(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. House voted Tuesday to remove from the Capitol a bust of the late Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, who in 1857 wrote the Dred Scott decision (Dred Scott pictured above article) that stripped all Black Americans, free or slave, of their citizenship. The legislation passed on a vote of 285-120 with only 67 […]
Tag: request
Audio: October execution date set for convicted triple killer Ernest Lee Johnson
A convicted triple killer from Columbia is set to be executed in October at the state’s maximum-security prison in Bonne Terre. The Missouri Supreme Court has scheduled an October 5 execution date for 60-year-old Ernest Lee Johnson. The Supreme Court scheduled the execution date on Tuesday. He’ll be executed by lethal injection at the southeast […]
Missouri Supreme Court: State can’t charge attorney fees for Sunshine Law requests
(Missouri Independent) – In a win for transparency advocates, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that government agencies cannot charge for time attorneys spend reviewing public records that are requested under the state’s Sunshine Law. In a 6-0 decision, the judges ruled that a lower court erred by siding with Gov. Mike Parson in a lawsuit […]
Gallatin Board of Aldermen approve 2020 financial statements audit, presented a multitude of reports
The Gallatin Board of Aldermen approved the 2020 financial statements audit on June 28th. CPA John Gillum presented an audit report. The Friends of Gallatin fundraising event to be held on June 26th was rescheduled for July 17th due to forecasted rain. The board of aldermen agreed to grant the picnic liquor license request to […]
Relief payments to black farmers on hold amid lawsuits backed by former Trump aides
(Missouri Independent) – Former Trump administration officials and conservative and libertarian nonprofits have launched lawsuits to block federal relief funds aimed at Black and minority farmers—a development that House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott of Georgia calls “an evil system at work here.” Suits have been filed in Florida, Wisconsin, and Texas that says it’s […]
Trenton City Council addresses complaints on residential trash pickup, approve bid for water plant
After discussing trash service complaints received by councilmen and the staff of Trenton City Hall, the Trenton City Council on Monday night requested the owner of Rapid Removal Disposal to attend an upcoming meeting of the council. Administrator Ron Urton, who brought up the topic, said the city does the residential billing for Rapid Removal […]
Trial date set on stealing charge for Braymer man charged with murder of Diemel brothers
A jury trial has been scheduled on a felony stealing charge for the Braymer man charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of two Wisconsin men. Online court information shows 27-year-old Garland Joseph Nelson’s motion for a speedy trial was granted on the charge of stealing a motor vehicle. A three-day jury […]
‘A highway away’: Delta variant, low vaccine rates cause COVID spike across Missouri
(Missouri Independent) – Kendra Findley had thought the Springfield area had seen the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic in December — a month when cases regularly surpassed 200 a day and that saw a record 98 residents die of the virus. Looking back, that was when the Alpha variant, first identified in the U.K., was […]
USDA, FCC, and NTIA announce interagency agreement to coordinate broadband funding deployment
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced an interagency agreement to share information about and coordinate the distribution of broadband deployment federal funds. In accordance with the Broadband Interagency Coordination Act, the respective Cabinet and agency leaders announced that their agencies will […]
Appointments to various boards to be made at Monday meeting of Trenton City Council
Appointments will be made to boards at the Trenton City Council meeting on Monday, June 28, 2021. The meeting will be held at Trenton City Hall at 7 pm. Appointments to be made include three each to the Park Board and Tree Board; two each to the Airport Advisory Board, Tax Increment Financing Commission, Historic […]
Rains Heating and Cooling in Princeton files suit against Grundy County Nursing home District
A petition for damages has been filed against the Grundy County Nursing Home District relating to bidding for a partial HVAC system replacement in the 1972 section of Sunnyview Nursing Home and Apartments of Trenton. Rains Heating and Cooling in Princeton filed the petition, which involves five counts, including breach of contract, unjust enrichment, money […]
Hawley demands answers from Fauci and Collins on purged NIH COVID data
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Francis Collins and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci demanding answers over recent reporting that Covid gene sequences were purged from an NIH database at the direction of Chinese researchers. Senator Hawley said, […]
Some of Missouri’s largest CAFOs are seeking less stringent state regulation
Eleven of Missouri’s largest concentrated animal feeding operations are working to reduce the state’s oversight of their hog facilities despite a record of manure spills and clean water violations. Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork producer, has 11 CAFOs seeking new state permits. The facilities, dotted across northern Missouri, combined are capable of raising more […]
Macon man charged with 118 counts of child sex crimes pleads “Not Guilty”
A Macon man pleaded not guilty in Linn County on June 23 to 118 felony counts, including multiple counts of child molestation, statutory sodomy, and statutory rape. The court denied a bond request for 54-year-old Kenneth Harper. A bond hearing is scheduled for July 1st. The alleged incidents happened from 1996 to 2010. The court […]
City Administrator addresses Trenton Utility Committee at meeting on Tuesday
Trenton City Administrator/Utility Director Ron Urton discussed several topics at the Trenton Utility Committee meeting on June 22, 2021. Urton said the city is proceeding with getting prices for control panels and pumps for three lift stations, getting a price for a replacement pump for the headworks grit removal system to have a spare since […]
Missouri Department of Conservation on Missouri’s wild turkey population
Interested in learning more about Missouri’s wild turkey population? Curious how fall harvest is affecting turkeys? The Missouri Department of Conservation’s Wild Turkey Biologist Reina Tyl is myth-busting and shedding light on wild turkey population trends for hunters, landowners, and managers. WHY AM I SEEING FEWER TURKEYS ON THE LANDSCAPE? “The number of turkeys we […]
Missouri prison healthcare contract won by a company accused of bid-rigging in Tennessee
(Missouri Independent) – The long-time contractor for medical services in Missouri’s prisons is protesting the state’s decision to award the business to a company that will charge more than lawmakers appropriated and is accused of bid-rigging to obtain a contract in Tennessee prisons. Centurion Health, a Virginia subsidiary of St. Louis-based managed care company Centene, beat […]
Missouri State Auditor begins citizen-requested audit of community of Town and Country
Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway today announced her office has begun an audit of the city of Town and Country, located in St. Louis County. Residents of Town and Country requested the audit through the petition process. “My office will conduct an independent review of the financial practices of Town and Country government to ensure […]
Grundy R-5 Board of Education approve new telephone system proposal
The Grundy County R-5 Board of Education approved a proposal for a new telephone system for the district on June 16th. The proposal was from the Grand River Mutual Corporation. The cost will be $23,533 for both the Galt and Humphreys buildings. The board approved a request from the Newtown-Harris R-3 School District for Algebra […]
After winter cold snap drove up natural gas prices, utilities grapple with who should pay
(Missouri Independent) – Penalties that Spire Missouri issued to suppliers who failed to provide natural gas during a February cold snap that forced power outages across the Midwest could drive bills for hospitals, schools, and businesses to astronomical levels, according to a trio of complaints pending before state regulators. During the worst of the cold snap in February, […]