Seventeen more individuals have been charged in connection with a fraudulent scheme to obtain approximately $11.1 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and to use those funds to purchase luxury vehicles, jewelry, and other personal items. According to court documents and statements made in court, between May and August 2020, the defendants submitted or […]
U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.), along with the entire Senate Republican caucus, sent a letter to President Biden urging him to abandon his effort to impose a capital gains tax increase on family-owned businesses, farms, and ranches. Repealing this part of the tax code would have a devastating effect on multi-generation operations, which could lead […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt today announced that his office has received a term sheet from Johnson and Johnson and multiple distributors (McKesson, Amerisource Bergen, and Cardinal Health), setting the stage for the largest victim-centric settlements the State of Missouri has ever seen and tentatively securing roughly just over half a billion dollars of funding […]
U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Martin Heinrich (N.M.) introduced the bipartisan Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA) of 2021 to invest in proactive, on-the-ground conservation work led by states, territories, and Tribal nations to support the long-term health of fish and wildlife habitat all across America. “Missouri is home to some of the best hunting, […]
While no official recommendation was made due to the lack of a quorum Tuesday night for the Trenton Utility Committee, the City Council will take a look at increasing the base electric rate by seven dollars for residential customers in Trenton. This is primarily a monthly charge for having an electric meter. The current rate […]
A Texas man pleaded guilty in federal court to defrauding two Kansas City-area brothers who have also been convicted in the investment fraud scheme. Duc Nguyen, also known as “Doug,” 57, of Houston, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to one count of wire fraud. By pleading guilty, Nguyen admitted that he engaged […]
Missouri’s United States Senator Josh Hawley, who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, says it’s time for troops to leave Afghanistan. Hawley says military resources need to be moved to other more threatening locations: The president ordered troop removals and said on Wednesday that it would begin evacuating […]
(Missouri Independent) – Facing a looming shortage of beds caused by rapidly rising COVID-19 cases, healthcare providers in Springfield are asking the state to set up temporary hospital beds so existing hospital space can be dedicated to caring for the most severely ill. The alternate care site would treat patients stable enough to be removed […]
The Jamesport City Council July 12th approved offering a contract and matters involving pay. City Clerk Shelley Page reports a contract was offered to Jerry Urton as an emergency backup water and wastewater operator. Bob Walker was offered $12 an hour to help with mowing and snow removal for up to 20 hours per week. […]
(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 […]
Governor Mike Parson has signed SB 262 into law, which will increase transportation funding for critical state and local infrastructure projects across the state of Missouri. “With nearly $1 billion in unfunded transportation needs each year, we can no longer wait for another day or another generation. We must change course and address these problems head-on,” Governor Parson said. “SB […]
(Missouri Independent) – Evergy customers in parts of Missouri may be repaying electric costs for the next 15 years following February’s winter storm that forced power outages across the Midwest. Kansas City-area customers in both Kansas and Missouri, however, could see savings. In February, Winter Storm Uri caused sustained cold temperatures across much of the central United […]
The Marceline Police Department reported no one was injured, and nothing hazardous was spilled when a section of a westbound train derailed north of Marceline Thursday night, July 8. A representative for the police said there was a malfunction with a connector, and some of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe train came unhooked from the […]
(Missouri Independent) – As federal officials land in Missouri at the request of the state to assist with combatting a wave of new COVID cases spurred by the Delta variant, Gov. Mike Parson publicly rebuffed outreach strategies President Joe Biden touted. On Tuesday, a member of the newly-created federal surge response team arrived in the […]
The Trenton Park Board elected officers on July 7. Curtis Crawford was elected president, Andy Cox was re-elected vice president, and John Hamilton was elected secretary. City Council Park Board Liaison Marvin Humphreys asked what is being done about a leak at the Rock Barn that he mentioned at a previous meeting. Park Superintendent David […]
(Missouri Independent) – Bob F. Griffin, who served as speaker of the Missouri House for 15 years until he was forced to resign in the face of a federal criminal investigation, died Wednesday in Columbia. He was 85. Griffin was the longest-serving speaker in the state’s history. During his tenure as speaker from 1981 to 1996, the […]
Supporters of the U.S. Postal Service are pressing for passage of a bill to shore up the troubled agency. Twin versions of the bipartisan Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 are winding their way through committees in the U.S. House and Senate. John McHugh, a former congressman from New York who served as Secretary of the Army until […]
(Missouri Independent) – For years, Lisa Zerbe said she biked, rode horses, and ran near Ameren Missouri’s largest coal-fired power plant in Franklin County because she “naively believed” state environmental regulators were protecting citizens from pollution. Now, she won’t. “It is truly a disheartening feeling of betrayal from an agency in my younger years I […]
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s Securities Division ordered Cutting Edge Supplements, LLC, and Desmond R. Bloss to cease and desist after allegedly misusing a $60,000 investment from a Missouri couple. Between November 28, 2016, and June 30, 2017, Bloss allegedly solicited and received investment monies from a Sumner, Missouri couple to be used for his […]
Three charities will benefit from the Mid-America Music Festival in Trenton on July 16th and 17th. The Black Silo Foundation chose to support Camp Rainbow, the Green Hills Animal Shelter, and the North Central Missouri Children’s Advocacy Center. Festival Team Member Andrea McKown says one way the charities can raise money at the festival is […]
