(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden’s massive pandemic stimulus law pumps a welcome infusion of federal aid into state and local government coffers — but one brief section is raising questions about whether states are barred from cutting their own taxes if they accept the federal help. The Senate added language to the COVID-19 relief package […]
Missouri law makes it a crime when a parent fails to pay child support. The Missouri Public Defender System handles roughly 6,000 of these cases annually. During a House Budget Committee hearing, System Director Mary Fox says handling those cases in civil court, instead of criminal court, could have a significant financial impact on her […]
Three people were sentenced to prison during Division One proceedings in Grundy County Circuit Court on Thursday. Trenton resident Vance Allan Gannon pleaded guilty to three counts and had one dismissed. Gannon was sentenced to five years with the department of corrections for resisting arrest, detention or stop by fleeing creating a substantial risk to […]
State Auditor Nicole Galloway released her ninth monthly report detailing the state government’s use of federal stimulus dollars intended for the COVID-19 response. Last year, Auditor Galloway announced that her office would examine the state’s distribution and spending of funding received under the CARES Act and other federal assistance programs passed by Congress. The most […]
A Bethany woman accused of stealing drugs from Daviess County Nursing and Rehab in Gallatin was sentenced in Daviess County on March 10th. Twenty-eight-year-old Allison Deann Derwinis, who worked at the nursing home, pled guilty in three cases in January. Derwinis was sentenced, in one case, to the Missouri Department of Corrections for seven years […]
A growing southwest Missouri city is offering millions of dollars in tax incentives to General Motors (GM), in an effort to land a new GM factory. Reporter Ty Albright from our Joplin affiliate KZRG has the story. Joplin Chamber of Commerce President Toby Teeter says the city is offering a $200 Million package […]
The Missouri Senate has given initial approval on Wednesday to a proposed gas tax hike with a rebate. The vote comes after the upper chamber spent about eight hours Tuesday on the plan before eventually pulling the bill from debate. Senate President Dave Schatz of Sullivan is proposing to boost the tax by 12-and-a-half cents […]
A Kansas City, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court for engaging in a $6 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded dozens of victim investors. Matthew R. Peterson, 51, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to eight years and one month in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Peterson to pay […]
Missouri non-farm payroll employment increased in January 2021, and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by a tenth of a percentage point. Employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 5,900 jobs over the month, but over-the-year job losses were back above 100,000 following benchmark adjustments to 2020 estimates. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3 percent […]
Among cases Tuesday in Associate Division of Grundy County Circuit Court. Preliminary hearings were waived by Floyd Wayne Jarrett of Galt, Marquise Terrell Jones of Trenton, Vance Allen Gannon of rural Trenton, and James LeRoy Houk of Princeton. Each had their cases bound over to the docket for tomorrow’s session of Division One of Grundy […]
The Laredo R-7 Board of Education accepted health insurance through the Ozark Schools Benefits Association on March 8th. The district will pay $530 for 2021-2022 plus vision and life insurance. The board approved field trips. They included the eighth grade to Kansas City, kindergarten through second grade to Shatto Dairy, and third through eighth grades […]
As grain prices hit new levels, farmers are considering potential profit in preparing for the 2021 growing season. However, protection is always going to be important. Crop insurance decisions will be critical this year. Gary Schnitkey, University of Illinois agricultural economics professor, said 93% of Illinois farmers took some form of Revenue Protection (RP) insurance […]
The Trenton R-9 Board of Education March 9th approved salary schedules for the 2021-2022 school year. One thousand dollars will be added to the base for the certified salary schedule, making the base salary $34,000. This was estimated to cost the district $119,591. Superintendent Mike Stegman noted the base salary for certified staff was “pretty […]
The Missouri K-12 Education Department has been reviewing whether federal coronavirus aid can be used to give teachers a bonus next school year if they stick around. The state already has a persistent teacher shortage and COVID-19 has made the problem even worse. During a Missouri Board of Education meeting, Deputy Finance Commissioner Kari Monsees […]
An audit of the City of Forsyth released today by State Auditor Nicole Galloway gives a rating of “poor” after finding numerous concerns, including more than $1,400 missing from the city’s vault and another $2,000 in utility deposits that were received but never deposited. In addition to the missing money, the audit also found that […]
Trenton city sales tax receipts are up more than six percent for general purposes, capital projects, and parks in the first eleven months of Trenton’s current fiscal year, compared to the same months a year ago, May through March. Income from the city sales tax for fire department needs is up nearly eight percent, and […]
Testimony began Monday in the trial of an Iowa reporter arrested during a protest in Des Moines. Her case has become the focal point for those raising concerns about the treatment of the press by authorities. Andrea Sahouri is on trial for misdemeanor charges related to her arrest at a Black Lives Matter protest last May. […]
Missouri U.S. Senator Josh Hawley voted Friday against adding a minimum wage hike to the current COVID-19 relief bill in the Senate but is calling for a higher minimum wage — and a tax credit for some blue-collar workers. Hawley, in a stand-alone bill, would require companies that make more than $1 billion annually to […]
U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) released the following statement today after voting against Democrats’ nearly $2 trillion budget reconciliation bill. The far-reaching legislation includes $1,400 stimulus checks, $300-per-week jobless benefits through the summer, a child allowance of up to $3,600 for one year, $350 billion for state aid, $34 billion to expand the Affordable Care Act subsidies, and $14 billion for vaccine distribution. […]
Missourians who were mistakenly paid coronavirus unemployment benefits might not have to return the federal portion, but they still might owe the state’s share. The Missouri House has passed a bill affecting roughly 46-thousand Missourians who received the benefits in error and have been told by the state to pay up. During debate, Nixa Republican […]
