(Missouri Independent) – Missouri regulators on Tuesday eased the rules governing the design of massive industrial hog facilities in a move critics claim was meant to help one controversial facility. The state’s Clean Water Commission voted 5-1 to narrow the definition of groundwater in the state’s rules governing the construction of “concentrated animal feeding operations” […]
The Livingston County Health Center in Chillicothe has changed its hours for walk-in COVID-19 vaccines due to an increase in the need for testing. The shots will now be given on a walk-in basis Tuesday and Thursdays only from 8 o’clock to noon and 1 to 4 o’clock. They were previously available every weekday. The […]
A Braymer, Missouri, man was indicted by a federal grand jury for a $215,000 cattle fraud scheme that he attempted to cover up by murdering two Wisconsin brothers. Garland Joseph Nelson, 27, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo. The indictment charges Nelson with one count of […]
U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Co-Chairs of the Congressional Adoption Caucus, announced that they have reintroduced legislation to improve the intercountry adoption process. “There are millions of children around the world without a safe, stable home,” said Blunt. “We can help connect these children with the families they deserve by making […]
(Missouri Independent) – At least once a day, housing advocate Melissa Pashia speaks to someone living in a car. Once the situation gets to this point, it’s hard to get people back into stable housing, said Pashia, a housing resource specialist for the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing and Opportunity Council. “Landlords don’t want to […]
(Missouri Independent) – On Monday morning, Jeremy Cady, state director of Americans for Prosperity, filed paperwork with Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s office to begin the process of putting the 12.5-cents a gallon tax increase on a statewide ballot. To succeed in forcing a referendum on the bill, the campaign would have to gather about 110,000 […]
The Livingston County Health Department reports it has added 35 new cases of COVID-19 last week. So far in May 2021, there have been 42 positive cases. According to the health department, the cases involve individuals of all ages, the biggest age group being adults 30 to 40. The Livingston County surge in cases hasn’t […]
The Patrol will be participating in Operation C.A.R.E. (Crash Awareness Reduction Effort) during the long holiday weekend. This means every available trooper will be on the road enforcing traffic laws and assisting motorists. Over the 2020 Memorial Day holiday weekend, 10 people died, and 444 were injured in 1,081 traffic crashes. Last year, troopers made […]
The person behind the wheel in that deadly drive-by shooting in August that killed a St. Joseph toddler has been sentenced to ten years in prison. KFEQ’s Brent Martin has details on Te’Avion Hawkins’ sentencing. Hawkins was the driver of the vehicle last August that pulled up alongside the car in which Raelynn […]
Another session of the Missouri Legislature has come and gone. Of the 1,559 House bills and 689 Senate bills filed this time around, 69 bills will make it to Gov. Mike Parson’s desk. Here are some key bills left up to the governor to sign or veto: Missouri lawmakers vote to pump up […]
The Columbia Police Department, Boone County Sheriff’s Office, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Missouri Attorney General’s Office, and a multitude of other local, state, and federal agencies conducted a successful joint human trafficking operation at the Holiday Inn East hotel in Columbia, Missouri on Friday night. The joint operation, organized by the Columbia Police Department, the […]
Legislation that would allow Missouri utility companies to speed their transition to renewable energy is on its way to Gov. Mike Parson’s desk just a day before the General Assembly’s session ends. The Missouri House voted 146-1 Thursday in favor of a policy — also adopted earlier this year in Kansas — that would allow utility providers, like […]
Hiland Dairy Foods, a Missouri-based producer and distributor of dairy products, violated federal law when it refused to hire a man to work in its Norman, Okla. plant because he was vision-impaired, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charged in a lawsuit filed. According to the suit, Hiland interviewed the man, toured the plant with […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri will not expand Medicaid coverage to working-age adults on July 1 because lawmakers refused to include funding for the health care program in the state budget, Gov. Mike Parson announced Thursday. In a news release, Parson said the state was withdrawing documents submitted to the federal government necessary to add the approximately 275,000 […]
As the school year ends, you can expect young people to start applying for summer jobs. For agricultural employers, these young workers can provide extra capacity at a time when farms and agribusinesses often have more work than they have employees to get that work done. “Labor is tight as the economy picks up steam […]
The Newtown-Harris R-3 Board of Education approved the 2021-2022 salary schedule May 10t. It is the same salary schedule as for the 2020-2021 school year, which Superintendent Doctor Lucas McKinnis notes has a base salary of $31,000 for a first-year teacher with a bachelor’s degree. The salary schedule is expected to change after further review […]
(Missouri Independent) – As the state of Missouri battles its second year of the novel coronavirus’ spread, lawmakers on Wednesday sent to the governor’s desk a bill that aims to rein in local public health orders and ban vaccine passports. The provisions were included in House Bill 271, which deals with local government transparency. It grew […]
Plans are moving forward for a Sesquicentennial celebration in Jamesport next year. The topic was discussed during a Jamesport City Council meeting on May 10th. The Sesquicentennial Committee was to hold its first planning meeting on May 11th. Plans for future meetings are to be announced. It was reported last month that the city plans […]
(Missouri Independent) – The fate of a wide-ranging crime bill was called into question on Tuesday over a provision that would stiffen penalties for lying under oath to the legislature or obstructing a legislative investigation. During a conference committee on Tuesday morning convened to work out differences on Senate Bill 53, House members said the bill […]
(Missouri Independent) – In a historic vote, the Missouri House signed off Tuesday on legislation creating a prescription drug monitoring program — inching one step closer to ending Missouri’s designation as the only state without one. The bill now heads to Gov. Mike Parson for his signature or veto. Sen. Holly Rehder, a Sikeston Republican who […]
