(Missouri Independent) – A bipartisan coalition handed anti-abortion activists a rare defeat in the Missouri Senate Friday night, rejecting a push to ban Planned Parenthood as a Medicaid provider as it passed a bill to secure billions for the state’s Medicaid program. And only a restatement of the state’s already existing ban on using public funds to […]
The Missouri State Highway Patrol wants to remind Missourians that thunderstorms are expected to continue over the next several days, which may lead to flooding in certain areas. Flooding, especially flash flooding, is dangerous and can be fatal. Drivers and boaters are encouraged to make smart decisions. Drivers Drivers are urged to avoid […]
In the last three weeks – there has been a major increase in the Delta variant of COVID-19 in Missouri…especially in the Northwest and Southwest part of the state. Kendra Findley, Administrator of Community Health and Epidemiology in Greene County, says this highly contagious strain is now the most dominant in that area. […]
A Missouri man pleaded guilty in federal court today to illegally possessing two firearms that he stole from a car and attempted to sell outside a nearby hotel. Edward J. Kelly Jr., 39, of Independence, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to one count of being a felon in possession of firearms. […]
(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 […]
(Missouri Independent) – Gov. Mike Parson gave lawmakers a deadline of noon Tuesday to strike a deal to renew medical provider taxes vital to funding Medicaid or accept responsibility for more than $700 million in cuts from the state budget that takes effect July 1. If not, the governor says he will freeze funding in Missouri’s […]
If Gov. Mike Parson does not make changes to the Missouri Public Defender System’s next budget, the office is on track to get its largest staffing increase since about 1989. Director Mary Fox tells Missourinet 53 new public defenders would be hired statewide. “This is going to make a huge difference in terms […]
(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 […]
Governor Parson plans to sign into law tomorrow restrictions on Missouri’s local health departments. The legislation bans county health departments from issuing public health orders during a state-declared emergency. It limits them to ordering the closure of businesses, schools, churches, and gatherings for up to thirty days. After that time, closures will be […]
(Missouri Independent) – Jeff Jones has lived on his family’s land east of Columbia, Missouri, his entire life. Some of the family’s farms are more than 150 years old. And Jones, who raises cattle and grows row crops, has no intentions of going anywhere. But after years of fighting, his community is home to a […]
(Missouri Independent) – Retired St. Louis Judge Evelyn Baker once sentenced a 16-year-old Black boy to 241 years in prison for two armed robberies. No one was seriously injured in the robberies, but the boy “didn’t express any remorse,” Baker said, remembering the sentencing hearing. Now, when she thinks back, Baker deeply regrets the sentence […]
(Missouri Independent) – For years after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, activists and community leaders have pushed to “re-envision public safety.” Inspired in part by the Ferguson Commission, which recommended that cities focus more resources on the root causes of crime, organizers across the state echoed these calls. But they largely fell on deaf ears. […]
The governor is expected to sign off on the gas tax increase, but an advocacy group is moving forward in trying to put the question on a general election ballot. Lawmakers approved the state’s 17-cent-a-gallon gas tax to 29.5 cents over five years, including a refund if consumers collect receipts. The increase is […]
(Missouri Independent – The simmering division among Republicans over a bill crucial to funding Missouri’s Medicaid program boiled over this week, with the state senator at the center of the debate calling for a change in the chamber’s leadership. Sen. Paul Wieland, R-Imperial, led the charge to include language banning the use of taxpayer money […]
(Missouri Independent) – From statehouses to Congress, Republicans have launched into a fight against the teaching of “critical race theory,” which just a year ago was a niche academic term. Experts in critical race theory say it’s about acknowledging how racial disparities are embedded in U.S history and society, and the concept is being mischaracterized […]
A Bethany man faces several felonies after law enforcement responded to a report of a domestic assault in progress in the 500 block of South 15th Street in Bethany Sunday. Thirty-seven-year-old Richard Gene Moad has been charged with second-degree kidnapping, third-degree domestic assault, resisting or interfering with an arrest for a felony, and first-degree endangering […]
The Associated Press reports a woman died on a farm near Harris after being attacked by a mother cow. 76-year-old Jane Heisey died Thursday morning. Sullivan County Coroner Bob Wyant says Heisey and her husband, Glenn, were in a lot near their house trying to put an ear tag on a newborn calf. The mother […]
(Missouri Independent) – Republicans in the Missouri Senate should move to shut off debate if a filibuster blocks anti-abortion lawmakers from putting their stamp on provider taxes that fund Medicaid, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said in an interview with The Independent this week. The advice was not, however, well received by the Senate’s Republican or […]
Two individuals, two businesses, and one organization will be honored by the Trenton Area Chamber of Commerce during its annual banquet/meeting on Friday, June 4, at the Black Silo Winery. The five honorees will be recognized for their service to the community, with M.G. Kennedy and Dan Wilford being named Pillars of the Community while […]
The state Legislature did not end up passing a bill this session that would let about 46,000 Missourians keep extra unemployment relief the state mistakenly gave them. Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden of Columbia says a fix could be part of a special session. Early on, Governor Parson supported the idea of the […]
