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Rural Missouri groups threaten lawsuit over PFAS in meatpacking sludge
Industrial sludge often offered to Missouri farms as free fertilizer contains “forever chemicals,” several groups threatening to sue the state allege. Two advocacy groups along with a mid-Missouri farmer notified several sludge providers and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources of their intent to sue in a letter dated Wednesday, saying the waste presents “an […]
Ameren Missouri’s Rush Island coal plant to close following years-long litigation
One of Ameren Missouri’s largest coal plants will shut down Tuesday after more than 13 years of litigation over its failure to comply with federal clean air regulations. The St. Louis-based electric utility will retire the Rush Island Energy Center, a two-unit 1,178-megawatt coal plant on the banks of the Mississippi River in Jefferson County, […]
Jack Danforth blames Josh Hawley for Missourians losing out on radiation compensation
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley’s failure as a legislator is most glaringly obvious in the demise of a bill providing coverage to Missourians exposed to radiation from nuclear weapons development, former U.S Sen. Jack Danforth said Thursday. Danforth gave his grade on Hawley’s legislative career during a Thursday tour of the state with Joplin businessman Jared […]
New Missouri House committee will investigate impact of St. Louis nuclear waste
Missouri lawmakers will convene a special committee to study the consequences of nuclear weapons production in the St. Louis area and recommend legislation for next year, House Speaker Dean Plocher announced Thursday. In a press release, Plocher said the Special Interim Committee on the Impact of U.S. Nuclear Weapon Programs on Missouri will allow “policymakers, […]
Missouri Supreme Court rejects request for ethics investigation into AG Andrew Bailey
The Missouri Supreme Court declined to force an investigation into donations to Attorney General Andrew Bailey connected to a witness in a case his office was handling. In a filing Tuesday evening, the judges denied a request from Lucas Cierpiot — son of state Sen. Mike Cierpiot — to require the disciplinary arm of the court […]
Farmers struggle with ‘bleak’ situation as Congress waffles on new Farm Bill
The cost of fertilizer is up; crop prices are down. Farmers have struggled through drought, and ranchers sold off huge swaths of their herd. To top it all off, Congress has yet to pass a new iteration of the Farm Bill, which expires in a matter of days. And it likely won’t take action on […]
Cancer victims implore U.S. House to take up compensation for radiation exposure
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson is holding up compensation for generations of Americans who developed cancer after exposure to the nation’s nuclear weapons program, several members of Congress said Tuesday. At a news conference in Washington, D.C, U.S. House members and Senators stood beside advocates from Missouri and tribal nations in the southwest who have […]
Signs warning of radioactive waste to be installed along Missouri’s Coldwater Creek this fall
Federal officials plan to post warning signs along a contaminated suburban St. Louis creek where generations of children were exposed to radioactive material. Coldwater Creek, which winds between homes and parks in St. Louis County for 14 miles before meeting the Missouri River, is plagued with nuclear waste left over from World War II. For […]
Kansas State University researchers say carbon sequestration on farms can combat climate change
Farmers can help combat climate change and improve the health of their soil by switching to natural fertilizers and minimizing tilling, new research from Kansas State University shows. According to a paper published in June in the Soil Science Society of America Journal, analysis from a no-till cornfield in Kansas showed that manure or compost fertilizer […]
GOP legislator’s son asks Supreme Court to order inquiry into donations to Missouri AG
Eight months into his term as Missouri’s attorney general, Andrew Bailey withdrew his office from defending a state agency being sued by a legislator’s son for disability discrimination. A few months earlier, his campaign and an affiliated political action committee accepted more than $150,000 in donations connected to a witness in the case. Incensed by […]
Jackson County claims property tax order was meant to shield Missouri AG from deposition
Jackson County officials said Monday they are evaluating potential legal challenges to an order by the State Tax Commission they argue was only issued to cover for Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey. The Missouri State Tax Commission last week ordered the county to roll back most of its 2023 property valuations, finding that they had […]
Judge dismisses lawsuit before Missouri attorney general could be questioned under oath
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey narrowly avoided being questioned under oath about his contact with a Jackson County official when he was granted a motion to dismiss his lawsuit against the county on Thursday. Bailey, who filed suit against the county late last year over its property tax assessment process, was ordered by the judge […]