Screenshot of RLE International website

RLE International to build new facility in Kansas City, investing $7.5 million and creating 85 new jobs

 Global engineering and design company RLE International announced it will establish a new Modification and Engineering Center in Kansas City, investing $7.5 million and creating 85 high-paying jobs. RLE’s state-of-the-art facility will provide complex engineering, design, and build solutions for automotive and mobility clients. “Missouri is a global leader in innovation and advanced manufacturing, which […]

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

Video: Biden taps Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as first black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court

(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden formally announced the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday afternoon. “President Biden sought a candidate with exceptional credentials, unimpeachable character, and unwavering dedication to the rule of law,” the White House said in a statement. If confirmed by the Senate, Jackson, 51, […]

Chillicothe City Hall

Chillicothe City Council to meet on Monday

The Chillicothe City Council next week will discuss an ordinance that would approve the Missouri Firefighters Cancer Award Program. The council will meet in the Chillicothe Municipal Utilities meeting room on February 28, 2022, at 5:30 pm. The agenda also includes annual service reports from the University of Missouri Extension Center, Chillicothe Area Chamber of Commerce, […]

Defund The Police Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash

U.S. House hearing on extremism toward minorities turns into ‘defund the police’ debate

(Missouri Independent) – Leaders of faith organizations and Historically Black Colleges and Universities told members of a U.S. House panel on Thursday how their institutions and places of worship have been roiled by bomb threats and extremism. They talked about the recent waves of bomb threats aimed at HBCUs, a terrifying hostage-taking at a Texas […]

American Farm Bureau Federation president Zippy Duvall spoke at the organization’s 2022 annual convention in Atlanta, Georgia (photo provided by American Farm Bureau Federation)

American Farm Bureau Federation claims it’s the ‘voice of agriculture,’ Others beg to differ

(Missouri Independent) – This story was originally published as a collaboration between Investigate Midwest and Watchdog Writers Group. The American Farm Bureau Federation calls itself the “voice of agriculture,” a slogan it trademarked in 2007. But as the divide between agribusiness and small farmers has grown in recent decades, a unified voice of agriculture has become harder to […]

Accident-Crash graphic

Two pickups collide west of Osborn

A Kansas City resident was hurt when a pickup truck collided with another pickup that was turning into a field entrance west of Osborn. Twenty-one-year-old Peter Tran, the driver of one of the vehicles, was taken to Liberty Hospital with minor injuries. The other driver, 21-year old Zane Venema of Kansas city, was not reported […]

Missouri Secretary of State website

Missouri Securities Division Partners with CFTC and 26 states to stop $68 million precious metals scheme

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s Securities Division announced that it is participating in a consolidated enforcement action to stop a $68 million fraudulent precious metals scheme that, to date, has allegedly defrauded at least 450 investors nationwide, including eighteen investors from Missouri. A complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Central District […]

CRP Website Revised (Conservation Reserve Program website)

USDA announces Conservation Reserve Program signups for 2022

Agricultural producers and landowners can sign up soon for the Conservation Reserve Program,  a cornerstone conservation program offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a key tool in the Biden-Harris Administration effort to address climate change and achieve other natural resource benefits. The General CRP signup will run from Jan. 31 to March 11, and the […]

Jobs Report

Missouri monthly job report shows unemployment rate at 3.5 percent

Missouri non-farm payroll employment increased from October 2021 to November 2021, and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by two-tenths of a percentage point. Employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 7,600 jobs over the month, with job gains in both the goods-producing and service-providing industries. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.5 percent in November […]

Missouri businesses oppose ban on COVID vaccine mandates, argue it’s their choice

(Missouri Independent) – Proposals that would bar COVID-19 vaccine mandates and provide greater exemptions for vaccinations more broadly faced a wave of opposition from Missouri business groups Wednesday. Representatives for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Associated Industries of Missouri, Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and other business associations made clear to lawmakers […]

Parson signing new legislation

Governor Parson signs Executive Order 22-1 establishing Missouri Early Childhood State Advisory Council

Governor Mike Parson signed Executive Order 22-1 to consolidate Missouri’s early childhood advisory groups into one with the creation of the Missouri Early Childhood State Advisory Council.  “Last year, we streamlined services to Missouri’s children and families by consolidating the state’s fragmented early childhood programs into the Office of Childhood. This year, we are further […]