Marijuana leaf

Time running short for dueling Missouri marijuana legalization efforts

(Missouri Independent) – With the end of the legislative session only weeks away, and organizers of an initiative petition campaign sounding the alarm about an even more pressing deadline, dueling efforts to legalize marijuana in Missouri face uncertain fates. In the legislature, GOP state Rep. Ron Hicks is sponsoring a bill to legalize possession and use […]

MDC or Missouri Department of Conservation birding trail

Missouri Department of Conservation to offer free guided birding hike on May 2 at Crowder State Park

Learn about birds and birding when the Missouri Department of Conservation and Missouri State Parks offer a free guided birding hike from 8 a.m. to noon on Monday, May 2, at Crowder State Park near Trenton. Varied ecological habitats make northwest Missouri a good place to see a variety of birds on a single hike. […]

LGBTQ protections languish while Missouri lawmakers push transgender sports bans

(Missouri Independent) – On one end of the Missouri Capitol last week, Sen. Greg Razer was making yet another unsuccessful attempt to convince his colleagues to enact legal protections in state law for LGBTQ Missourians. “I’m still perceived as controversial,” Razer, a Kansas City Democrat who is one of just six openly LGBTQ lawmakers in […]

Iowa Caucuses News Graphic

Caucus shakeup prompts concern about candidate vetting

When the 2024 presidential primary season kicks off, there’s a good chance Iowa’s caucuses won’t be in the spotlight as much. Last week, the Democratic National Committee adopted plans to reshape the initial wave of states that choose their nominees. They’ll now have to apply, with a final decision expected this summer. Terese Grant is the president […]

Customs and Border Protection website

Coalition of lawmakers seek answers on changes to border security policies

U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.), Co-Chair of the Senate Law Enforcement Caucus, Jerry Moran (Kan.), and 11 of their colleagues sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas seeking answers on recent changes to how the department enforces border security and processes migrants at the southern border. “In Fiscal Year 2021, U.S. […]

Missouri State Highway Patrol Website New 2021 (MSHP)

Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers arrest two in Daviess County over the weekend

Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers made two arrests this weekend in Daviess County. Late Saturday night, 24-year-old Kyra Garner of Kansas City was accused of driving while intoxicated and speeding. Early Sunday morning, 27-year-old Dakota Jacobson of Overland Park, Kansas was accused of driving while intoxicated, alleged failure to drive on the right half of […]

Ranked Choice Voting news Graphic

Audio: Effort underway to bring “ranked-choice” voting to Missouri

An effort is underway to change the way Missourians select candidates on an election ballot for statewide, legislative, and Congressional races. Petition signatures are being gathered to ask voters later this year if they support ranking their top four primary election candidate choices of any party. The four finalists – regardless of party – would […]

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack (Screenshot via USDA Facebook page)

Biden administration announces boost for rural health care in midterm election push

(Missouri Independent) – As the midterm election season ramps up, the Biden administration wants rural Americans to know it’ll be spending a lot of money to improve health care in rural areas. It has tasked Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack with delivering the message that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed long-standing problems with health care infrastructure in […]

Trudy Busch Valentine (Submitted photo)

In Senate race full of millionaires, Missouri must wait to see finances of the newest entrant

(Missouri Independent) – There are several millionaires seeking Missouri’s open U.S. Senate seat, financial disclosure reports show. But voters won’t see the finances of the only likely billionaire in the race until July. Trudy Busch Valentine, a Democrat and Anheuser Busch beer heiress who jumped into the race during the final days of filing, on […]

Mentally disabled woman and nurse or caretaker wearing a surgica

Missouri launches apprenticeships for direct-support professionals

Missouri is launching an apprenticeship program to expand talent pipelines for Direct Support Professionals, who work with people with developmental disabilities. The Show-Me State, like many others, is facing a serious direct-care workforce shortage. To answer the need, the program Missouri Talent Pathways was recently approved by the U.S. Department of Labor. Duane Shumate, the state coordinator […]

Court News

Court news for Division One of Grundy County Circuit Court on Thursday, April 14, 2022

Forty-third Circuit Court Judge Ryan Horsman of Chillicothe presided when several cases were processed Thursday in Division One of Grundy County Circuit Court. Evidence was heard during a hearing and the judge found Josy Simmons of Trenton had violated the terms of her probation. The probation was revoked and a previous stay of execution was […]

Court News

Court news for the Associate Division of Grundy County Circuit Court for April 12, 2022

Four defendants waived preliminary hearings Tuesday in the Associate Division of Grundy County Circuit Court. Each had their cases bound over to the Division One court docket on Thursday. Jennifer Dee Tunnell of Trenton is charged with felony possession of a controlled substance/synthetic cannabinoid as of March 13th. Domanic James Lee Ratkovich of Trenton is […]

Missouri Supreme Court

Supreme Court refuses to hear Kim Gardner appeal in Eric Greitens records case

(Missouri Independent) – It will be up to a St. Louis judge to decide how long Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has to produce records sought by a journalist considered an ally of former Gov. Eric Greitens. The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear a last-ditch appeal by Gardner of an order giving her […]

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson photo courtesy Wikipedia

Jackson wins 3 GOP votes as U.S. Senate advances her Supreme Court nomination

(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. Senate advanced Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic Supreme Court nomination in a 53-47 procedural vote Monday evening, hours after the Judiciary Committee deadlocked along party lines. Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mitt Romney of Utah voted with all 50 Senate Democrats on the procedural […]

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

Audio: Missouri U.S. Senators announce votes against Supreme Court Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson

It’s two Missouri thumbs down from our state’s U.S. Senators on the possibility of the nation’s first black female Supreme Court associate justice. Joey Parker tells us why our federal delegation is saying “nay” even before today’s (Monday’s) Senate Judiciary Committee vote.   (Audio credit ABC News) U.S. Senator Roy Blunt announced his intent on […]

Man with fingers through fence also immigration or immigrants

Biden administration to halt pandemic policy blocking migrants who claim asylum

(Missouri Independent) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday that the government will terminate a Trump-era policy that prevented migrants from claiming asylum during a health crisis, including the coronavirus pandemic. The policy will end on May 23, the CDC wrote in its notice. “There is no longer a serious danger that the […]