(Missouri Independent) – State health director Donald Kauerauf adamantly spoke against mandating face masks and COVID-19 vaccines during a hearing Monday, as anti-vaccination demonstrators protested his confirmation in the halls outside. While protesters chanted outside the Capitol hearing room, senators inside grilled Kauerauf for nearly two hours on his views on how best to mitigate […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced his Office has begun filing motions for temporary restraining orders in his lawsuits against school districts illegally enforcing mask mandates. The Missouri Attorney General’s Office filed suit against 45 school districts for continuing to enforce mask mandates. The Office filed motions for temporary restraining orders in the lawsuits against […]
Criminal penalties for shooting and killing a police dog would be enhanced under a bill working its way through the Missouri legislature. State Senator Tony Luetkemeyer of Parkville says he began working on the legislation after talking with St. Joseph Officer Lucas Winder, K-9 Max’s handler. Winder asked if penalties could be enhanced […]
(Missouri Independent) – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is planning to announce his retirement in the coming days, according to multiple press reports Wednesday. The decision by the 83-year-old justice, who was nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1994, would give President Joe Biden his first chance to nominate a member of the Supreme […]
Multiple reports were given at the North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees meeting on January 25th. Math, Science, History, and Social Behavioral Sciences Division Chairperson Doctor Lindsay Oram reported the division currently represents 10 faculty members. In the fall, there were 11 faculty members in the division, and they taught 109 course sections and […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri state employees counting on seeing a big raise in their February paychecks may be disappointed, as lawmakers fiddle with a $5.4 billion spending bill pushed by Gov. Mike Parson. When the Republican governor in December proposed a 5.5 percent pay raise for all state workers, he said he wanted it in effect by […]
(Missouri Independent) – The push to legalize recreational marijuana use in Missouri is coming from multiple directions, with a handful of proposed initiative petitions and at least one bill, and potentially more, backed by Republican lawmakers. Each hopes to place the issue on the 2022 ballot for voter approval. And each proposal also includes a […]
A panel of 20 Republicans and Democrats reportedly have agreed on a new map for the 163 seats in the Missouri House of Representatives. It’s a proposed map that makes several changes for our area legislative district. The House Independent Citizens Commission voted unanimously to approve the plan, which needed support from 14 members to […]
(Missouri Independent) – Tracie Engelmeyer was among hundreds of bus drivers who were furloughed in St. Louis County in March 2020 because of the pandemic. School-district authorities told them that even though drivers are contracted labor, they would qualify for unemployment benefits and urged them to apply. Engelmeyer recalled the conversation she had with a […]
The Gallatin R-5 Board of Education accepted two resignations after a closed session on January 19th. The resignations were from Superintendent Secretary Lesli Lin and Special Education Teacher Vickie France. They will be effective at the end of the 2021-2022 school year. During the regular meeting, the board approved entering into a one-year contract to […]
State Auditor Nicole Galloway today announced that her office has begun a regularly scheduled audit of Worth County, located in northwest Missouri. The most recent audit of Worth County was completed in September 2018, with the county receiving an overall performance rating of “good.” “My office will conduct an independent review of county operations to ensure the effective […]
A ballot initiative in Missouri is seeking to change the way statewide elections are run. Currently, in the Show-Me State, there are party primaries in August, and voters choose between the winners of the primaries in November. The Better Elections initiative seeks to move to what’s known as ranked-choice voting. Rosetta Okohson, a Democratic consultant and co-leader of the […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that Navient, one of the nation’s largest student loan servicers, entered into a civil settlement agreement with his office and 38 other states for abuses originating in predatory student loans. The agreement resulted in a $53 million settlement for Missourians: $2.5 million in restitution and $51 million in private […]
The Green Hills Animal Shelter reports social media has challenged individuals to donate $5.00 to a rescue or an animal shelter in memory of Betty White on what would have been her 100th birthday, January 17th. The shelter in Trenton would appreciate being the shelter of choice for anyone who wants to participate in the […]
(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 […]
The Trenton R-9 Board of Education heard evaluation reports on multiple programs on January 11th. Trenton Middle School Principal Daniel Gott presented the Health Services Evaluation Report, which was submitted by school nurses Tasha McCall and Tyann Cox. Gott said health office visits for the 2020-2021 school year included 33 for preschool, 4,237 for kindergarten […]
(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared unconvinced Friday of the Biden administration’s authority to impose a vaccine-or-test mandate on private businesses, casting doubt on a key piece of the White House COVID-19 response. The justices seemed potentially more comfortable with another Biden administration rule to fight the virus that requires certain […]
North Central Missouri College Criminal Justice Instructor Jenna Vandel spoke at the Trenton Rotary Club meeting on January 6th. She told about her experiences working in the state prison system before becoming a teacher. Vandel was a drug counselor and worked with individuals who were getting ready to be released from the system. She helped […]
(Missouri Independent) – If school districts want to take advantage of a lower interest rate on bonds, Missouri Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick is requiring them to certify compliance with a recent court ruling targeting local health orders before his office will approve of the deal. Fitzpatrick detailed the decision he described as “unprecedented” in an interview Wednesday […]
Power is still out for some residents in the Green Hills due to high winds and storms on Wednesday, December 15, 2021. As of the early afternoon, Evergy indicated there were two power outages in Cainsville affecting about 150 customers. There were also power outages at Laredo, Jamesport, and Ridgeway, with each of those outages […]
