Missouri non-farm payroll employment increased again in December 2020, but a large increase in the civilian labor force sent unemployment higher. Employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 10,400 jobs over the month, and over-the-year job losses from COVID-19 shutdowns fell below 100,000. However, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased by 1.3 percentage points from November […]
The Chillicothe Fire Department on Sunday night responded to a house fire on Jackson Street and with the help of Chillicothe police, assisted in getting one occupant outside. While in route, Lieutenant and Paramedic Jonathan Nolan reported a dispatcher reported the fire was in the basement where the occupant was located. The initial review of […]
A federal court entered a permanent injunction barring a Georgia company from selling unapproved vitamin D products touted as treatments for COVID-19. In a civil complaint and accompanying court papers filed Nov. 23, 2020, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, the United States alleges that Matthew Ryncarz and his Alpharetta, Georgia, […]
Chillicothe Police School Resource Officer Eric Menconi reports an abandoned vehicle was parked in the school bus drop off/pick up line of Dewey School in Chillicothe the morning of January 5th. Menconi says it caused a hazard by blocking the buses from safely unloading students at their designated stop. There was also traffic congestion at […]
Missouri U.S. Senator Josh Hawley says “Antifa scumbags terrorized his family” last night at his Virginia home while he was away in Missouri. Alisa Nelson reports. On Twitter, Senator Hawley says the group screamed threats, vandalized, and tried to pound open the door to his home with his wife and baby inside. The […]
The North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees heard various reports the evening of December 22nd. Multiple reports involved information on the COVID-19 pandemic. Dean of Instruction Mitch Holder filled in for Vice President of Academic Affairs Doctor Tristan Londre. Holder reported students were appreciative of the on-campus experience during the fall semester. He is […]
The chair of the Missouri Senate Education Committee wants to shut down some of the state’s underperforming K-12 public schools. Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin, R-Shelbina, has pre-filed a bill that would require the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to publish online each year a list of Missouri schools that perform within the bottom 5% […]
JC Penney is closing another 15 stores nationwide next spring, including one in southern Missouri. The department store chain’s website shows the West Plains location is shutting down. The company closed its stores for two months when COVID-19 first came on the scene. It then chose to permanently shutter about 150 stores and file for […]
Transformer replacement and tree trimming were discussed at December 15th’s Trenton Utility Committee meeting. City Administrator/Utility Director Ron Urton reports the electric department crew is working with RS Electric Utility this week to replace the main transformer at the south substation. He says power will not have to be shut off during the replacement. Crews […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced an update to his office’s efforts to evict illicit massage businesses through the Hope Initiative. Since launching the initiative, 10 additional illicit massage businesses have either been evicted, are in the process of being evicted, or their eviction is likely. “Human trafficking is a global scourge that affects millions […]
A federal grand jury has returned a 147-count superseding indictment against 40 defendants across South Carolina in the largest federal racketeering conspiracy in South Carolina history. The indictment alleges a sprawling criminal enterprise whereby inmates with the South Carolina Department of Corrections, often through the use of contraband cell phones, orchestrated murder, kidnapping, firearms distribution, […]
Attorney General Eric Schmitt joined a bipartisan coalition of 48 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against Facebook Inc., alleging that the company illegally stifles competition to protect its monopoly power. The filing can be found here. The lawsuit alleges that, over the last decade, the social networking giant illegally acquired competitors in a predatory manner […]
