Allison Abitz and her daughter, Jozee Abitz

Charges filed in homicide investigation of Northwest Missouri State University student and her daughter

Charges have been filed regarding a homicide investigation involving the death of a Northwest Missouri State University graduate student and her daughter. The Boone County Sheriff’s Office reports 45-year old J. T. McLean, the long-term boyfriend of 43-year-old Allison Abitz, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the murder of Allison and […]

Cory Richards Booking photo

Kansas City contractor arrested and charged with consumer fraud

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that Cory Richards, 33, was arrested for allegedly defrauding customers in connection with his businesses, Metro Home Rehab and All Hands on Deck Outdoor Restoration. Richards was arrested in a sting operation coordinated by the Missouri Attorney General Consumer Protection investigators and the Clay County Fugitive Apprehension Unit. Richards […]

Power Outage News Graphic

Fuel shortages drove February blackouts, Southwest Power Pool investigators find

(Missouri Independent) –  Rolling outages that left thousands without power in February were driven overwhelmingly by fuel shortages — especially in natural gas, executives with the Southwest Power Pool said Monday. This winter sustained frigid temperatures across the Midwest and South forced huge demand for energy while the weather made generators struggle to keep up. The Southwest Power […]

Restitution News Graphic

Missouri Attorney General obtains $26,000 in restitution for victims of Buchanan County contractor

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that Kansas-City-area contractor Brian S. Pummell will pay back over $26,000 in restitution to Missourians who paid Pummell for work he never performed. “Protecting consumers is an important duty of the Attorney General’s Office, and the dedicated investigators, hotline operators, and attorneys in the Consumer Protection Section of my […]

Child Sex Crimes news graphic

Missouri woman pleads guilty to sexually assaulting children and producing child pornography; faces 15 years in prison

A Missouri woman pleaded guilty in federal court to sexually assaulting two children to produce child pornography and to receiving and distributing child pornography. Tara Sau Millman, 41, Merriam Village, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to one count of the sexual exploitation of minors and one count of receiving and distributing […]

CAFO or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation

Some of Missouri’s largest CAFOs are seeking less stringent state regulation

Eleven of Missouri’s largest concentrated animal feeding operations are working to reduce the state’s oversight of their hog facilities despite a record of manure spills and clean water violations.  Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork producer, has 11 CAFOs seeking new state permits.  The facilities, dotted across northern Missouri, combined are capable of raising more […]