(Missouri Independent) – After obtaining some relief from lawmakers for revenue cuts likely from a change in the way Medicaid pays for outpatient services, Missouri hospitals are asking the courts for relief from a coming change in payments for inpatient care. The Missouri Hospital Association on Friday filed a lawsuit in Cole County alleging the Department of […]
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After winter cold snap drove up natural gas prices, utilities grapple with who should pay
(Missouri Independent) – Penalties that Spire Missouri issued to suppliers who failed to provide natural gas during a February cold snap that forced power outages across the Midwest could drive bills for hospitals, schools, and businesses to astronomical levels, according to a trio of complaints pending before state regulators. During the worst of the cold snap in February, […]
MFA Oil raises more than $1 million for military families
MFA Oil announces its Seventh Annual Charity Golf Scramble and Concert benefitting Operation Homefront raised $150,000 in donations and more than $1 million of support for America’s military families since the inaugural event in 2015. Operation Homefront is a national nonprofit that provides financial assistance to the families of U.S. military service members and veterans. […]
Department of Economic Development awards $15.8 million for community development projects statewide
The Department of Economic Development announced it will award more than $15.8 million to 38 recipients through its Community Development Block Grant Program to help communities with infrastructure improvement and other projects across Missouri. “Strengthening infrastructure and improving our workforce remains my administration’s top priorities,” said Governor Mike Parson. “Whether repairing roads, upgrading facilities, or […]
Lawmakers introduce Bill to improve housing services for survivors of human trafficking
U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and Dick Durbin (Ill.), as well as U.S. Representatives Joyce Beatty (Ohio) and Ann Wagner (Mo.), introduced legislation that would commission a study reviewing current homelessness and housing services for survivors of trafficking. “We can […]
Missouri Attorney General opposes reinstatement of overreaching WOTUS rule in Letter to EPA and Army Corps of Engineers
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Army Corps of Engineers, opposing their recent move to reconsider the more limited Navigable Waters Protection Rule, a President Trump-era rule that reversed the 2015 Obama-era Waters of the United States rule. EPA Administrator Michael Regan and the […]
Stocker cattle could add value to your operation without breaking the bank
Stocker cattle make up just 12 percent of the 4.25 million head currently part of the beef industry in Missouri. But these cattle could add as much as $78 million to Missouri’s economy, according to the Missouri Beef Value-Added Study, a 2016 University of Missouri Extension report for the Missouri Agricultural and Small Business Development Authority. […]
Missouri officials call for support and protection of elders
Each year, an estimated 5 million older adults are abused, neglected, bullied, or exploited. World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) was launched in 2006 by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the World Health Organization at the United Nations, to unite communities around the world to raise awareness about elder abuse. […]
New Missouri unclaimed property owner lists available online for the first time
Missouri State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick is launching an annual effort to return Unclaimed Property to Missourians. Beginning Tuesday, the names of more than 112,000 individuals, small businesses, and non-profit organizations with Unclaimed Property will be listed in over 100 publications across the state. This year, for the first time, Missourians can also search and view […]
Missouri lawmakers passed a host of reforms aimed at keeping kids out of jail
(Missouri Independent) – Retired St. Louis Judge Evelyn Baker once sentenced a 16-year-old Black boy to 241 years in prison for two armed robberies. No one was seriously injured in the robberies, but the boy “didn’t express any remorse,” Baker said, remembering the sentencing hearing. Now, when she thinks back, Baker deeply regrets the sentence […]
University of Missouri report looks at population trends in Missouri
Missouri’s population grew by about 11,000 people from 2019 to 2020. This 0.2% increase is only half the national rate of 0.4%, though it is typical of the modest growth experienced by many other Midwestern states. But the picture gets more complicated when you zoom in to specific regions and counties. “This growth is uneven,” […]
Governor Parson signs SCR7 and HB 574 into law
Governor Mike Parson signed SCR 7 and HB 574 into law. “I am happy to sign these two pieces of legislation into law, and I want to give a special thank you to Senator Dan Hegeman, Representative Rusty Black, Senator Jeanie Riddle, and Representative Kent Haden for their respective work on these bills,” Governor Parson […]
‘Defund the police’ was designed to provoke a response. In Missouri, it worked
(Missouri Independent) – For years after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, activists and community leaders have pushed to “re-envision public safety.” Inspired in part by the Ferguson Commission, which recommended that cities focus more resources on the root causes of crime, organizers across the state echoed these calls. But they largely fell on deaf ears. […]
Frozen Food Express Transportation Services to create 60 jobs with new facility to be built in Butler, Missouri
Frozen Food Express Transportation Services, Inc., a leading nationwide temperature-controlled transportation and warehousing provider, is expanding its business with a new transportation and logistics facility in Butler, Missouri. The company is investing nearly $6 million and creating nearly 60 new jobs in the region. “Missouri’s central location and business-friendly environment is a leading destination for […]
Attorney General says Missouri lawmakers can refuse to fund Medicaid expansion
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri lawmakers were not obligated to fund Medicaid expansion, and the courts cannot force the state to pay the medical bills of people who would be eligible under an initiative that amended the state constitution, the state attorney general’s office argued in documents filed Monday in Cole County Circuit Court. The filing from Attorney […]
Three Russian men, one U.S. citizen indicted for $11 million tax fraud conspiracy
Three Russian men and a naturalized U.S. citizen have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a conspiracy to use stolen identities to file thousands of fraudulent tax returns and send much of the illegal proceeds to their co-conspirators in Russia. Alexander Pavlov, 37, and Dmitrii Shenke, 35, citizens and residents […]
Lawmakers introduce legislation to maintain rural bridges
U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Bob Casey (Pa.) announced that they have introduced the Support for Community Bridges Act. The bipartisan bill would allocate more dedicated funds for bridge repair to states with more off-system bridges in poor condition. Off-system bridges are not on the federal highway system and are often left out of […]
Governor Parson to be in Milan to sign resolution regarding East Locust Creek Reservoir
Thursday’s visit to Milan by Governor Parson is to sign a House-Senate resolution that enables the state to join in a debt service arrangement supporting the construction of the East Locust Creek Reservoir. That’s the large lake proposed north of Milan to serve as a regional water supply and offer recreational opportunities. The resolution enables […]
Missouri, Kansas utilities may use loophole to charge customers for fossil fuel lobbying
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri and Kansas residents’ utility bills may be helping to bankroll the energy sector lobbying against policies aimed at lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Federal and state rules prohibit utility companies from passing their lobbying costs on to customers through bills. But in both Kansas and Missouri, utilities like Evergy, Ameren, and Spire […]