(Missouri Independent) – Faced with over a year’s delay from the state social services department on implementing extended mental health care for new moms, a bipartisan effort now aims to expand health care coverage more broadly for low-income pregnant women. Legislation filed last week by Sens. Elaine Gannon, R-De Soto, and Jill Schupp, D-Creve Coeur, would extend […]
Tag: last month
Missouri health director wanted to appeal judge’s COVID ruling. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt refused
(Missouri Independent) – Attorney General Eric Schmitt will not appeal a consequential court ruling that strips powers from local health departments, despite a request from Missouri’s state health director to do so. In an email to The Independent, Schmitt’s spokesman said the attorney general’s office notified the Department of Health and Senior Services of its […]
Advocates say Build Back Better Act could improve health outcomes for Missouri children
Health advocates are pressing the U.S. Senate to pass the Build Back Better Act after it passed the House last month. The bill would improve Medicaid and CHIP, the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program, by offering 12 months of continuous coverage to children who qualify and making federal CHIP funding permanent. Casey Hanson, director of outreach and […]
Hawley demands Health and Human Services reinstate religious liberty protections, answers on secret rollback
Following the Department of Health and Human Services November 24 decision to rescind the HHS Office of Civil Rights’ authority to affirmatively protect Americans’ conscience rights pursuant to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Senator Hawley penned a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra demanding he reinstate the protections and provides answers on why the policy was rolled back. […]
Smithfield Foods settlement with feds can’t be used in COVID lawsuits
(Missouri Independent) – Smithfield Foods agreed this week to pay the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration $13,494 to settle a citation for failing to protect its meatpacking employees in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, from exposure to the coronavirus last year, but the company didn’t admit it did anything wrong. As such, the settlement can’t […]
Missouri to provide credit monitoring for teachers after reporter found security flaw
(Missouri Independent) – Nearly a month after a reporter identified a security flaw in a state website that exposed teachers’ social security numbers, the state announced Wednesday it was offering a year of credit monitoring services to hundreds of thousands of teachers whose personal information was put at risk According to the Department of Elementary […]
New funds and strategy may boost “massive task” of reducing lead exposure for Missouri kids
(Missouri Independent) – It’s clear that lead exposure is a problem for Missouri’s children. An estimated 4.5% have elevated levels of lead in their blood, more than almost any other state in the country. What’s far more difficult is figuring out where children are getting exposed to lead, said Carlton Waterhouse, President Joe Biden’s pick for […]
Missouri’s governor continues attack on reporter who found security flaw in state website
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri Gov. Mike Parson once again on Sunday took aim at a reporter who notified the state of a security flaw in one of its websites, questioning the journalist’s motives and noting he’d support the prosecution of any state employee found to have assisted the reporter. In a TV interview with Scott Faughn, […]
National prescription drug Take Back Day brings in nearly 745,000 pounds of unneeded medications
The Drug Enforcement Administration, along with its law enforcement partners, has removed close to 745,000 pounds of unneeded prescriptions from medicine cabinets across the country as part of DEA’s ongoing commitment to turn the tide against the U.S. opioid epidemic. Following last month’s 21st National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, the program has removed more than […]
Rainfall reaches almost 9 inches during October in Trenton
The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center, entering October, said there was a good chance temperatures and precipitation in this area would average above normal for the month. That prediction turned out to be accurate. Rainfall in Trenton totaled 8.78 inches at the water plant where readings are taken. The North Central Missouri College Barton […]
North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees hear reports, accept resignations, approve hiring new staff members
Multiple reports were given at the North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees meeting October 26th. President Doctor Lenny Klaver gave updates on what are considered three key strategies for success in the college’s Plan 2025: accreditation, expansion, and funding. Regarding accreditation, Klaver called the Higher Learning Commission’s 10-year review last month a “major milestone.” […]
Grundy County Nursing Home District Board of Directors accept proposal for new phone system
The Grundy County Nursing Home District Board of Directors voted October 19, 2021, to accept a proposal for a new phone system. Sunnyview Nursing Home and Apartments Administrator Jerry Doerhoff reports the accepted proposal was from Green Hills Communications for a Voice Over Internet Protocol system. He says it will cost $600 to integrate it with […]
Trenton city sales tax receipts up more than 6% for first half of fiscal year
Trenton city sales tax receipts are up more than six percent for general purposes and capital projects and up more than seven percent for parks, fire department needs, and transportation. Those figures are for the first half of this fiscal year, May through October, compared to the same period a year ago. In dollar figures, […]
University of Missouri System allows classroom mask mandate to expire
(Missouri Independent) – The University of Missouri System allowed a mask mandate for its four campuses to expire after Friday, October 15, 2021. Last month, the Board of Curators extended a rule that face masks be worn in classrooms by a 5-4 vote. That policy was scheduled to end at the close of Friday, and a meeting […]
Missouri students can now ‘test to stay’ to remain in classroom after COVID exposure
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri students and teachers identified as being exposed to a coronavirus case in school may now be permitted to remain in class if they continue to test negative for the virus and properly wear a mask. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) updated its school reopening guidance Friday to include the new […]
Trenton Board of Education approves after school tutoring pay rate, hear presentation on Summer School program
The Trenton R-9 Board of Education approved an adjustment to after-school tutoring pay on October 12, 2021. The pay rate was changed from $25 to $30 to match the quarantine tutoring program. Trenton Middle School Principal Daniel Gott said teachers select students to be tutored in the after-school program. Superintendent Mike Stegman reported there were […]
Lawmakers introduce bill establishing committee to investigate withdrawal from Afghanistan
U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and a group of their Senate colleagues introduced a bill to establish a bipartisan Joint Select Committee on Afghanistan, composed of members of the House and Senate, to conduct a full investigation into President Biden’s failed and tragic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan that stranded hundreds of Americans […]
Report says millions to lose abortion access if Roe v. Wade overturned
As the new U.S. Supreme Court session gears up, a new report found more than 36 million women in 26 states, including Missouri, could lose access to abortions if the court overturns Roe v. Wade. Missouri has only one clinic where abortions are performed, the result of laws that, for instance, require providers to have admitting privileges at […]
Democrats’ vision for free community college would boost undocumented students
(Missouri Independent) – The massive economic policy package Democrats are trying to muscle through Congress could open the door to free community college for undocumented immigrants. But that lifeline for many people now denied access to higher education could also reignite controversies in Republican-leaning states over immigration and federal overreach. The provision on immigrants was […]