COVID-19 presented considerable challenges to Missouri schools, staff, and students in 2020, including closures, cancellations, remote learning, and more. The pandemic also presented challenges to schools and instructors teaching the Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) hunter education courses. “Many schools were closed for much of the year, which reduced the number of kids who could […]
Governor Mike Parson proclaimed February 20-27, 2021, as National FFA Week in Missouri on behalf of nearly 26,000 members of Missouri FFA. Missouri FFA President Justin Eddy of Columbia received the proclamation on behalf of the 2020-2021 Missouri FFA State Officer team. “Missouri agriculture has a bright future, and you can see that in action […]
(Missouri Independent) – The plan for distributing money directly to Missouri counties in the current version of the $1.9 trillion federal coronavirus relief bill is pretty simple – each gets $195.44 per person. But for cities, instead of a formula based on population, Congress divvies up the money using the method for determining Community Development Block Grant allocations. […]
(Missouri Independent) – Last spring, as Missouri businesses shed hundreds of thousands of jobs, Gov. Mike Parson warned that the state was headed for the worst financial crunch since the 2008 recession. Ten months later, Parson presented a budget plan that anticipates a $1.1 billion surplus on July 1, the biggest in state history. And if the $1.9 trillion pandemic […]
The director of Missouri agriculture says it’s been a tough few weeks, especially for livestock producers, in the frigid weather. Chris Chinn, who owns a hog operation with her husband, says it’s also impacting growers who have a lot of grain to get to market. “A lot of farmers had contracts that they […]
In 2019, Gov. Mike Parson closed a prison in northwest Missouri’s Cameron. Most staff and inmates transferred to the other prison in town – Western Missouri Correctional Center. Now, Parson wants to reopen the Crossroads Correctional Center and turn it into a training academy for correctional officers. During a House Budget Committee hearing, Trevor Foley […]
A central Missouri vegetable grower is the MOSES Organic Farmer of the Year. Liz Graznak and her partner founded Happy Hollow Farms in Moniteau County, Missouri almost a decade ago. “It’s pretty amazing. I can’t really wrap my mind around it because in the time that I’ve been growing and the farmers that I know who have received […]
Rural schools in Missouri can take advantage of STEM grants to make the essential skill of computer coding more fun to learn. $3.9 million grant is designed to help rural Missouri school districts teach fifth-grade students how to create video games WHICH REALLY TEACHES computer coding skills The money comes from the US […]
State Senator Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, wants to make it a Class E felony for any protester who interferes with or blocks a public road. Drivers would not be held liable for injuring the demonstrators who block traffic. A provision in the bill says the driver is still liable if they are found to be using […]
(Missouri Independent) – Khadijah Wilson had a bully during her junior year at Francis Howell North High School in St. Charles. She told her principal and teachers about the name-calling, and how the other girl constantly threatened to beat her up. But no one intervened. It went on for several months. “I reported it more […]
Missouri Board of Education President Charlie Shields wants the state to check into whether a bonus can be given to K-12 teachers to help keep them next school year. During today’s board meeting, Shields says he wants the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to do some “serious” exploring of what measures the […]
Former Missouri Republican Party Executive Director Jean Evans says she resigned a few weeks early. Her term expired this month. Evans tells Missourinet she made the decision after getting troubling messages from Trump supporters trying to keep him in the White House. “The calls were becoming increasingly angry and demanding and threatening – never to […]
The struggle is real for Missouri when it comes to a constant shortage of K-12 public school teachers. The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) wants to ramp up its teacher workforce by seizing the opportunity in a relevant setting. Dr. Paul Katnik, the assistant commissioner of the Office of Educator Quality, says […]
Missouri’s first elk-hunting season ended Sunday with all five of the hunters selected for permits harvesting bull elk during the firearms portion December 12-20. An archery portion ran October 17-25 with no harvests. The five Missouri hunters were selected for elk-hunting permits through a random drawing of more than 19,215 permit applications, including 33 for […]
The chair of the Missouri Senate Education Committee wants to shut down some of the state’s underperforming K-12 public schools. Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin, R-Shelbina, has pre-filed a bill that would require the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to publish online each year a list of Missouri schools that perform within the bottom 5% […]
Hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 have been on the rise in Missouri and other states, and experts say the consequences of being unprepared for an infectious-disease outbreak have never been more apparent. Gov. Mike Parson has cited concerns about staffing levels with the demand hospitals are seeing from the crisis. His comments coincide with calls […]
The Missouri Board of Education voted Tuesday to avoid using 2021 standardized test results for state and federal accountability. Members still want the state’s K-12 public school students to take statewide tests next year, but they do not want the results to count against schools for funding and accreditation purposes. The move might lower the […]
Missouri’s governor said Thursday in Jefferson City that he wants some answers, after reading a 53-page independent investigation into recent COVID deaths at Missouri veterans homes. Governor Mike Parson ordered the investigation, which was conducted by St. Louis-based Armstrong Teasdale. The governor emphasizes that he’s limited in what he can say because he doesn’t know […]
Sebrina Barrett credits Missouri 4-H for her career path in advocacy and organizational leadership. “It’s no surprise that I am running an association,” said Barrett, executive director of the Association for Community Living, an organization of not-for-profit agencies in New York State that provide housing and rehabilitation services to people with psychiatric disabilities. Barrett grew […]
Jeramy Shaw from St. Louis, MO, has been selected as North Central Missouri College’s Outstanding Student for November. Jeramy, a men’s basketball player, plans to graduate from NCMC with his Associate in Arts degree in the spring of 2021. He then plans to transfer to a four-year university to continue his basketball career and obtain […]
