A civil complaint filed by the Department of Justice has alleged that Walmart Inc. unlawfully dispensed controlled substances from pharmacies it operated across the country and unlawfully distributed controlled substances to those pharmacies throughout the height of the prescription opioid crisis. The complaint alleges that this unlawful conduct resulted in hundreds of thousands of violations […]
Tag: Thousands
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services sets into motion plans for Moderna COVID-19 vaccine administration
Dr. Randall Williams, director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services signed the standing order for Moderna COVID-19 vaccine administration after final review of recommendations made earlier today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “The first week of vaccinations among health care workers in Missouri went extremely well,” said Williams. “We […]
Chillicothe man pleads guilty to his role in $142 million fraud scheme
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. […]
Audio: Unemployment benefits could end after Christmas for thousands of Missourians.
Unemployment payments for more than 70,000 Missourians will soon dry up without action from Congress before the end of the year. The latest numbers from the U.S. Department of Labor showed that in the last week of November, more than 35,000 people were using a federal program giving them 13 extra weeks of […]
Missouri’s next shipment of COVID-19 vaccine to be short thousands of doses
Missouri is getting fewer doses of the COVID-19 vaccine next week than expected. The second shipment was supposed to include enough doses to vaccinate about 64,000 health care workers. During a Capitol briefing in Jefferson City, state Health and Senior Services Department Director Randall Williams says the federal government is giving Missouri about 25% to […]
Owner of hospice companies sentenced to 20-years in prison for $150 million health care fraud and money laundering scheme
A corporate executive has been ordered to serve 20 years in prison after his conviction related to falsely telling thousands of patients with long-term incurable diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and dementia, they had less than six months to live and subsequently enrolling them in hospice programs. A federal jury in McAllen, Texas, convicted Rodney […]
Audio: Missouri Treasurer’s office connects citizens with money through the unemployment rolls
The state treasurer’s office worked with another agency to bring some good news to Missourians filing for unemployment. As Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick explains “the state had unclaimed property and money, and when COVID-19 hit the economy, thousands of citizens lost their jobs.” To date, the Treasurer’s office has connected citizens to more than […]
Census survey reveals COVID-19’s devastating impact in Missouri
(Missouri Independent) – Hundreds of thousands of Missourians are struggling to get by during our coronavirus public health emergency, including children, according to the recently released U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey. While 40.8 percent of Missouri households report losing income since March, families with children under 18 have been especially impacted, with 51.4 percent reporting […]
19 Missouri residents indicted by grand jury for $1.2 million insurance fraud conspiracy
Nineteen defendants have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a $1.2 million insurance fraud conspiracy that involved false claims of injuries suffered in car accidents. Lawrence Courtney Lawhorn, 32, and Latoya Marie Brown, 35, who resided in Columbia and in the Kansas City area; Lauren Courtney Luque, 34, Michael Jadon […]
Sunderland Foundation makes $1 million gift to Mosaic Life Care
The Sunderland Foundation, whose focus is awarding grants to nonprofit organizations to support construction and special interest projects serving communities in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest, recently announced a $1 million gift to Mosaic Life Care. The grant represents the largest donation ever received by Mosaic and is earmarked to support the creation of a […]
Biden wants mask mandates nationwide: ‘We can save tens of thousands of lives’
(Missouri Independent) – President-elect Joe Biden’s coronavirus response plan seeks to put a national mask mandate in place by calling on all governors to require face coverings in their states. It’s a move that public health experts say could dramatically reduce the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths. But putting wider mask laws in place […]
Audio: Thousands of unemployed Missourians sign up for free online courses
Thousands of unemployed Missourians have signed up for free online courses. Alisa Nelson files this report. In July, the state partnered with a company called Coursera to begin offering free online classes to Missourians unemployed as a result of COVID-19. The state Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development tells Missourinet about 2,300 […]
‘Won’t be able to survive’: Childcare centers serving low-income Missourians face closure
(Missouri Independent) – Cortaiga Collins doesn’t know how much longer her childcare center will survive. Only about a dozen children have been attending regularly amid the pandemic. Under normal circumstances, she used to serve as many as 100. She’s already had to reduce the hours that Good Shepherd Preschool and Infant/Toddler Center in St. Louis […]
Missouri receives $6 million in federal aid to create thousands of tech apprenticeships
The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation is deploying $6 million in federal funding to create 5,300 new tech industry apprenticeships. During a virtual event Monday, President Dan Mehan calls the investment a game-changer. “There is an apprenticeship revolution going on in Missouri,” he says. “Over the last two years, our state ranks second […]
Audio: Over 800 thousand mail-in and absentee ballots cast in Missouri; 75% of voters expected to show at polls
Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft says nearly 828,000 mail-in and absentee ballots combined have been returned to the state’s local election authorities for the general election. In the 2016 general election, roughly 282,000 absentee votes were counted. Ashcroft expects about 75% of Missouri’s voters to cast a ballot in the election. […]
Missouri sends initial shipment of COVID-19 antigen tests to schools statewide
State officials began shipping thousands of antigen test kits to public and private schools across the state today. Nearly 330 districts/schools applied to participate in Missouri’s BinaxNOW Antigen Testing Program for K-12 Institutions, requesting a total of nearly 583,000 test kits for use among symptomatic students and school personnel. These minimally invasive nasal swab tests […]
Parson calls special session on November 5th to access additional federal aid
Governor Mike Parson has called another special session – this time to focus on getting extra federal coronavirus funding made available to the state. The federal aid includes funding for school meals, grants for homelessness prevention and job training, child support payments, among others. “COVID-19 has had an overwhelming impact on our state, and while […]
Missouri Department of Conservation survey shows slight improvement in turkey production
This year’s annual wild turkey brood survey by the Missouri Department of Conservation shows that turkey production was slightly better on the statewide scale this year and some regions saw significant improvements in productivity. MDC’s statewide poult-to-hen ratio (PHR) for this year was 1.0, which was 11% greater than the 2019 PHR and equal to […]
Governor Parson proclaims October 4-10 as 4-H Week in Missouri
Governor Mike Parson proclaimed Oct. 4-10 National 4-H Week in Missouri. With a goal of serving 10% of Missouri youths by 2025, Missouri 4-H joins millions of youths, parents, volunteers, and alumni across the nation in celebrating the many positive youth development opportunities 4-H offers. This year’s “Opportunity4All” campaigns seek to rally support for 4-H […]