Author
Missouri House bill would jeopardize millions in funding to fight water pollution
Legislation backed by Missouri agriculture groups could slash the state’s clean water enforcement, jeopardizing millions of dollars in grants and raising the specter of a federal takeover. A Missouri House committee Monday night considered legislation that would remove “nonpoint sources” from the definition of contamination source in the state’s water laws, which critics say would […]
Missouri lawmakers debate blocking University of Kansas deal with Liberty hospital
Liberty Hospital would be at risk of falling into the hands of a for-profit chain and losing important services if Missouri lawmakers block a proposed takeover by the University of Kansas Health System, a board member for the Northland hospital argued last week. Speaking to a Missouri Senate committee, Liberty Hospital board president Dennis Carter […]
Lawmakers hope to block Missouri water from being exported to other states
As climate change and groundwater pumping leave arid western states hurting for water, Missouri lawmakers are considering legislation to keep the state’s water from being shipped outside its borders. “You may hear about states like California and Kansas in the news having water shortages,” said state Sen. Jason Bean, a Republican from Holcomb. “We don’t […]
Agriculture built these High Plains towns. Now, it might run them dry
MOSCOW, Kansas — Brownie Wilson pulls off a remote dirt road right through a steep ditch and onto a farmer’s field. He hops out of his white Silverado pickup, mud covering nearly all of it except the Kansas Geological Survey logo stuck on the side with electrical tape. Dry cornstalks crunch under his work boots […]
One of nation’s only aluminum smelters set to close in Missouri Bootheel
One of the nation’s last primary aluminum smelters, which employs more than 400 workers in the Missouri Bootheel, will reportedly close its doors. The Magnitude 7 Metals plant, in the southeast Missouri town of Marston, announced Wednesday it would curtail operations, according to Industrious Labs, an industry analysis group. In a press release, Industrious Labs […]
Kansas City-area residents plead with Missouri lawmakers to stop landfill
Nine-year-old Macie Thomas loves living in Raymore. She said she spends the summers playing outside, golfing and swimming. Her best friend and her grandmother both live nearby. But Thomas told Missouri senators Tuesday that she fears a landfill proposed just over the city limits in Kansas City will change everything. Thomas said her father suffers […]
‘We got mad’: Years of pain after a childhood near radioactive Coldwater Creek in Missouri
Billy Winters’ childhood in Florissant in the 1960s sounds enviable. His parents bought a new house as thousands of other families flocked to the growing St. Louis suburbs. Winters’ neighborhood was full of other kids to play with. He spent almost every day splashing in a creek that ran near his home. But Winters didn’t […]
Meatpacker withdraws request to dump wastewater into Pomme de Terre River
A southwest Missouri meatpacker has withdrawn its request to discharge treated wastewater into an impaired river after state regulators announced their intent to deny the company a permit. Missouri Prime Beef Packers, which processes 3,500 cattle per week near Pleasant Hope, sought permission from the state last year to use a proprietary microbe technology to […]
Coldwater Creek to finally have warning signs after decades of nuclear contamination
More than 70 years after workers first realized barrels of radioactive waste risked contaminating Coldwater Creek, the federal government has started work to put up signs warning residents. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said in a statement Monday that it was working with the Environmental Protection Agency to add signs along the creek to […]
Fight over proposed Kansas City landfill will return to Missouri legislature
Communities bordering the southern stretch of Kansas City and their state legislators are gearing up once again to fight developers’ plan to build a landfill near a high-end golf course subdivision. State Rep. Mike Haffner, R-Pleasant Hill, pre-filed a bill ahead of the Missouri legislative session, set to begin in January, aimed at stopping the […]
Missouri legislative leader files bill targeting time-of-use utility pricing plans
One of Missouri’s highest-ranking lawmakers hopes to stop state regulators from forcing electric utilities to charge a premium for power used at times of high demand. The legislation filed by Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin was inspired by Evergy’s roll out of time-of-use pricing plans to its customers last summer, which included a plan that […]
University of Kansas deal with Missouri hospital feels ‘terribly wrong’ to lawmakers
The proposed takeover of Liberty Hospital in Missouri by the University of Kansas Health System is being greeted with scorn by lawmakers from both sides of the state line and both political parties. Leading the charge against the takeover in Missouri is Kansas City Democratic state Sen. Greg Razer, who said the idea of KU […]