(Missouri Independent) – As federal officials land in Missouri at the request of the state to assist with combatting a wave of new COVID cases spurred by the Delta variant, Gov. Mike Parson publicly rebuffed outreach strategies President Joe Biden touted. On Tuesday, a member of the newly-created federal surge response team arrived in the […]
Tag: people
Biden-Harris Administration invests $307 million in rural water and wastewater infrastructure improvements in 34 states
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the United States Department of Agriculture is investing $307 million to modernize rural drinking water and wastewater infrastructure in 34 states and Puerto Rico (PDF, 224 KB). The investments being announced follow President Biden’s announcement last week of a Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework that will make the largest investment in clean […]
Missouri man defrauds St. Louis residents out of $81,000
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s Securities Division is seeking penalties and restitution from a Missouri man and his Chesterfield-based company after St. Louis residents were allegedly defrauded out of $81,000. Between January 2017 and June 2018, Loy Dennis Maxey and his company, Fresh Start Credit Services, LLC, allegedly sold promissory notes and misappropriated a […]
Trenton Park Board elects officers, address various agenda items
The Trenton Park Board elected officers on July 7. Curtis Crawford was elected president, Andy Cox was re-elected vice president, and John Hamilton was elected secretary. City Council Park Board Liaison Marvin Humphreys asked what is being done about a leak at the Rock Barn that he mentioned at a previous meeting. Park Superintendent David […]
Bob Griffin, longest-serving Missouri House speaker, has died at age 85
(Missouri Independent) – Bob F. Griffin, who served as speaker of the Missouri House for 15 years until he was forced to resign in the face of a federal criminal investigation, died Wednesday in Columbia. He was 85. Griffin was the longest-serving speaker in the state’s history. During his tenure as speaker from 1981 to 1996, the […]
University of Missouri Broadband Initiative outlines community-driven process for local expansion
Adoption of broadband has the potential to boost a community’s economic growth and quality of life. But in much of Missouri, especially rural areas, the high-bandwidth wirelines to connect households and businesses don’t exist. Helping more Missouri communities become digitally connected was the topic of a recent webinar by the University of Missouri System Broadband […]
Groups say postal reform Bill would benefit rural Missouri
Supporters of the U.S. Postal Service are pressing for passage of a bill to shore up the troubled agency. Twin versions of the bipartisan Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 are winding their way through committees in the U.S. House and Senate. John McHugh, a former congressman from New York who served as Secretary of the Army until […]
Missouri State Highway Patrol reports on July 4 holiday statistics, including 7 fatalities
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports the following 2021 July Fourth holiday statistics: 2021 July Fourth Holiday Traffic Statistics Troopers worked 312 traffic crashes, which included 124 injuries and all seven fatalities. Troopers also made 144 DWI arrests and 81 drug arrests over the holiday weekend. 2021 July Fourth Holiday Boating Statistics Troopers worked 12 […]
Audio: Census data shows Missouri is slow growth state
The U.S. Census Bureau recently released its 2020 population estimates which examines the population that occurred over the past year and decade. It showed that Missouri has some areas of growth and others of decline. Dr. Mark White is an associate extension professor at Mizzou, and he sorts through data on population, geography, and economic […]
Delta variant spread means Missouri COVID cases may ‘double or triple’ in July
(Missouri Independent) – During June, as the Delta variant of COVID-19 took hold in Missouri, the seven-day average of new cases doubled. And now that the easily spread mutation has reached every corner of the state, July will be a repeat of June, or worse, according to the University of Missouri professor monitoring wastewater for the […]
Two killed in small plane crash near Lamoni, Iowa
The Associated Press reports an Omaha, Nebraska businessman was one of two people killed in a small plane crash near the Lamoni, Iowa Municipal Airport on July 1st, according to the man’s brother. Kevin Paladino told the Omaha World-Herald that 54-year old Dave Paladino was flying the single-engine Cirrus SR-22 that crashed, killing him and […]
Four injured in two-vehicle crash five miles east of Gallatin
Four people sustained injuries in an accident involving two pickup trucks five miles east of Gallatin on Thursday afternoon July 1. The Highway Patrol reports the driver of one pickup, 33-year-old Daryl Betts of Fayette, the driver of the other pickup, 34-year-old Jonathan Parker of Gallatin, and Parker’s passenger, 82-year-old Billy Parker of Gallatin, received […]
Missouri Attorney General asks U.S. Supreme Court to review state’s eight-week abortion ban
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 […]
Fireworks, Food and Family: Cookout costs remain steady for Fourth of July
Much like Christmas and birthday wish lists, kids compile their own “wish list” of fireworks for the Fourth of July celebration. The youngest took inventory of firecrackers leftover from last year (aka, a stash he had hidden) and determined we need roman candles, bottle rockets, parachutes, and artillery shells. This year’s explosions and bright lights […]
Hy-Vee partners with national suppliers to fight hunger
Hy-Vee Inc. will again partner with Kellogg’s and Keurig Dr. Pepper for the second year of its End Summer Hunger campaign. This year, Chobani has also joined the campaign that helps to provide meals to children and families in need through the Feeding America network of food banks. During the month of July, for every […]
Audio: Church services and other activities set for Brush Arbor event in Lineville, Iowa park
Free church services will be held in the Lineville, Iowa City Park from July 5 through July 11. The 37th year of Brush Arbor will include services starting Monday through Saturday at 6:30. A hot dog meal will be that Sunday at 5:30 with the service to follow. Mercer Assembly of God Church Pastor Phil […]
2020 “Focus on Missouri” Agriculture Photo Contest winners announced
A breathtaking photo featuring a glimpse into the life of a Missouri cattle rancher is the Best in Show for the 2021 Focus on Missouri Agriculture Photo Contest, hosted by the Missouri Department of Agriculture. The photograph, submitted by Holly Brown of Webb City, Mo., was chosen from nearly 900 photos submitted by amateur photographers […]
U.S. House votes to remove bust of Supreme Court justice who wrote Dred Scott decision
(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. House voted Tuesday to remove from the Capitol a bust of the late Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, who in 1857 wrote the Dred Scott decision (Dred Scott pictured above article) that stripped all Black Americans, free or slave, of their citizenship. The legislation passed on a vote of 285-120 with only 67 […]
Groups connect Missouri youth in foster care with life and work skills
Community partnerships in Missouri are working to help young people, either in or aging out of foster care, connect with the resources they need to start their independent lives, and the pandemic has brought added financial hardship for many. DeWayne Bright, Sr., youth advocate for the Local Investment Commission (LINC) in Kansas City, works with […]
Audio: October execution date set for convicted triple killer Ernest Lee Johnson
A convicted triple killer from Columbia is set to be executed in October at the state’s maximum-security prison in Bonne Terre. The Missouri Supreme Court has scheduled an October 5 execution date for 60-year-old Ernest Lee Johnson. The Supreme Court scheduled the execution date on Tuesday. He’ll be executed by lethal injection at the southeast […]