The U.S. has its first fully approved vaccine against COVID-19, with federal health officials announcing Monday the approval of Pfizer-BioNTech’s two-dose vaccine. The green light from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to move Pfizer’s vaccine from emergency use to full approval is a milestone in the national pandemic response, and one that comes as the […]
Tag: Majority
Governor Parson announces $400 million plan to improve broadband infrastructure in Missouri
During a press conference at the Missouri State Fair hosted by the Missouri Farm Bureau, Governor Mike Parson announced plans to deploy more than $400 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to increase broadband internet access, adoption, and assistance statewide. “Investing in our broadband infrastructure is critical to unlocking our full economic potential […]
Missouri Attorney General obtains preliminary injunction against mask mandate in St. Louis County
The Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt won another favorable ruling in his lawsuit against St. Louis County. The circuit court entered a preliminary injunction against the County, preventing them from enforcing the mask mandate in St. Louis County. “The people prevailed yet again against County Executive Page and his health department for attempting to impose […]
U.S. House Democrats unveil new voting rights bill named for John Lewis
(Missouri Independent) – At the base of the bridge in Selma, Ala., where the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia almost died while marching for civil rights, congressional Democrats announced Tuesday the introduction of legislation that aims to protect voting rights across the country. Rep. Terri Sewell, an Alabama Democrat, unveiled what will be […]
Smithfield’s natural gas project implements manure-to-energy technology across northern Missouri’s hog farms
Monarch Bioenergy, a joint venture between Smithfield Foods, Inc. and Roeslein Alternative Energy, has finished installing manure-to-energy technology on nearly all of Smithfield’s Northern Missouri hog finishing farms. The new technology captures methane emissions and converts them into carbon-negative renewable natural gas to power homes, vehicles and businesses. “We are delighted to reach this exciting milestone, which is a significant step toward […]
Audio: St. Joseph School District to require students to wear masks when they return to the classroom on August 23
Students in Pre-K-12, staff, and visitors will be required to wear masks indoors in the St. Joseph School District beginning August 23, 2021, the first day of school for the district, regardless of vaccination status. Masks will not be required outdoors. Following presentations and discussion, the St. Joseph Board of Education voted 5 […]
Less than half of Missouri nursing home staff vaccinated, reviving fear of lockdowns
(Missouri Independent) – Many of the staff and residents in Shunda Whitfield’s St. Louis County nursing home were sick before they even realized what was going on. It was April 2020, and masks weren’t yet standard practice. Little was known about COVID before it swept through nursing homes, and as a certified nursing assistant, Whitfield […]
Missouri agency begins implementation of new law to regulate unlicensed boarding schools
(Missouri Independent) – Unlicensed youth residential facilities across Missouri are expected to submit materials notifying the state of their existence by mid-October, but background checks for facility staff required under a new law likely won’t be completed by that time. That’s because the Department of Social Services (DSS) is still working to make hires in […]
Cease and desist ordered after ponzi-style scheme defrauds Missourians
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s Securities Division issued a final cease and desist order against Monarch Capital Investment Fund, LLC, and top executive Timothy Patrick Peabody after several investors in Missouri were defrauded. Missouri Commissioner of Securities David Minnick found that between April 2015 and October 2016, Peabody, “engaged in fraudulent or deceitful acts and […]
New Missouri law mandates private space and break times for breastfeeding teachers
(Missouri Independent) – Eight months after her son was born, Webster Groves High School teacher Jaime Adamski broke down in tears at her doctor’s office. Her breast milk had declined significantly since she had gone back to work. “I was depressed, angry, frustrated,” she said. “I felt like I was not a good enough mother […]
Missouri Attorney General files suit to stop mask mandates in St. Louis City and St. Louis County
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed suit to stop the reimposition of a mask mandate in St. Louis County and St. Louis City. The suit, which was filed in circuit court in St. Louis County, names St. Louis County Executive Sam Page, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, and the respective directors of the county and […]
State task force invites Missourians to complete survey on rights of sexual assault victims and survivors
A new state task force is seeking comments and suggestions from the public on how to strengthen protections and services for Missouri sexual assault victims. Comments and suggestions are being gathered through an online survey at this link. The survey closes on September 30, 2021. The Missouri Rights of Victims of Sexual Assault Task Force […]
Missouri Supreme Court rules voter-approved Medicaid expansion is constitutional
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri must expand Medicaid to 275,000 eligible people who were expecting coverage under a constitutional amendment that took effect July 1, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled Thursday. In a unanimous opinion, the court overturned a trial court ruling that the amendment, passed in August 2020 was unconstitutional because it may increase the state’s cost for […]
Missouri Attorney General joins coalition of 26 states in defending second amendment and right to self-defense in SCOTUS
Missouri Attorney General joins a coalition of 26 states to protect Americans’ right to self-defense at the United States Supreme Court. The states filed an amicus brief in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, urging the justices to declare New York’s subjective-issue, or “may issue,” firearm license regime unconstitutional and reverse the […]
Audio: Missouri Supreme Court to hear Missouri Medicaid expansion lawsuit case this morning
The Missouri Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday morning, July 13, 2021, in Jefferson City in one of the biggest cases the court has faced in recent memory: Missouri’s Medicaid expansion lawsuit case. Oral arguments will begin Tuesday at 11 a.m. Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem ruled in late June that […]
Sara Walsh joins growing field in Missouri’s 4th Congressional District
(Missouri Independent) – A crowded Republican primary is emerging in Missouri’s 4th Congressional District, a solidly GOP seat that is also the only one of the state’s eight districts certain to have a new lawmaker at the end of 2022. State Rep. Sara Walsh, R-Ashland, on Wednesday became the latest candidate to enter the race […]
Biden administration defends push to boost COVID vaccinations after Parson criticism
(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden’s key COVID-19 advisers on Thursday defended the administration’s strategies for boosting vaccinations in the states after Missouri’s governor said federal door-to-door outreach efforts are not welcome there. Top Biden adviser Jeff Zients said anyone mischaracterizing the administration’s attempts is “doing a disservice to the country.” Gov. Mike Parson voiced his […]
Missouri man defrauds St. Louis residents out of $81,000
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s Securities Division is seeking penalties and restitution from a Missouri man and his Chesterfield-based company after St. Louis residents were allegedly defrauded out of $81,000. Between January 2017 and June 2018, Loy Dennis Maxey and his company, Fresh Start Credit Services, LLC, allegedly sold promissory notes and misappropriated a […]
Bob Griffin, longest-serving Missouri House speaker, has died at age 85
(Missouri Independent) – Bob F. Griffin, who served as speaker of the Missouri House for 15 years until he was forced to resign in the face of a federal criminal investigation, died Wednesday in Columbia. He was 85. Griffin was the longest-serving speaker in the state’s history. During his tenure as speaker from 1981 to 1996, the […]
U.S. House votes to remove bust of Supreme Court justice who wrote Dred Scott decision
(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. House voted Tuesday to remove from the Capitol a bust of the late Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, who in 1857 wrote the Dred Scott decision (Dred Scott pictured above article) that stripped all Black Americans, free or slave, of their citizenship. The legislation passed on a vote of 285-120 with only 67 […]