(Missouri Independent) – Despite increasing legal access to medical and recreational cannabis in states across the U.S., veterans face unfair treatment and stigmatization because the U.S. refuses to recognize marijuana as a viable treatment option. While the VA has embraced the federally illegal status of the drug, agency policy does not allow discrimination against veterans […]
Tag: helps
Missouri 4-H’ers donate more than a half-ton of protein to fight food insecurity by donating pigs at Missouri State Fair
This summer, Missouri 4-H youths raised more than 1,100 pounds of protein for Missourians in need by donating pigs at the 2021 Missouri State Fair. The pork contributed through Missouri Farmers Care’s Hogs for Hunger program will provide 5,028 meals for food-insecure Missourians. Hogs for Hunger, previously known as the Missouri Farmers Care Pork Partnership, […]
Missouri Department of Conservation reminds deer hunters to get harvested deer sampled for Chronic Wasting Disease
With deer hunting in Missouri opening for archery season on September 15 and firearms portions in the coming months, the Missouri Department of Conservation wants hunters to know key information about chronic wasting disease. MDC will be holding mandatory CWD sampling during the opening weekend of firearms season and voluntary CWD sampling all season for […]
Missouri State Auditor finds improvements needed in data security for Missouri WIC Information Network System
State Auditor Nicole Galloway has released an audit of the Missouri WIC Information Network System. This system manages data for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children — better known as the WIC program — which provides nutritional benefits to more than 90,000 participants. The report made recommendations for improvements in several […]
Missouri Steer Feedout accepting entries through October 10
Entries will be accepted through Oct. 10 for the next Missouri Steer Feedout, with weigh-in on November 2, says University of Missouri Extension livestock specialist Eldon Cole. An entry consists of five or more head of steers born after January 1, 2021. At delivery, they should be weaned at least 45 days, weigh over 500 […]
USDA accepts 2.8 million acres for the Conservation Reserve Program
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has accepted 2.8 million acres in offers from agricultural producers and private landowners for enrollment into the Conservation Reserve Program in 2021. This year, almost 1.9 million acres in offers have been accepted through the General CRP Signup, and USDA’s Farm Service Agency has accepted over 897,000 acres for enrollment […]
FDA gives full approval to Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
The U.S. has its first fully approved vaccine against COVID-19, with federal health officials announcing Monday the approval of Pfizer-BioNTech’s two-dose vaccine. The green light from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to move Pfizer’s vaccine from emergency use to full approval is a milestone in the national pandemic response, and one that comes as the […]
Meatpacking plants have long relied on immigrant labor. Some now turn to foreign visa workers
(Missouri Independent) – Colored hard hats distinguish different roles and jobs at Seaboard Foods, a major meatpacking plant in Guymon, Oklahoma. Senior management have green. Supervisors wear dark blue. Foreign workers on visas don yellow-green. But Seaboard is part of a small but growing trend in the meatpacking industry, which already largely relied on an […]
Judge orders state to immediately allow Missourians to enroll in expanded Medicaid
(Missouri Independent) – The Missouri Department of Social Services must allow newly eligible residents that qualify for benefits under voter-approved Medicaid expansion to enroll and cannot impose greater restrictions on them, a Cole County judge ruled Tuesday. Cole County Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetem sided with the plaintiffs who urged him to allow Medicaid expansion to take […]
Trenton Board of Education discusses COVID-19 protocols during lengthy meeting
The Trenton R-9 Board of Education on August 10th discussed COVID-19-related matters for the upcoming school year. Superintendent Mike Stegman began by going over a list of protocols. They included staff and students attending school in person and using social distancing. Masks will be optional for staff and students inside district facilities. It is “highly […]
New Missouri law mandates private space and break times for breastfeeding teachers
(Missouri Independent) – Eight months after her son was born, Webster Groves High School teacher Jaime Adamski broke down in tears at her doctor’s office. Her breast milk had declined significantly since she had gone back to work. “I was depressed, angry, frustrated,” she said. “I felt like I was not a good enough mother […]
Researchers find cattle are losing adaptations to environmental stressors
As a fourth-generation cattle farmer, Jared Decker knows that cattle suffer from health and productivity issues when they are taken from one environment–which the herd has spent generations adapting to–to a place with a different climate, a different elevation, or even different grass. But as a researcher at the University of Missouri, Decker also sees […]
Casey Stout named 2021 Coca-Cola “Leaders of Promise” scholar
Casey Stout, a student from North Central Missouri College, is one of 207 Phi Theta Kappa members named a 2021 Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholar and will receive a $1,000 scholarship. The Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholarship Program helps new Phi Theta Kappa members defray educational expenses while enrolled in associate degree programs. Scholars are […]
Coalition of lawmakers introduce Intelligence Community Workforce Agility Protection Act
Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.), a member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, helped introduce the Intelligence Community Workforce Agility Protection Act of 2021. Currently, active-duty members of the military can deduct certain moving expenses from their federal taxes, but that benefit does not extend to intelligence community professionals. The bipartisan bill would expand the […]
Trenton Area Ministerial Alliance assists residents with utility bills and rent
The Trenton Area Ministerial Alliance helps Grundy County residents with paying utilities and sometimes rent. Tenth Street Baptist Church Pastor Ron Ratliff says the Good Samaritan Fund was started about 10 years ago. He explains the Trenton Area Ministerial Alliance will help in the best way and as much as it possibly can. […]
USDA announces dates for Conservation Reserve Program Grasslands signups
Agricultural producers and landowners can apply for the Conservation Reserve Program Grasslands signup from today until August 20. This year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) updated signup options to provide greater incentives for producers and increase the program’s conservation and climate benefits, including setting a minimum rental rate and identifying two national priority zones. […]
Landowners and tenants invited to respond to 2021 Missouri rental rate survey
Landowners lease roughly 35% of Missouri crop, pasture, and woodland acreage to renters every year. Rented acreage has increased in recent years as more land has transitioned to the next generation, interest rates have incentivized land investments, and interest in carbon markets and working land conservation has grown, said Ben Brown, extension economist with the […]
New Missouri Department of Conservation fall hunting booklets available for deer, turkey, dove, waterfowl
Missouri deer and turkey hunters and waterfowl and dove hunters can get the most current information on upcoming fall hunting from the Missouri Department of Conservation’s 2021 Fall Deer and Turkey Hunting & Regulations Information booklet and Migratory Bird and Waterfowl Hunting Digest 2021-2022, available where permits are sold and online. The 2021 Fall Deer and […]
Special Olympics Missouri celebrates 50 years
Special Olympics Missouri is celebrating 50 years this year and kicking off its Sponsor an Athlete campaign. Sponsorships make it possible for Special Olympics North Area to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in 18 Olympic-type sports for individuals with mental disabilities in 27 counties. Those counties include those in the Green Hills area […]
Hy-Vee partners with national suppliers to fight hunger
Hy-Vee Inc. will again partner with Kellogg’s and Keurig Dr. Pepper for the second year of its End Summer Hunger campaign. This year, Chobani has also joined the campaign that helps to provide meals to children and families in need through the Feeding America network of food banks. During the month of July, for every […]