(Missouri Independent) -The U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection of the Biden administration’s last-ditch effort to extend a federal ban on evictions has put hundreds of thousands of American renters at risk of losing their housing — and is increasing pressure on states and localities to get rental assistance dollars distributed faster. In an eight-page majority opinion […]
Tag: independent
Attorneys argue Missouri is violating federal law, courts on Medicaid expansion delays
(Missouri Independent) – Attorneys who successfully sued to force Missouri to enact voter-approved Medicaid expansion argued in a letter to state officials Thursday that delays in implementation violate not only the court order but also federal law. The plaintiffs’ attorneys, Chuck Hatfield and Lowell Pearson joined with Joel Ferber, director of advocacy for Legal Services […]
Chautauqua on the square returns for 2021 run in Gallatin
Chautauqua on the Gallatin Square is back this year after not being held in 2020. The event is scheduled for September 17th and 18th. The Caldwell Family Band will perform that Friday evening at 6 o’clock. Spokesperson Kelle Lawson says Fievel Goes West will be shown on the lawn at 8 o’clock. Saturday’s activities will […]
Schools to continue mask rules despite legal challenge from Missouri Attorney General
(Missouri Independent) – The schools in Gov. Mike Parson’s hometown will continue to require students, teachers, and staff to wear masks indoors despite a lawsuit filed by the Missouri attorney general challenging public school mask mandates across the state. The Bolivar R-1 Board of Education in Polk County voted in a special meeting this month to […]
Biden administration to restart oil and gas leasing
(Missouri Independent) – The Interior Department will make significant steps toward restarting its leasing programs for onshore and offshore oil and gas development in the coming months, the Biden administration said in a court filing Tuesday. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management anticipates holding a sale for offshore leases in October or November, the administration […]
As Missouri students head back to class, state launches new COVID testing program
(Missouri Independent) – Monday marks the first day of school for thousands of students across Missouri and it’s also when schools can begin enrolling in a new federally-funded testing program aimed at helping facilitate a safe return to the classroom. The Department of Health and Senior Services announced Friday evening that Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc., a […]
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 […]
Missouri State Fair auction results from the Sale of Champions
The Missouri State Fair celebrated youth in agriculture on Saturday, Aug. 21. The annual Sale of Champions highlighted the day, breaking records from previous sales, raising a total of $185,948 for Youth in Agriculture. The Grand Champion Steer was exhibited by Payton Rodgers of Savannah, MO. Payton is the daughter of Blaine and Melissa Rodgers, […]
Biden mandates nursing homes require COVID vaccine or lose Medicare, Medicaid funds
(Missouri Independent) – Nursing homes will be required to ensure their staffers are vaccinated against COVID-19, or risk losing federal Medicare and Medicaid dollars, the Biden administration announced Wednesday in a major move on vaccinations as the Delta variant sweeps many states. Under the new nursing home policy, the U.S. Department of Health and Human […]
Missouri payrolls add 15,000 jobs in month after Parson stopped federal unemployment aid
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri payrolls added exactly 15,000 non-farm jobs in July as the unemployment rate ticked down 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted data from the federal Bureau of Labor Standards shows. The state’s labor force of 3.08 million, however, declined by 177, and overall employment, which includes self-employed people and farm labor, grew by 4,462 […]
Department of Justice asks court to block Missouri’s ‘Second Amendment Preservation Act’
(Missouri Independent) – A Missouri law prohibiting state and local police from enforcing certain federal gun laws has already undermined drug and weapons investigations, the U.S. Department of Justice argued in documents filed Wednesday in Cole County Circuit Court. As part of an ongoing lawsuit set for a hearing Thursday afternoon, the Justice Department is asking Cole […]
Afghan evacuees to arrive in the U.S. through Virginia and Wisconsin military bases
(Missouri Independent) – The first U.S. stop for the nearly 2,000 Afghan interpreters and other refugees evacuated so far amid the collapse of the Afghan government has been central Virginia’s Fort Lee military base. Tapped for its East Coast location and its ability to quickly ramp up to serve as a temporary host installation, the Army […]
U.S. House Democrats unveil new voting rights bill named for John Lewis
(Missouri Independent) – At the base of the bridge in Selma, Ala., where the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia almost died while marching for civil rights, congressional Democrats announced Tuesday the introduction of legislation that aims to protect voting rights across the country. Rep. Terri Sewell, an Alabama Democrat, unveiled what will be […]
Commentary: As schools reopen, an epidemiologist on what works — and what’s not worth the effort
This article is a commentary, the views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, Doctor Brandon Guthrie, and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of KTTN/KGOZ radio, the staff, management, and webmaster. Dr. Brandon Guthrie is an epidemiologist and associate professor at the University of Washington. His specific research […]
AARP calls for vaccine mandates as COVID re-enters Missouri nursing homes
(Missouri Indepentent) – With cases on the rise among both residents and staff, the nation’s leading advocacy group for retirees is calling on nursing homes to mandate COVID-19 vaccines. The number of COVID-19 cases reported each week in Kansas and Missouri nursing homes is rising again for the first time in months. Missouri, where weekly […]
Smithfield’s natural gas project implements manure-to-energy technology across northern Missouri’s hog farms
Monarch Bioenergy, a joint venture between Smithfield Foods, Inc. and Roeslein Alternative Energy, has finished installing manure-to-energy technology on nearly all of Smithfield’s Northern Missouri hog finishing farms. The new technology captures methane emissions and converts them into carbon-negative renewable natural gas to power homes, vehicles and businesses. “We are delighted to reach this exciting milestone, which is a significant step toward […]
Missouri to accept Medicaid expansion applications; DSS to begin processing applications on October 1
(Missouri Independent) – Missourians who qualify for benefits under Medicaid expansion can begin enrolling. Still, it may take up to two months until they will find out if their eligibility has been verified and their application has been approved. In a news release Wednesday, Gov. Mike Parson announced that in response to a Cole County […]
Lawmakers say special session likely unneeded to fund Missouri Medicaid expansion
(Missouri Independent) – Legislative leaders of both parties said Tuesday that a special session is likely not needed to appropriate additional funds following a court order to begin covering Missourians who are eligible under voter-approved Medicaid expansion. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Dan Hegeman, R-Cosby, Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, D-Independence, and Rep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis and […]
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 […]
Commentary: COVID brings front and center the tug between individual rights and the public good
This article is a commentary. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of KTTN/KGOZ Radio, the staff, management or webmaster. (Missouri Independent) – It seems that getting control of the coronavirus has brought front and center the question: When should an individual’s right […]