(Missouri Independent) – The coronavirus Delta variant wave that hit Missouri in May and peaked in early August continued to abate in September, but the decline has been slow. There were 1,221 more COVID-19 cases reported statewide by the Department of Health and Senior Services in the 30-day month than the 60,847 cases reported in the 31 days of July, making […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a motion to renew and enforce the preliminary injunction in his lawsuit against St. Louis County following County Executive Page’s attempt to illegally impose a second mask mandate. The motion was filed in the existing case against St. Louis County and asks the court to apply the existing preliminary […]
(Missouri Independent) – Making people who want to force a statewide vote on newly passed laws wait while the Secretary of State writes a ballot title undermines the constitutional right of referendum, attorneys for an abortion-rights group argued Wednesday to the Missouri Supreme Court. A ballot title was “not necessary for most of Missouri history,” […]
The Columbia College Board of Trustees unanimously named Dr. David Russell the college’s 18th president on Friday afternoon. Russell has served as interim president since January 2021, and the promotion to president is effective October 1, 2021. Russell’s appointment will add three years to his current contract, which will now run through 2025. “This […]
(Missouri Independent) – Shawndra Taylor had just 12 hours notice when the first truck canceled. The truck contained food to help prepare the 3,000 meals served each day in her school district in Eldon — including items she needed to make dinner for students. Her supplier, Kohl Wholesale in Quincy, Illinois, was too short-staffed. Taylor, […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a comment letter opposing the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to use “interim values” of the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases to regulate light-duty vehicles through emission standards. “The Biden Administration’s attempts to impose massive federal regulations on Missouri’s farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers could have vast negative impacts. Now, the […]
(Missouri Independent) – School districts are not subject to the law Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt is using to challenge masks mandates in classrooms, attorneys for Columbia Public Schools wrote in a court filing seeking dismissal of a lawsuit initiated last month. The district also challenges Schmitt’s standing to file the lawsuit, argues that he is […]
The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri has asked a state court to let it intervene in state Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s class-action lawsuit seeking to prevent school districts from requiring masks. A press release from the ACLU says under federal law, public schools cannot exclude students with disabilities, denying them equal access […]
During Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee hearing, Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) grilled Steve Satterfield, Facebook’s Vice President of Privacy & Public Policy, about the safety of platforms like Instagram and Facebook for teenage users. Satterfield repeatedly declined to provide clarity on internal research from Facebook showing the negative effects their services have on users. When Senator […]
(Missouri Independent) – A new lawsuit will test whether public agencies can hide how much they are paying attorneys and determine how far they must go in searching for records sought under the Missouri Sunshine Law. The lawsuit, filed Sept. 10 in Jefferson City by lobbyist John Gaskin of Flotron McIntosh, accuses the Missouri State Employees […]
(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 Grundy County Commission on September 21, 2021, received an update on funding of the streambank stabilization project near the Thompson River Bridge on Highway 6. Jackie Soptic with the Grundy County Industrial Development Corporation reported she discovered the Missouri Department of Transportation approved funding of $120,980 and sent a letter to the commission in December […]
(Missouri Independent) – On the final day of the 2021 legislative session in May, Missouri lawmakers passed a “law enforcement bill of rights” that gives officers special legal protections and closes files to police misconduct. When Gov. Mike Parson signed it into law in July, the bill of rights portion was largely overshadowed in press […]
(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. House transportation panel early Wednesday passed along party lines the panel’s $60 billion slice of Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget plan, adding nearly $20 billion for a new transit program and high-speed rail development in the states. Chairman Peter A. DeFazio of Oregon had considered these and other items underfunded in […]
State Auditor Nicole Galloway announced today the results of a citizen-initiated audit of the Marshall Public Schools in Saline County. Galloway announced in February that a petition of qualified voters within the Marshall School District boundary triggered an audit by her office. The report, which gives a rating of “fair,” makes several recommendations to improve accounting controls and […]
(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 […]
The North Mercer R-3 Board of Education September 8th determined the district will pay employees for all COVID-19 quarantine days that are linked to contact tracing through the school. Superintendent Dan Owens reports the district will also pay for 10 days of quarantine for all other reasons. An amendment was approved to the supplemental salary […]
(Missouri Independent) – Ameren Missouri should not increase its electrical rates for its customers as they struggle to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and economic fallout, a coalition of environmental, veterans, and tenants advocates said Wednesday. The St. Louis-based utility filed with regulators in March seeking a rate increase worth nearly $300 million per year to pay […]
(Missouri Independent) – If an LGBTQ history exhibit was removed from the Missouri Capitol because it didn’t get pre-approval from a specific board, then every exhibit on display that didn’t get approved must also be removed, House Minority Leader Crystal Quade argued in a letter to state officials on Wednesday. That would mean, she said, that […]
School districts in Iowa and Missouri are reporting bus driver shortages as the academic year gets underway. Transportation officials said more earning potential and a broader appreciation of the job could help address the lingering issue. In a new national survey from a trio of industry groups, 51% of coordinators described the driver shortage as “severe” or […]
