Tornado Damage News Graphic (Photo by Nikolas Noonan on UnSplash)

National Weather Service releases information on strength of tornados that rolled through Iowa

The National Weather Service office in Des Moines has released information on the strength of tornadoes Saturday that impacted portions of Iowa. The most devastation and loss of life was in the Winterset area southwest of Des Moines. At about 4:30 pm an EF 4 tornado, with speeds up to 170 miles an hour, followed […]

Jobs Report or unemployment

January 2022 Missouri jobs report shows a drop in unemployment to 3.8%

Missouri non-farm payroll employment increased from December 2021 to January 2022, and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by one-tenth of a percentage point. Employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 9,100 jobs over the month, with job gains in both goods-producing and service-providing industries. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.8 percent in January 2022, […]

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

Video: Biden taps Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as first black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court

(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden formally announced the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday afternoon. “President Biden sought a candidate with exceptional credentials, unimpeachable character, and unwavering dedication to the rule of law,” the White House said in a statement. If confirmed by the Senate, Jackson, 51, […]

Nicole Galloway Missouri State Auditor

Missouri State Auditor releases review of state tax credit programs

Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway today released a review of state tax credit programs as required by state law. The review compiles tax credit redemptions over the past five years and future obligations. Created by the General Assembly, and codified in state statutes, tax credits are generally a dollar-for-dollar reduction in the amount of state taxes […]

Missouri State Highway Patrol Website New 2021 (MSHP)

Missouri State Highway Patrol reports the arrest of three individuals on Friday and Saturday

The Highway Patrol reports the arrest of three individuals in Green Hills counties. Twenty-nine-year-old Deanna Awadallah of Campbell, Illinois was arrested in Linn County the night of February 18th. She was accused of driving while intoxicated with drugs and exceeding the posted speed limit. She was taken to the Brookfield Police Department and released. Sixty-eight-year-old […]

Gallatin Missouri High School FInal

Gallatin Board of Education approves calendar for 2022-2023; board accepts superintendent’s resignation

The Gallatin R-5 Board of Education on February 16th voted to offer the superintendent position to the current Gallatin Middle School principal. Doctor Justin Collins was offered the position with a three-year contract, beginning July 1st. The board accepted the resignation of current Superintendent Doctor Bryan Copple in December. His resignation will become effective June […]

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt

Missouri Attorney General issues statement on Department of Justice lawsuit over Missouri’s Second Amendment Preservation Act

Following a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice over Missouri’s Second Amendment Preservation Act, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt released the following statement: “After their disastrous arguments in the Missouri Supreme Court last week, the Biden Department of Justice has now filed yet another partisan lawsuit that seeks to attack Missourians’ Second Amendment rights. […]

(Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler photo courtesy U.S. House of Representatives website)

Josh Hawley endorses Vicky Hartzler in GOP primary for Missouri U.S. Senate seat

(Missouri Independent) – U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler scored a major victory on Saturday in her quest for Missouri’s open Senate seat, winning the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley in the crowded GOP primary. Hawley made the announcement at the Missouri GOP’s annual Lincoln Days event in St. Charles. Hartzler is part of a six-way primary, […]

Livingston County Sheriff

Out of state driver causes problems in traffic and for authorities

Livingston County Sheriff Steve Cox has released information on an incident that occurred last week in which a Texas driver was argumentative, uncooperative, and belligerent during a traffic stop. The sheriff’s office responded to a report of a “dually” (dual) pickup truck pulling a flatbed trailer with heavy equipment on Highway 36 near Wheeling traveling […]

Medical Marijuana

Status of Trenton’s medical marijuana facility now unknown

In a unanimous decision on Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that a lower court was justified in ordering the state health department to disclose medical marijuana application info that it had argued was confidential.  The Department of Health and Senior Services refused to provide applications of businesses that were awarded licenses to grow and […]

Trenton R-9 School District

Trenton Board of Education hears presentation from Trenton Teachers Association on 4-day school week

Joel Hultman with the Trenton Teachers Association presented preliminary research regarding a four-day school week during the Trenton R-9 Board of Education meeting February 8th. The board took no action on the matter. Hultman reported a survey of teachers showed many wanted more information on a four-day school week. None of the questions specifically asked […]

Accident-Crash graphic

Sixteen year old girl injured when two vehicles sideswipe each other on Highway 139

Two vehicles reportedly sideswiped in a traffic accident on Monday afternoon in northwestern Chariton County, four miles north of Sumner. The highway patrol reports one driver, listed as a 16-year-old girl from Brookfield, received moderate injuries. The girl, who was wearing a seat belt, was taken by ambulance to Pershing Memorial Hospital. Her name was […]

Bankruptcy news graphic

Bankruptcy of failed Moberly factory project nears end after 10 years in court

(Missouri Independent) – Unsecured creditors will get less than a nickel on the dollar for debts left by a Moberly economic development project that went bust in 2011 as Missouri lawmakers worked on a plan to finance air freight shipments from China. A final report pending before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Dow describes how $2.1 million […]

Missouri State Highway Patrol Website New 2021 (MSHP)

Missouri State Highway Patrol reports one arrest on Friday

The Highway Patrol arrested a Van Meter, Iowa man in Linn County on Friday, February 4, 2022. He has been accused of multiple allegations. Thirty-two-year-old Kyle McGrath was accused of felony driving while intoxicated as a persistent offender, driving while suspended, not having insurance, and careless and imprudent driving involving a crash. He was taken […]

Shooting Graphic

Individual shot during argument on Polk Street in Chillicothe

Livingston County Sheriff Steve Cox reports his office is investigating a shooting in which an allegedly intoxicated man was shot. The sheriff’s department responded to a report of a shooting in the 500 block of East Polk Street outside the Chillicothe city limits on Tuesday evening, February 1. Cox says preliminary information suggests an argument […]

Broadband Internet Access

Blunt and colleagues raise concerns with new broadband rule

U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) released a letter he sent with U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (Kan.) and nine of their colleagues to raise concerns with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen regarding the recently-announced final rule for broadband infrastructure funding through the Coronavirus State and Local Recovery Funds, and to urge the secretary to ensure broadband funding focuses on […]