The 101st General Assembly of the Missouri legislature begins January 6th with members being sworn in. Seventh District State Representative Rusty Black of Chillicothe will begin his third term. Black reports he has asked to remain on the Budget Committee. He has also asked to continue to be the Appropriations Chair for Education and the […]
U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) are introducing a bipartisan amendment to attach to must-pass legislation to be considered by Congress, which would provide $1,200 in direct payments to working-class adults and $500 to each of their children. This amendment, similar to what was passed in the CARES Act, would be attached to must-pass […]
Missouri’s 1st firearms elk hunting season gets underway at 1st light on Saturday morning. Yet only 5 Missourians will get the chance to shoot an elk tomorrow. The Conservation department issued the permits to 5 lucky Missourians randomly drawn from more than 19,000 applicants. Selected hunters representing Van Buren, Mount Vernon, St. Thomas, […]
A key Food and Drug Administration panel has recommended approving Pfizer’s request for emergency use of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine. Missouri is preparing for the vaccine’s arrival. The full FDA could endorse the drug maker’s request as early as today. When approval happens, the vaccine is expected to be shipped to Missouri within […]
Missouri is in an unprecedented warming and wet pattern – especially in the winter and spring, according to University of Missouri climatologist Pat Guinan. He points out Missouri weather can change quickly – as shown by the drought in 2012, however, Guinan (guh’ Nan) says the state’s climate has become warmer and wetter. […]
A Missouri senator who serves on the Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill says changes must be made at Missouri veteran’s homes, following a recent COVID outbreak. At least 138 veterans living at state veterans’ homes have died from the coronavirus since September. Senator Josh Hawley has read Armstrong Teasdale’s report, which says the Missouri […]
Rapid COVID-19 tests have been delivered to about 290 Missouri K-12 public and private schools. State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Spokesperson Mallory McGowin says an initial shipment of the BinaxNOW antigen tests have been distributed to them – for good reason. Another 95 schools are awaiting a shipment of the tests. […]
Health departments in rural northeast Missouri are begging for cooperation and honesty when it comes to contact tracing. Knox County health officials say they’re getting incomplete information. WGEM’s Frank Healy reports from Edina. Health officials say they keep getting incomplete information. Knox County health administrator Lori Moots-Clair tells Quincy affiliate WGEM that being […]
A turkey processing plant in southwest Missouri is cutting hundreds of jobs. Ty Albright of Missourinet affiliate KZRG in Joplin has the details. Butterball also said a limited number of turkey growers would be affected by the change, but it does not expect Carthage-area growers to be impacted.
The CDC continues its work in Missouri to help local K-12 schools and public health leaders review current COVID-19 measures. Schools participating in the first-of-its-kind pilot project are being identified in St. Charles, St. Louis, and Greene Counties. During a Missouri Board of Education meeting this week, State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education spokeswoman […]
The state treasurer’s office worked with another agency to bring some good news to Missourians filing for unemployment. As Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick explains “the state had unclaimed property and money, and when COVID-19 hit the economy, thousands of citizens lost their jobs.” To date, the Treasurer’s office has connected citizens to more than […]
Attorney General Eric Schmitt joined a bipartisan coalition of 48 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against Facebook Inc., alleging that the company illegally stifles competition to protect its monopoly power. The filing can be found here. The lawsuit alleges that, over the last decade, the social networking giant illegally acquired competitors in a predatory manner […]
Pfizer and Moderna are readying their COVID-19 vaccines for distribution. In Missouri, 10 hospital and lab sites have already been designated to help with delivery. Now that the COVID-19 vaccines are on their way, Senator Roy Blunt says he intends to get it when it is his turn, but first. Senator Blunt chairs […]
The Missouri Board of Education voted Tuesday to avoid using 2021 standardized test results for state and federal accountability. Members still want the state’s K-12 public school students to take statewide tests next year, but they do not want the results to count against schools for funding and accreditation purposes. The move might lower the […]
State Senator Cindy O’Laughlin of northern Missouri’s Shelbina wants to limit pay for Missouri’s K-12 public school superintendents. Under a bill she has pre-filed, total compensation could not exceed 3.5 times the average total compensation provided to all certified, full-time teachers employed by the district. Missouri has about 551 public and charter schools. The Missouri […]
Missouri’s senior senator says he’s working to ensure that the Show-Me State is getting a healthy share of federal broadband funding. Republican Roy Blunt addressed Missouri Farm Bureau members during their annual meeting this weekend, saying the Re-Connect program has invested 200-million dollars in Missouri, which is 20 percent of all support nationwide. […]
Current Missouri law requires preventative HIV medication to be prescribed by a doctor. Newly-elected Kansas City State Senator Greg Razer plans to pre-file a Bill that would allow pharmacists to give an emergency dose over the counter to those exposed to the virus. Razer calls the bill the last piece to end the AIDS epidemic. […]
Missouri’s Attorney General and 50 other attorneys general have reached an 86-million dollar settlement with the nation’s fourth-largest mortgage servicer. Schmitt says the consent judgment resolves allegations that Nationstar violated consumer protection laws during its servicing of mortgage loans. Schmitt says the agreement will provide 850-thousand dollars in relief, for more than 800 […]
A new White House Coronavirus Task Force report says the COVID-19 risk is at a historic high. The latest report, dated November 29, says “America is in a dangerous place” due to the current, extremely high COVID-19 baseline and limited hospital capacity. It says a further post-Thanksgiving surge will compromise COVID patient care […]
The Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives has voted largely along party lines in favor of decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level. Missouri’s Democratic members voted in support and Republicans voted against the plan. GOP Congresswoman Ann Wagner did not vote on the measure. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, or MORE Act, would remove […]
