(Missouri Independent) – Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri is calling for the Biden administration to intervene to block the state’s new emergency regulation that abortion advocates contend could cut off Medicaid funding for its clinics around the state. Without federal action, Planned Parenthood said it may need to turn to the courts. […]
(Missouri Independent) – A day after Missouri Gov. Mike Parson garnered national criticism for his push to prosecute a newspaper reporter who discovered a security flaw in a state website, a Democratic lawmaker is urging the governor to appoint members of a cybersecurity commission created by a bill he signed in July. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch informed […]
(Missouri Independent) – On Tuesday, a reporter with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch alerted the state that Social Security numbers of school teachers and administrators were vulnerable to public exposure due to flaws on a website maintained by Missouri’s department of education. The newspaper agreed to hold off publishing any story while the department fixed the problem and […]
(Missouri Independent) – Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri is calling for the Biden administration to intervene to block the state’s new emergency regulation that abortion advocates contend could cut off Medicaid funding for its clinics around the state. Without federal action, Planned Parenthood said it may need to turn to the courts. […]
With the start of a new fiscal year, the Missouri Corn Merchandising Council (MCMC) and the Missouri Corn Growers Association (MCGA) announced a new slate of officers, the appointment of recently elected board members, and national committee assignments. The election of the 2021-22 MCMC officer team took place during an August board meeting held in […]
(Missouri Independent) – Activists are ramping up the pressure on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to move on his chamber’s version of a voting rights bill, even though there’s no sign there will be enough Republican support to advance it. Alternatively, they’re pressing for an end to the filibuster, though there’s no indication there would […]
(Missouri Independent) – The fate of Missouri’s ban on abortion after eight weeks of pregnancy, with no exception for rape or incest, rests in the hands of a panel of federal judges. Arguments Tuesday before the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis, and questions from the judges, focused almost exclusively on another provision […]
The Spickard R-2 Board of Education on September 20, 2021, approved changing the custodian position from part-time to full-time. Paula Fagan was appointed to fill a vacancy on the board. Superintendent Erica Eakes reports the term will go until the election in April. Fagan was the only applicant for the position. Eakes says the position was […]
(Missouri Independent) – The number of Missouri deaths from COVID-19 reported since Jan. 1 has exceeded the number reported during 2020. As of Dec. 31, 2020, the Department of Health and Senior Services reported 5,519 deaths from the coronavirus that killed its first Missouri victim on March 18, 2020. On Friday, the total reached 11,046. The grim […]
James Young, a Musical Theatre, Vocal Music, and Guitar teacher at the Johnson-Wabash 6th Grade Center in the Ferguson-Florissant School District, was selected by a committee of his peers and education partners across the state as the 2022 Missouri Teacher of the Year. He becomes the 53rd Missouri Teacher of the Year since the program’s inception […]
There is no federal or statewide race this fall, but Iowa voters in many cities will still head to the polls for municipal and school elections and county auditors hope they are informed about sweeping changes the state adopted this year dealing with voting. In March, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill, which, among other things, reduces […]
(Missouri Independent) – Senate Democrats on Tuesday unveiled a revamped voting rights bill that would expand voter registration as well as create nonpartisan redistricting committees, but the measure is still likely to face an uphill battle in an evenly divided Senate. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he will bring the legislation to the floor […]
(Missouri Independent) – When news broke that an LGBTQ history exhibit was suddenly and without warning removed from the Missouri Capitol, Gov. Mike Parson contended the reason was that it didn’t get pre-approval from a board he chairs, but at that board’s first meeting in more than a year on Monday, neither the exhibit nor the […]
Performers of various genres will provide stage entertainment at Chautauqua in the Park at Simpson Park in Chillicothe this weekend. Chillicothe Area Arts Council Administrator Mary Lou VanDeventer says the first thing to be on the stage in the center of the park on September 11th will be a 20th-anniversary tribute of the September 11th terror […]
(Missouri Independent) – The White House is urging Congress to approve at least $24 billion — and likely more — for disaster relief costs, saying that the aid should be included in a short-term spending bill expected this month. That tally includes $14 billion for recovery costs related to extreme weather events, including hurricanes, floods, and wildfires during […]
(Missouri Independent) – Kevin Strickland was hopeful Thursday was going to be his first step towards freedom after 40 years in prison. A new law that went into effect on Aug. 28 gave Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker a legal avenue to free Strickland, who she says is innocent and wrongly incarcerated. But opposition […]
To better serve those needing to report concerns of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of elderly and disabled Missourians, the Department of Health and Senior Services’ Adult Abuse and Neglect Hotline will be revising its hours of operations to 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. effective September 1, 2021. In November of 2019, the Department of Health […]
Dream Factory Volunteer Ron Dougan presented information on the organization to the Trenton Rotary Club on August 26th. The Dream Factory grants wishes to serious and chronically ill children. Dougan has volunteered with the organization since 1990 and currently works with fundraising and organizing “dreams” for area children. He said when he first got involved, […]
A Mexican national was sentenced in federal court today for illegally selling more than a dozen firearms and a large amount of methamphetamine and heroin to undercover federal agents. Heladio Lezama-Palma, 36, a citizen of Mexico who was residing in Kansas City, Missouri, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to 15 years […]
The U.S. has its first fully approved vaccine against COVID-19, with federal health officials announcing Monday the approval of Pfizer-BioNTech’s two-dose vaccine. The green light from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to move Pfizer’s vaccine from emergency use to full approval is a milestone in the national pandemic response, and one that comes as the […]
