U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced new legislation to make social media companies liable for bodily or mental harm their products cause to children. Senator Hawley’s bill would close the Section 230 loophole protecting these companies and allow parents to sue and obtain damages from social media companies wholly or partly responsible for harm to users under […]
Tag: U.S.
Audio: House committee to hold hearing about missing foster kids report
A Missouri House committee will hold a hearing Tuesday about a new federal report on foster kids going missing and unaccounted for. The Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says 978 Missouri foster care children were missing at some point in 2019. According to the […]
Missouri man sentenced to 10 years in prison without parole for carrying almost 2.5 pounds of fentanyl aboard a train
A Missouri man was sentenced in federal court for smuggling more than a kilogram of fentanyl in his luggage aboard a train that stopped in Kansas City, Mo., from Los Angeles, Calif., bound for St. Louis, Mo. Joseph D. Christie, 43, of Poplar Bluff, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to 10 […]
Jury convicts Missouri man of meth trafficking at Camdenton, Missouri hotel
A Missouri, man has been convicted by a federal trial jury of possessing methamphetamine to distribute. Anthony Martinez Harris, 48, of Kansas City, was found guilty on Wednesday, Sept. 29, of one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. On Sept. 26, 2019, employees at the Sleep Inn on Highway 54 called Camdenton, […]
MoDOT planned road work in north Missouri for the week of October 4, 2021
The following is a list of general highway maintenance and construction work the Missouri Department of Transportation has planned in North Missouri for the week of October. 4 – 10, 2021. All road closures and planned roadwork may be viewed on the Traveler Information Map. Inclement weather may cause schedule changes in some of the […]
Congress passes bill to prevent government shutdown, Blunt only Missouri Republican in support
(Missouri Independent) – Congress made a last-minute dash to avert a government shutdown on Thursday, with the U.S. Senate and House approving a short-term spending bill just hours ahead of a midnight deadline. Every Democratic and independent senator and 15 Republicans supported the bill in the 65-35 vote. The GOP senators in the “aye” tally included […]
Missouri man pleads guilty to meth trafficking after high-speed chase
A Missouri man who led law enforcement officers on a high-speed chase pleaded guilty in federal court to possessing methamphetamine to distribute. Heath E. Yarger, 49, of Republic, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. By pleading guilty, Yarger admitted that he […]
Missouri Supreme Court mulls challenge to laws that blocked abortion bill vote
(Missouri Independent) – Making people who want to force a statewide vote on newly passed laws wait while the Secretary of State writes a ballot title undermines the constitutional right of referendum, attorneys for an abortion-rights group argued Wednesday to the Missouri Supreme Court. A ballot title was “not necessary for most of Missouri history,” […]
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 […]
‘A nightmare’: Missouri schools adapt as labor shortages upend school meal supply chain
(Missouri Independent) – Shawndra Taylor had just 12 hours notice when the first truck canceled. The truck contained food to help prepare the 3,000 meals served each day in her school district in Eldon — including items she needed to make dinner for students. Her supplier, Kohl Wholesale in Quincy, Illinois, was too short-staffed. Taylor, […]
Missouri man pleads guilty to murder for hire scheme
A Missouri, man pleaded guilty in federal court to attempting to hire an undercover law enforcement agent to murder the victim in a pending statutory sodomy case. Jon Mark Wilson, 57, of Sedalia, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Willie J. Epps Jr. to one count of the use of interstate facilities (the use of […]
Audio: International Institute preparing for influx of Afghanistan refugees to Missouri
The International Institute of St. Louis is one of 19 sites selected across the U.S. to receive refugees from Afghanistan, after the fall of that country now that U.S. troops have pulled out. The organization has dealt with refugee needs for many decades, but this case is much more demanding says Arrey Obenson the president […]
Audio: Hawley challenges U.S. Defense Secretary about troop withdrawal from Afghanistan
America’s top military leaders are facing tough questions today from the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee about the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan. The committee hearing follows the Biden Administration’s plan to withdraw troops before thousands of U.S. civilians and Afghan allies were removed from the country and 13 U.S. service members were killed by […]
Missouri Attorney General files comment letter opposing Environmental Protection Agency’s overreach
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a comment letter opposing the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to use “interim values” of the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases to regulate light-duty vehicles through emission standards. “The Biden Administration’s attempts to impose massive federal regulations on Missouri’s farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers could have vast negative impacts. Now, the […]
Senate GOP torpedoes U.S. government funding bill, raising odds of federal fiscal crises
(Missouri Independent) – U.S. Senate Republicans blocked an attempt by Democrats on Monday evening to begin debate on a broad bill that would avert multiple looming fiscal crises for the federal government. The measure to briefly keep the government operating past the end of the fiscal year on Thursday, as well as to increase the […]
Biden administration rolls out new rule to bolster DACA as lawsuit continues
(Missouri Independent) – The Biden administration on Monday unveiled a proposed new rule that would strengthen the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to protect undocumented people in the program from legal challenges. The proposed rule, announced by the Department of Homeland Security, would “preserve and fortify” the DACA program, an Obama administration-era initiative that protects […]
Who will get a booster shot? A Question and Answer about what the feds are saying
(Missouri Independent) – Booster shots soon will begin rolling out to some Americans who received the two-shot vaccine made by Pfizer—after a contentious and confusing federal approval process that isn’t over yet. Determining who exactly should be rolling up their sleeves for an additional dose was tricky. The Biden administration had leapfrogged federal regulatory panels […]
Department of Justice announces Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Grants awarded to Missouri in 2021
The Department of Justice announced that the Bureau of Justice Assistance, a component of the department’s Office of Justice Programs, has awarded almost $187 million to support state, local, and tribal public safety and community justice activities. The awards, from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program, are going to all 50 states, […]
MoDOT planned road work in North Missouri for the week of September 27, 2021
The following is a list of general highway maintenance and construction work the Missouri Department of Transportation has planned in North Missouri for the week of September 27 – Oct. 3. All road closures and planned roadwork may be viewed on the Traveler Information Map, Inclement weather may cause schedule changes in some of the […]