A Missouri legislator is scheduled to go on trial soon in two alleged fraud schemes. Nixa State Representative Tricia Derges is scheduled to go on trial beginning August 16 for 23 felony counts. Last March, a federal grand jury indictment alleges Derges fraudulently received about $300,000 in federal coronavirus aid for nonprofit medical […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture extended through September 30 the eviction moratorium for homeowners of properties financed or guaranteed by USDA. “The United States is still reeling from a nationwide housing affordability crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. USDA is taking this important action today to allow individuals and families who face eviction from […]
Sullivan County Health Department Thursday night confirmed six more cases of COVID-19, raising their overall total to 968. The health department noted 42 cases are active. Sullivan County reports 30.6% of the residents have completed vaccinations. The Missouri Department of Health and Human Services website shows more than three thousand COVID-19 cases have been added […]
A federal grand jury in Nashville, Tennessee, has returned a 60-count indictment charging nine members of La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) with a racketeering conspiracy spanning more than seven years. Those charged in the second superseding indictment are Carlos Ochoa-Martinez, 31, aka “El Serio;” Jason Sandoval, 35, aka “Bin Laden;” Jorge Flores, 29, aka “Peluche;” Kevin […]
The Missouri Department of Agriculture, working in conjunction with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and Missouri State University, has confirmed the first finding of an Asian longhorned tick (Haemaphysalis longicornis) in Missouri. Missouri becomes the 16th state with a presence of the tick species, following the first confirmed report of the Asian […]
(Missouri Independent) – Rolling outages that left thousands without power in February were driven overwhelmingly by fuel shortages — especially in natural gas, executives with the Southwest Power Pool said Monday. This winter sustained frigid temperatures across the Midwest and South forced huge demand for energy while the weather made generators struggle to keep up. The Southwest Power […]
Health-care advocates called on Missouri lawmakers to allocate funds for Medicaid expansion right away after the state Supreme Court ruled they must extend coverage to the 275,000 people who fall into what’s known as the Medicaid gap. That means they have incomes above their state’s eligibility for Medicaid but cannot afford marketplace or employer-based insurance. […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt today announced that his office has received a term sheet from Johnson and Johnson and multiple distributors (McKesson, Amerisource Bergen, and Cardinal Health), setting the stage for the largest victim-centric settlements the State of Missouri has ever seen and tentatively securing roughly just over half a billion dollars of funding […]
Worth County authorities investigated a burglary at a funeral home in Grant City, resulting in the arrest of a teen who’s now been charged with two felonies as well as the referral of a minor to juvenile authorities. Eighteen-year-old Cassandra Marie Boner of Grant City is charged with second-degree burglary and first-degree property damage for […]
U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Martin Heinrich (N.M.) introduced the bipartisan Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA) of 2021 to invest in proactive, on-the-ground conservation work led by states, territories, and Tribal nations to support the long-term health of fish and wildlife habitat all across America. “Missouri is home to some of the best hunting, […]
Leadership Northwest Missouri recently held their 2021 graduation ceremony in Cameron at the Cameron Community Center. The celebration began with a welcome by Master of Ceremonies, Julie Robertson, Chair of the Graduation Planning Committee and 2020 LNWMO alum. Tim Wymes, 2020 LNWMO alum, blessed the group with an invocation prior to dinner. Katelyn Addison and […]
The Putnam County Health Department reports seven new COVID-19 cases since July 15th, making the total 535. Five of the new positive cases are linked through close contacts. Eight cases are active. There are 14 COVID-19-related hospitalizations and 13 deaths. The Putnam County Health Department requests close contacts self-quarantine for at least seven days. On […]
A team member reports that Trenton’s Mid-America music festival drew more than three thousand people from over 23 different states over the weekend. A Facebook post reports the festival team of Duane Urich, Jennifer Hottes, and Andrea McKown extend their appreciation to everyone who participated in the music and camping festival held Friday and Saturday […]
A newly-released map identifies portions of the U.S.-Mexico border wall built by the Trump administration, and for conservation groups and wildlife advocates, it is alarming. The Biden administration halted construction and said it will use federal funds to assess the damage caused by the new, higher walls. Myles Traphagen, borderlands program coordinator for the Wildlands Network who created […]
(Missouri Independent) – When the attorney general’s office asked a judge in 2019 to lift a temporary restraining order blocking a Missouri law pre-empting county regulations on concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, that were stricter than the state’s, the argument was straightforward. No one was trying to build a large animal feeding operation in Cedar […]
A Kirksville man drowned Wednesday afternoon at the Thousand Hills State Park in Adair County. Thirty-two-year-old Nathan Stafford was swimming in the deeper end of a swim beach area of Forest Lake when he went underwater and did not resurface. The body was recovered, and Stafford was pronounced dead by the Adair County Coroner just […]
A Missouri man was sentenced in federal court on child pornography charges after he solicited young victims to engage in sex acts while live streaming over the internet. Robert P. Salapuddin, 39, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 12 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered […]
A Kansas man was sentenced in federal court for engaging in two separate fraud schemes related to millions of dollars in false payday loan debt and for tax evasion totaling more than $8 million. “After raking in millions of dollars from the victims of his fraud scheme, the defendant lied repeatedly and used every trick […]
The U.S. Department of Economic Development estimates that more than 400,000 Missourians do not have reliable internet access. The American Rescue Plan passed by Congress earlier this year includes giving 16.9-million dollars to Buchanan County in northwest Missouri. Presiding Commissioner Lee Sawyer says at the forefront of his and his commissioner’s minds are using the […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri Gov. Mike Parson vetoed legislation Friday that would have lifted a prohibition on licensed medical marijuana companies deducting business expenses on their taxes. In his letter vetoing the measure, Parson didn’t mention the medical marijuana provisions. He said his decision to reject the bill came down to a section lawmakers included that […]
