Saturday is National Health Care Decisions Day, and groups in Missouri urged residents to make a plan for their end-of-life care in case they are not able to express their wishes. Some 120,000 Missourians age 65 and older live with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia in older adults. John Grimm, president of the […]
Tag: procedures
Medicaid enrollment backlog persists as advocates say Missouri could be doing more
(Missouri Independent) – Applying for health insurance through Medicaid expansion took Raven Cole just 10 minutes. But the wait to see if she’s approved has dragged on for months. The 23-year-old legal assistant applied for coverage, “well over two to three months ago.” “And I haven’t heard anything back,” Cole said. Cole is one of […]
Missouri fines CAFO, owned by Smithfield Foods, $18,000 for polluting streams with 300,000 gallons of waste
(Missouri Independent) – Regulators ordered an industrial hog farm in northern Missouri to pay more than $18,000 for spilling 300,000 gallons of manure into miles of nearby streams. An advocate for environmentally responsible agriculture called that “pathetic,” noting the fine amounted to less than $0.04 per gallon of waste spilled. “You’re talking about a multi-billion […]
Medical director convicted in $110 million addiction treatment fraud scheme
A federal jury convicted a Florida doctor in the Southern District of Florida for a health care fraud scheme that billed private health insurance companies approximately $110 million for addiction treatment services that were not medically necessary. This is the second trial conviction to arise out of the Justice Department’s Sober Homes Initiative. According to […]
Missouri State Auditor releases audit of Ralls County with rating of “fair”
State Auditor Nicole Galloway has released an audit of Ralls County, located in northeast Missouri, that finds improvements are needed to the property tax system and to other areas of county government. The report gave a rating of “fair.” “Our audit found several areas where improvements would help ensure greater accountability for the taxpayers of […]
Princeton Board of Education approves general obligation bond refunding
The Board of Education of the Princeton R-V School District of Mercer County, Missouri approved a parameters resolution at a regular meeting on November 8, 2021, that authorized a final terms committee consisting of Rick Ellsworth, Board President, Jerry Girdner, Superintendent, and Larry J. Hart, CEO of L.J. Hart & Company. The resolution approved the […]
Chillicothe City Council adds agenda item to upcoming meeting
An item has been added to the agenda for the Chillicothe City Council meeting on January 31st. The council will consider an ordinance in the Chillicothe Municipal Utility meeting room at 5:30 in the evening that would accept a contract addendum for engineering services associated with new industrial park land. Other items on the agenda […]
Chillicothe City Council meeting agenda on January 31st includes two ordinances
The Chillicothe City Council will hold a workshop and regular meeting in the Chillicothe Municipal Utilities meeting room on January 31, 2022. The council may discuss city finances at the workshop that evening at 5 pm. Two ordinances will be discussed at the regular meeting at 5:30. One ordinance would amend the city code by […]
Apply online during February for Missouri Department of Conservation spring managed turkey hunts
Missouri turkey hunters can apply online during February for 2022 spring turkey-managed hunts through the Missouri Department of Conservation website. Managed hunt details and application procedures are outlined on the webpage. Drawing results will be posted starting March 15. The spring turkey hunting youth portion will be April 9 and 10 with the regular spring […]
COVID-related deaths reported in Grundy and Caldwell counties; area health departments report on new COVID cases
The Grundy County Health Department reports another COVID-19-related death. That brings the total to 62 since the pandemic began. There have also been 78 new cases added since January 13th, raising that total to 2,181. Seventy-eight cases are active. The Grundy County Health Department asks residents who test positive for COVID-19 with a home test […]
Gallatin Board of Education accepts resignations
The Gallatin R-5 Board of Education accepted two resignations after a closed session on January 19th. The resignations were from Superintendent Secretary Lesli Lin and Special Education Teacher Vickie France. They will be effective at the end of the 2021-2022 school year. During the regular meeting, the board approved entering into a one-year contract to […]
Caldwell County receives “Good” rating from Missouri State Auditor
State Auditor Nicole Galloway announced that her office has issued a rating of “good” in a regularly scheduled audit of Caldwell County, located in northwest Missouri. A December 2016 audit of Caldwell County also issued an overall rating of “good.” Auditors found that controls and procedures at the Caldwell County Detention Center in Kingston need improvement. The […]
Lawrence County gets “Fair” rating from Missouri State Auditor
State Auditor Nicole Galloway released the report of her regularly scheduled audit of Lawrence County, located in southwest Missouri. The report, which gives a rating of “fair,” is the first audit of the county since a 2016 audit gave the county a rating of “poor” – the lowest possible – and the subsequent 2017 follow-up report Auditors […]
Missouri State Auditor issues follow-up report on Forsyth after audit last March found city was missing more than $3,400
City officials in Forsyth have implemented or are in the process of implementing the recommendations of a state audit from March that gave the lowest possible rating. State Auditor Nicole Galloway today released a follow-up review of the city’s progress on the audit’s 12 recommendations. The audit, which gave a rating of “poor,” found numerous […]
Missouri State Auditor hands Harrison County a rating of “Good”
State Auditor Nicole Galloway released today her regularly scheduled audit of Harrison County, located in northwest Missouri. The report, which rated county operations as “good,” is the first audit of the county since a November 2015 audit, which resulted in a rating of “fair.” The audit found that the procedures for complying with the Sunshine Law […]
Missouri State Auditor gives Wayne County “fair” rating, identifies several concerns in county government
An audit of Wayne County released by State Auditor Nicole Galloway has identified several concerns with county government operations and has given a rating of “fair.” Wayne County is located in southeast Missouri. “Government officials are responsible for safeguarding taxpayer dollars. In Wayne County, our audit found several instances where safeguards were not in place, […]
Nearly half of abortions in Kansas are for Missourians. A vote next year could change that
(Missouri Independent) – Patients who arrive at an abortion clinic in Overland Park, Kansas, have often traveled long distances. Many began their journeys in Missouri, sometimes driving hours to their appointment. “We’ve heard these stories from Missourians and other people in our region for years,” said Emily Wales, interim president of Planned Parenthood Great Plains. “They […]
Missouri State Auditor releases audit of Sullivan County with “Fair” rating; audit identifies several areas needing improvement
State Auditor Nicole Galloway today released an audit of Sullivan County, located in northern Missouri. The report gave a rating of “fair” and highlighted several controls and procedures in county offices that need improvement. The rating is an improvement from the previous audit, which gave the lowest possible rating of “poor.” “While this audit showed […]
USDA invests $222 million in rural community infrastructure
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary for Rural Development Xochitl Torres Small announced that USDA is investing $222 million to build and improve critical community facilities (PDF, 729 KB) in 44 states, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico. This community infrastructure funding will benefit nearly 2.5 million people in rural communities. It also […]
Smithfield Foods settlement with feds can’t be used in COVID lawsuits
(Missouri Independent) – Smithfield Foods agreed this week to pay the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration $13,494 to settle a citation for failing to protect its meatpacking employees in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, from exposure to the coronavirus last year, but the company didn’t admit it did anything wrong. As such, the settlement can’t […]