virus. In a statement issued Tuesday morning, Schmitt said school mask rules […]
We’re hearing a lot about “The Great Resignation” – an unemployment trend seen as the cause of labor shortages and business shutdowns. Government reports show a record monthly high of 4.5 million Americans quitting their jobs this past November alone. University of Missouri economist and labor specialist Peter Muesser says the nickname for the trend […]
Missouri non-farm payroll employment increased from October 2021 to November 2021, and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by two-tenths of a percentage point. Employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 7,600 jobs over the month, with job gains in both the goods-producing and service-providing industries. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.5 percent in November […]
(Missouri Independent) – The University of Missouri’s Columbia campus will begin the spring semester as planned Tuesday with no option for online classes, masking, or vaccination requirements, UM System President and campus Chancellor Mun Choi wrote to faculty leaders Friday. Choi’s response to concerns raised in a letter from the Executive Committee of the campus […]
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R.Mo) announced he will introduce the Banning Insider Trading in Congress Act, which would prohibit Members of Congress and their spouses from holding or trading individual stocks. The bill will require Members found in violation to return their profits to the American people. Senator Hawley said, “Year after year, politicians somehow manage to outperform […]
