DISCLAIMER: This article is a commentary. The statements and opinions contained in the article are those of the author, Tim Gibbons. The opinions expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of KTTN/KGOZ Radio, staff, management, or webmaster. (Missouri Independent) – Last month, Missouri Rural Crisis Center held a telephone town […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri lawmakers must finish work on the fiscal 2022 budget by Friday. And while the biggest spending issue of the session, Medicaid expansion, is off the table, there are other big issues to resolve in the state-run health care program. One of the largest is whether to provide a cushion for hospitals that […]
A group of Missouri House and Senate members are expected to work out their state budget differences this week. Currently, the 34-billion dollar budget plan includes seven million dollars for the state’s seven nursing homes caring for veterans. During the Missouri Senate budget debate, Creve Coeur Democrat Jill Schupp, who serves on the Missouri Veterans […]
In 39 days, eight Missouri students will begin competing in the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee. This year’s contest will include 209 spellers all vying for the treasured championship trophy. According to the bee, spellers will begin participating virtually in the first of three rounds on June 12. The semifinals are scheduled for June 27. […]
Missouri’s Senate leader says the state’s operating budget has grown from 21-billion dollars a decade ago to 34-billion dollars today. Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz tells Sullivan affiliate KTUI that Medicaid expansion is too expensive. He says the state Department of Social Services’ budget continues to grow. The Missouri Senate and House […]
(Missouri Independent) – Evergy, an electric supplier to about 600,000 customers in western Missouri, will retire its coal power plant in Lawrence, Kansas, by the end of 2023, the company announced on Friday. The utility revealed its plan to regulators in a filing with the Missouri Public Service Commission. The “integrated resource plan” lays out Evergy’s next […]
U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.), a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (Wash.), the Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, introduced legislation that will provide $500 million a year for five years to improve safety and reduce congestion at railroad crossings […]
The Missouri Senate has passed a $34 billion state budget proposal without funding an expansion of Medicaid. The upper chamber sided with the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Missouri House of Representatives by rejecting attempts to put expansion funding into the budget that begins in July. Gov. Mike Parson’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2022 […]
Missouri State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick today announced that MOST, Missouri’s 529 Education Plan, has reached more than $4 billion in assets under management, a major milestone for the state’s 529 plan. “As Treasurer, one of my most important jobs is helping Missourians prepare for their financial future,” Treasurer Fitzpatrick said. “Reaching $4 billion in […]
(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 […]
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 […]
As the state Senate debates Missouri’s budget for next year, groups are urging lawmakers to learn from the 38 states that have expanded their Medicaid programs. The budget passed by the Missouri House leaves out the $130 million needed to fund expansion. The remainder of the costs would be covered by the federal government. Joan Alker, executive director […]
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. […]
Bipartisan legislation increasing penalties for people who knowingly release feral hogs into the wild has received initial approval from the Missouri House. The bill, which is sponsored by Portageville State Representative Don Rone, increases the criminal penalty from a class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony. The Missouri Department of Conservation, the […]
The North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees heard a report from the Faculty Senate Negotiations Committee on April 27th. History and Spanish Faculty Member Maryellen Harman and Psychology Faculty Member Lindsay Oram presented a proposal for a faculty salary schedule for 2021-2022. The proposal includes adding $1,000 to the salary base and continuing to […]
The Drug Enforcement Administration announced a new initiative, Project Wave Breaker, to disrupt the flow of deadly fentanyl into the United States. Project Wave Breaker will direct interdiction, enforcement, and outreach efforts to high-impact areas to disrupt the flow of fentanyl in and around the United States. The initiative will also employ analytical intelligence assets […]
Wright Memorial Physicians’ Group in Trenton and Saint Luke’s Mercer County Clinic in Princeton announced that their next COVID-19 vaccination clinics are set for Thursday, April 29 and Thursday, May 6 in Princeton (Mercer County Clinic), and Friday, April 30 and Friday, May 7 in Trenton (Wright Memorial Physicians’ Group). The vaccination clinics are open […]
Missouri COVID-19 vaccinators will resume use of the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine. This decision was made following the announcement by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that it has studied and confirmed that the pause on its use can be lifted. It was concluded that the known […]
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced legislation to create the Parent Tax Credit, a historic tax cut to help working parents afford to start a family and raise their children. Through a fully refundable tax credit provided directly through automatic, monthly advances, Senator Hawley’s Parent Tax Credit gives working parents the flexibility they need to make the best choices for raising their […]
Apprenticeship programs at community colleges are poised for a big investment under President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan. The plan includes $12 billion dollars for community colleges. At a recent congressional hearing, members from both parties expressed support for targeting some of those funds at apprenticeship programs within community colleges. Shalee Hodgson, associate dean for technology, applied […]
