(Missouri Independent) – With the Missouri Senate poised for what promises to be a lengthy debate over Medicaid expansion, legislative Democrats said Tuesday that the fight over funding will move to the courts if lawmakers don’t approve money for the new coverage. During a rally on the Capitol Building lawn, Senate Democrats promised to push […]
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Lawmakers introduce resolution honoring holocaust hero Carl Lutz
U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Bob Casey (Pa.) introduced a resolution honoring Carl Lutz, a Swiss diplomat who saved more than 50,000 people – half of the surviving Jewish population of Budapest – from deportation to concentration camps during the Holocaust. While working in Nazi-occupied Hungary, Lutz obtained permission from Nazi leadership to issue […]
Missouri KidsFirst announces recipients of 2021 “Standing with Children” awards
Missouri KidsFirst presented the 2021 Standing with Children Awards at a virtual event hosted by the organization at 12:00 PM on Monday, April 26, 2021. The 2021 recipients of the Standing with Children Awards are Laura Bauer and Judy Thomas, investigative reporters with the Kansas City Star, Dr. Linda Shaw, child abuse pediatrician with SSM […]
Audio: The fight to expand Medicaid coverage is not over yet in Missouri
The fight to expand Medicaid coverage is not over yet in Missouri. The state Senate is expected to work Wednesday and Thursday on the 34-billion dollar state budget, which could include an effort to fund expansion. Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee rejected a compromise proposal that would have funded expansion on a smaller scale. […]
Audio: Missouri Senate leader feeling confident gas tax proposal has enough House votes to pass
With three weeks left to go in the regular legislative session, Missouri Senate President Dave Schatz remains hopeful about his proposed gas tax hike. The Senate has already passed the bill that would boost the state’s fuel tax by twelve-and-a-half cents per gallon over five years. During a Senate press conference, Schatz says if the […]
NCMC’s Madison Eller selected for MCCA’s Student Leadership Award
Madison Eller, a teacher education student from North Central Missouri College from Chillicothe, MO, has been selected as NCMC’s representation for the Missouri Community College Association (MCCA) 2021 Student Leadership Award. Madison is involved in SMSTA, was a Student Ambassador, and a tutor at the Tutoring Center. After completing her courses at NCMC, Madison will […]
Bill banning trans students from sports teams by gender wins support of Missouri House
(Missouri Independent) – After hours of fierce debate that spanned the course of two days, the Missouri House on Wednesday signed off on a prohibition on transgender students participating on the sports teams that match their gender identity. The provision, offered as an amendment by Rep. Chuck Basye, R-Rocheport, to House Bill 1141 was adopted by a vote […]
USDA expands and renews Conservation Reserve Program in effort to boost enrollment and address climate change
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that USDA will open enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program with higher payment rates, new incentives, and a more targeted focus on the program’s role in climate change mitigation. Additionally, USDA is announcing investments in partnerships to increase climate-smart agriculture, including $330 million in 85 Regional Conservation Partnership Program […]
Audio: Senator Hawley calls for federal agencies to return to work and resume full duties
United States Senator Josh Hawley is asking federal agency leaders to ramp up operations again at some field offices. He says pre-CVOID 19 services should be restored. Many of these complaints have been directed at the National Personnel Records Center, which is based in St. Louis and houses military records for veterans nationwide. […]
Coalition of attorneys general urge President Biden to reject United States Supreme Court packing scheme
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt joined a multistate coalition of 20 attorneys general in writing to President Joe Biden and congressional leaders to voice opposition to the recent steps towards packing the U.S. Supreme Court. “President Biden’s and Congressional leaders’ attempts to pack the United States Supreme Court will undermine the independence and impartiality of […]
Tori Guffey is Putnam County Career and Technical Student of the Month
The Putnam County R-1 School District recently recognized Tori Guffey as the Career and Technical Education Student of the Month for April 2021. Student winners are chosen by the vocational faculty based on a set of criteria that includes: attendance, grades, cooperation with fellow students and teachers, enthusiasm for subject(s), attitude both in the classroom […]
Missouri man sentenced to 25 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute more than 2,000 kilos of cocaine
A Missouri, man has been sentenced in federal court for his leadership role in a multi-million dollar conspiracy that distributed more than 2,000 kilograms of cocaine in the metropolitan area. “This heavily-armed drug dealer was still on court-supervised release for a prior federal drug-trafficking conviction while he was engaged in this drug trafficking conspiracy,” said […]
Audio: Missouri House Health Committee Chairman says former DHSS Director Williams “Did a fine job”
Two key Missouri lawmakers from opposite parties view Tuesday’s resignation of state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Director, Dr. Randall Williams, very differently. Missouri House Health and Mental Health Policy Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Stephens (R-Bolivar) praises Dr. Williams, while House Minority Leader Crystal Quade (D-Springfield) says the resignation was long overdue. Chairman Stephens says Williams […]
Audio: Representative Cori Bush reacts to Chauvin guilty verdict
The Congressional Black Caucus held a press conference on Capitol Hill after Derek Chauvin was convicted of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. St. Louis Congresswoman Cori Bush, a leader in the Black Lives Matter movement was asked to speak. The freshman Congresswoman became active in politics in Ferguson, after Michael Brown […]
Governor Parson names Robert Knodell as Acting Director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
Governor Mike Parson named Deputy Chief of Staff Robert Knodell as Acting Director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services effective immediately. Mr. Knodell has served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Parson since 2018. Over the past year, he has played an integral part in the state’s COVID-19 response efforts and […]
Missouri spending bill would offer money for mortgage help, utility bills
(Missouri Independent) – Help may be coming for Missouri homeowners behind on their mortgage payments because of COVID-19 income losses. The Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday added $150 million in federal mortgage assistance funds to the supplemental spending bill for the current fiscal year, one of several new sections using money from pandemic relief bills passed by Congress […]
Grain Belt transmission line forges ahead amid landowner, lawmaker pushback
(Missouri Independent) – On the heels of a historic cold snap that left thousands across the Midwest without power, Kansas and Missouri residents could soon reap the benefits of a massive high-powered transmission line delivering renewable energy. Grain Belt Express, a project a decade in the making, is starting to acquire land along its route spanning […]
Missouri Director Chris Chinn and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Davin Turner are NCMC Commencement Speakers
Missouri Director of Agriculture, Chris Chinn and Dr. Davin Turner, Chief Medical Officer and President of Mosaic Life Care Medical Center in St. Joseph will give the commencement addresses at North Central Missouri College in Trenton, Missouri on May 8, 2021. Director Chinn will speak at the 9:00 a.m. morning ceremony and Dr. Turner will […]