North Mercer School District Website V1

North Mercer Board of Education approve boys and girls golf; adopt payment policy for employees on COVID quarantine days

The North Mercer R-3 Board of Education September 8th determined the district will pay employees for all COVID-19 quarantine days that are linked to contact tracing through the school. Superintendent Dan Owens reports the district will also pay for 10 days of quarantine for all other reasons. An amendment was approved to the supplemental salary […]

Judge with gavel at desk

Audio: State Appeals court upholds another employee discrimination case against the Missouri Department of Corrections.

A state appeals court has upheld another employee discrimination case against the Missouri Department of Corrections.     The case could potentially cost taxpayers more than $700,000. The St. Louis Post Dispatch says it’s the latest in a series of big-ticket judgments against prison system administrators revolving around an employee’s concern about an attempt to […]

Medical Marijuana and Veterans

Veterans Administration sending mixed messages to vets about cannabis use to treat PTSD

(Missouri Independent) – Despite increasing legal access to medical and recreational cannabis in states across the U.S., veterans face unfair treatment and stigmatization because the U.S.  refuses to recognize marijuana as a viable treatment option.  While the VA has embraced the federally illegal status of the drug, agency policy does not allow discrimination against veterans […]

Jamesport Tri-County School

Jamesport Tri-County Board of Education meets on Wednesday

The Tri-County Board of Education will hold a meeting Wednesday evening, September 8, 2021, at the Jamesport school at 6 o’clock in the library. The agenda includes COVID-19 response and planning, capital projects, CD investment, and maintenance equipment. New business topics include the Esser 3 Tutoring Program, fundraising requests, and information about a grant. There […]

Citizenship Graphic Version 2

House reconciliation package would provide path to citizenship for millions

(Missouri Independent) – A provision tucked in the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package would direct Congress to chart a path for citizenship for millions of undocumented people. If passed, the House provision would provide a pathway to citizenship for those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, often referred to as Dreamers, farmworker workers; those […]

Drug Trafficking

Two from Missouri plead guilty to meth trafficking

Two Missouri residents have pleaded guilty in federal court to methamphetamine trafficking after they received a large package of methamphetamine shipped from California to distribute locally. Bryan Patton Tullous, 39, of Columbia, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Willie J. Epps, Jr., to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Co-defendant Cassiopeia Marie Blaise, 36, […]

COVID-19 Delta Variant

COVID cases among children rising as Missouri Delta variant wave enters fifth month

(Missouri Independent) – Clay LaRue, superintendent of the Van Buren R-1 School District, made a tough decision Sunday. With COVID-19 cases spiking in Carter County in southeast Missouri, and many of those infections among very young children, LaRue shut down the district’s pre-kindergarten program for two weeks. He had previously directed faculty, staff, and students […]

Group Photo of Missouri Public Safety Medals

Governor Parson awards Missouri Public Safety Medals to first responders and civilians for heroic actions in 2020

Governor Mike Parson awarded Missouri Public Safety Medals to a total of 15 first responders and 7 civilians for heroic and life-saving actions during 2020. The awards are Missouri’s highest recognition for first responders acting during critical incidents. The civilians, who include a 12-year-old boy who performed a life-saving rescue at age 11, were honored […]

Moberly Park Trenton Missouri

Trenton Park Board to meet Wednesday

A meeting of the Trenton Park Board is Wednesday, September 1, 2021, at 5:15 pm.  The meeting will be held in the Moberly Park shelter house. City attorney Tara Walker is to give a presentation on the sunshine law. New business includes a discussion of corn hole boards. Reports are listed from the park superintendent […]

Hospital Bed (Photo by Frederic Köberl on Unsplash)

Missouri ICUs filling as Delta variant wave moves into northeast, southeast regions

(Missouri Independent) – New cases from the Delta variant wave that has killed more than 1,150 Missourians since June 1 have plateaued, but hospital ICUs continue to fill — and small, rural hospitals are among the hardest hit. There were 690 patients in ICU beds across the state on Tuesday, the most recent day reported by the state Department of Health […]