(Missouri Independent) – As a growing number of Missouri school districts drop COVID mitigation measures under threat from Attorney General Eric Schmitt, at least two closed the doors on their fall semester early due to large numbers of staff and students out sick. Meanwhile, local public health departments said Tuesday they still have not heard […]
(Missouri Independent) – Two years ago, a company led by an influential Republican businessman faced off with the state’s environmental regulators over whether it needed to do additional testing for a chemical that health officials worried could pose a cancer risk to the company’s workers. The Moberly manufacturing facility, Orscheln Products LLC, is owned by […]
(Missouri Independent) – The Supreme Court is weighing potentially sweeping changes to the right to an abortion, after two hours of arguments Wednesday morning on a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The court’s conservatives, who hold a 6-3 majority, appeared through their questions to be sympathetic to Mississippi’s arguments […]
(Missouri Independent) – Patients who arrive at an abortion clinic in Overland Park, Kansas, have often traveled long distances. Many began their journeys in Missouri, sometimes driving hours to their appointment. “We’ve heard these stories from Missourians and other people in our region for years,” said Emily Wales, interim president of Planned Parenthood Great Plains. “They […]
Groups working to keep Missouri residents in their homes since the pandemic began are trying to identify the barriers to receiving emergency rental assistance. As of September, the state had given less than 20% of the funds it was allocated from the American Rescue Plan, despite many Missouri renters facing financial hardships and eviction notices. Katherine Fenerson, […]
A Missouri man was sentenced in federal court for illegally possessing firearms after leading law enforcement officers on a high-speed chase from Bolivar, Mo., to Springfield, Mo. Milton W. Sparks, 38, of Aurora, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 15 years in federal prison without parole. On April 15, 2021, Sparks […]
(Missouri Independent) – With over 40% of Missouri’s nursing home staff still unvaccinated, the state health department is giving long-term care facilities a route to avoid losing their license if they shut down due to staffing shortfalls after a federal vaccine requirement kicks in next month. On Friday, the Department of Health and Senior Services […]
(Missouri Independent) – With $6.5 billion on the way from the federal infrastructure bill and a newly increased gas tax, Missouri is ready to take a big bite out of $4.5 billion in unfunded highway needs, Patrick McKenna, director of the Missouri Department of Transportation, said this week. But that doesn’t mean the state is ready to tackle […]
(Missouri Independent) – Twice last year a federal grand jury demanded the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services turn over records pertaining to the medical marijuana program. The pair of subpoenas, issued by the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri in September 2020, were redacted by the department at the […]
The Grundy County Industrial Development Corporation, Trenton City Council, Grundy County Commission, and North Central Missouri Development Alliance met on October 27, 2021. The groups discussed the state of economic development in the city and county. No action was taken at the meeting. Jackie Soptic with the IDC reports the groups talked about available land […]
Missouri is working to get its statewide prescription drug monitoring program off the ground. The Legislature passed and Governor Parson signed a bill into law this year, making Missouri the last state in the country to put a program on the books that keeps track of prescription drugs. Greg Gilmore, owner of Grand Pharmacy in […]
(Missouri Independent) – The National School Boards Association is walking back its letter to President Joe Biden asking for federal help for school board members who have been harassed and threatened over masking requirements and discussions of race in public schools. The shift came after Republican members of Congress led by Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley raised strong […]
(Missouri Independent) – Gov. Mike Parson escalated his war with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Wednesday when his political operation published a video doubling down on his attack against a reporter who informed the state that a state website revealed teacher Social Security numbers. The video is produced by Uniting Missouri, a political action committee created by […]
(Missouri Independent) -When Gov. Mike Parson last week angrily called for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to be prosecuted for uncovering security flaws on a state agency website, he said the newspaper’s actions could “cost Missouri taxpayers up to $50 million.” That amount, two Democrats on the House Budget Committee said Tuesday, is an estimate for providing […]
Congressman Sam Graves (R-MO) introduced the Small Project Efficient and Effective Disaster (SPEED) Recovery Act to help small communities recover from disasters more quickly by allowing more small recovery projects to proceed under simplified procedures—giving communities more control and more tools to rebuild and recover. “By far, most disaster recovery projects in the United States […]
(Missouri Independent) – Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri is calling for the Biden administration to intervene to block the state’s new emergency regulation that abortion advocates contend could cut off Medicaid funding for its clinics around the state. Without federal action, Planned Parenthood said it may need to turn to the courts. […]
(Missouri Independent) – A day after Missouri Gov. Mike Parson garnered national criticism for his push to prosecute a newspaper reporter who discovered a security flaw in a state website, a Democratic lawmaker is urging the governor to appoint members of a cybersecurity commission created by a bill he signed in July. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch informed […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt joined a 19-state coalition urging Congress to reject burdensome legislation that would increase fees on energy producers and hit American consumers with even greater price hikes. The two bills in question are the Methane Emissions Reduction Act in the Senate and a provision of the Build Back Better Act in […]
(Missouri Independent) – Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri is calling for the Biden administration to intervene to block the state’s new emergency regulation that abortion advocates contend could cut off Medicaid funding for its clinics around the state. Without federal action, Planned Parenthood said it may need to turn to the courts. […]
A Trenton man who allegedly tried to unlawfully enter a building owned by K4C Cottages in Trenton on October 9 faces two felonies. The Grundy County Sheriff’s Office reports 36-year-old Brandon Charles Bellamy was arrested by the Trenton Police on October 9, 2021. He has been charged with first-degree attempted burglary and first-degree property damage. […]
