Unemployment Benefits Graphic

500K Missourians file for unemployment since mid-March

State unemployment figures out today show 52,000 Missourians filed for unemployment last week – bringing the overall total since mid-March to more than half a million people requesting jobless aid. Last week’s figure represents a small dip from the previous week but it’s still a massive shift in Missouri unemployment numbers. Before the coronavirus fallout, […]

Governor Parson and Christine Smith

Pfizer facility in Chesterfield, Missouri scaling up operations for COVID-19 vaccine production

Governor Mike Parson was joined by Christine Smith, head of the Pfizer Biotherapeutics and Pharmaceutical Sciences Department and site head of Pfizer’s Research and Development facility in Chesterfield.  Pfizer’s Chesterfield facility is one of three Pfizer-owned sites in the United States that has been identified as an initial manufacturing center for COVID-19 vaccine production.  “For […]

Budget Graphic

Missouri House approves $34.9 billion budget, following heated debate on Medicaid expansion

The Missouri House voted Wednesday afternoon to give final approval to a $34.9 billion state operating budget. GOP leaders say it’s a budget that’s about $146 million less than the current budget. Most House members wore masks during the debate, which got heated during a discussion about Medicaid expansion. Due to COVID-19 concerns, there were just three […]

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmidt

Missouri Attorney General files lawsuit against Chinese government

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, alleges, “During the critical weeks of the initial outbreak, Chinese authorities deceived the public, suppressed crucial information, arrested whistleblowers, denied human-to-human transmission in the face of mounting evidence, destroyed critical medical research, permitted millions of people to be exposed to the […]

President Trump Signs Paycheck Protection Program

President Trump signs Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act

President Trump, at the White House, signed the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act. The bill, which unanimously passed the Senate on Tuesday, provides additional coronavirus relief funding for small businesses, agriculture producers, and hospitals and health care providers.  “More help is on the way for Missouri small businesses and the health care […]

Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri

Blunt announces $27.7 million in Coronavirus Response Grants for 29 Missouri community health centers

Senator Roy Blunt, the co-chair of the Senate Community Health Center Caucus, announced that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded more than $27 million in coronavirus response grant funding to 29 Missouri community health centers (CHCs). The funding will help CHCs meet staffing needs, and prevent, diagnose, and treat coronavirus patients. […]

Generic City Water

A history of water rate increases in Trenton

The increase in water rates for Trenton Municipal Utility customers is the fourth and final one in a schedule that the City Council adopted in 2017. The council chose to raise the water rates by specific amounts during a four year period to pay for infrastructure and water system improvements. This was described then as […]