The Livingston County Library recently received an LSTA Technology Mini-grant grant for the library’s Technology Reboot Project that included the purchase of 10 new hotspots that will be available to the public beginning April 1, 2022. Mobile wi-fi hotspots are portable and allow up to 12 devices to connect to the internet at the same […]
(Missouri Independent) – When Missouri’s health department refused to turn over certain documents to ProPublica reporter Pamela Colloff in October 2020, she did what the attorney general’s office directs anyone to do if they believe a government agency is illegally withholding public records. She filed a Sunshine Law complaint with Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, […]
The Missouri Supreme Court has sided with the state’s public defenders in the so-called Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights challenge case. Missouri State Public Defender Mary Fox and other public defenders challenged the part of the law that required the defense in a sex crimes case to inform the alleged victim of their rights […]
(Missouri Independent) – Seventeen Republican members of Congress have sued the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, seeking an end to the federal rule requiring passengers on commercial flights and in airports to wear masks. The mandate illegally restricts the lawmakers’ freedom and is not backed by legal authority, they said in the suit filed Monday. […]
(Missouri Independent) – Senate Democrats and immigration advocates are pushing the White House to end a controversial Trump-era immigration policy enacted during the pandemic that allowed U.S. officials to expel migrants and asylum seekers at the border. “I continue to be disappointed, deeply disappointed, in the administration’s response,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York […]
(Missouri Independent) – Most of the enormous surplus accumulating in Missouri’s general revenue fund will be off-limits to members of the House Budget Committee when it prepares the fiscal year 2023 spending plan for floor debate. Gov. Mike Parson’s $47.3 billion budget proposal projects a $1.6 billion general revenue surplus at the end of June 2023. […]
(Missouri Independent) – The Missouri Ethics Commission has dismissed a complaint against former Gov. Eric Greitens accusing him of illegally using leftover money from his gubernatorial campaign committee to subsidize his quest for U.S. Senate. The complaint, filed in October by Campaign Legal Center, alleged Greitens used money from his state account to pay his eventual […]
(Missouri Independent) – Nebraska’s Deb Fischer and fellow U.S. Senate Republicans slammed President Joe Biden on Thursday for the sharp rise in consumer prices, calling for policy shifts to increase U.S. energy supply, roll back regulations and curb spending. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday the consumer price index rose nearly 8% in February over the […]
(Missouri Independent) – Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit Thursday against Missouri’s Department of Social Services, alleging the agency unlawfully plans to restrict Medicaid payments to the provider. A March 4 notice sent to Planned Parenthood of St. Louis Region cites a supplemental budget bill lawmakers passed last month that bars abortion providers or their affiliates from being […]
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-MO), Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Ranking Member David Rouzer (R-NC), and Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (R-WA) are leading 201 House Republicans in renewing calls for the Biden administration to drop its plan to expand the scope of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS). House […]
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s Securities Division has announced that Missouri is the first state to adopt rules requiring investment advisor representatives to ask their customers if they have a trusted contact. A trusted contact, as defined by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), is the person you authorize your financial advisor or firm to […]
Several state corn and soybean groups are suing the EPA over its revised greenhouse gas emissions standards that would focus clean energy efforts on electric vehicles. The groups’ petitions to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia argue the rule change would be detrimental to the biofuel sector by only allowing electric […]
(Missouri Independent) – It was just after 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 10, when the forms arrived from the state treasurer’s office. Without warning, and with little explanation, school superintendents discovered they were now required to certify their district had complied with Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s demands to drop all COVID-19 mitigation measures, such as […]
(Missouri Independent) – Gov. Mike Parson on Thursday once again refused to accept the conclusions of an investigation by the highway patrol and Cole County prosecutor surrounding a reporter who uncovered a security flaw in a state website. Speaking to a gathering of reporters and editors in the governor’s mansion for Missouri Press Association Day, […]
(Missouri Independent) – The Biden administration is asking Congress to provide $10 billion in assistance to Ukraine and $22.5 billion in COVID-19 funding on a fast timeline — within the next week. White House acting budget director Shalanda Young wrote in a letter to lawmakers that this likely won’t be the last emergency funding request for either […]
(Missouri Independent) – With a change of just a few words, a bill to expand the sales tax exemption for food purchases became a bill virtually ending the exemption, infuriating its sponsor and forcing a Missouri House committee to give it another look. On Monday, the House Rules – Administrative Oversight Committee voted to send state Rep. […]
At Monday night’s meeting of the Trenton City Council, Utility Director Ron Urton presented information that he says will have a significant future impact on Trenton Municipal Utilities, particularly with operations, projects, and funding. Urton said he’s been viewing webinars on the new EPA lead and copper rule regarding underground mains. Urton indicated an inventory […]
(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address is set to focus significantly on the economy, with the former member of the U.S. Senate calling on Congress to pass much of the agenda stalled in the so-called Build Back Better bill. During the Tuesday night speech, which begins at 9 p.m. […]
Farmers who plant cover crops will be eligible for crop insurance premium subsidies worth $5 an acre for the second year in a row. To qualify for the payments from USDA, farmers must report their cover crop acreage to the Farm Service Agency by March 15. Last year, USDA made payments totaling $59.5 million for 12.2 million acres of cover […]
(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, […]
