The U.S. has its first fully approved vaccine against COVID-19, with federal health officials announcing Monday the approval of Pfizer-BioNTech’s two-dose vaccine. The green light from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to move Pfizer’s vaccine from emergency use to full approval is a milestone in the national pandemic response, and one that comes as the […]
Tag: States
As Missouri students head back to class, state launches new COVID testing program
(Missouri Independent) – Monday marks the first day of school for thousands of students across Missouri and it’s also when schools can begin enrolling in a new federally-funded testing program aimed at helping facilitate a safe return to the classroom. The Department of Health and Senior Services announced Friday evening that Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc., a […]
Meatpacking plants have long relied on immigrant labor. Some now turn to foreign visa workers
(Missouri Independent) – Colored hard hats distinguish different roles and jobs at Seaboard Foods, a major meatpacking plant in Guymon, Oklahoma. Senior management have green. Supervisors wear dark blue. Foreign workers on visas don yellow-green. But Seaboard is part of a small but growing trend in the meatpacking industry, which already largely relied on an […]
Missouri tax attorney pleads guilty to tax and labor violations
A Missouri attorney has pleaded guilty in federal court to tax and labor violations. Meagan M. Howe, also known as Meagan M. Hasty, 35, of Lebanon, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge David P. Rush on Thursday, Aug. 19, to one count of failure to pay employment tax and one count of making a […]
Missouri man pleads guilty to illegal firearm following gun battle
A Missouri, man has pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally possessing the firearm he used when he was shot in a rolling gun battle. Odell J. Jackson, 31, of Kansas City, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner on Thursday, Aug. 19, to one count of being a felon in possession of […]
Missouri pharmacy filled forged prescriptions
A Missouri pharmacy is prohibited from continuing its past practice of filling prescriptions without verifying whether they were issued by a DEA-authorized practitioner under a consent decree approved yesterday in federal court. Spalitto’s Pharmacy, L.C., of Kansas City, a retail pharmacy at 3801 Independence Avenue operated by Peter A. Spalitto as the pharmacist in charge, […]
Trenton City Council meeting agenda calls for review of proposed development for senior housing complex
Developers of a proposed senior housing complex in Trenton are seeking support from the Trenton City Council. A resolution of support is to be presented at Monday nights’ 7 o’clock meeting at Trenton City Hall. The resolution, a tax rate public hearing, a preliminary engineering report for water plant improvements, and three ordinances are on […]
Second annual report published by Missouri’s Medical Marijuana program
The Department of Health and Senior Services has published its second annual report of the Missouri Medical Marijuana Regulatory Program. DHSS is required to annually submit a report to the Governor regarding the efficient discharge of its responsibilities under Article XIV Section 1 of the Missouri Constitution. Reported activities are based on the program year […]
Former Missouri school official pleads guilty to child pornography
A former assistant principal at Nixa Junior High School in Nixa, Missouri, pleaded guilty in federal court to soliciting sexually explicit photos from a 13-year-old victim by posing online as a teen girl. Colby Fronterhouse, 41, of Springfield, Mo., pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to one count of receiving child […]
USDA invests more than $5 million in infrastructure to expand availability of renewable fuels in rural Missouri
U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Missouri Acting State Director D Clark Thomas announced the agency is investing $5,178,191 to build infrastructure to expand the availability of higher-blend renewable biofuels by 235,810,915 million gallons annually in Missouri. “USDA Rural Development is committed to expanding the availability of higher-blend biofuels to all of rural Missouri,” Thomas […]
Biden mandates nursing homes require COVID vaccine or lose Medicare, Medicaid funds
(Missouri Independent) – Nursing homes will be required to ensure their staffers are vaccinated against COVID-19, or risk losing federal Medicare and Medicaid dollars, the Biden administration announced Wednesday in a major move on vaccinations as the Delta variant sweeps many states. Under the new nursing home policy, the U.S. Department of Health and Human […]
Department of Justice asks court to block Missouri’s ‘Second Amendment Preservation Act’
(Missouri Independent) – A Missouri law prohibiting state and local police from enforcing certain federal gun laws has already undermined drug and weapons investigations, the U.S. Department of Justice argued in documents filed Wednesday in Cole County Circuit Court. As part of an ongoing lawsuit set for a hearing Thursday afternoon, the Justice Department is asking Cole […]
Several from Florida charged and convicted of operating sexually exploitive “child modeling” websites
A series of charges and convictions were announced today in connection with an international enterprise based in Florida that operated subscription-based sexually exploitive “child modeling” websites. According to court documents, Kenneth Power (deceased at 58, of Weston), was a principal member of the Newstar Enterprise – an internet-based business aimed at the for-profit sexual exploitation […]
Jury convicts Missouri man of enticing a minor for illicit sex
A man was convicted at trial by a federal jury of attempting to meet a law enforcement officer, posing online as a 14-year-old girl, for illegal sexual activity. Darren Wade Lasley, 32, of Columbia, Missouri, was found guilty of attempting to entice a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity. On June 14, 2017, Lasley […]
Man pleads guilty in Missouri to armed robbery of a pharmacy
A man has pleaded guilty in federal court to his role in the armed robbery of a Walgreens pharmacy in Jefferson City, Missouri. Daijahn Antwan Reed, 22, of Indianapolis, Indiana, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Willie J. Epps Jr. on Tuesday, Aug. 17, to one count of armed robbery and one count of brandishing […]
Missouri State Highway Patrol: Sergeant Aaron Griffin named 2021 Instructor Of The Year
The superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol announced the State & Provincial Police Academy Directors have named MSHP Sergeant Aaron K. Griffin its Instructor of the Year for 2021. Nominations for this award come from police academies throughout the United States and Canada. SPPADS is a section of the International Association of Chiefs of […]
Third judge announced for 2021 Missouri Days Marching Festival
The third announced judge for the 2021 Missouri Days Marching Festival is Greg Marquis, a graduate of Western Illinois University and both a Ballroom and Latin Dancesport Instructor and competitor. Greg has been a member of the Central States Judges Association since 1986, where he served as both Visual Caption Head and Color Guard Caption […]
Missouri man on parole for murder, robbery and assault, found guilty of possessing illegal firearm
A Missouri man was convicted at trial by a federal jury of illegally possessing a firearm. James Johnson, 75, a resident of Jackson County, was found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Johnson was in possession of a Ruger .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun on Nov. 28, 2019. Law enforcement officers confronted Johnson […]
Trenton Utility Committee presented report regarding improvements to water treatment plant
Trenton’s Utility Committee got the first look Tuesday evening at a preliminary engineering report regarding proposed improvements and probable costs for major improvements at the 55-year-old water treatment plant. Committee members also recommended bids be accepted for lime sludge removal and tree trimming services. Each of the three recommendations will advance to a meeting of […]
Afghan evacuees to arrive in the U.S. through Virginia and Wisconsin military bases
(Missouri Independent) – The first U.S. stop for the nearly 2,000 Afghan interpreters and other refugees evacuated so far amid the collapse of the Afghan government has been central Virginia’s Fort Lee military base. Tapped for its East Coast location and its ability to quickly ramp up to serve as a temporary host installation, the Army […]