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Endangered fish, leaching ash ponds: Environmental groups oppose Missouri coal plant permit
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 would have imagined […]
Some of Missouri’s largest CAFOs are seeking less stringent state regulation
Eleven of Missouri’s largest concentrated animal feeding operations are working to reduce the state’s oversight of their hog facilities despite a record of manure spills and clean water violations. Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork producer, has 11 CAFOs seeking new state permits. The facilities, dotted across northern Missouri, combined are capable of raising more […]
Missouri, Kansas utilities may use loophole to charge customers for fossil fuel lobbying
KANSAS CITY — Missouri and Kansas residents’ utility bills may be helping to bankroll energy sector lobbying against policies aimed at lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Federal and state rules prohibit utility companies from passing their lobbying costs on to customers through bills. But in both Kansas and Missouri, utilities like Evergy, Ameren and Spire can […]
Push for disclosure of Missouri medical marijuana records runs into veto threat
An effort by lawmakers to require disclosure of ownership information for businesses granted medical marijuana licenses was derailed on Thursday, when state regulators suggested a possible gubernatorial veto. On Tuesday, the Missouri House voted to require the Department of Health and Senior Services provide legislative oversight committees with records regarding who owns the businesses licensed […]
Are Missouri Republicans pushing to change primary elections because of Eric Greitens?
Missouri Republicans are pushing for changes in the state’s primary elections to require a runoff if no candidate garners more than 50% of the vote. And some think they know what inspired the change. “We are changing the way we are doing elections in Missouri for one person,” said Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, D-Independence. […]
Schmitt joins Republican AGs taking aim at ‘social cost of carbon’ emissions
The attorneys general in Missouri and Kansas have joined their Republican counterparts in 20 states demanding that the federal government not consider the social cost of carbon emissions when determining whether to approve new natural gas pipelines. Eric Schmitt of Missouri and Derek Schmidt of Kansas filed comments with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Monday […]
Grain Belt transmission line forges ahead amid landowner, lawmaker pushback
On the heels of a historic cold snap that left thousands across the Midwest without power, Kansas and Missouri residents could soon reap the benefits of a massive high-powered transmission line delivering renewable energy. Grain Belt Express, a project a decade in the making, is starting to acquire land along its route spanning across nearly […]
The gender vaccine gap: More women than men are getting COVID shots
Mary Ann Steiner drove 2½ hours from her home in University City to the tiny Ozark town of Centerville to get vaccinated against COVID-19. After pulling into the drive-thru line in a church parking lot, she noticed that the others waiting for shots had something in common with her. “Everyone in the very short line […]
Republican lawmakers vote down funding for Missouri Medicaid expansion
A partisan battle over Medicaid expansion in the House Budget Committee ended Thursday with a vote against spending $1.9 billion to implement the medical program approved by voters in August. The arguments for and against a special spending bill that separated expansion costs from other Medicaid budget lines echoed the debates of past years – […]
Missouri will add antigen tests to its COVID report, increasing positive case counts
Data on COVID-19 infections that local health departments have been reporting for months – and telling their communities represent the most accurate picture of the virus’ spread – will be added to the state health reports starting Friday The change is expected to add tens of thousands of cases to the state’s report that on […]
What Senate Republicans are saying about Trump’s impeachment trial
WASHINGTON — The second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump is set to begin Tuesday, when the Senate will start hearing arguments over whether Trump should be convicted of inciting the violent mob that lay siege to the Capitol. So far, no Senate Republican has outright backed a vote to convict Trump, and many […]
Last known widow of a Civil War veteran dies in Marshfield
The last known living link to a person who served in the Union Army was severed in December when 101-year-old Helen Viola Jackson, widow of a Missouri soldier, died in a Marshfield nursing home. For the first 98 years of her life, Jackson was known as a woman who had never married. She had no […]