Briefs
Joe Biden to nominate Pete Buttigieg for transportation secretary
President-elect Joe Biden said Wednesday he will nominate former presidential primary rival Pete Buttigieg to serve in his Cabinet as secretary of transportation. “What I admire about Pete, is he’s always clear about who he is, what he believes and how he wants to bring people in, not exclude them,” Biden said at an appearance […]
Missouri vaccine rollout continues as counties face deadline for spending COVID funds
Rollout of the first COVID-19 vaccine continued in Missouri on Tuesday with a veteran who will celebrate his 100th birthday on Christmas getting a shot and the University of Missouri receiving its first shipment. The rush to get the vaccine to frontline caregivers and high-risk individuals isn’t the only thing accelerating as the end of […]
Lawsuit targets residency requirement for Missouri medical marijuana licenses
A federal lawsuit filed last week seeks to strike down a Missouri requirement that medical marijuana licenses go to businesses owned by residents of the state. A constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2018 that legalized medical marijuana requires facilities to be “majority owned by natural persons who have been citizens of the state of […]
‘I got butterflies’: Missouri’s healthcare workers receive first doses of COVID vaccine
Sarah Kiehl, an intensive care unit nurse who has been treating patients with the novel coronavirus at the Truman Medical Center, had no idea when she arrived for work Monday that she would be one of the first in Kansas City to be vaccinated against COVID-19. “To be honest, I got butterflies,” Kiehl told reporters […]
Missouri health care workers expected to start getting COVID vaccine next week
The first vaccinations for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 will likely be Thursday, state health Director Randall Williams said during a conference call Friday with reporters. With a vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech awaiting final approval from federal regulators, Williams said Missouri is expecting a shipment of 51,000 doses that will be used to […]
COVID report shows at least 100 cases in every Missouri county
Missouri reached a milestone in the COVID-19 pandemic Friday when as new cases in the state’s most sparsely populated counties showed that all 117 local health jurisdictions have had at least 100 coronavirus infections. The Department of Health and Senior Services reported four new cases each in Mercer and Worth counties, both on the Iowa […]
Federal eviction moratorium ends Dec. 31. Missouri rental aid program begins in January
Missourians who have fallen behind on their rent due to the pandemic can seek relief through the Missouri Emergency Rental Arrears Program (ERAP) beginning in January. But housing advocates fear that the help won’t come soon enough to prevent thousands of Missourians from being evicted on January 1, when the federal moratorium will be lifted. The […]
U.S. House passes bill to avert government shutdown while COVID relief talks drag on
WASHINGTON—The House on Wednesday voted to pass a stopgap spending bill, preventing a government shutdown and giving a group of bipartisan lawmakers another week to negotiate a coronavirus relief package. In an overwhelming 343-67 vote, House members backed the stopgap, which would extend fiscal 2021 funding until Dec. 18 while talks continue on the stalled […]
Missouri GOP lawmakers call on battleground states to investigate 2020 election results
With the Nov. 3 presidential election more than a month ago, over half of Missouri’s Republican state representatives — including the incoming speaker of the House — are calling on Congress to refuse to certify six battleground states’ electoral college votes unless they investigate their results. Rep. Justin Hill, a Republican from Lake St. Louis, […]
Consumer groups seek Missouri utility shut off moratorium
A coalition of consumer and health care advocates are asking the Missouri Public Service Commission to impose a moratorium on utility cutoffs for the winter to help control the spread of COVID-19. The Consumers Council of Missouri, with support from the Missouri Hospital Association, Empower Missouri and the National Housing Trust, filed the request Tuesday […]
Missouri AG joins lawsuit challenging presidential election results in four states
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has thrown his support behind a lawsuit seeking to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s wins in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. On Tuesday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit asking the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate election results in the four battleground states. He is claiming changes to election procedures […]
Missouri students will take standardized tests. Results won’t factor into accountability measures
State standardized tests will still be administered for the 2020-21 school year, but their results will not be factored into state and federal accountability systems, following a vote of the Missouri State Board of Education on Tuesday. While test results won’t be incorporated into accountability measures, such as school district accreditation, board members spoke of […]