(Missouri Independent) – Federal education officials have launched civil rights investigations in five Republican-led states that have prohibited school districts from mandating mask-wearing, saying those policies could amount to illegal discrimination against students with disabilities. The Biden administration notified the education chiefs in Iowa, Tennessee, South Carolina, Utah, and Oklahoma of the investigations through formal letters Monday. The new investigations will examine […]
Tag: law
Audio: Missouri pediatricians group responds to attorney general’s lawsuit about school masking requirements
The Missouri Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics is responding to Attorney General Eric Schmitt suing to block mask mandates in Missouri’s K-12 public schools. Schmitt, a Republican running for U.S. Senate, says a mask mandate “flies in the face of science, especially given children’s low risk of severe illness and death and their […]
Lawsuit filed over $1.4 billion contract for Missouri prison healthcare
(Missouri Independent) – The dispute over the $1.4 billion contract to provide prisoner health care in Missouri is moving into the courts. Corizon Health, which has held the Department of Corrections contract since 1992, filed a lawsuit Monday in Cole County alleging that unfair treatment and improper scoring gave the contract to Centurion Health, a Virginia subsidiary of […]
Audio: Missouri School Board Association leader responds to attorney general’s lawsuit challenging school mask requirements
State Attorney General Eric Schmitt is suing Columbia Public Schools and any Missouri K-12 public school requiring students and staff to wear masks. Schmitt, a Republican running for U.S. Senate, says a mask mandate “flies in the face of science, especially given children’s low risk of severe illness and death and their low risk of […]
Spickard Fall Festival set for Saturday, September 11
The Spickard Fall Festival has scheduled several activities for their one-day-only event this year, scheduled for Saturday, September 11, 2021, in Spickard. The schedule includes a 10 am parade on Main Street with entries open to kids and adults. Cash prizes will be awarded, with registration beginning at 9 am. There will be games in […]
Audio: Jackson County prosecutor files motion to free Kevin Strickland from prison
The Jackson County prosecutor in western Missouri, Jean Peters Baker, has filed a motion to free Kevin Strickland from a Missouri prison. Prosecutors Jean Peters Baker says The Missouri General Assembly and Governor Parson deserve credit for creating a new legal avenue for a local prosecutor to seek relief. The passing of Senate […]
Missouri adopts first update to HIV criminalization laws in 30 years
A bill that went into effect over the weekend makes the first reforms to Missouri’s HIV criminalization laws since they were passed in the 1980s. Among other measures related to prosecutors and police, the bill requires prosecutors to prove someone knowingly exposed someone who contracted HIV before getting a felony conviction and reduces the minimum sentence […]
Trenton Park Board to meet Wednesday
A meeting of the Trenton Park Board is Wednesday, September 1, 2021, at 5:15 pm. The meeting will be held in the Moberly Park shelter house. City attorney Tara Walker is to give a presentation on the sunshine law. New business includes a discussion of corn hole boards. Reports are listed from the park superintendent […]
Trenton Police Personnel Board to meet
An executive session has been announced for a meeting of the Trenton Police Personnel Board. The meeting on Wednesday evening, September 1, 2021, at 6 pm will be at the Grundy County Law Enforcement Center and is closed to the public and meeting. Personnel is listed as the reason for the meeting.
Kansas man arrested in Daviess County on drug and weapon allegations
The highway patrol reports a Paola, Kansas resident was arrested Saturday evening in Daviess County. Thirty-eight-year-old Patrick Vanlerberg was accused of possession of methamphetamine, unlawful possession of a firearm, speeding, failure to display valid plates on a motor vehicle, no proof of insurance, and no motorcycle endorsement. There also was a Buchanan County warrant relating […]
Missouri ICUs filling as Delta variant wave moves into northeast, southeast regions
(Missouri Independent) – New cases from the Delta variant wave that has killed more than 1,150 Missourians since June 1 have plateaued, but hospital ICUs continue to fill — and small, rural hospitals are among the hardest hit. There were 690 patients in ICU beds across the state on Tuesday, the most recent day reported by the state Department of Health […]
Supreme Court rejection of eviction ban increases pressure to dole out rental aid money
(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 […]
Audio: St. Louis City and county lose in effort to block Second Amendment Preservation Act.
A county judge has ruled against St. Louis City and St, Louis County – in their argument against the new state law known as the Second Amendment Preservation Act. The law is to stop local law enforcement from helping federal investigators if guns are seized in an operation: St. Louis argued that this […]
Multi-state human trafficking operation, originating in Missouri, rescues 47 victims including 2 minors and leads to 102 arrests across 12 states
A 12-state human trafficking operation led by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol has led to 102 arrests and the rescue of 47 victims and sex workers including 2 minor victims. Operation United Front entailed simultaneous state-level human trafficking operations throughout the night on Thursday and into the early morning […]
Missouri man pleads guilty to shooting female Z-Trip driver 26 times during robbery
A man pleaded guilty in federal court to the armed robbery of a female Z-Trip driver whom he shot approximately 26 times with a rifle from the back seat. Derron D. Nevels, 20, of Kansas City, Missouri, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to one count of robbery and one count of […]
Florida man charged with multiple felonies after high-speed pursuit through two counties
A 36-year-old man has been charged in Livingston County with three felonies after a two-county law enforcement pursuit that began in Chillicothe the night of August 26. Bobby Wayne Jones has been charged with second-degree assault involving a special victim; resisting arrest, detention, or stop by fleeing; and driving while revoked or suspended. Bond was […]
Suspect arrested after police pursuit that began in Chillicothe ends in Linn County
A man from Florida has been arrested following a two-county law enforcement pursuit that began in Chillicothe. It was late Wednesday night on August 25, at 11:52 pm, when a police officer stopped a motorist for excessive speed in the 1000 block of South Washington Street. As the officer contacted the driver, the vehicle sped […]
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 […]
Mexican national sentenced to 15 years in prison without parole for drug trafficking and illegal firearms
A Mexican national was sentenced in federal court today for illegally selling more than a dozen firearms and a large amount of methamphetamine and heroin to undercover federal agents. Heladio Lezama-Palma, 36, a citizen of Mexico who was residing in Kansas City, Missouri, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to 15 years […]
North 65 Center to host fish fry
The North 65 Center in Trenton will hold a fish fry on August 27, 2021. Walk-ins and carry-out will be available from 5 o’clock until 7:30 in the evening. The menu will include catfish, hush puppies, coleslaw, potato salad, and dessert. Reservations can be made by calling the North 65 Center at 660-359-3058.