(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden called Thursday for U.S. energy companies to do their part in lowering gasoline prices by boosting supplies of oil, saying the industry should plow record profits back into increased production. Biden also said he would release 1 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve daily for the […]
Tag: PAS
Hawley introduces “PROTECT Act of 2022” which will toughen sentences for child porn offenders
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced the PROTECT Act of 2022, which protects children from sexual exploitation by enhancing the penalties for possessing child pornography and by preventing judges from sentencing offenders below federal guidelines. The bill is co-sponsored by Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). Representative Ken Buck (CO-4) is […]
Former Greenville, Missouri city clerk sentenced to 10 years in prison, ordered to pay $168,957 in restitution
The former city clerk of Greenville, Pam Birmingham, was sentenced on Thursday to 10 years in prison and ordered to repay $168,957 to the city after being convicted on a charge of receiving stolen property. A 2018 audit by State Auditor Nicole Galloway found improperly cashed checks, missing cash, and improper payroll and other payments during […]
House Budget Committee rejects adding surplus revenue to Missouri public schools, colleges
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri’s record general revenue surplus was off-limits for spending plans as the House Budget Committee worked Thursday, defeating Democratic efforts to give boost money for public schools and state colleges. The only significant addition to education budgets approved by the committee was to restart the teacher Career Ladder program, providing $21 million to give experienced […]
Defendant sentenced to 3 years in prison for multistate dogfighting conspiracy and illegal possession of firearms
A Virginia resident was sentenced today to 37 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to federal charges resulting from a lengthy investigation into a significant multi-state dogfighting conspiracy. According to court documents, Raymond L. Johnson, 41, of Henrico, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to participate in an […]
Phyllis Jackson and Dr. Amy Patel are 2022 NCMC Commencement Speakers
Foundation Board Member and Distinguished Alumna Phyllis Jackson of Trenton, MO, and Dr. Amy Patel, Medical Director of The Breast Care Center at Liberty Hospital and Assistant Professor of Radiology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, will give the commencement addresses at North Central Missouri College in Trenton, Missouri, on May 7, […]
Audio: Candidates for Trenton R-9 School Board answer questions from the public during forum on Wednesday
Three candidates for the Trenton R-9 Board of Education participated in a forum in the Rissler Elementary School Library on March 30th. Incumbent Dorothy Taul, Toby Havens, and Jeff Spencer are running for two three-year terms. The forum was relocated after the evacuation of Trenton High School, where the event was originally to be held. […]
Grand Jury indicts former CEO of major construction company in Missouri in Minority Business Enterprise fraud scheme
A federal grand jury indicted Brian Kowert, Sr., former Chief Operating Officer of the HBD Construction Company, on March 30, 2022, for five counts of wire fraud relative to his falsifying of Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) participation in several construction and redevelopment projects from 2014 through 2022. Kowert, Sr. was an owner, executive vice president, […]
Governor Parson announces end to COVID-19 crisis in Missouri
Governor Mike Parson announced an end to the COVID-19 crisis in Missouri and that the state will be shifting to an endemic phase of the pandemic on Friday, April 1, 2022. A whole-of-government COVID-19 emergency response was taken for more than two years, an effort that responded to the needs of all Missourians during the […]
Missouri man sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for trafficking 100 pounds of meth and illegal firearms
A Missouri man who sold an assault rifle and methamphetamine to an undercover federal agent has been sentenced in federal court for his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and for illegally possessing firearms. Jacob Michael Richardson, 34, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips on Tuesday, March 29, […]
Linn County Health Department to host class for those raising teenagers
The Linn County Health Department will host a class for parents and caregivers raising teens. Children’s Mercy Kansas City’s Prepped and Ready: Parenting into Teen Years will be presented at the Reel Time Cinema in Brookfield on April 12th from 6:30 to 7:30 in the evening. The class will help parents and caregivers learn what […]
Audio: Missouri House sends eminent domain bill to Senate
The Missouri House is sending to the Senate an eminent domain bill for utility purposes. Lawmakers have been working for years to pass a plan like this due to the Grain Belt Express Line project planned across eight northern Missouri counties. Under the bill, in eminent domain proceedings, just compensation for agriculture or […]
Audio: Missouri Legislature considering bill to legalize recreational pot
The Missouri Legislature is considering whether to legalize the adult use of marijuana. This comes less than four years after nearly seven out of ten voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing for the use of medical marijuana. The 2022 “Cannabis Freedom Act”, sponsored by Republican State Representative Ron Hicks would authorize the recreational use, taxation, […]
Missouri House blocks effort to limit access to out-of-state abortions
(Missouri Independent) – A bill that would make it a felony to donate fetal tissue from abortions for research or therapies won first-round approval in the Missouri House Tuesday, but lawmakers blocked an effort to make it illegal to help women obtain an abortion outside the state. The bill sponsored by Rep. Hannah Kelly, R-Mountain Grove, […]
Missouri House bill would cut down on poisonous lead in school drinking water
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri children would be better protected from lead poisoning under a state legislative bill to require schools to nearly rid their drinking water of the dangerous toxin. The bill, heard Monday by the House Conservation and Natural Resources Committee, would require schools to test drinking water, remove old coolers and filter water where […]
Missouri Attorney General joins multistate action to end CDC’s mask mandate on public transportation
The Missouri Attorney General joined 20 other states in a multistate action against President Biden’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s continued use of the unlawful mask mandate on public transportation. The attorneys general argue that the mandate exceeds the authority of the CDC. The Biden administration continues to use a failed interpretation of a […]
Nine addresses on tap for demolition this year in Trenton
Subject to bids and cost-sharing between the city and owners, as many as nine structures could be demolished this year in Trenton. Four of the locations also include a garage. Bids are due at the Trenton City Hall by 2 pm on April 19th. Interested contractors are to attend an April 12th meeting at 9 […]
Missouri Senate congressional redistricting plan stalls on return to the House
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri House members are not ready to accept the congressional redistricting map approved by the state Senate. The House met Monday without voting on the Senate plan, approved Thursday at the end of a Senate session that lasted almost 24 hours. State Rep. Dan Shaul, R-Imperial and chairman of the House Redistricting Committee, […]
U.S. Senate panel bickers over Supreme Court nomination but sets vote next week
(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee reopened partisan disagreements Monday as members scheduled a vote for April 4 on Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Republicans’ criticisms of Jackson’s record and responses were either untrue or disingenuous. Meanwhile, ranking Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa again raised […]
Missouri driver who led officers on high-speed chase charged with meth trafficking and illegal firearms
A man who led police officers on a high-speed chase in a stolen car driving the wrong way on Interstate 70 was charged in federal court with illegally possessing several firearms and more than two kilograms of methamphetamine. Davon R. Williams, 28, was charged in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in […]