After about three hours of testimony Thursday, the Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee approved two bills to extend medical provider taxes vital to funding the state’s share of Medicaid. The first bill brought up for a vote would extend the taxes for five years, limit the types of contraceptives available to women on Medicaid and block Planned Parenthood from […]
Tag: rig
Audio: COVID Delta variant surging in two parts of the state
In the last three weeks – there has been a major increase in the Delta variant of COVID-19 in Missouri…especially in the Northwest and Southwest part of the state. Kendra Findley, Administrator of Community Health and Epidemiology in Greene County, says this highly contagious strain is now the most dominant in that area. […]
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, […]
Senator Hawley introduces legislative agenda to hire 100,000 new police officers
Ahead of President Biden’s Wednesday address on the spiking crime throughout America, Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) rolled out his own legislative agenda to hire 100,000 new police officers, boost police morale, and keep American families safe. As violent crime continues to plague the country, communities and law enforcement officers are under siege. Homicides are dramatically increasing across American cities, and violent […]
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 […]
Judge strikes down Missouri Medicaid expansion as unconstitutional
The push to expand Medicaid eligibility in Missouri was dealt another blow on Wednesday, as a Cole County judge ruled the voter-approved initiative was unconstitutional because it didn’t include a way to pay for 275,000 new enrollees. Plaintiffs, which include three people who would have been eligible for Medicaid on July 1 if the expansion […]
Blunt congratulates 16 Missourians accepted to service academies
U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) congratulated Missourians who accepted appointments to attend U.S. military service academies, including the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Military Academy (West Point), the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and the U.S. Naval Academy. The following 16 individuals were nominated by Blunt: Aubrey Nicole Boatwright of Aurora Jackson Wesley Brawner of […]
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 […]
Audio: Third District State Representative Danny Busick wants to keep gas stations doing business in rural areas
Third District State Representative Danny Busick wants to keep gas stations doing business in rural areas and says that if a gas station owner wants to pass on the business to someone else, there are many regulations. Busick explains he wants to develop a way to allow small stations to operate, maybe under […]
North Central Missouri Amateur Radio Club to host “Field Day” in Trenton
The North Central Missouri Amateur Radio Club will host a “Field D”ay in Trenton on June 26th. Those interested in amateur radio are invited to the public portion of the event at Moberly Park at 1 o’clock. Grundy County Emergency Management Director Glen Briggs says Amateur Radio Field Day is a national contest and emergency […]
Macon man charged in Linn County with 118 counts of child molestation, sodomy and rape
A Macon man has been charged in Linn County with 118 felony counts related to child sex crimes. Fifty-four-year-old Kenneth Harper’s charges include multiple counts of child molestation, statutory sodomy, and statutory rape, stemming from 1996 to 2010. An arraignment is scheduled for June 23rd. The court ordered that the probable cause statement be kept […]
Plans underway for Bright Futures Gallatin Back to School Bazaar
Plans are underway for the annual Bright Futures Gallatin Back to School Bazaar. Businesses, organizations, and individuals are invited to help with the in-person event, which will be on August 5th at 5:30 in the evening. Help is needed with things planned at the event, including a hot dog supper, school supplies based on need, […]
Audio: St. Louis region fights “Second Amendment Preservation Act”
The St. Louis region is pushing back against a new state law that prohibits local police from working with federal investigators – in cases involving gun ownership rights. Bill sponsors named it the Second Amendment Preservation Act, which among other things opens local law enforcement to be sued if they join in a […]
Lawmakers pen letter to ATF in defense of Americans’ Second Amendment rights
U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) sent a letter to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF) and Explosives expressing concern over two of their newly-proposed gun rules that could threaten Americans’ Second Amendment rights. The rules, 2021R-05 and 2021R-08, would require the retention of firearms transaction records forever, paving the way to […]
Parson gives Missouri Legislature deadline of high noon Tuesday to reach deal on healthcare tax proposal
(Missouri Independent) – Gov. Mike Parson gave lawmakers a deadline of noon Tuesday to strike a deal to renew medical provider taxes vital to funding Medicaid or accept responsibility for more than $700 million in cuts from the state budget that takes effect July 1. If not, the governor says he will freeze funding in Missouri’s […]
Carroll County Memorial Hospital Honors Staff with a High Performers Social
To honor and recognize their employees, Carroll County Memorial Hospital typically holds departmental appreciation weeks throughout the year. Employees are categorized into five groups and are traditionally recognized during one of these five special weeks. However, COVID-19 has continued to create a challenge for traditional recognition activities. “The CCMH Rewards & Recognition Team worked hard […]
Wright Memorial Hospital’s Senior Life Solutions announces new Program Director
Wright Memorial Hospital is pleased to welcome Shelby Todd, RN, as the new program director for the hospital’s Senior Life Solutions program. Senior Life Solutions, an intensive outpatient group therapy program, is designed to meet the unique needs of seniors struggling with age-related depression, anxiety, difficult life transitions, a recent health diagnosis, or the loss […]
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 […]
Two injured in crash east of Princeton on Highway 136
Two people from Carthage, Illinois, were injured on Sunday at 5 pm, one of them seriously, in a single-vehicle accident about two miles east of Princeton. A westbound sports utility vehicle dropped off the north shoulder of Highway 136 overcorrected, causing the vehicle to cross the road and go off the south side, where it […]
Special session on tax crucial for Medicaid in doubt over Planned Parenthood amendment
(Missouri Independent) – Last Tuesday, Republicans appeared to have reached a fragile consensus around extending a tax crucial to Missouri’s Medicaid finances — opening the door for Gov. Mike Parson to call lawmakers into a special session this week. By Friday afternoon, June 18, that consensus appears to have been derailed, at least temporarily, by disagreements […]