Sleeping Baby in dark room (Photo by Kevin Keith on Unsplash)

House grants initial approval to bill that would allow prison nurseries in Missouri

(Missouri Independent) -The House gave initial approval Wednesday to a bill that would allow newborns to remain with their incarcerated mothers for the first year and a half of the baby’s life. The bill would permit the Missouri Department of Corrections to establish nurseries within the state’s correctional facilities, allowing children born to incarcerated women to […]

Donald Kauerauf, the director of the Department of Health and Senior Services, speaks during a press conference at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City on July 21, 2021

Before ouster, Missouri health director drafted a letter to senators that was never sent

(Missouri Independent) – On the Friday before a drawn-out confirmation battle ended with his ouster from office, Missouri state Health Director Donald Kauerauf wrote an impassioned letter meant to convince conservative legislators who were on the fence about his appointment.  The message: While he believed in vaccines and data and science, he didn’t believe in vaccine […]

Trenton R-9 School District

Trenton Board of Education hears presentation from Trenton Teachers Association on 4-day school week

Joel Hultman with the Trenton Teachers Association presented preliminary research regarding a four-day school week during the Trenton R-9 Board of Education meeting on February 8th. The board took no action on the matter. Hultman reported a survey of teachers showed many wanted more information on a four-day school week. None of the questions specifically […]

Missouri Secretary of State website

Missouri Securities Division Partners with CFTC and 26 states to stop $68 million precious metals scheme

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s Securities Division announced that it is participating in a consolidated enforcement action to stop a $68 million fraudulent precious metals scheme that, to date, has allegedly defrauded at least 450 investors nationwide, including eighteen investors from Missouri. A complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Central District […]

Mo Congressman Billy Long - Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Audio: Missouri Congressman Long says 2020 election was rigged; Blunt still disagrees

YouTube has removed a U.S. Senate campaign ad of Missouri Congressman Billy Long inaccurately claiming that President Biden “stole” the 2020 presidential election. The Kansas City Star reports the online video company contends the ad violates the site’s community guidelines. During a stop Thursday in southwest Missouri’s Springfield, Missouri U.S. Senator Roy Blunt reaffirmed his […]

Meth with police banner

German national sentenced to 23 years in Missouri prison for meth trafficking and illegal firearms

A German national was sentenced in federal court for methamphetamine trafficking and illegally possessing firearms. Manuel Poludenyj, 36, of Springfield, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 23 years in federal prison without parole. On June 24, 2021, Poludenyj pleaded guilty to one count of possessing methamphetamine to distribute and one […]

Unemployment Benefits Graphic

Missouri Senate hears bipartisan push to forgive mistakenly overpaid unemployment benefits

(Missouri Independent) – Tracie Engelmeyer was among hundreds of bus drivers who were furloughed in St. Louis County in March 2020 because of the pandemic. School-district authorities told them that even though drivers are contracted labor, they would qualify for unemployment benefits and urged them to apply. Engelmeyer recalled the conversation she had with a […]

TSA or Transportation Security Administration or Airport

Audio: TSA seizes record number of guns in Missouri airports

Missouri has set another record, his time its firearms seized at airports.     Transportation Security Administration officers at Missouri airports say they’ve found 183 firearms in travelers’ carry-on luggage last year. St. Louis Lambert International Airport broke the statewide record with officers finding 102 guns found, that’s more than all Missouri airports combined in […]