Views: 0Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that Kansas-City-area contractor Brian S. Pummell will pay back over $26,000 in restitution to Missourians who paid Pummell for work he never performed. “Protecting consumers is an important duty of the Attorney General’s Office, and the dedicated investigators, hotline operators, and attorneys in the Consumer Protection Section of […]
Tag: Missourians
Lawmakers successfully push White House to drop proposal that would hurt small cities and rural communities
Views: 0Lawmakers are celebrating the decision to drop a proposal before the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to redefine a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The proposal would have raised the threshold for an MSA from 50,000 residents to 100,000, which would have eliminated 144 areas from the designation, including St. Joseph. The move to […]
Jobs report for June 2021 shows unemployment creeping up to 4.3%
Views: 0With the initial wave of COVID-19-related layoffs now more than a year in the past, the six-figure over-the-year job losses that had characterized the Missouri labor market for the last nine months of 2020 and the first three months of 2021 were replaced with an increase of more than 130,000 jobs from June 2020 […]
Quick ruling expected from Missouri Supreme Court on Medicaid Expansion
Views: 0Missouri’s Medicaid expansion lawsuit case is now in the hands of the seven-member state Supreme Court. The court heard about 35 minutes of oral arguments Tuesday morning in Jefferson City. This case will likely come down to the definition of “appropriation.” Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem ruled in June that Missouri’s August Medicaid […]
Governor Parson signs SB 262 into law, increasing transportation funding for critical infrastructure projects
Views: 0Governor Mike Parson has signed SB 262 into law, which will increase transportation funding for critical state and local infrastructure projects across the state of Missouri. “With nearly $1 billion in unfunded transportation needs each year, we can no longer wait for another day or another generation. We must change course and address these problems head-on,” Governor Parson said. […]
Audio: Missouri Supreme Court to hear Missouri Medicaid expansion lawsuit case this morning
Views: 0The 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 […]
Landowners and tenants invited to respond to 2021 Missouri rental rate survey
Views: 0Landowners lease roughly 35% of Missouri crop, pasture, and woodland acreage to renters every year. Rented acreage has increased in recent years as more land has transitioned to the next generation, interest rates have incentivized land investments, and interest in carbon markets and working land conservation has grown, said Ben Brown, extension economist with […]
Audio: Missouri county considering whether to use federal aid to boost broadband access
Views: 0The U.S. Department of Economic Development estimates that more than 400,000 Missourians do not have reliable internet access. The American Rescue Plan passed by Congress earlier this year includes giving 16.9-million dollars to Buchanan County in northwest Missouri. Presiding Commissioner Lee Sawyer says at the forefront of his and his commissioner’s minds are using […]
Audio: Missouri’s governor opposes federal agents going door-to-door to compel COVID-19 vaccinations
Views: 0Missouri’s governor is opposed to the idea of federal employees or federal agents going door-to-door to encourage or compel COVID vaccinations. Reporter Justin Fischer at Missourinet Cape Girardeau television partner KFVS has the story. The governor says the state will NOT force residents to take the COVID vaccine. Governor Mike Parson tells […]
Tax relief for Missouri medical marijuana businesses vetoed by Governor Parson
Views: 0(Missouri Independent) – Missouri Gov. Mike Parson vetoed legislation Friday that would have lifted a prohibition on licensed medical marijuana companies deducting business expenses on their taxes. In his letter vetoing the measure, Parson didn’t mention the medical marijuana provisions. He said his decision to reject the bill came down to a section lawmakers included […]
Audio: Missouri’s Governor says state is considering incentive program to encourage more COVID vaccinations
Views: 0The governor confirms the state is considering an incentive program to encourage more Missourians to get vaccinated. Governor Mike Parson tells Capitol reporters that he wants to do what he can to encourage more Missourians to take the COVID vaccine. The details of the incentive program are unclear because it’s still being […]
Bob Griffin, longest-serving Missouri House speaker, has died at age 85
Views: 1(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, […]
Climate change triggers rare crop diseases in Missouri
Views: 0(Missouri Info Corps) – New crop diseases pervading Missouri have been linked to climate change, and they’re directly impacting crop production. Climate change has already made Missouri a little more hot and humid but has also caused some diseases for crops like corn and soybeans to become more prevalent. If not treated properly, farmers […]
Governor Parson signs SB 51 into law giving healthcare providers and others protections against COVID-19 related civil action
Views: 0Governor Mike Parson signed SB 51 into law, which protects health care providers, businesses, religious organizations, and others from being held liable in COVID-19 exposure civil actions. “When COVID-19 first struck Missouri, health care providers, manufacturers, businesses, churches, schools, and other entities quickly altered their operations to protect public health and accommodate the needs […]
USDA invests $910,000 to improve rural water infrastructure in Jackson County
Views: 0U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Missouri Acting State Director D Clark Thomas announced the agency is investing $910,000 to modernize rural drinking water infrastructure in Jackson County, benefitting nearly 3.000 rural Missourians. “Every community, large and small, needs safe, reliable access to necessities like clean water,” Thomas said. “Rural Development congratulates Public Water […]
Audio: Missouri labor officials will review Federal unemployment overpayments for possible waiver
Views: 0Missouri Labor officials have announced that they’re starting a process for Missourians who received unemployment overpayments to apply for a potential waiver. The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations emphasizes that this involves non-fraud FEDERAL unemployment overpayments. St. Louis Democratic State Representative Peter Merideth has been urging DOLIR to waive the federal portion: […]
Groups say postal reform Bill would benefit rural Missouri
Views: 0Supporters of the U.S. Postal Service are pressing for passage of a bill to shore up the troubled agency. Twin versions of the bipartisan Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 are winding their way through committees in the U.S. House and Senate. John McHugh, a former congressman from New York who served as Secretary of the Army […]
Endangered fish, leaching ash ponds: Environmental groups oppose Missouri coal plant permit
Views: 0(Missouri Independent) – For years, Lisa Zerbe said she biked, rode horses, and ran near Ameren Missouri’s largest coal-fired power plant in Franklin County because she “naively believed” state environmental regulators were protecting citizens from pollution. Now, she won’t. “It is truly a disheartening feeling of betrayal from an agency in my younger years […]
Jobs report for May 2021 shows slight increase in Missouri unemployment numbers
Views: 0Missouri non-farm payroll employment increased from April 2021 to May 2021, but the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased by a tenth of a percentage point. Employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 6,000 jobs over the month, with job gains in both goods-producing and service-providing industries. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.2 percent in […]
Commission approves Fiscal Year 2022-2026 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program
Views: 0The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission today approved the FY2022-2026 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). It includes transportation projects for July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2026. The STIP is the Missouri Department of Transportation’s list of 1,434 highway and bridge projects that are planned by state and regional agencies. The draft STIP was […]