(Missouri Independent) – The dispute over the $1.4 billion contract to provide prisoner health care in Missouri is moving into the courts. Corizon Health, which has held the Department of Corrections contract since 1992, filed a lawsuit Monday in Cole County alleging that unfair treatment and improper scoring gave the contract to Centurion Health, a Virginia subsidiary of […]
Tag: paid
Main Street Chillicothe to host “Drop of Dublin” on September 17
Main Street Chillicothe will host its second annual craft beer tasting festival to raise funds to continue the beautification of Downtown Chillicothe. “Drop of Dublin” will be in Downtown Chillicothe on September 17, 2021. Tasting times will go from 7 to 9 o’clock that night. Kansas City rock band Flannigan’s Right Hook will perform from […]
Creating Entrepreneurial Communities Conference set for September 29-30
How can small towns and rural areas promote entrepreneurship to drive economic growth and revitalize their communities? University of Missouri Extension and partners in the Hannibal area will explore that question at the first Creating Entrepreneurial Communities Conference, Sept. 29-30 in downtown Hannibal. The two-day conference is open to anyone interested in learning more about […]
Meatpacking plants have long relied on immigrant labor. Some now turn to foreign visa workers
(Missouri Independent) – Colored hard hats distinguish different roles and jobs at Seaboard Foods, a major meatpacking plant in Guymon, Oklahoma. Senior management have green. Supervisors wear dark blue. Foreign workers on visas don yellow-green. But Seaboard is part of a small but growing trend in the meatpacking industry, which already largely relied on an […]
Trenton Building and Nuisance Board to review five addresses at next meeting
Five addresses are on the agenda for the monthly meeting of the Trenton Building and Nuisance Board. The meeting will be held Monday night, August 23, at 6 o’clock in city hall. The meeting is open to the public but also will be available on Zoom. Contact Trenton city hall for the Zoom address to […]
USDA accepting applications to help cover costs for organic certification
Organic producers and handlers can now apply for U.S. Department of Agriculture funds to assist with the cost of receiving or maintaining organic certification. Applications for the Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP) are due Nov. 1, 2021. “USDA is here to help all producers, including those who grow our nation’s organic food and fiber. Many farmers have told […]
Spickard R-2 Board of Education sets tax rate, votes to designate school employees as essential
The Spickard R-2 Board of Education on August 16th set the tax rate and voted to deem school employees as essential. The tax rate was set at $4.6604 per $100 of assessed valuation. Deeming school employees essential means if an employee has a known COVID-19 exposure and does not exhibit symptoms, he or she may […]
Missouri contractor charged with fraud by Attorney General
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that Jeffrey J. Anderson of Manchester, Missouri, has been charged with contractor fraud in St. Charles County relating to his unregistered businesses All Star Basements, West County Basements, and West County Concrete. Anderson faces three felony counts of deceptive business practices. The Attorney General’s Office also has a pending […]
Attorney General announces 72-year-old Missouri landscaper sentenced for fraud
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that John L. Cazzell, 72, was sentenced last month for felony charges of defrauding customers in connection with his business, Four Seasons Lawn & Landscape. Cazzell promised extensive landscaping services in exchange for large advance payments. After taking money from several consumers, including elderly Missourians, Cazzell never followed through […]
Plans continue for the annual Trenton High School Alumni Reunion
Plans continue for the annual Trenton High School Alumni Reunion, and the 2021 edition of the “Alumni News” is now in the mail to hundreds of alums. Board members of the Association/Foundation Trust for THS have voted to continue with plans on hosting a Friday night hospitality meet and greet, a Saturday Open House, and […]
Missouri State Auditor reports city of Bel-Ridge makes progress on recommendations made in 2020
The city of Bel-Ridge has made progress on the recommendations of a state audit that found several concerns with its financial condition and gave the lowest possible rating, “poor.” A follow-up report issued today by State Auditor Nicole Galloway detailed progress made by the city, which is located in north St. Louis County. “Bel-Ridge residents concerned about […]
Kansas City, Kansas man pleads guilty in Missouri to heroin trafficking
A man pleaded guilty in federal court to his role in a conspiracy to distribute more than three kilograms of heroin intercepted by law enforcement officers when it was shipped from California to Kansas City, Missouri. Solomon B. Hawthorne, 31, of Kansas City, Kansas, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips to participating […]
Trenton City Council approves $4.00 increase in base electric meter charge
The Trenton City Council on Monday evening approved a $4.00 increase in the monthly cost for having an electric meter. The increased funds are designed to pay off a loan the city has due to additional energy costs incurred during the extreme cold spell in February. The council also voted to reduce by three dollars […]
Missouri seeks to boost prizes in local vaccine incentive program
(Missouri Independent) – Prizes awarded through a vaccine incentive program offered by local public health departments in Missouri may get boosted to $100-per-person under a new federal allowance. After previously rejecting Missouri’s proposal to exceed a $25 limit on prizes paid for with federal funding to incentivize immunizations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently […]
Audio: MoDOT has lost more than half of its 5100-person workforce over the past four years
Like many industries dealing with worker shortages, so is the Missouri Department of Transportation. MoDOT Director Patrick McKenna says his department has had a high turnover rate for several years. The current state budget includes a pay raise for MoDOT workers, but Missouri still has one of the lowest-paid state workforces in the […]
Department of Conservation offering free hunter education classes in northwest Missouri during August
Autumn hunting seasons are approaching quickly. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is offering free upcoming hunter education skills sessions for hunters to earn the safety certificate needed to obtain hunting permits. These sessions will teach and test participants for safe firearms handling and basic hunting skills. The upcoming sessions include: From 4 to 8 […]
Missouri man sentenced to two years in prison without parole for $600,000 tax evasion
A Missouri, man has been sentenced in federal court for failing to pay more than $600,000 in federal taxes. Jeffrey Scott Allen, 52, of Sparta, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool on Tuesday, Aug. 3, to two years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Allen to pay $758,517 in […]
Audio: Public hearing on new 17th Street Bridge set for Monday, August 9
One of the funding sources for the new 17th Street Bridge in Trenton was the Missouri Department of Economic Development which issued what is called a “Community Development Block Grant.” The grant to the city of Trenton was $500,000, which is part of the $3,400,000 bridge project. A stipulation for the grant is the state-required […]
Audio: A breakdown of costs involved in the new 17th Street Bridge, and how it will be paid for
The new 17th Street Bridge in Trenton was completed, and the detour was removed three weeks ago. City Administrator Ron Urton has compiled a list of expenses related to the bridge project, which collectively cost $3,420,000. Urton was a guest Monday morning on KTTN’S Open Line and discussed the total cost of the bridge: […]
Advocates say Missouri’s eviction crisis could be a ‘humanitarian tragedy’
(Missouri Independent) – Melissa Pashia is hoping for any kind of good news today. The federal eviction moratorium ended Saturday, and she’s got her fingers crossed one of her clients will finally get approved for the rental assistance that they applied for in April through the State Assistance for Housing Relief Program (SAFHR). The aid approval […]