Marijuana leaf

Time running short for dueling Missouri marijuana legalization efforts

(Missouri Independent) – With the end of the legislative session only weeks away, and organizers of an initiative petition campaign sounding the alarm about an even more pressing deadline, dueling efforts to legalize marijuana in Missouri face uncertain fates. In the legislature, GOP state Rep. Ron Hicks is sponsoring a bill to legalize possession and use […]

MDC or Missouri Department of Conservation birding trail

Missouri Department of Conservation to offer free guided birding hike on May 2 at Crowder State Park

Learn about birds and birding when the Missouri Department of Conservation and Missouri State Parks offer a free guided birding hike from 8 a.m. to noon on Monday, May 2, at Crowder State Park near Trenton. Varied ecological habitats make northwest Missouri a good place to see a variety of birds on a single hike. […]

LGBTQ protections languish while Missouri lawmakers push transgender sports bans

(Missouri Independent) – On one end of the Missouri Capitol last week, Sen. Greg Razer was making yet another unsuccessful attempt to convince his colleagues to enact legal protections in state law for LGBTQ Missourians. “I’m still perceived as controversial,” Razer, a Kansas City Democrat who is one of just six openly LGBTQ lawmakers in […]

Missouri State Highway Patrol Website New 2021 (MSHP)

Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers arrest two in Daviess County over the weekend

Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers made two arrests this weekend in Daviess County. Late Saturday night, 24-year-old Kyra Garner of Kansas City was accused of driving while intoxicated and speeding. Early Sunday morning, 27-year-old Dakota Jacobson of Overland Park, Kansas was accused of driving while intoxicated, alleged failure to drive on the right half of […]

Ranked Choice Voting news Graphic

Audio: Effort underway to bring “ranked-choice” voting to Missouri

An effort is underway to change the way Missourians select candidates on an election ballot for statewide, legislative, and Congressional races. Petition signatures are being gathered to ask voters later this year if they support ranking their top four primary election candidate choices of any party. The four finalists – regardless of party – would […]

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack (Screenshot via USDA Facebook page)

Biden administration announces boost for rural health care in midterm election push

(Missouri Independent) – As the midterm election season ramps up, the Biden administration wants rural Americans to know it’ll be spending a lot of money to improve health care in rural areas. It has tasked Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack with delivering the message that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed long-standing problems with health care infrastructure in […]

Trudy Busch Valentine (Submitted photo)

In Senate race full of millionaires, Missouri must wait to see finances of the newest entrant

(Missouri Independent) – There are several millionaires seeking Missouri’s open U.S. Senate seat, financial disclosure reports show. But voters won’t see the finances of the only likely billionaire in the race until July. Trudy Busch Valentine, a Democrat and Anheuser Busch beer heiress who jumped into the race during the final days of filing, on […]

Missouri State Highway Patrol

Missouri State Highway Patrol reports two additional arrests over the weekend

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports a Kansas City, Missouri resident was arrested early Sunday in Clinton County. Twenty-nine–year old Jacob Lantz was arrested on five misdemeanor warrants from Clay County, and accused of possessing methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, exceeding the posted speed limit, and failure to display valid plates. Lantz was transported to the […]

Mentally disabled woman and nurse or caretaker wearing a surgica

Missouri launches apprenticeships for direct-support professionals

Missouri is launching an apprenticeship program to expand talent pipelines for Direct Support Professionals, who work with people with developmental disabilities. The Show-Me State, like many others, is facing a serious direct-care workforce shortage. To answer the need, the program Missouri Talent Pathways was recently approved by the U.S. Department of Labor. Duane Shumate, the state coordinator […]

Missouri State Highway Patrol Website New 2021 (MSHP)

Missouri State Highway Patrol reports 4 arrests on Friday, April 15th

The Highway Patrol reports the arrest of multiple individuals in area counties on April 15th. Twenty-one-year-old Anguelica Franco of Kansas City and 26-year-old Matthew Menchaca of Hammond, Indiana were arrested in Linn County in the morning. Each was accused of possession of fewer than 10 grams of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and speeding. Both […]

