State Senator Greg Razer says minds are shifting about changing the Missouri Non-Discrimination Act. The Kansas City Democrat has filed legislation that would ban discrimination based upon sexual orientation or gender identity for things like housing, financial help, employment, or the use of public restrooms. Razer, who is openly gay, says he has talked to […]
Legislation that requires a photo ID and the use of a paper ballot was given final approval by the Missouri House in Jefferson City on Thursday. The vote, primarily along party lines, was 109-48. House Bill 738 is sponsored by veteran State Rep. Don Rone (R-Portageville), who represents the Bootheel. Rone was unable to make it to the […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri Senate leadership pulled a bill vital for funding the state’s Medicaid program from floor debate Tuesday after adopting an amendment barring the use of public money for common contraceptive treatments. The amendment, sponsored by Republican Sen. Paul Wieland, could endanger the state’s entire Medicaid program by eliminating a health care service required by federal […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt joined a coalition of thirteen states in filing suit against the Biden Administration for imposing a moratorium on future oil and gas leasing and drilling permits on federal land. The lawsuit contends that the moratorium on leasing through the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) and the Mineral Leasing Act […]
Advocates for family farms, rural neighborhoods, and the environment are asking Iowa lawmakers to find a more equitable balance between the interests of factory farms and of the communities they’re in. Research has shown higher levels of nitrates and phosphorus in the water, as well as air quality issues, in communities with nearby concentrated animal feeding […]
Trenton Park Superintendent David Shockley reports a special Park Board meeting will not need to be held to accept a bid for a pad near the diving board at the Trenton Family Aquatic Center. The bid received was less than $6,500, and the board approved at its last meeting purchasing a mat with a cost […]
Amid the rapidly escalating crisis along the southern border, U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) and dozens of his colleagues joined U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, in sending a letter to Government Accountability Office Comptroller Gene L. Dodaro highlighting President Joe Biden’s suspension of border wall […]
The Grundy County Commission signed a letter of agency with Granite phone service on March 16th. The letter gives the company permission to contact AT&T on behalf of Grundy County. Presiding Commissioner Phillip Ray says going through Granite for the county is estimated to reduce the cost of three AT&T lines from $500 a month […]
(Missouri Independent) – U.S. Rep. Debra Haaland made history on Monday when she became the first Native American to ever be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to hold a position in a president’s Cabinet. In a narrow 51-40 vote, senators confirmed Haaland, a New Mexico Democrat, to serve as secretary of the interior, where she […]
Fire damage was described as major to the engine compartment and cab of a semi-truck Sunday afternoon in Trenton. The Trenton Fire Department was dispatched to the parking lot east of Hoover Drive, where crews found heavy fire with the vehicle. Firefighters deployed a one and three-quarter line to extinguish the blaze. Firefighters used a […]
The Milan Rural Fire Department and Medicine Creek Fire Protection District responded to a house fire in Milan on March 9th in which the house was considered a total loss. Milan Rural Fire Chief Rick Gardner reports nothing was saved of the two-story structure at 19626 Boulder Drive. The fire was described as being fully […]
As grain prices hit new levels, farmers are considering potential profit in preparing for the 2021 growing season. However, protection is always going to be important. Crop insurance decisions will be critical this year. Gary Schnitkey, University of Illinois agricultural economics professor, said 93% of Illinois farmers took some form of Revenue Protection (RP) insurance […]
The Grundy County Rural Protection District responded to a fire on Northeast 18th Avenue on March 9th. Fire Chief Kenny Roberts reports the fire started when some of a pile of sawdust at an Amish sawmill blew into a nearby pasture. He says about eight to 10 acres burned, which included part of a neighbor’s […]
Approximately 100 to 150 acres of pasture and timber burned in southwestern Grundy County on March 9th, according to Jamesport Fire and Rescue Assistant Chief John McKiddy, who reports Jamesport responded with two units to the fire east of Jamesport near Route F and south on 55th Avenue. The Grundy County Rural Fire Protection District responded […]
On Monday evening, the Grundy County Rural Fire Protection District responded to a grass fire along the north side of Route O, east of Highway 65. It was a mutual aid call with the Spickard Fire Protection District. Grundy County Rural Chief Kenny Roberts said it appears someone threw a cigarette into dry grass, which […]
Testimony began Monday in the trial of an Iowa reporter arrested during a protest in Des Moines. Her case has become the focal point for those raising concerns about the treatment of the press by authorities. Andrea Sahouri is on trial for misdemeanor charges related to her arrest at a Black Lives Matter protest last May. […]
The Missouri Department of Agriculture issued a consumer alert to advise Missourians that the Corn Xpress Bulk Corn Vending Machine is not-legal-for-trade in the state of Missouri. The machine is advertised as an agricultural vending machine that can dispense products such as corn, wheat, protein pellets, and rock salt. The Missouri Department of Agriculture’s Weights, […]
Grundy County Rural Fire Department responded to four calls on Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening. On a mutual aid call with the Spickard Fire Protection District, Grundy County on Sunday assisted in extinguishing a fire on Conservation Reserve Program land that Rural Fire Chief Kenny Roberts said burned 350 to 360 acres. The location was […]
Current state law allows orders of protection for one year – potentially forcing domestic violence victims to repeatedly return to court and face their abuser. Joplin Republican Representative Lane Roberts says that is wrong. During a state House committee hearing, Roberts, a former Missouri Public Safety Department director, says he wants to change the law […]
Firefighters from the Laredo Fire Protection District on Saturday battled a couple of grass fires north of Laredo. Both fires were attributed to controlled burns spreading, with one burn setting fire to an estimated ten acres and the other three to four acres, as well as some trees in a fence row. Firefighters spent an […]
