News
Want to vote by mail in Missouri? The deadline to apply is today
Election Day is only 13 days away. But if Missourians want to vote from home, they have until 5 p.m. today (Oct. 21) to request an absentee or mail-in ballot. To help answer voters’ questions, The Missouri Independent held a Q&A on Twitter with three local election officials: Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller, Boone County […]
Nonprofit law firm hosting free educational session on sealing criminal records
Criminal records often create barriers for employment, education and housing. So how do people get their criminal records sealed, including records of conviction, arrests and even arrest where charges were not filed? That legal process is called expungement. And the ArchCity Defenders, a nonprofit law firm, is hosting a free virtual education session tonight to […]
Missouri health department investigating complaint of ‘mold growth’ on medical marijuana
Update: On Thursday, the Department of Health and Senior Services announced that after retesting the batch in question, it “found no evidence that the product batch presents a health and safety concern.” Days after the first legal sales of medical marijuana in Missouri, the Department of Health and Senior Services announced it’s investigating a complaint […]
Report: Missouri prison system records 2nd staff death from COVID
There are more than 1,000 active cases of COVID-19 among Missouri prison inmates, and a staff member at the Tipton Correctional Center is the second employee of the Department of Corrections to die of the disease, a central Missouri television station reported Tuesday. KMIZ-TV in Columbia reported that Tim Cutt of the Missouri Corrections Officers […]
As COVID spreads in Missouri, Parson and Galloway differ starkly on state’s response
September was Missouri’s deadliest month since the coronavirus outbreak began, and there have been more than 400 deaths reported since the beginning of October. Missouri’s veterans homes saw 56 residents die in just September and early October. Daily hospitalizations routinely reach record highs, with Cox Health in Southwest Missouri last week reporting that it was […]
Missouri Attorney General candidates divided on key criminal justice reform
St. Louis-native Lamar Johnson has spent 26 years in prison praying that someone would hear his case. In August 2019, that day almost came. “I finally got taken back to St. Louis, and freedom is just right there,” Johnson said in a phone call with The Independent from Jefferson City Correctional Center. “And it was […]
‘Big money bat signal’: Galloway campaign accused of sidestepping ban on coordination
In late September, Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Nicole Galloway’s campaign laid out a stinging critique of Gov. Mike Parson’s health care record on a section of its website titled “Important Election Update.” Parson “cut 100,000 kids from their health care,” the site declared, “and he opposes Medicaid expansion that would give 250,000 working people health care […]
Kauffman Stadium, KC Convention Center concessions contractor laying off 577 workers
Aramark, the contractor who operates concessions and catering services at Kauffman Stadium and the Kansas City Convention Center, is laying off 577 employees because there is not enough business at either venue. In mass-layoff notices dated Friday to the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development, Aramark reported it is also reducing the work hours […]
Morning COVID-19 report: 1,524 new Missouri cases, hospitals report strain on services
Missouri recorded 1,524 new cases and 25 additional deaths from COVID-19 Tuesday, the sixth consecutive day with more than 1,000 new cases, as hospitalizations remained at near record levels. The morning update from the Department of Health and Senior Services showed there was at least one new case in 102 of the 117 local health […]
Missouri highway patrol investigating hoax text claiming Rowden quitting politics
The Missouri State Highway Patrol is investigating a hoax text message sent Saturday night claiming state Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, was quitting his re-election campaign. The text, sent from a telephone with a 573 area code, began “Dear Voter” and reported that “family matters” that required “my immediate and undivided attention” were forcing […]
Social media ads another battleground to reach voters in Missouri governor’s race
Depending on your data and interests collected on Facebook, the advertisements pushed online by the two leading candidates for Missouri governor tell two very different stories. In the spring and early summer, Gov. Mike Parson’s Facebook advertisements focused on his pandemic response and restarting the economy. By July, when cases rose to more than 1,000 […]
Groups work to energize Missouri’s Black voters in election’s final weeks
All summer and into the fall, the Rev. Michelle Higgins has set aside any thought of leisurely weekends with her family. Instead, she and her two children have been out knocking on doors. “My children’s weekend outings are canvassing and getting to know neighbors around our church building for a specific purpose — and that […]