Public hearings for Missouri’s redistricting process begin Saturday in St. Louis and continue next week in Springfield and Kansas City. Watchdog groups advocating for fair maps are urging the state House and Senate bipartisan commissions working on the new maps to take into account what residents want in their voting districts and to keep what are […]
(Missouri Independent) – The COVID-19 outbreak at Smithfield Foods’ northern Missouri plant — the focus of a worker safety lawsuit that garnered national attention last year — resulted in two worker deaths and was worse than previously thought, according to newly obtained federal documents. Early on in the pandemic, the Sullivan County Health Department told local […]
(Missouri Independent) – A day after Missouri Gov. Mike Parson garnered national criticism for his push to prosecute a newspaper reporter who discovered a security flaw in a state website, a Democratic lawmaker is urging the governor to appoint members of a cybersecurity commission created by a bill he signed in July. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch informed […]
(Missouri Independent) – On Tuesday, a reporter with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch alerted the state that Social Security numbers of school teachers and administrators were vulnerable to public exposure due to flaws on a website maintained by Missouri’s department of education. The newspaper agreed to hold off publishing any story while the department fixed the problem and […]
The Medicare open enrollment period has opened; however, the window also comes with a safety warning. Missourians eligible for Medicare are being urged by the state to review and choose a plan that works best. That window closes on December 7th. The enrollment period offers Missourians a chance to change their Part D […]
The Trenton R-9 Board of Education approved an adjustment to after-school tutoring pay on October 12, 2021. The pay rate was changed from $25 to $30 to match the quarantine tutoring program. Trenton Middle School Principal Daniel Gott said teachers select students to be tutored in the after-school program. Superintendent Mike Stegman reported there were […]
(Missouri Independent) – Roughly 4,300 Missourians eligible for health care under Medicaid expansion have been enrolled, a top Missouri Medicaid official said Thursday. That figure represents a little over a quarter of the more than 17,000 applications the state has received since it began accepting applications for Medicaid expansion coverage in August, the Centers for […]
(Missouri Independent) – Former President Donald Trump ruminated on election fraud and Democratic wrongdoing during a rally on Saturday while teasing a potential 2024 run. Trump gave a warm greeting to Iowans and touted his win in Iowa in 2020 and his latest Des Moines Register/Iowa Poll numbers. “As disastrous as the Biden administration has been, no […]
Twenty-four marching bands and other entries will be in the Missouri Day Parade in Trenton next week. The parade will start at the corner of Crowder Road and Main Street on October 16, 2021, at 8:30 a.m. Parade Spokesperson Steve Maxey says the route will go south to Ninth Street, turn east and continue to […]
(Missouri Independent) – Roughly 4,300 Missourians eligible for health care under Medicaid expansion have been enrolled, a top Missouri Medicaid official said Thursday. That figure represents a little over a quarter of the more than 17,000 applications the state has received since it began accepting applications for Medicaid expansion coverage in August, the Centers for […]
Missouri Capitol Police learned on Thursday afternoon that scammers had begun manipulating Caller ID so phone calls appeared to be coming from Missouri Capitol Police. This is a scam known as “spoofing” and can be used to try to obtain personal information from you. Do not fall for this scam. More than two dozen people […]
The Federal Communications Commission has adopted 988 as a new three-digit number to be used nationwide to reach the National Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Lifeline. The use of this new three-digit number will begin on July 16, 2022. The FCC is implementing this new three-digit number in an effort to simplify the hotline’s […]
(Missouri Independent) – Exasperated lawmakers slammed leaders of the Missouri Department of Social Services on Tuesday, accusing them of passing off blame for a federal review that found the state fails to adequately report missing foster children. Tuesday’s hearing of the House Children and Families Committee was spurred by a report issued last week by the U.S […]
(Missouri Independent) – The Biden administration on Monday unveiled a proposed new rule that would strengthen the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to protect undocumented people in the program from legal challenges. The proposed rule, announced by the Department of Homeland Security, would “preserve and fortify” the DACA program, an Obama administration-era initiative that protects […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt gave an update on the SAFE Kit Initiative, reporting positive progress in clearing the backlog of untested sexual assault kits through the initiative. The Springfield Police Department also announced that they have completely cleared out their backlog, leaving zero untested sexual assault kits in their inventory. “As a husband, father, […]
(Missouri Independent) – Activists are ramping up the pressure on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to move on his chamber’s version of a voting rights bill, even though there’s no sign there will be enough Republican support to advance it. Alternatively, they’re pressing for an end to the filibuster, though there’s no indication there would […]
(Missouri Independent) – The number of Missouri deaths from COVID-19 reported since Jan. 1 has exceeded the number reported during 2020. As of Dec. 31, 2020, the Department of Health and Senior Services reported 5,519 deaths from the coronavirus that killed its first Missouri victim on March 18, 2020. On Friday, the total reached 11,046. The grim […]
The Trenton R-9 Board of Education on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, heard a report on the mentoring program for new teachers in the district. District Instructional Coach Doctor Jill Watkins reported she developed the Trenton program based on what she has implemented in the past. She said teachers have to complete first and second-year tutoring. She […]
Trenton city sales tax revenue is up nearly 13 percent for general purposes and capital projects, and up more than 14 percent for parks, fire department needs, and transportation. Those numbers in the first five months of Trenton’s fiscal year, May through September 2021, compared to the same period a year ago. In dollar figures, […]
Farmers of color are urging Congress to end a slew of lawsuits delaying a loan-forgiveness program designed to make amends for years of loan discrimination against minority farmers. White farmers are claiming in court Congress’s $4 billion debt relief for Black farmers, part of a COVID-19 stimulus package, amounts to reverse discrimination. John Boyd Jr., president of […]
