TSA or Transportation Security Administration or Airport

Audio: TSA seizes record number of guns in Missouri airports

Missouri has set another record, his time its firearms seized at airports.     Transportation Security Administration officers at Missouri airports say they’ve found 183 firearms in travelers’ carry-on luggage last year. St. Louis Lambert International Airport broke the statewide record with officers finding 102 guns found, that’s more than all Missouri airports combined in […]

A partially melted tire hangs on a tree near Paradise, Kansas. The surrounding land was scorched by a wildfire in December 2021

December 2021 was the warmest on record in Missouri and Kansas – by a long shot

(Missouri Independent) – Kansas and Missouri logged their warmest average December temperatures on record last month, according to data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Average temperatures over the last half of 2021 were higher than they’ve ever been in either state — and across the country. Meanwhile, despite a devastating cold snap that forced […]

Blake Hurst Ag Service Award 2021

Missouri Farm Bureau honors six individuals with Outstanding Service to Agriculture award

Six individuals were honored with the Missouri Farm Bureau Outstanding Service to Agriculture Award on December 6. The presentations were made by MOFB President Garrett Hawkins during the opening session of the organization’s annual meeting at the Lake of the Ozarks. The award is given annually to select individuals who have demonstrated their desire to […]

Fire Safety News Graphic

Thanksgiving begins a period of higher fire risk as friends and relatives gather to celebrate the holidays

More Missourians are expected to travel and gather together this year for larger Thanksgiving and holiday celebrations after a quieter holiday season in 2020 because of COVID-19. State Fire Marshal Tim Bean is advising folks to reduce the risk of fires as we enter the five-week period of elevated fire hazards. “Thanksgiving begins a five-week […]

Person at sink filling drinking water tumbler

Database shows Missouri residents what contaminants are in their drinking water

(Missouri Independent) – Missouri and Kansas residents may be drinking unsafe amounts of arsenic, nitrates, and other chemicals — even if their provider is meeting federal drinking water requirements, according to data published Wednesday by an environmental group. The Environmental Working Group released its most up-to-date tap water database, compiling testing information for water utilities across the […]

Immigration

Coalition of lawmakers rebuke biden plan to pay illegal immigrants with taxpayer dollars

U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Kennedy (R-La.), and the nine other Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans wrote to President Joe Biden to oppose his administration’s reported plan to offer illegal immigrants up to $450,000 per person in taxpayer dollars to settle lawsuits resulting from those individuals’ violating U.S. immigration law. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), […]

(Official portrait of President Joe Biden in the White House (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

Biden pitches new $1.75 trillion spending blueprint to Democrats that drops paid family leave

(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden is meeting with congressional Democrats on Capitol Hill Thursday morning to pitch lawmakers on a new slimmed-down framework for what would be included in a massive social reform package, according to senior administration officials. The $1.75 trillion blueprint that Biden is presenting to Democrats includes a universal pre-K program for 3-and-4 […]

American Rescue Plan Act Graphic with Missouri Seal

State of Missouri creates American Rescue Plan Act spending toolkits for local governments

 The State of Missouri has created and made available spending toolkits to help local governments identify allowable uses for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) local funds.  “We want to assist our local partners in making strategic, responsible investments that will serve Missourians for generations to come,” Governor Mike Parson said. “Our first priority is to ensure taxpayer […]

Student Loan Application (Photo by Nick Youngson via Creative Commons)

Democrats’ vision for free community college would boost undocumented students

(Missouri Independent) – The massive economic policy package Democrats are trying to muscle through Congress could open the door to free community college for undocumented immigrants. But that lifeline for many people now denied access to higher education could also reignite controversies in Republican-leaning states over immigration and federal overreach. The provision on immigrants was […]

(left to right) Abigail Newland, Shonna Morrison, Rebecca Arway, and Cory Eslinger

Caldwell County Cares Coalition receives $100,000 grant to address alcohol and substance abuse issues

The Caldwell County Cares Coalition has received funding to address alcohol and substance use issues. The group received a Mega Grant Award for $100,000 from Preferred Family Healthcare Prevention. The 3C Power in Prevention project will be a joint effort of sectors of Caldwell, Daviess, and DeKalb counties. It will implement a three-fold initiative that […]

The Board of Public Buildings, chaired by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, met on Sept. 13, 2021 (Photo courtesy Jason Hancock/Missouri Independent)

LGBTQ history exhibit goes unmentioned by Missouri Board of Public Buildings, governor cited for its removal

(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 […]

Car or Vehicle Break-In (Burglary)(Theft) Graphic

Vehicle break-ins prompt reminder from Bethany Police Department

The Bethany Police Department is requesting the public’s assistance as it conducts investigations regarding motor vehicle break-ins from the weekend. The Bethany Police Department, via Facebook, says the department received a large number of calls regarding vehicles being broken into. Vehicle owners are reminded to lock their vehicles when unable to secure the vehicle inside […]