The Missouri House of Representatives has given initial approval to an effort that would change the way state and local funding is doled out to the state’s traditional and charter K-12 public schools. The bill aims to send more funding to charter schools. State Representative Doug Richey, a Republican from western Missouri’s Excelsior Springs, is […]
Vladimir Putin’s attack on Europe’s largest nuclear plant Thursday night is heightening alert from Missouri and the rest of the world. Missouri lawmakers have already been speaking out about a crisis over which our state has little control. House Majority Floor Leader Dean Plocher is pushing his House Bill 29-13. The so-called “Missouri Stands by […]
The Missouri Libertarian Party plans to file a lawsuit to be included in the state’s redistricting process. Missourinet’s Brent Palm has details on the weekend state convention. Members say current law that only allows the top two political parties to participate in redistricting is unfair to the Libertarian party and to the citizens […]
(Missouri Independent) – On the Friday before a drawn-out confirmation battle ended with his ouster from office, Missouri state Health Director Donald Kauerauf wrote an impassioned letter meant to convince conservative legislators who were on the fence about his appointment. The message: While he believed in vaccines and data and science, he didn’t believe in vaccine […]
(Missouri Independent) – This story was originally published as a collaboration between Investigate Midwest and Watchdog Writers Group. The American Farm Bureau Federation calls itself the “voice of agriculture,” a slogan it trademarked in 2007. But as the divide between agribusiness and small farmers has grown in recent decades, a unified voice of agriculture has become harder to […]
Mobs of thieves have hit up retailers around the country recently by quickly raiding stores and taking off with piles of merchandise in a matter of minutes. State Representative Lane Roberts, a Republican from southwest Missouri’s Joplin, is sponsoring a bill meant to address these organized theft crime rings, such as so-called smash-and-grab crimes. A […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, along with 23 other states, submitted a comment to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan and the Army Corps of Engineers opposing the Biden Administration’s proposed rule that would revise the Waters of the United States rule and subject Missouri’s farmers and ranchers to strict government regulation. “Missouri’s farmers and […]
(Missouri Independent) – Hundreds of custodians, clerks, and cooks working for state agencies would not get the raises Missouri Gov. Mike Parson promised in December under a spending bill approved Monday by the House Budget Committee. On a party-line vote, with Republicans supporting the bill and Democrats opposed, the committee approved a spending bill that sets […]
(Missouri Independent) – A Cole County judge kept intact most of the ballot summary Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft wrote for an initiative petition seeking to bar public funds from going to private schools. On Wednesday, Cole County Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetem ruled that Ashcroft was correct to say in the summary that the […]
(Missouri Independent) – The Missouri Senate refused to confirm Donald Kauerauf as Gov. Mike Parson’s health director on Tuesday, leaving Kauerauf banned from the position for life. Hours later, Parson named Richard Moore, the Department of Health and Senior Services’ general counsel, as acting director of the agency. He slammed senators who blocked Kauerauf’s nomination […]
Governor Mike Parson accepted the resignation of Department of Health and Senior Services Director Don Kauerauf. Governor Parson has temporarily appointed Richard Moore to lead the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) as Acting Director. Richard serves as General Counsel for DHSS. The Governor will further evaluate the state’s options in the coming days. Governor Parson released the […]
(Missouri Independent) – State health director Donald Kauerauf adamantly spoke against mandating face masks and COVID-19 vaccines during a hearing Monday, as anti-vaccination demonstrators protested his confirmation in the halls outside. While protesters chanted outside the Capitol hearing room, senators inside grilled Kauerauf for nearly two hours on his views on how best to mitigate […]
(Missouri Independent) – A circuit judge will determine whether St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner is entitled to claim privilege for her communications with political donors and key figures in the 2018 investigation of former Gov. Eric Greitens, the Eastern District Missouri Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. The court affirmed a 2020 decision by St. Louis […]
Millions of families will have to adjust their budgets as monthly child tax payments will stop for the first time in months; however, Joey Parker reports, they could resume. Congress failed to pass an extension to the program but are in talks about reviving it as more than 30 million families were getting the […]
The Newtown-Harris R-3 Board of Education approved personnel actions on January 12th. Mic Halferty was approved as a substitute and hired to fill the upcoming maintenance position in school year 2022-2023. Samantha Miller was hired to coach elementary basketball. The board approved transferring $50,000 from the General Fund to the Capital Projects Fund. Superintendent Doctor […]
(Missouri Independent) – Proposals that would bar COVID-19 vaccine mandates and provide greater exemptions for vaccinations more broadly faced a wave of opposition from Missouri business groups Wednesday. Representatives for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Associated Industries of Missouri, Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and other business associations made clear to lawmakers […]
The city of Trenton will use the services of the Missouri Public Utility Alliance regarding financing an estimated two and a half million dollars worth of improvements at Trenton’s water treatment plant. Trenton is among the member municipalities across the state with the Alliance. The city council on Monday night, on a vote of seven […]
The Princeton City Council January 5th approved selling old street signs that have been taken down. City Clerk Cory Willett reports the signs will be sold for $10 each. The council also addressed complaints regarding parking on Main Street and disabled vehicles on U. S. Highway 65. Letters are to be sent to property owners […]
Meat prices have been on the rise, but family-farm advocates say higher profits haven’t been making their way to smaller cattle producers. Four companies control 85% of the beef supply, noted Darvin Bentlage, a cattle rancher and farmer in southwest Missouri. He said the executive order on promoting competition that President Joe Biden signed last summer is a […]
(Missouri Independent) – Two years ago, a company led by an influential Republican businessman faced off with the state’s environmental regulators over whether it needed to do additional testing for a chemical that health officials worried could pose a cancer risk to the company’s workers. The Moberly manufacturing facility, Orscheln Products LLC, is owned by […]
