The Livingston County Sheriff’s Department has been awarded six preliminary breath testing instruments from a grant application to the Missouri Department of Transportation Highway Safety and Traffic Division. Sheriff Steve Cox reports the preliminary breath testing instruments are assigned to road patrol deputy sheriffs to assist with driving while intoxicated investigations and can be “a […]
(Missouri Independent) – In 2018, 66% of Missouri voters voted to legalize medical marijuana, picking a Constitutional amendment proposal floated by a group called New Approach Missouri. Two and a half years later, access to medical marijuana remains limited, due to both a cap on the number of licenses and the extremely high regulatory compliance […]
The Gallatin Board of Aldermen this week approved an ordinance and resolution regarding the setting of electric rates. City Clerk Hattie Rains reports the ordinance authorized the city, going forward, to use a resolution instead of an ordinance to set electric rates. The resolution changed the electric rates for citizens and businesses. The rates will […]
A north Missouri businessman who was involved in the largest organic fraud scheme in American history has been sentenced to probation and fined. Federal prosecutors in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, say Steven Whiteside has been sentenced to three years probation and fined 45-thousand dollars. Whiteside lives near Chillicothe, which is east of St. Joseph. […]
A Chillicothe man faces felony charges after a two-vehicle accident in Livingston County on May 23 that the Highway Patrol reports caused the death of a Hale man. Thirty-three-year-old Steven Lee Wilson has been charged with driving while intoxicated, death of another, and DWI, serious physical injury. Bond was originally set at $50,000 cash only, […]
One of the individuals has died after being injured when a pickup truck struck a utility terrain vehicle in rural Livingston County. Seventy-five-year-old Charles Plummer of Hale died Monday morning at Liberty Hospital after being flown there by medical helicopter following the Sunday night accident on Route JJ, one and a half miles north of […]
An accident overnight injured two people, including a pedestrian, on Livingston County Route JJ. The driver of a northbound pickup was arrested after it collided with a stopped utility terrain vehicle one and a half miles north of Avalon. Serious injuries were reported for the operator of the John Deere Gator, 75-year-old Charles Plummer of […]
Toth and Associates presented an electric rate change proposal at a special Gallatin Board of Aldermen meeting on May 19th. City Clerk Hattie Rains reports the board voted to approve the proposal, and an official ordinance will be presented on May 24th. She notes the proposal involved changing from a multi-tier rate structure to a […]
A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of three people who would become eligible for government-funded healthcare on July 1. It seeks an order for the state Department of Social Services to allow them to enroll and receive the same coverage as Missourians currently enrolled in the program. The lawsuit argues there is no legal […]
The next state budget does not include funding to expand Medicaid healthcare coverage to another 275-thousand low-income Missouri adults. The Republican-controlled Missouri Legislature refused to fund the expansion – setting up an expected court battle. John Rizzo, the top Democrat in the Missouri Senate, says the GOP is more concerned about their next office. […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri regulators on Tuesday eased the rules governing the design of massive industrial hog facilities in a move critics claim was meant to help one controversial facility. The state’s Clean Water Commission voted 5-1 to narrow the definition of groundwater in the state’s rules governing the construction of “concentrated animal feeding operations” […]
The governor traveled to eastern Missouri’s Moscow Mills on Tuesday to help cut the ribbon on a three-million-dollar expansion project at one of the town’s largest manufacturers. Governor Mike Parson says the expansion at Elite Tool is creating 20 new jobs. The new jobs will pay an average salary of more than 41-thousand […]
The Missouri Department of Conservation is set to launch a new canine unit through its Protection Branch this summer. The new unit, consisting of five dogs and their conservation agent-handlers, will be stationed around the state and used as necessary to work throughout Missouri. According to MDC, the capabilities of canines are extensive in conservation-related […]
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 […]
(Missouri Independent) – The pathway to renewing provider taxes essential to funding Medicaid before Missouri lawmakers adjourn for the year became much narrower when issues raised by abortion opponents forced removal of the taxes from a health care bill. When a conference committee met to work out differences between the House and Senate on the bill, […]
The Missouri Senate has passed a contentious gun rights bill. The “Second Amendment Preservation Act” attempts to invalidate federal gun regulations. Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo of Independence spoke in favor of an amendment that would have closed a loophole letting convicted domestic violence abusers own a gun. The amendment to the overall bill failed. […]
Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and 43 of his Republican colleagues sent a letter urging President Joe Biden to stand with Israel. While Israel remains under attack from Iranian-backed terrorists, the Biden Administration is negotiating and potentially offering sanctions relief to Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. The Senators called on President Biden to immediately end negotiations […]
The Gallatin Board of Aldermen approved an ordinance on May 10th authorizing the city to enter into an engineering service agreement regarding a wastewater collection system evaluation facility plan. City Administrator Lance Rains reports the agreement with All-State Consultants involved a Small Community Engineering Assistance Program (SCEAP) grant. The company evaluated the infiltration and inundation […]
The Trenton R-9 Board of Education on Tuesday, May 11, discussed non-certified payroll annualization with district Bookkeeper Mona Loyd and Administrative Assistant Susan Leeper. Loyd started by saying she had been willing to try annualization at the time the board originally voted to implement it for non-certified staff. She did not have the forethought to […]
Missouri is designating 50-million dollars in federal coronavirus aid to create K-12 teacher recruitment and retention grants. The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will make 10,000-dollar grants available to all Missouri public school districts and charter schools to create or expand local teacher recruitment programs. Currently, 20 percent of Missouri school […]
