The Trenton Finance Committee on Tuesday evening, November 17, 2020, approved recommending to the city council raising the pay of police officers and dispatchers. City Administrator Ron Urton says raises are needed to help attract and retain officers. He reports the recommendation involves raising officers’ pay $3.00 per hour and dispatchers $1.00 per hour. It […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has invested an additional $25 million in the East Locust Creek Reservoir Project. “This investment in the East Locust Creek Reservoir Project is great news for families, farmers, and local businesses,” said Senator Roy Blunt. “These additional resources will get us one step closer to finishing the project and bringing […]
Missouri schools continue to struggle with having enough teachers available to educate kids in traditional classrooms this year. The Show-Me State has had a chronic problem with teacher shortages, but COVID-19 has made the can of worms open even more. Missouri has about 70,000 pre-K through 12 teachers instructing roughly 900,000 public school students. Many […]
The Missouri Board of Education discussed Tuesday the obstacles and additional workload that teachers and other school workers are dealing with this year. Member Don Claycomb said he expects a much greater number of teachers to leave the profession due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Apparently some feel pushed to the wall,” he said. Missouri already […]
North Central Missouri College and the University of Central Missouri recently worked together to develop a transfer agreement for Associate in Arts in Teaching and Associate in Arts-education emphasis students. This agreement would allow teacher education students at North Central Missouri College to seamlessly transfer into a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education at the […]
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) says more than 1,400 individuals have already enrolled in a training program to become a K-12 substitute teacher. DESE spokesperson Mallory McGowin tells Missourinet about 200 of the candidates have completed all other necessary requirements to be certified – an application and a background check. On September 3, […]
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) wants to create a new program designed to shape high school students into future teachers. It is requesting $200,000 dollars in its FY2022 state budget to launch the “Grow Your Own” program. During a state Board of Education meeting, DESE Chief Budget Officer Jennifer Jordan says […]
The Grundy County Commission approved Coronavirus relief funding requests from the Laredo R-7 School District and Sunnyview Nursing Home Tuesday, September 22nd. Laredo R-7 was approved for $2,614.46, and Sunnyview was approved for $15,083.82. Grundy County was notified of a registration qualification last week, and the county is required to submit a report detailing the […]
COVID-19 could put the Missouri Transportation Department and the traveling public in a major bind this winter. At a legislative committee hearing, MoDOT Director Patrick McKenna says his department has a shortfall of more than 400 plow truck drivers and heavy equipment operators. He says the shortage could grow this winter. McKenna says […]
Missouri’s teachers are navigating their way through a new school year during the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. At this week’s Missouri Board of Education meeting, K-12 Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven recognized teachers for the added stress they are dealing with. The state has also battled an ongoing shortage of teachers. In the previous school […]
COVID-19 has put a spotlight on the importance of many Missouri industries, including those sitting behind the wheel of big rigs. Dave Pfiffner, the director of the Des Moines Area Community College Transportation Institute, says truckers have been going the distance to try and get essential items to consumers. “There were shortages of a lot […]
The federal government plans to deliver more than 150 million rapid COVID-19 tests around the country. Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) spokesperson Mallory McGowin says long term care centers and higher education and K-12 schools will be at the top of the priority list. She expects the tests to come to Missouri […]
The North Mercer R-3 Board of Education the evening of Thursday, September 10th approved an increase in substitute teacher pay from $75 per day to $90 per day. The increase is primarily due to a substitute teacher shortage. A tuition waiver request was denied. North Mercer’s stance of no longer approving tuition waivers was reaffirmed. […]
The state of Missouri is working with Washington University in St. Louis to offer its new COVID-19 saliva test statewide soon. Officials reportedly hope to launch the tests later this month or in October. During a press conference in St. Louis, Missouri Economic Development Department Director Rob Dixon says the state is working alongside the […]
The Missouri Board of Education has voted 6-2 today in favor of temporarily giving substitute teacher candidates an alternative to get certified. The proposal was offered to help reduce an expected shortage of substitutes during the COVID-19 outbreak. Under the plan, candidates can go through 20 hours of state-approved online training or complete the traditional […]
While Missouri has a severe shortage of rural physicians, one southeast Missouri state lawmaker says his area also needs more doctors who live there. State Rep. Herman Morse, R-Dexter, says that when he moved to Stoddard County in the mid-1970s, there were 15 to 20 doctors who lived in the county. “Right now, there’s one […]
Missouri is in the market for more K-12 substitute teachers during the COVID-19 time. The level of need varies around the state depending on the district, grade, subject, and region. According to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), the number of candidates preparing to become full-time teachers has been declining steadily over […]
A Missouri Senate committee is reviewing a plan that aims to help reduce the state’s violent crime rate. Sen. Doug Libla, the Transportation, Infrastructure, and Public Safety Committee chairman is sponsoring the bill the Legislature is tasked with passing during the special session underway. In Kansas City, at least 107 people have been murdered so […]
The American Red Cross has an emergency shortage of convalescent plasma, a potentially life-saving treatment for patients with COVID-19. The Red Cross has seen demand for convalescent plasma more than double over the last month as the number of coronavirus cases increases across the U.S. Convalescent plasma products are now being distributed faster than donations […]
Missouri Farm Bureau public affairs director Eric Bohl says the COVID-19 crisis has hit livestock farmers hard. First, stay-at-home orders destroyed demand from restaurants and schools as well as a large portion of the meat and dairy market. As the pandemic grew, it began to impact employees at meat processing plants which caused several processors […]
