Missouri’s House Budget Committee learned details today (Tuesday) about a budget blueprint from Chairman Cody Smith to use dollars slated for Medicaid expansion for other programs instead. Funding includes 26-million dollars for adult daycare and home-delivered meals. Chairman Smith testifies the funding also includes 88-million dollars for nursing home care. This involves a […]
The Missouri Legislature is making its way through the state budget process. Shelbina State Senator Cindy O’Laughlin says she would like Missouri’s community colleges to get an increase in core funding from the state. O’Laughlin is the chair of the Senate Education Committee. O’Laughlin, of northeast Missouri’s Shelbina, uses Moberly Area Community College […]
The governor’s choice to serve on the University of Missouri System Board of Curators is having an uphill battle in the state Senate. Senators on both sides of the aisle blocked an attempt last week to consider the nomination of Todd Graves to the University of Missouri System Board of Curators. Graves, a former state […]
Erica Williams, the founder of a nonprofit urban agriculture program in North St. Louis County, had a vision of how to reclaim a community that had suffered through disinvestment and neglect. Across the state in Clay County, Smithville’s mayor hoped amenities like a farmers market would help reinvigorate the small city 20 miles north of […]
The Missouri Veterans Commission welcomed three new Commissioners and elected a Commission Chair and Vice-Chair during the March 26, 2021 meeting. Randy Alewel, Kelly McClelland, and Steve Maples were appointed to the Commission by Governor Mike Parson on February 4, 2021, and recently confirmed by the Missouri State Senate. During the March 26 meeting, Kelly […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency announces the availability of $2 million to establish partnerships with organizations to provide outreach and technical assistance to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. The funding was made possible by USDA’s new Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative, an effort to distribute resources more broadly and to put greater […]
Jobs for America’s Graduates-Missouri, known as JAG-Missouri, recently received a number of contributions totaling more than $100,000 – one of the best fundraising periods in the organization’s recent history. JAG is a 40-year-old national nonprofit organization that has helped more than 1.5 million students reach their full potential by ensuring they graduate from high school […]
Warming spring weather brings nature to life with trees, shrubs, and bulbs sending out their spring flowers. It also prompts the popping up of another spring favorite for many Missourians – MORELS! The elusive and edible morel mushroom shows itself during April and into May and is a flavorful favorite for many mushroom lovers. Morels […]
A small town in northwestern Missouri is one of seven communities in the nation testing experimental technology that could expand rural access to high-speed internet and the opportunities that can bring. Missouri University of Science and Technology is leading a team that has been awarded a one-year, $300,000 grant through the technology nonprofit US Ignite’s […]
(Missouri Independent) – While playing politics with healthcare in Missouri is certainly nothing new, holding Missouri Medicaid hostage over basic birth control is a stunning — and consequential — shift. As captured in headlines across the state, state Sen. Paul Wieland has put the entire Missouri Medicaid program in jeopardy with his late-night amendment to a […]
There have been 83 absentee ballots cast in Grundy County, as of noon on Friday, in advance of next Tuesday’s election. Another two dozen (24) remain out but could be voted and delivered in person or by mail in time to be counted with the election results. The county clerk’s office on the second floor […]
After a heated floor debate that included numerous biblical references, the Missouri House voted Thursday afternoon to give final approval to a $34.1 billion state operating budget. The House budget does not contain funding for Medicaid expansion. The operating budget now heads to the Missouri Senate, and Medicaid expansion supporters hope senators will include the […]
Twenty point four percent of Grundy County residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. That is according to Missouri’s vaccination website. Two thousand thirteen first doses have been given to all age groups, and 3,363 total doses have been given. The Grundy County Health Department’s report from March 25th indicated 1,869 […]
A Washington man pleaded guilty to defrauding Tyson Foods Inc. (Tyson) and another company (Company 1) out of more than $244 million by charging them under various agreements for the purported costs of purchasing and feeding hundreds of thousands of cattle that did not actually exist. According to court documents, Cody Allen Easterday, 49, of […]
Following the Board of Trustees’ unanimous approval on Tuesday, March 23, high school students will now be provided free textbooks for all dual credit and reserved online dual enrollment courses taken through North Central Missouri College beginning with the Fall 2021 semester. Whitney Trump, Director of Regional Programs for NCMC, stated, “Many high schools over […]
Gerald Howard Avery, age 82, a resident of Chillicothe, Missouri, passed away on Monday, March 29, 2021, at his favorite fishing hole. Gerald was born the son of John Henry and Merle Grace (Wolford) Avery on August 12, 1938, in Gladstone, Illinois. He was a 1956 graduate of Kirkwood High School, Kirkwood, Illinois. Gerald served […]
The Missouri Conservation Commission approved Missouri’s second annual elk-hunting season at its March 26 meeting. The Commission approved the Missouri Department of Conservation’s recommendation of issuing five permits for hunting bull elk for the 2021 season. At least one permit will be for qualifying area landowners with the remainder for the general public. Missouri’s second […]
The trial of Derek Chauvin enters a new phase today, as opening statements are scheduled in the case of the former Minneapolis police officer charged with killing George Floyd. Those demanding diversity among juries sees this trial as a step in the right direction. The 12 jurors and 3 alternates seated over the past couple of […]
U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.), Mazie K. Hirono (Hawaii), Susan Collins (Maine), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and Tammy Duckworth (Ill.) announced that they have introduced the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2021. The bipartisan bill would close a loophole in the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 (CCA), which has prevented internationally-adopted children, who are […]
In 2019, the Missouri Supreme Court began restricting when judges can require bail. Currently, judges can only charge bail fees for safety reasons or to help ensure defendants appear in court. The Missouri House has given preliminary approval to Lake St. Louis State Representative Justin Hill’s bill that would undo the high court’s bail rules. […]
