(Missouri Independent) – With over 40% of Missouri’s nursing home staff still unvaccinated, the state health department is giving long-term care facilities a route to avoid losing their license if they shut down due to staffing shortfalls after a federal vaccine requirement kicks in next month. On Friday, the Department of Health and Senior Services […]
(Missouri Independent) – A federal judge last week permanently blocked Missouri from enforcing a requirement that medical marijuana licenses go to businesses owned by residents of the state. Following a bench trial Thursday, U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey agreed to grant a permanent injunction. Her written order has not yet been filed. News of the injunction […]
The rate of people experiencing hunger in Colorado and across the U.S. remained statistically steady overall during 2020, according to initial data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But people of color and low-income workers experienced food insecurity at dramatically higher rates during the pandemic. Geri Henchy, director of nutrition policy at the Food Research […]
An Iowa woman was sentenced on two hate crimes charges for attempting to kill two minor victims because of their race and national origin. Nicole Poole Franklin, 42, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephanie M. Rose to 304 months in federal prison on each count, with the sentences to run concurrently to each other […]
A Missouri pharmacy is prohibited from continuing its past practice of filling prescriptions without verifying whether they were issued by a DEA-authorized practitioner under a consent decree approved yesterday in federal court. Spalitto’s Pharmacy, L.C., of Kansas City, a retail pharmacy at 3801 Independence Avenue operated by Peter A. Spalitto as the pharmacist in charge, […]
A newly-released map identifies portions of the U.S.-Mexico border wall built by the Trump administration, and for conservation groups and wildlife advocates, it is alarming. The Biden administration halted construction and said it will use federal funds to assess the damage caused by the new, higher walls. Myles Traphagen, borderlands program coordinator for the Wildlands Network who created […]
To celebrate Buy Missouri Day, the Missouri Department of Agriculture’s Missouri Grown program announced funding for 14 retail businesses that carry Missouri Grown products. The Missouri Grown Retail Promotion Matching Grant awards up to $1,000 per retail store for reimbursement of expenses associated with promoting Missouri Grown member products. “Our Missouri Grown members have told […]
Two key Missouri lawmakers from opposite parties view Tuesday’s resignation of state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Director, Dr. Randall Williams, very differently. Missouri House Health and Mental Health Policy Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Stephens (R-Bolivar) praises Dr. Williams, while House Minority Leader Crystal Quade (D-Springfield) says the resignation was long overdue. Chairman Stephens says Williams […]
U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.), Rob Portman (Ohio), James Lankford (Okla.), and James Inhofe (Okla.) announced that they have introduced the Permanently Preserving America’s Investment in Manufacturing Act of 2021. The bill would ensure that American manufacturers can continue to make large investments, hire workers, and produce goods in the United States. “The strength of […]
The state Board of Education has signed off on permanently allowing an accelerated substitute teacher training option. Aspiring substitutes will be able to fulfill the standard 60 college credit hours or they can complete an online training program of at least 20 hours. Last fall, the board temporarily allowed the online course to help close […]
U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (Md.) introduced the No Fencing at the United States Capitol Complex Act. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC) previously introduced the legislation in the House. Their bipartisan, bicameral bill prohibits funding for permanent fencing […]
To help deal with staffing shortages, workers and prisoners at two Missouri prisons have been temporarily relocated to nearby prisons. State Department of Corrections Spokeswoman Karen Pojmann tells Missourinet workers and inmates at a Fulton prison in mid-Missouri have been moved to the minimum-security prison in town. Staff and offenders at Kansas City […]
(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 […]
U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Ben Cardin (Md.) have introduced a measure to permanently extend the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC), which has created jobs and driven investment in neighborhoods with high poverty and unemployment rates. The New Markets Tax Credit Extension Act (S.456) will permanently authorize a 39 percent federal tax credit for […]
The women’s prison in northeast Missouri’s Vandalia could have about half of its housing units permanently closed. Trevor Foley, with the state Department of Corrections, says Governor Mike Parson’s new state budget proposal would make the change. Gov. Parson’s proposed $34.1 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning in July includes about $802 million for […]
The North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees heard various reports the evening of December 22nd. Multiple reports involved information on the COVID-19 pandemic. Dean of Instruction Mitch Holder filled in for Vice President of Academic Affairs Doctor Tristan Londre. Holder reported students were appreciative of the on-campus experience during the fall semester. He is […]
JC Penney is closing another 15 stores nationwide next spring, including one in southern Missouri. The department store chain’s website shows the West Plains location is shutting down. The company closed its stores for two months when COVID-19 first came on the scene. It then chose to permanently shutter about 150 stores and file for […]
Current Missouri law requires preventative HIV medication to be prescribed by a doctor. Newly-elected Kansas City State Senator Greg Razer plans to pre-file a Bill that would allow pharmacists to give an emergency dose over the counter to those exposed to the virus. Razer calls the bill the last piece to end the AIDS epidemic. […]
(Missouri Independent) – Cortaiga Collins doesn’t know how much longer her childcare center will survive. Only about a dozen children have been attending regularly amid the pandemic. Under normal circumstances, she used to serve as many as 100. She’s already had to reduce the hours that Good Shepherd Preschool and Infant/Toddler Center in St. Louis […]
U.S. Attorney Tim Garrison, at a joint press conference with Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith, announced that 518 arrests have been made by local and federal law enforcement officers in Operation LeGend. “On behalf of the team of federal law enforcement agencies involved in this groundbreaking initiative, I […]
