The Missouri State Highway Patrol announces the results of the Driver and Vehicle Safety Division’s 2021 annual school bus inspection program. Missouri’s 2021 school bus inspection results are as follows: School buses rated as “approved” upon initial inspection: 10,807 School buses rated as “defective” upon initial inspection: 822 School buses rated as “out-of-service” upon initial […]
(Missouri Independent) – A special session to extend provider taxes essential to the state’s Medicaid program will begin at noon Wednesday, Gov. Mike Parson announced Tuesday afternoon. The announcement was issued just minutes after a noon deadline set by Parson on Monday. The call came after seven members of the Senate Conservative Caucus sent him a letter demanding […]
Thirty-seven percent of Missourians did not have wired broadband in their homes from 2015 to 2019. Should we be concerned that one out of three Missouri households are not connected to high-speed internet? What does “wired broadband” mean? As governments roll out new broadband initiatives, these are timely questions that Broadband Technologies: A Primer on […]
In the early morning hours of Tuesday June 15, 2021, officers with the South Central Drug Task Force, in coordination with the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Shannon County Sheriff’s Department, concluded a series of long-term narcotics investigations in Shannon County, Missouri. As a result of these investigations, 17 suspects were arrested for the delivery […]
During a press conference at the State Capitol, Governor Mike Parson warned of the detrimental consequences to Missourians if the Federal Reimbursement Allowances (FRA) and related programs were not extended. The FRA and related programs provide critical funding to MO HealthNet and must be extended before cost-savings measures are needed on July 1. “If political […]
U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) sent a letter to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF) and Explosives expressing concern over two of their newly-proposed gun rules that could threaten Americans’ Second Amendment rights. The rules, 2021R-05 and 2021R-08, would require the retention of firearms transaction records forever, paving the way to […]
To honor and recognize their employees, Carroll County Memorial Hospital typically holds departmental appreciation weeks throughout the year. Employees are categorized into five groups and are traditionally recognized during one of these five special weeks. However, COVID-19 has continued to create a challenge for traditional recognition activities. “The CCMH Rewards & Recognition Team worked hard […]
The Livingston County Library has added the Elks Lodge at Elm and Jackson Streets to its Downtown Historic Walking Tour. Many of the buildings on this tour display a QR code in a window so anyone can walk by and scan the code with a mobile device such as a phone and get to the […]
Reports, bids, purchases, budgets, and personnel highlight the agenda for the Tuesday meeting of the North Central Missouri College trustees. The meeting is scheduled for 5:30 pm, Tuesday, June 22, 2021, in the Frey Administrative Center on the campus in Trenton. Topics are listed as NCMC budgets for the fiscal year beginning in July, the […]
Wright Memorial Hospital is pleased to welcome Shelby Todd, RN, as the new program director for the hospital’s Senior Life Solutions program. Senior Life Solutions, an intensive outpatient group therapy program, is designed to meet the unique needs of seniors struggling with age-related depression, anxiety, difficult life transitions, a recent health diagnosis, or the loss […]
Missouri is experiencing a rise in individuals contracting the Delta variant (B.1.617.2, first detected in India) of the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2. It was announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday that the Delta variant has been reclassified as a “variant of concern” in the United States. The Missouri Department of […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri lawmakers appear to be headed into a special session next week to renew medical provider taxes vital to sustaining the state’s Medicaid program. Gov. Mike Parson met Tuesday with the state Senate Republican caucus. The group discussed language that would bar the state from paying for some contraceptive medications and devices and extend […]
(Missouri Independent) – Penalties that Spire Missouri issued to suppliers who failed to provide natural gas during a February cold snap that forced power outages across the Midwest could drive bills for hospitals, schools, and businesses to astronomical levels, according to a trio of complaints pending before state regulators. During the worst of the cold snap in February, […]
Missouri non-farm payroll employment increased from April 2021 to May 2021, but the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased by a tenth of a percentage point. Employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 6,000 jobs over the month, with job gains in both goods-producing and service-providing industries. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.2 percent in May […]
Landowners and agricultural producers currently enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program now have a wider opportunity to enroll in a 30-year contract through the Clean Lakes, Estuaries, And Rivers initiative, called CLEAR30. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is expanding CLEAR30, a water-quality focused option available through CRP – to be nationwide now. Interested producers with […]
Speaking at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said that President Joe Biden has created a “moral crisis” by sending the message that the U.S. Southern border is open. Senator Hawley said the Senate Democrats’ proposed immigration reform plan would create new loopholes for illegal immigrants and devalue legal immigration. […]
A Maryland man was sentenced Monday to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution for defrauding a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) program dedicated to rehabilitating military veterans with disabilities. According to court documents, Francis Engles, 65, of Bowie, was the owner and operator of Engles Security Training School (Engles […]
The Department of Economic Development announced it will award more than $15.8 million to 38 recipients through its Community Development Block Grant Program to help communities with infrastructure improvement and other projects across Missouri. “Strengthening infrastructure and improving our workforce remains my administration’s top priorities,” said Governor Mike Parson. “Whether repairing roads, upgrading facilities, or […]
While the United States faces a nationwide nursing shortage, a recent study at the University of Missouri found rural Missouri counties experience nursing shortages at a greater rate than the state’s metropolitan counties. In addition, the study found rural Missouri counties have a higher percentage of older nurses nearing retirement, which could have a severe impact on […]
Governor Mike Parson signed HB 271 into law, which establishes greater accountability for local leaders when imposing public health orders and prohibits local COVID-19 vaccine passports. “This legislation I am signing today requires local leaders to be more transparent in their reasoning and accountable for their decisions when it comes to public health orders,” Governor Parson said. “It […]