Leonardo DRS website

Leonardo DRS expands in West Plains creating more than 100 jobs

Leonardo DRS, a leading provider of defense products and technologies, has announced the start of the expansion of its manufacturing campus in West Plains. The company’s expansion is expected to create more than 100 jobs and was enabled in part by a cooperative effort to construct a new overpass that addresses concerns affecting logistics and […]

Road Work graphic

MoDOT planned road work in northern Missouri for the week of April 18, 2022

The following is a list of general highway maintenance and construction work the Missouri Department of Transportation has planned in North Missouri for the week of April 18 – 24 All road closures and planned roadwork may be viewed on the Traveler Information Map. Inclement weather may cause schedule changes in some of the planned […]

VFW or Veterans of Foreign Wars website

Audio: Trenton VFW Post 919 provides a variety of community services; continues fundraising for building renovation

Trenton VFW Post 919 has held and continues to hold fundraisers for a building renovation project.  Commander Tony Ralston explains what the post is planning with the renovation of the post’s building.     Quartermaster Sam Smith says the Trenton VFW would like to have a full-time psychologist to work with veterans. He notes multiple […]

Missouri Agricultural and Small Business Development Authority website or MSASBDA

Missouri Agricultural and Small Business Development Authority announces funding of projects

The Missouri Agricultural and Small Business Development Authority announced it has invested more than $2 million in projects that increase the distribution and use of higher blends of ethanol and biodiesel in the State of Missouri. Expenses incurred during the construction, installation, upgrade, or retrofit of fuel dispensers/pumps, storage tanks, and other infrastructure located in Missouri […]

Second Harvest Food Bank

Second Harvest Community Food Bank receives $211,000 grant

The Second Harvest Community Food Bank has received a $211,000 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture to assist the food bank with increased expenses due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Emergency Rural Health Care Grant will also facilitate mobile food distributions in Northwest Missouri. Emergency Rural Health Care Grants are part of […]

Power of Attorney, Living Will and Estate plan

Missouri attorneys say you should make your end-of-life care wishes known

Saturday is National Health Care Decisions Day, and groups in Missouri urged residents to make a plan for their end-of-life care in case they are not able to express their wishes. Some 120,000 Missourians age 65 and older live with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia in older adults. John Grimm, president of the […]

Murder News Graphic V3

Audrain County Prosecuting Attorney obtains conviction in Mexico, Missouri murder case

Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that late last night, a Randolph County jury convicted Sadiq J. Moore, 25, of Second-Degree Murder, First Degree Burglary, Unlawful Use of a Weapon, and three counts of Armed Criminal Action after a three-day jury trial. The jury convicted Moore of assisting two others with carrying out a home invasion […]

Marijuana Trafficking News Graphic

Missouri man who was arrested after an armed standoff with police pleads guilty to marijuana trafficking

A Missouri man pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally possessing a firearm following a brief armed standoff with police officers. Jamahl D. Jones, 35, Kansas City, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to one count of possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute, one count of possessing a firearm in relation […]

Prison Sentence

Missouri woman sentenced 8 years in prison for meth trafficking

A Missouri woman was sentenced in federal court for methamphetamine trafficking after she received a large package of methamphetamine shipped from California to distribute locally. Cassiopeia Marie Blaise, 37, Columbia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to eight years in federal prison without parole. Blaise pleaded guilty on Aug. 31, 2021, to […]

Jobs Report

Missouri unemployment rate drops to 3.6% in March

Missouri non-farm payroll employment decreased slightly from February 2022 to March 2022, and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by one-tenth of a percentage point. Employment, seasonally adjusted, decreased by 200 jobs over the month. Private industry employment increased by 600 jobs, while government employment declined by 800 jobs. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate […]