(Missouri Independent) – Despite increasing legal access to medical and recreational cannabis in states across the U.S., veterans face unfair treatment and stigmatization because the U.S. refuses to recognize marijuana as a viable treatment option. While the VA has embraced the federally illegal status of the drug, agency policy does not allow discrimination against veterans […]
Tag: services
Missouri will become the last state to enforce federal mental health parity act
(Missouri Independent) – Under a new state law that went into effect late last month, Missouri will become the final state to enforce a federal law designed to ensure mental health care is covered by insurance providers the same as treatments for physical ailments. The provisions were included in House Bill 604, an omnibus insurance bill […]
Bosworth woman injured in Monday afternoon crash
A resident of Bosworth was taken to the hospital following an accident on Monday afternoon west of Missouri Street. Twenty-eight-year-old Eboni Ervin received minor injuries, and emergency medical services took her to Carroll County Memorial Hospital. The eastbound car went off the right side of Highway 24 in Carroll County. The driver over-corrected, causing the […]
November trial set for lawsuit challenging $1.4 billion Missouri prison health care contract
(Missouri Independent) – A trial will be held in early November to determine whether a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Centene will take over the contract for prison health care in the Missouri Department of Corrections. In a hearing Thursday, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green set Nov. 3 as the first day in the trial where current […]
Supreme Court bows out, White House wades into Texas abortion battle
President Joe Biden stepped into the abortion battle in Texas Thursday, tasking federal agencies to see what steps can be taken to, in his words, “ensure that women in Texas have access to safe and legal abortions.” The law, which took effect Wednesday, bans most abortions after six weeks before most women know they are […]
Audio: Missouri medical marijuana business offers delivery services
Missouri began selling medical marijuana last fall, and one Missouri business is now offering customers the option of getting those products delivered. Joey Pintozzi, with Besame Wellness, says its North Kansas City store is offering the service and the company hopes to expand delivery to some of its other stores. Besame has stores in Kansas […]
Salvation Army the topic of latest meeting at Trenton Rotary Club
The Salvation Army was the topic of a program presented to the Trenton Rotary Club at its meeting on Thursday, Sept. 2, at the BTC Bank. Lynda Snuffer, social service director and Pathway of Hope case manager with the Salvation Army, discussed changes within the organization. She noted the office at Chillicothe has been reorganized […]
House reconciliation package would provide path to citizenship for millions
(Missouri Independent) – A provision tucked in the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package would direct Congress to chart a path for citizenship for millions of undocumented people. If passed, the House provision would provide a pathway to citizenship for those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, often referred to as Dreamers, farmworker workers; those […]
SBA disaster assistance available to Missouri private nonprofit organizations
Low-interest federal disaster loans are now available to certain private nonprofit organizations in Missouri following President Biden’s federal disaster declaration for Public Assistance as a result of severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, and flooding that occurred June 24 – July 1, 2021, announced Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Private nonprofits […]
COVID cases among children rising as Missouri Delta variant wave enters fifth month
(Missouri Independent) – Clay LaRue, superintendent of the Van Buren R-1 School District, made a tough decision Sunday. With COVID-19 cases spiking in Carter County in southeast Missouri, and many of those infections among very young children, LaRue shut down the district’s pre-kindergarten program for two weeks. He had previously directed faculty, staff, and students […]
Attorney General obtains $245,000 judgement against Missouri contractor
Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced a judgment against a St. Louis County contractor, Jeffrey Anderson. The State alleged that Anderson violated the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act by taking upfront payments for basement renovation and remodeling services and failing to perform the work he agreed to do. The Attorney General’s Office filed a Petition against Anderson […]
Former Missouri contractor pleads guilty to seven felony counts of deceptive business practices
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that Christopher Meagher, proprietor of “Metro Restoration,” has pled guilty to seven counts of felony deceptive business practices in Clay, Jackson, and Platte Counties. Through Metro Restoration, Meagher transacted with numerous consumers in the Kansas City area to provide home repair and renovation services. Upon taking consumers’ upfront payments, […]
Shortage of bus drivers creating difficulties for Trenton R-9 School District
Trenton R-9 Director of Supportive Services Kris Ockenfels reports the school district and Apple Bus Company are experiencing difficulty providing drivers for all bus routes. The difficultly is due to multiple factors, the most prominent of which is an area-wide driver shortage for public school transportation. Ockenfels asks patrons to bear with the district and […]
Lawsuit filed over $1.4 billion contract for Missouri prison healthcare
(Missouri Independent) – The dispute over the $1.4 billion contract to provide prisoner health care in Missouri is moving into the courts. Corizon Health, which has held the Department of Corrections contract since 1992, filed a lawsuit Monday in Cole County alleging that unfair treatment and improper scoring gave the contract to Centurion Health, a Virginia subsidiary of […]
Changes to Missouri’s adult abuse and neglect hotline hours of operation
To better serve those needing to report concerns of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of elderly and disabled Missourians, the Department of Health and Senior Services’ Adult Abuse and Neglect Hotline will be revising its hours of operations to 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. effective September 1, 2021. In November of 2019, the Department of Health […]
Talking and trusting are key to easing back-to-school stress for teenagers
With new teachers, classmates, and expectations, back to school is full of uncertainties and anxieties. Stressful transitions increase the chances that a teen will turn to drugs or alcohol to cope. Geena Crosby, prevention coordinator for youth and young adult services with the Prevention Action Alliance, said there are many ways to support teens during […]
Audio: Another 180 Missourians are preliminary winners in COVID-19 vaccine incentive program
Another 180 Missourians are preliminary winners in the ‘MO VIP’ coronavirus vaccine incentive program. The Department of Health and Senior Services says more than 566,000 entries were included in the second drawing on Friday night. Eighty winners randomly selected from each of the Red and White categories will receive a $10,000 prize and […]
Audio: Red Cross deploys Missouri responders to help with Hurricane Ida relief efforts
The American Red Cross of Missouri and Arkansas is deploying teams to Louisiana to help respond to Hurricane Ida. Ten Red Cross responders from the Missouri and Arkansas region have been deployed to help with hurricane relief efforts, with more expected to leave this week. The group is helping with sheltering hurricane victims […]
Missouri ICUs filling as Delta variant wave moves into northeast, southeast regions
(Missouri Independent) – New cases from the Delta variant wave that has killed more than 1,150 Missourians since June 1 have plateaued, but hospital ICUs continue to fill — and small, rural hospitals are among the hardest hit. There were 690 patients in ICU beds across the state on Tuesday, the most recent day reported by the state Department of Health […]
Supreme Court rejection of eviction ban increases pressure to dole out rental aid money
(Missouri Independent) -The U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection of the Biden administration’s last-ditch effort to extend a federal ban on evictions has put hundreds of thousands of American renters at risk of losing their housing — and is increasing pressure on states and localities to get rental assistance dollars distributed faster. In an eight-page majority opinion […]