(Missouri Independent) – After hours of fierce debate that spanned the course of two days, the Missouri House on Wednesday signed off on a prohibition on transgender students participating on the sports teams that match their gender identity. The provision, offered as an amendment by Rep. Chuck Basye, R-Rocheport, to House Bill 1141 was adopted by a vote […]
United States Senator Josh Hawley is asking federal agency leaders to ramp up operations again at some field offices. He says pre-CVOID 19 services should be restored. Many of these complaints have been directed at the National Personnel Records Center, which is based in St. Louis and houses military records for veterans nationwide. […]
The University of Missouri Extension is offering their popular Tai Chi online classes in Mercer, Livingston, and Grundy counties. Tai Chi has been offered face to face and online across the state for the past two years. ‘The online classes allow members of the public to participate in the physical, mental, and social benefits of […]
The Jamesport Tri-County R-7 Board of Education Monday approved steps and an increase in pay. There will be a three percent increase to the base for certified and non-certified staff. Secretary Heather Turner reports the base salary for certified staff is now $31,114. The board approved an internet service allowance for staff that worked remotely […]
The Grundy County Health Department will hold a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine clinic on April 23rd by appointment. All Missouri adults are eligible to be vaccinated starting at 2:30 that afternoon. Schedule an appointment by calling the health department at 660-359-4196 or go to grundychd.org. Nineteen point four percent of county residents have been fully vaccinated, […]
(Missouri Independent) – Help may be coming for Missouri homeowners behind on their mortgage payments because of COVID-19 income losses. The Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday added $150 million in federal mortgage assistance funds to the supplemental spending bill for the current fiscal year, one of several new sections using money from pandemic relief bills passed by Congress […]
Five area counties have unemployment rates above the state average while eleven others are below the statewide rate for February, the most recent month available. The Missouri unemployment rate average is 5%. Above that mark are Linn County at 7.8%, Caldwell at 6.0%, Clinton and Sullivan counties are 5.7%, and Carroll County is 5.2%. Unemployment […]
(Missouri Independent) – As bills expanding charter schools and creating new scholarship accounts for private school tuition make their way through the process, one piece of legislation is trying to give students more options within the public schools that already exist. House Bill 543, sponsored by Rep. Brad Pollitt, R-Sedalia, would establish the “Public School […]
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Paycheck Fairness Act – a bill that would boost equal pay protections for women. On the House floor, Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush, a Democrat from St. Louis, says she supports the plan. As a nurse, Bush says she earned about 60-percent of what white males in the […]
The Grundy County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of several area residents in the last couple of days. Forty-year-old Lori Ann Pennington of Trenton was arrested April 14th on felony driving while intoxicated—aggravated and misdemeanor driving while revoked or suspended—second or third offense. Bond is $5,000 cash only, and she is scheduled for the Associate […]
Missouri non-farm payroll employment recovered strongly in March 2021 after a loss in February, and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by a tenth of a percentage point. Employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 15,400 jobs over the month. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.2 percent in March 2021, down from 4.3 percent in […]
The Missouri House has passed a bill that would remove the limits on how much colleges in the state can increase their tuition. Schools are currently allowed to raise tuition to compensate for any cuts in state aid and they are capped at five percent plus the inflation rate. Lawmakers are divided over […]
The Pleasant View R-6 Board of Education on April 13th approved increasing pay. Non-certified staff wages will go up by 50 cents per hour, and extra-duty contracts will increase by four percent. Base pay for all certified staff will increase by $1,000, which will make the base pay $31,500 for the 2021-2022 school year. The […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed suit against President Joe Biden, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas, and several other members of President Biden’s administration to reinstate the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) enacted by President Trump and work toward combating migrant trafficking, securing the border, and ending the border […]
The North Mercer R-3 Board of Education approved offering contracts to non-certified staff members on April 12th. Non-certified staff will receive a two-point-five percent salary increase. The supplemental pay schedule was accepted for 2021-2022. Resignations were accepted from Lisa Prichard with the library, Katie Crabtree for business, and Dana Smith for math. Nine staff members […]
A White House report gives Missouri a C minus for the condition of its infrastructure. The Biden Administration has rolled out the state-by-state report to go along with the president’s push for a two-point-three trillion-dollar infrastructure funding package. The report says Missouri has a “systemic lack of investment in its roads and […]
With the requested $300,000 in asphalt sales added to budgeted revenues, the Trenton City Council Monday night approved the amended city budget for the fiscal year beginning May 1. The additional sales of asphalt raise the expected total sales to $1,300,000. Sales from Trenton’s new asphalt plant last year generated nearly $1,800,000 with expectations for […]
The U.S. Department of Education says Missouri’s K-12 schools will get 1.95-billion total dollars in federal aid from the latest coronavirus plan. Linda Neumann, with the Missouri Association of School Nurses, hopes the state’s school districts will consider using some of the federal funding to hire school nurses. Neumann tells Missourinet a 2020 state Education […]
Trenton city sales tax receipts were up more than five percent for general purposes, capital projects, and parks in the fiscal year ending this month compared to last fiscal year. Income from the transportation sales tax was up nearly seven percent, and receipts from the city sales tax for fire department needs were up more […]
An online charity auction will be held to support the Wright Memorial Hospital Foundation’s general fund and the Oncology Nurse Navigator Program at the hospital. Mike Witten and MW Auctions will run the event from April 15th through 24th. Foundation Development Officer Dave Bain says the Foundation hopes to have more than 100 items in […]
