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 […]

Missouri Governor Mike Parson

Audio: Parson responds to teachers union president saying it is going to “try” to open K-12 schools this fall

Governor Parson is responding to the American Federation of Teachers President saying it is going to “try” to open K-12 schools this fall.     The organization’s President, Randi Weingarten, made the comment and said it is going to keep students and teachers safe while trying to move through a political battlefield. On Fox News, […]

Medicaid Expansion in Missouri

Missouri Supreme Court rules voter-approved Medicaid expansion is constitutional

(Missouri Independent) – Missouri must expand Medicaid to 275,000 eligible people who were expecting coverage under a constitutional amendment that took effect July 1, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled Thursday. In a unanimous opinion, the court overturned a trial court ruling that the amendment, passed in August 2020 was unconstitutional because it may increase the state’s cost for […]

Seed Terminator Website

Mizzou weed science shares Seed Terminator research

In the 1984 film “The Terminator,” a robotic assassin played by Arnold Schwarzenegger warns, “I’ll be back.” If waterhemp could talk, it might say the same thing. Waterhemp can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. The prolific producer of seeds is the state’s No. 1 weed, robbing Missouri agriculture of millions of dollars […]

Chicken CAFO (Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Unsplash)

While Cedar County, Missouri awaits ruling in CAFO lawsuit, a large chicken operation moves in

(Missouri Independent) – When the attorney general’s office asked a judge in 2019 to lift a temporary restraining order blocking a Missouri law pre-empting county regulations on concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, that were stricter than the state’s, the argument was straightforward. No one was trying to build a large animal feeding operation in Cedar […]

Guilty Plea news graphic

Missouri man pleads guilty to botched robbery at auto dealer; robbery attempt ended in firefight with owner and shooting of employee

A Missouri man pleaded guilty in federal court to the botched robbery of a Grandview, Mo., auto dealership that ended when he shot an employee while fleeing after a shootout with the owner, who was also armed. Lyndale E. Watson, also known as “Red, “Blood,” and “Stoni Blud,” 36, Kansas City, pleaded guilty before U.S. […]

Linn County Prosecuting Attorney Shiante McMahon speaks during an April 23 mock trial of the Big Bad Wolf put on for students in local schools. (Photo courtesy Linn County Prosecuting Attorney's Office via Facebook)

Linn County roiled by prosecutor’s charge of racism, sexism in Marceline Police Department

(Missouri Independent) – When Linn County Prosecuting Attorney Shiante McMahon saw a photo of one of her campaign shirts defaced with obscene, racist, and sexist writing — and learned it had been on display in the headquarters of the Marceline Police Department — she decided a complaint with the city wouldn’t do any good. So she posted the photo […]