(Missouri Independent) – After an eight-year fight over Medicaid expansion, the arguments are over. The question of whether 275,000 people will receive state-paid health care coverage is in the hands of the Missouri Supreme Court. Oral arguments took place Tuesday in an expedited appeal. The seven judges must decide whether Medicaid eligibility will expand, as directed by the […]
(Missouri Independent) – When Linn County Prosecuting Attorney Shiante McMahon saw a photo of one of her campaign shirts defaced with obscene, racist, and sexist writing — and learned it had been on display in the headquarters of the Marceline Police Department — she decided a complaint with the city wouldn’t do any good. So she posted the photo […]
The 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 that […]
Grundy County Sheriff Rodney Herring, on Monday afternoon, announced the discovery of a body identified as the man who was said to have last been seen in downtown Trenton on June 23. The sheriff reports the body of William Christopher Harville was discovered at a rural Grundy County location Sunday. Herring said Harville was found […]
Funeral services have been announced for Lainie Kate Lewis, age 15, whose life was claimed in a Friday, July 9, 2021 crash. Lainie was born the daughter of Amy and Gary Lewis on September 9, 2005, in Kansas City, Missouri. She just completed her freshman year at Grundy R-5 High School in Galt, Missouri. She […]
Livingston County Sheriff Steve Cox has released information about recent incidents involving the sheriff’s office. One incident involved grandparents reporting a juvenile running away from home. Cox says the sheriff’s office responded to a rural area July 4th, and a deputy located the pre-teen. The youth was caught after a reported foot chase of about […]
The Bethany Police Department reports a woman missing from Bethany since May 10 has been found safe. No other information was provided about how 23-year-old Jacquelyn (Jacy) Deaver was found. The police previously reported she apparently left an assisted facility on foot with little property. She was said to be disoriented and confused, be street smart, […]
Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway released a citizen-requested audit of the Western Cass Fire Protection District, which is located in western Cass County. The audit made recommendations related to spending and budgeting to ensure transparent and effective use of taxpayer dollars. “The citizens served by the Western Cass Fire Protection District requested this audit to […]
The 2021 Sullivan County Fair Queen & Junior Miss Pageant was held on Monday, July 5, 2021. There were 3 young women vying for the Junior Miss title, and 5 women vying for the Fair queen title. Selected as the queen was Miss Jocelyn Perez. She is the daughter of Aurelia Cruz of Milan. Miss […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a petition for writ of certiorari in Schmitt v. Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region, asking the Supreme Court of the United States to review Missouri’s law prohibiting abortions of unborn children with Down syndrome. “My son Stephen has shown me the inherent beauty […]
(Missouri Independent) – With fewer than 12 hours to spare before the start of a new fiscal year, the Missouri House on Wednesday approved a bill extending medical provider taxes essential to balancing the budget, forestalling more than $700 million in cuts planned by Gov. Mike Parson. Divisions over how and whether to add provisions sought by […]
Governor Mike Parson signed four additional bills into law on Tuesday afternoon. SB 36 – Capitol Complex Tax Credit: Creates a $10 million tax credit for rehabilitation or renovation of buildings in the Capitol Complex. SB 57 – Funding for Criminal Behavior Deterrence: Creates the Economic Distress Zone Fund, which provides funding to nonprofits that […]
As of June 29th, 16 breakthrough cases of COVID-19 had been reported in Grundy County since vaccination began in the county. One of the 38 active cases on June 29th was a breakthrough case. Health Department Administrator Elizabeth Gibson says that is about typical for breakthrough cases. Two thousand four hundred eighty-four Grundy […]
(Missouri Independent) – Kendra Findley had thought the Springfield area had seen the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic in December — a month when cases regularly surpassed 200 a day and that saw a record 98 residents die of the virus. Looking back, that was when the Alpha variant, first identified in the U.K., was […]
(Missouri Independent) – A bipartisan coalition handed anti-abortion activists a rare defeat in the Missouri Senate Friday night, rejecting a push to ban Planned Parenthood as a Medicaid provider as it passed a bill to secure billions for the state’s Medicaid program. And only a restatement of the state’s already existing ban on using public funds to […]
After about three hours of testimony Thursday, the Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee approved two bills to extend medical provider taxes vital to funding the state’s share of Medicaid. The first bill brought up for a vote would extend the taxes for five years, limit the types of contraceptives available to women on Medicaid and block Planned Parenthood from […]
The Spickard R-2 Board of Education this week adopted new certified and support staff salary schedules and amended the policy on unused sick leave compensation. Superintendent Erika Eakes reports the certified base salary was raised to $28,125. Support staff hourly wages were raised based on position and years of service. The dollar amounts per day […]
(Missouri Independent) – A special session to extend provider taxes essential to the state’s Medicaid program will begin at noon Wednesday, Gov. Mike Parson announced Tuesday afternoon. The announcement was issued just minutes after a noon deadline set by Parson on Monday. The call came after seven members of the Senate Conservative Caucus sent him a letter demanding […]
Budget experts warn if Missouri doesn’t renew its Medicaid provider taxes, the state will have to come up with roughly $1.6 billion to make up for it, and cuts would extend to services beyond Medicaid. A bill to renew the tax on hospitals, nursing homes, pharmacies, and other providers stalled before the legislative session concluded […]
U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) sent a letter to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF) and Explosives expressing concern over two of their newly-proposed gun rules that could threaten Americans’ Second Amendment rights. The rules, 2021R-05 and 2021R-08, would require the retention of firearms transaction records forever, paving the way to […]
