(Missouri Independent) – On Tuesday, a reporter with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch alerted the state that Social Security numbers of school teachers and administrators were vulnerable to public exposure due to flaws on a website maintained by Missouri’s department of education. The newspaper agreed to hold off publishing any story while the department fixed the problem and […]
Tag: threat
FBI to investigate threats made against school board members, teachers
(Missouri Independent) – The Department of Justice has directed the FBI to meet with local governments and law enforcement to discuss strategies for dealing with increasing threats to teachers and school board members spurred by a conservative backlash against discussions of race in public schools. “Threats against public servants are not only illegal, they run counter to […]
Unionville man facing multiple charges after altercation in Powersville
A Unionville man faces multiple charges in Putnam County after an alleged altercation in Powersville on September 30. Forty-year-old Anthony Brandon Pearson has been charged with felony second-degree burglary, misdemeanor second-degree property damage, and two counts of misdemeanor fourth-degree domestic assault. An initial court appearance is scheduled for October 4th. A probable cause statement accuses […]
Trial for man who shot Trenton police officer postponed again
A trial setting has been postponed for a Trenton man accused of wounding a Trenton Police officer in Winston during transport in June 2019. Forty-one-year-old Jamey Aaron Griffin was scheduled for a trial setting in Livingston County on October 7, but it is now set for November 9, 2021. A motion filed by Griffin’s attorney, […]
DEA launches “One Pill Can Kill” campaign
The Drug Enforcement Administration issued a Public Safety Alert warning Americans of the alarming increase in the lethality and availability of fake prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine. DEA’s Public Safety Alert, the first in six years, seeks to raise public awareness of a significant nationwide surge in counterfeit pills that are mass-produced by criminal […]
Missouri Attorney General seeks court order to force Biden Administration to reimplement the “Remain in Mexico” policy
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has filed a motion to enforce a permanent injunction and for expedited discovery, which seeks a court order from the District Court to compel the Biden Administration to reimplement the Migrant Protection Protocols, or “Remain in Mexico” Policy. “We sued the Biden Administration in April over their cancellation of the […]
Grundy County Sheriff reports the arrest of three area residents
The Grundy County Sheriff’s Department reports the arrest of three area residents on Tuesday, September 21, 2021, on various charges. Thirty-six-year-old Zachary Lee Wilson of Spickard has been charged with the felonies of unlawful use of a weapon involving exhibiting, first-degree property damage, and armed criminal action. He also has been charged with misdemeanor unlawful possession, […]
Federal court hears arguments on Missouri abortion ban with no rape, incest exception
(Missouri Independent) – The fate of Missouri’s ban on abortion after eight weeks of pregnancy, with no exception for rape or incest, rests in the hands of a panel of federal judges. Arguments Tuesday before the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis, and questions from the judges, focused almost exclusively on another provision […]
U.S. Supreme Court schedules December 1 oral arguments in major abortion case
(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on December 1, 2021, in a case that threatens to overturn decades of abortion protections established under the landmark 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade. The upcoming case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, stems from a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 […]
Missouri lawmakers buck national trend by establishing police “Bill of Rights”
(Missouri Independent) – On the final day of the 2021 legislative session in May, Missouri lawmakers passed a “law enforcement bill of rights” that gives officers special legal protections and closes files to police misconduct. When Gov. Mike Parson signed it into law in July, the bill of rights portion was largely overshadowed in press […]
Princeton student threatens bringing weapon to school to harm multiple students
Princeton Superintendent Jerry Girdner reports a high school student made a verbal threat on Thursday, September 16, 2021, allegedly about bring a weapon to school and causing harm to multiple students. Girdner, in a letter Thursday night to Princeton patrons, wrote that students reported the incident to school administrators after school had been dismissed for […]
Revised voting rights bill rolled out in U.S. Senate, with Manchin on board
(Missouri Independent) – Senate Democrats on Tuesday unveiled a revamped voting rights bill that would expand voter registration as well as create nonpartisan redistricting committees, but the measure is still likely to face an uphill battle in an evenly divided Senate. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he will bring the legislation to the floor […]
Roadblocks facing Kevin Strickland’s innocence claim is nothing new for Missouri
(Missouri Independent) – Kevin Strickland was hopeful Thursday was going to be his first step towards freedom after 40 years in prison. A new law that went into effect on Aug. 28 gave Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker a legal avenue to free Strickland, who she says is innocent and wrongly incarcerated. But opposition […]
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 […]
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 […]
Charges filed against victim of shooting in Mercer County
The Mercer County Sheriff’s Office reports charges have been filed against the victim of a gunshot in an incident on August 30, 2021. David Walton has been charged with the felonies of second-degree kidnapping, armed criminal action, third-degree domestic assault, and unlawful use of a weapon. He also faces misdemeanor fourth-degree domestic assault. The sheriff’s […]
Daviess County Library to participate in 9/11 Memorial and Education Exhibit
Daviess County Library announces its participation in September 11, 2001: The Day That Changed the World, a downloadable educational exhibition that presents the history of 9/11, its origins, and its ongoing implications through the personal stories of those who witnessed and survived the attacks. Told across 14 posters, this exhibition includes archival photographs and images […]
Biden administration opens civil rights investigation into states banning school mask mandates
(Missouri Independent) – Federal education officials have launched civil rights investigations in five Republican-led states that have prohibited school districts from mandating mask-wearing, saying those policies could amount to illegal discrimination against students with disabilities. The Biden administration notified the education chiefs in Iowa, Tennessee, South Carolina, Utah, and Oklahoma of the investigations through formal letters Monday. The new investigations will examine […]