Following federal guidance issued from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) has amended the state’s standing order for Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine administration for those who are eligible for a booster shot. Missourians who received the Pfizer vaccine can receive a booster shot at least six months after their […]
Tag: language
Missouri lawmakers buck national trend by establishing police “Bill of Rights”
(Missouri Independent) – On the final day of the 2021 legislative session in May, Missouri lawmakers passed a “law enforcement bill of rights” that gives officers special legal protections and closes files to police misconduct. When Gov. Mike Parson signed it into law in July, the bill of rights portion was largely overshadowed in press […]
Former Missouri teacher sentenced to 41 years in prison without parole for sexually exploiting students
A Missouri man who worked as a teacher in China was sentenced in federal court for sexually exploiting one of his former students by attempting to blackmail her into sending him pornographic images. Curtis J. Baldwin, 48, Springfield, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 41 years and eight months in federal […]
North Central Missouri College Film Club set to screen Pulp Fiction on September 23
North Central Missouri College’s Film Club will kick off the fall semester on September 23, 2021, at 6:30 p.m. at the NCMC campus in Cross Hall 208 (doors open at 6:00 p.m.). The group will be viewing Pulp Fiction. All NCMC students, faculty, staff, and the public are invited to attend. The Film Club is […]
Laredo Board of Education vote to make teachers “essential” and end COVID leave, approve tutoring up to 40 hours
The Laredo R-7 Board of Education on Monday, September 13, 2021, voted to make teachers essential and end COVID leave. Secretary Robin Griswold says teachers will still be able to come to school if they are considered close contacts, but they will have to wear masks. The board approved the first and second-grade teachers tutoring up […]
Missouri will become the last state to enforce federal mental health parity act
(Missouri Independent) – Under a new state law that went into effect late last month, Missouri will become the final state to enforce a federal law designed to ensure mental health care is covered by insurance providers the same as treatments for physical ailments. The provisions were included in House Bill 604, an omnibus insurance bill […]
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 […]
Tax rate set by Newtown-Harris Board of Education; meal prices increased by ten cents
The Newtown-Harris R-3 Board of Education set the tax rate and approved meal prices on August 13th. The tax rate was set at $6.6331 per $100 of assessed valuation. That is $.0726 higher than last year’s. Meal prices were increased by 10 cents for all categories. Prices for breakfast will be $1.70 for kindergarten through […]
Newtown-Harris R-3 Board of Education to meet on August 13
The Newtown-Harris R-3 Board of Education will hold a tax rate hearing before its regular meeting on August 13, 2021. The hearing will start in the high school Family and Consumer Science classroom that night at 7 o’clock. During the regular meeting at 7:15, the board will discuss lunch prices and plans for reopening. Other […]
Missouri Supreme Court rules voter-approved Medicaid expansion is constitutional
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri must expand Medicaid to 275,000 eligible people who were expecting coverage under a constitutional amendment that took effect July 1, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled Thursday. In a unanimous opinion, the court overturned a trial court ruling that the amendment, passed in August 2020 was unconstitutional because it may increase the state’s cost for […]
Audio: Starting in August, Missouri’s colleges and universities will no longer have a limit on annual tuition hikes
A new law beginning in August will allow Missouri’s colleges and universities to charge more intuition. Excelsior Springs State Representative Doug Richey sponsored the language that removes a limit on annual tuition increases. He tells Missourinet he does not expect schools to charge unreasonable tuition rates. Richey says the change will also allow […]
Quick ruling expected from Missouri Supreme Court on Medicaid Expansion
Missouri’s Medicaid expansion lawsuit case is now in the hands of the seven-member state Supreme Court. The court heard about 35 minutes of oral arguments Tuesday morning in Jefferson City. This case will likely come down to the definition of “appropriation.” Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem ruled in June that Missouri’s August Medicaid expansion […]
North Mercer Board of Education approve bid for milk; set date for tax rate hearing
The North Mercer R-3 Board of Education appointed staff members to positions July 12th. Those staff members included Terry Bomgardner as homeless liaison and migrant education director, Lauren Guilkey as foster care point of contact, and Greg Frost as English Language Learners coordinator. Board of education goals were approved. One goal was added that involved […]
Audio: Missouri Supreme Court to hear Missouri Medicaid expansion lawsuit case this morning
The Missouri Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday morning, July 13, 2021, in Jefferson City in one of the biggest cases the court has faced in recent memory: Missouri’s Medicaid expansion lawsuit case. Oral arguments will begin Tuesday at 11 a.m. Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem ruled in late June that […]
Relief payments to black farmers on hold amid lawsuits backed by former Trump aides
(Missouri Independent) – Former Trump administration officials and conservative and libertarian nonprofits have launched lawsuits to block federal relief funds aimed at Black and minority farmers—a development that House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott of Georgia calls “an evil system at work here.” Suits have been filed in Florida, Wisconsin, and Texas that says it’s […]
Missouri Senate approves FRA, rejects push to ban Planned Parenthood from Medicaid
(Missouri Independent) – A bipartisan coalition handed anti-abortion activists a rare defeat in the Missouri Senate Friday night, rejecting a push to ban Planned Parenthood as a Medicaid provider as it passed a bill to secure billions for the state’s Medicaid program. And only a restatement of the state’s already existing ban on using public funds to […]
Missouri Senate set to debate dueling bills extending tax crucial to Medicaid funding
After about three hours of testimony Thursday, the Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee approved two bills to extend medical provider taxes vital to funding the state’s share of Medicaid. The first bill brought up for a vote would extend the taxes for five years, limit the types of contraceptives available to women on Medicaid and block Planned Parenthood from […]
Missouri Attorney General joins letter urging Congress to restore Hyde Amendment to prohibit taxpayer funding of abortions
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and 21 other state attorneys general wrote to congressional leaders on Monday, urging Congress to keep the Hyde Amendment in the 2022 budget. The amendment prohibiting the use of federal funds for abortions was not included in the Biden Administration’s budget. The Hyde Amendment has been included in federal budgets […]
Parson calls special session, setting up debate on contraceptives, Planned Parenthood
(Missouri Independent) – A special session to extend provider taxes essential to the state’s Medicaid program will begin at noon Wednesday, Gov. Mike Parson announced Tuesday afternoon. The announcement was issued just minutes after a noon deadline set by Parson on Monday. The call came after seven members of the Senate Conservative Caucus sent him a letter demanding […]
Groups urge Missouri legislators to renew Medicaid provider tax
Budget experts warn if Missouri doesn’t renew its Medicaid provider taxes, the state will have to come up with roughly $1.6 billion to make up for it, and cuts would extend to services beyond Medicaid. A bill to renew the tax on hospitals, nursing homes, pharmacies, and other providers stalled before the legislative session concluded […]