The Federal Communications Commission announced a new Emergency Broadband Benefit program. This temporary benefit program will lower the cost of broadband service for eligible households during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The $3.2B Emergency Broadband Benefit program provides a discount of up to $50 per month toward broadband service for eligible households and up to $75 […]
Tag: rant
Annualization of salaries within the school district tops discussion at Trenton R-9 Board of Education meeting
The Trenton R-9 Board of Education on Tuesday, May 11, discussed non-certified payroll annualization with district Bookkeeper Mona Loyd and Administrative Assistant Susan Leeper. Loyd started by saying she had been willing to try annualization at the time the board originally voted to implement it for non-certified staff. She did not have the forethought to […]
Parson vows to veto crime bill if it includes penalties for lying under oath to Missouri legislature
(Missouri Independent) – The fate of a wide-ranging crime bill was called into question on Tuesday over a provision that would stiffen penalties for lying under oath to the legislature or obstructing a legislative investigation. During a conference committee on Tuesday morning convened to work out differences on Senate Bill 53, House members said the bill […]
Missouri House approves prescription drug monitoring program, sends bill to the governor
(Missouri Independent) – In a historic vote, the Missouri House signed off Tuesday on legislation creating a prescription drug monitoring program — inching one step closer to ending Missouri’s designation as the only state without one. The bill now heads to Gov. Mike Parson for his signature or veto. Sen. Holly Rehder, a Sikeston Republican who […]
Audio: Missouri designates $50 million in federal aid to help reduce its K-12 teacher shortage
Missouri is designating 50-million dollars in federal coronavirus aid to create K-12 teacher recruitment and retention grants. The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will make 10,000-dollar grants available to all Missouri public school districts and charter schools to create or expand local teacher recruitment programs. Currently, 20 percent of Missouri school […]
Governor Parson announces Missouri to end all pandemic-related unemployment benefits
To address workforce shortages across the state, Governor Mike Parson directed the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to notify the U.S. Department of Labor that Missouri will end participation in all federal pandemic-related unemployment insurance programs effective Saturday, June 12 at 11:59 p.m. “From conversations with business owners across the state, we know […]
Missouri State Fair now accepting entries for livestock and competitive exhibits
Entries are now being accepted online for all State Fair livestock shows and competitive exhibits. Complete rules and regulations for all shows and contests are available in the online Premium Guide. All entrants must complete the vendor input form to receive premium payment(s). Most shows and competitions have entry deadlines. Important competition updates are available […]
Princeton Board of Education approves health insurance proposal; announce new hires and accepts resignation
The Princeton R-5 Board of Education approved a health insurance proposal on May 10th. The proposal from Thomas McGee includes no increase in premiums for employees. The base HSA for an employee will remain at $516.63, and the base PPO will stay at $607.35. The district cap will remain at $600. This is the third […]
Princeton City Council approves contract for bands and change order for water project
The Princeton City Council on Monday, May 10, approved service contracts for bands and a change order for a water project. City Clerk Cory Willett reports one service contract was for the Country Buddies for $900 for the citywide garage sales this past weekend. The other was for the Point of No Return for $1,000 for […]
Abortion fight continues on Missouri Medicaid provider taxes
An attempt to renew a law essential to financing Missouri’s Medicaid program drew fire late Monday from a state Senator who wants to bar Planned Parenthood from participating in the program and an anti-abortion group seeking to block access to contraceptives. A renewal of the taxes that provide more than $2 billion annually for Medicaid was added […]
Former Missouri corrections officer sentenced to 12 years in prison without parole for transporting child pornography
A Missouri man was sentenced in federal court for transporting child pornography over the internet. Kevin Michael Downey, 35, of Fulton was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 12 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Downey to pay a total of $30,000 in restitution to 10 of his victims. […]
Charges filed against two Trenton residents include burglary and felony assault
Charges were filed on Sunday following arrests made by Trenton Police in connection with two separate incidents Saturday. Thirty-seven-year-old Kyle Graves of Trenton has been charged with a felony of second-degree burglary and with a misdemeanor of violation of an adults’ protection order. Warrant information accuses Graves of entering, an unlawfully remaining, at 215 East […]
Missouri State Highway Patrol reports the arrest of three over the weekend
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports a Kirksville resident, 20-year old Ethan Potter, was arrested Saturday evening in Adair County. Potter was accused of possessing the controlled substance codeine, not having a driver’s license: second offense, and failure to register a motor vehicle. The patrol also reported an Adair County warrant was active for Potter, […]
Newtown-Harris Board of Education to meet on Monday
The Newtown-Harris R-3 Board of Education will consider approval of the salary schedule next week. The board will meet in the high school Family and Consumer Sciences room on May 10, 2021, at 7 o’clock in the evening. The agenda also includes extracurricular trips, new board member training, summer personnel, and programming dates, and facility, […]
Audio: North Central Missouri College in Trenton holds graduation
Students graduated from North Central Missouri College on Saturday, May 8th with a variety of associate degrees and certificates. Student Senate President Jacquelyn Perez welcomed guests and congratulated the graduates for beating the odds. Missouri Department of Agriculture Director Chris Chinn also addressed the graduates. She acknowledged that each one had a long […]
Pattonsburg man facing multiple sex-related charges granted change of venue
A change of venue was sustained in Division One of Daviess County Circuit Court on May 6th for a Pattonsburg man facing multiple sex-related charges involving minors. Seventy-three-year-old Steven Dale Lawrence’s case was transferred to Caldwell County. Lawrence faces first-degree felony charges of sodomy or attempted sodomy, second-degree, third-degree, and two counts of fourth-degree child […]
GRM Networks begins fiber-to-the-premise construction in rural exchanges of Princeton, Bethany and Spickard
During the month of April, GRM Networks kicked off fiber-to-the-premise construction in three rural exchanges. Contractors working on behalf of GRM Networks began fiber construction in the rural exchanges of Bethany and Princeton, while GRM Networks’ own construction department began work in the rural Spickard exchange. “Our employees and board of directors have worked hard […]
Brookfield man sentenced to 15-year prison term in Linn County court
A Brookfield man accused of leading law enforcement on a pursuit starting in Linn County and ending at Marshall in February 2020 was sentenced in Linn County on May 5, 2021. Matthew Guilford was sentenced to 15 years with the Missouri Division of Adult Institutions on a case involving felony charges of trafficking drugs—second degree […]
Brookfield man charged with 33 counts of child porn bound to Division One of Linn County Circuit Court
A case has been bound over to Division One of the Linn County Circuit Court for a Brookfield man charged with 33 counts of felony possession of child pornography—first offense. Forty-four-year-old James Dean Jackson waived a preliminary hearing on May 6th. He is to appear for an arraignment in Division One on June 8th. Jackson […]
Missouri meat and poultry processors awarded nearly $17 million toward food supply expansions
The Missouri Department of Agriculture has awarded $16,716,406 million in CARES Act funding to nearly 150 small and medium-sized businesses. As a direct result of the reimbursement grant, more than 40 businesses were assisted in initiating or expanding their level of meat processing through a new grant of inspection or custom exempt inspection status. “As a […]