A Chillicothe, Missouri, man pleaded guilty in federal court to his role in a $142 million scheme to sell non-organic grain as though it was organic. Steven N. Whiteside, 57, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jill A. Morris to a federal information that charges him with falsely signing documents related to the fraud scheme. […]
Death from COVID-19 has visited now every county in Missouri. Tiny Worth County along the border with Iowa has about 2,000 people. The Department of Health and Senior Services reported over the weekend that Worth was the last of 117 local health jurisdictions to have a death recorded on the department’s COVID-19 dashboard. The report, […]
Missouri corn growers should scout for an emerging crop disease, tar spot, in 2021, says University of Missouri Extension plant pathologist Kaitlyn Bissonnette. She identified tar spot in four far northeastern Missouri counties: Scotland, Lewis, and Clark in 2019 and Marion in 2020. She expects it to spread in the northern half of Missouri and […]
A Missouri, man pleaded guilty in federal court to his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Camden County, Missouri. Stephen Joseph Sanchez, 35, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Willie J. Epps Jr. to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Co-defendant Jo Marie Pollina, 37, of Kansas City, Mo. pleaded guilty to […]
A registered nurse in southeast Missouri’s Cape Girardeau is the first employee at St. Francis Healthcare to receive the COVID vaccine. KFVS’ Jeff Cunningham reports hospital officials praise Alicia Caldwell’s dedication in the COVID unit. St. Francis Healthcare System serves more than 700,000 southeast Missourians, along with residents from four other states. It […]
The ability to meet basic needs is out-of-reach for many Missouri families because of the pandemic. The challenges facing households with children are detailed in a new national report. This week, the Annie E. Casey Foundation released findings for all states, using weekly Census survey data on such topics as food insecurity and housing instability. One […]
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 […]
The bridge on Highway 190 over the Thompson River in Livingston County reopened to two-way traffic on December 18th. It was the 100th bridge opened through Governor Mike Parson’s Focus on Bridges Program created to repair or replace 250 of the state’s poorest bridges. It was the 21st bridge completed in the Missouri Department of […]
The Missouri Public Service Commission has opened a case at the request of the Public Service Commission to assist staff regarding an order from the Federal Communications Commission requiring ten-digit local dialing in four of Missouri’s six area codes by July 15, 2022. The change to ten-digit local dialing is necessary to allow for the […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt joined a multistate coalition of 10 states in filing a lawsuit against Google for multiple alleged violations of federal and state antitrust laws, including anticompetitive conduct, exclusionary practices, and deceptive misrepresentations in connection with its role in the multibillion-dollar online display advertising industry. “In this lawsuit, we allege that Google […]
The Grundy County Commission and COVID-19 Relief Fund Task Force have distributed the $1.15 million in CARES Act funding the county received in early May. Presiding Commissioner Phillip Ray reports the funds were distributed to entities impacted by COVID-19 based on a formula that utilized assessed valuation and accounted for the portion of each taxable […]
The Grundy County Nursing Home District Board of Directors heard about various topics at its meeting on December 15th. It was announced the United States Department of Agriculture approved the energy project. Administrator Jerry Doerhoff explained the project involves replacing the boiler and putting in mini-split units in each resident room. Each of those units […]
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 […]
Missouri’s Electoral College Members met in the State Capitol to cast their votes for President and Vice President of the United States. Each of Missouri’s ten electors met and cast their votes unanimously for President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. “I want to thank Secretary of State Ashcroft’s Office, county clerks, poll workers, […]
The Missouri Conservation Commission recently gave final approval to the Missouri Department of Conservation for the state’s first black bear hunting season framework. The Commission finalized the hunting season framework and related regulations at its December 11 open meeting in Jefferson City. The approved framework limits any future bear hunting to areas of southern Missouri […]
Hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 have been on the rise in Missouri and other states, and experts say the consequences of being unprepared for an infectious-disease outbreak have never been more apparent. Gov. Mike Parson has cited concerns about staffing levels with the demand hospitals are seeing from the crisis. His comments coincide with calls […]
U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) are introducing a bipartisan amendment to attach to must-pass legislation to be considered by Congress, which would provide $1,200 in direct payments to working-class adults and $500 to each of their children. This amendment, similar to what was passed in the CARES Act, would be attached to must-pass […]
President Donald Trump and the White House Coronavirus Task Force invited a small group of private business, state, and health care leaders to the White House to brief them on Operation Warp Speed, the COVID-19 vaccine production and distribution project started earlier this year. Dr. Randall Williams, director of the Missouri Department of Health and […]
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, […]
Governor Michael L. Parson’s Bicentennial Inaugural Committee announced initial plans for an Inaugural Prayer Service and the Inauguration Ceremony in January of 2021. “To kick off Missouri’s bicentennial, we will celebrate our state’s rich heritage with a historic Bicentennial Inauguration,” said Teresa Parson, First Lady of Missouri and co-chair of the inaugural committee. “The strong […]
