Tag Archives: Missouri

The Jefferson City Leader reports: Matthew Bryan Thilges, 60, of House Springs has been sentenced to seven years in prison for possession of child pornography. He also has been ordered to pay a total of $57,000 in restitution to 17 victims, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced. Thilges was sentenced Sept. 20 after pleading guilty on June 7 to receiving child …

The Kansas City Star reports: A Republican candidate for Missouri governor on Monday vowed to burn books if elected after he was criticized for a video showing him burning cardboard boxes with a flamethrower. The video, which has gone viral on social media, shows state Sen. Bill Eigel, a Weldon Spring Republican who is running for governor in 2024, and …

First, a new report by the American Library Association: Texas made the most attempts to ban or restrict books in 2022, according to a new report from the American Library Association. Florida, South Carolina, Missouri and Utah weren’t far behind. Shirley Robinson of the Texas Library Association told the association: “Book challenges and censorship are nothing new. Libraries have faced …

Springfield’s NBC affiliate reports: On Wednesday, September 6, Beulah Church in Richland, Mo., held a live-streamed sermon hosted by Pastor Rick Morrow. In the sermon, Morrow made comments that caused a massive backlash in the Richland community and across the country. What’s more is that in addition to being a pastor, Morrow was on the board of Stoutland schools until …

The Associated Press reports: Former Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon of Missouri is joining No Labels ‘ increasingly contentious effort to lay the groundwork for a moderate third-party presidential ticket in the 2024 election. He gives the embattled organization another prominent ally amid escalating concerns from Democratic officials that the No Labels campaign could unintentionally help Republican Donald Trump return to …

The Associated Press reports: Missouri House Minority Leader Crystal Quade is running for governor, and the Democrat from Springfield made the announcement Sunday in a campaign video that featured her bowling through skaters on a roller derby track. Quade, a social worker first elected to the House in 2016, painted herself as unafraid of rough and rowdy politics while wearing …

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports: A Cole County judge Tuesday rejected an attempt by Missouri’s top lawyer to stop a constitutional amendment to restore abortion rights, and ordered him to approve the fiscal note summary within 24 hours of the ruling. In a 28-page ruling, Circuit Judge Jon Beetem said Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who has refused to sign off …

Kansas City’s Fox affiliate reports: A former Overland Park private school teacher learned his fate after pleading guilty to more than two dozen crimes against children. As part of a plea deal, a Johnson County judge sentenced Joseph Heidesch to more than five years in prison. He cannot request probation. In December, Joseph Heidesch pleaded guilty to one felony count …

The Associated Press reports: Officials in Missouri’s largest city are moving to declare it a sanctuary for people seeking or providing gender-affirming care, defying state officials who are intent on banning it for minors and restricting it for adults. A Kansas City Council committee approved such a resolution Wednesday. The full council will now consider it Thursday. The council members …

The St. Louis Riverfront Times reports: A Lincoln County man who admitted to hiding cameras in bathrooms at a St. Charles children’s amusement center and a Catholic church in Troy, Missouri, was sentenced to 19 years in prison yesterday. Jeffery Eisenbath, 33, placed the cameras in the Adrenaline Zone, an indoor facility off First Capitol Drive with laser tag and …

Springfield’s CBS affiliate reports: Republic Police Department officers were called to a Price Cutter to respond to a call about a robbery in which a man held an employee at gunpoint so that he would be served meat. Larry Gene Gay, 70, of Springfield, is charged with one felony count of unlawful use of a weapon and a felony count …

Christopher Kane reports at the Washington Blade: The office of Missouri’s Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey on Friday removed an online form, first made available in March, that was used to collect reports or complaints about gender transition interventions that Missourians have either experienced or observed. A spokesperson for Bailey, Madeline Sieren, told the Washington Blade the move was necessary …

The Associated Press reports: Missouri’s attorney general announced new restrictions Thursday on gender-affirming care for adults in addition to minors in a move that is believed to be a first nationally and has advocacy groups threatening to sue. Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced plans to restrict health care for transgender people weeks ago, when protesters rallied at the Capitol to …

The Associated Press reports: Missouri’s top election official Jay Ashcroft on Thursday announced he is running for governor as a Republican. The secretary of state is campaigning to replace GOP Gov. Mike Parson, who is prohibited by term limits from running again in 2024. He faces a primary election that will include Republican Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, who announced plans …

St. Louis’s NBC affiliate reports: Public libraries are feeling the heat after the Missouri House perfected budget bills that would eliminate state funding for libraries across state, citing a controversial lawsuit as the reason. Rep. Cody Smith (R-Carthage), the House Budget Committee chairman, proposed to cut the entire $4.5 million budget slated for Missouri libraries last week after the American …

The Kansas City Star reports: For the second time in a month, an openly gay Missouri Republican lawmaker will face a censure vote from the Jackson County Republican Party for trying to redefine marriage in the state constitution as between “two individuals” instead of “a man and a woman.” The planned censure targets state Rep. Chris Sander, a Lone Jack …

Fox News reports: Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has issued an emergency regulation regarding gender transition interventions on minors and launched a website to report allegations of malpractice at gender clinics in the state. “It’s about protecting children for me,” Bailey told Fox News Digital. “We’ve got to inject some sanity into this conversation. Gender is an objective reality defined …

Gizmodo reports: A subset of Missouri legislators care deeply about freedom. For instance: The God-given right to NOT accept a life-saving vaccination and still attend public school or go to work in a hospital. Also, the freedom to not be forcibly injected with a (non-existent) microchip device or a DNA-altering substance. Lawmakers in the state’s House have advanced a bill …

Hannibal’s CBS affiliate reports: The Quincy Police Department says an investigation began in January on Isaiah W. Mikkelson after law enforcement was contacted by a parent of a juvenile that had disclosed possible sexual abuse by a Youth Director/Pastor, at Hope Lutheran Church. Police say during the investigation, multiple juveniles were interviewed at the Child Advocacy Center and alleged abuse …

The Huffington Post reports: Rep. Phil Christofanelli, a gay Republican, challenged Rep. Ann Kelley on the House floor last week over the logic of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill she sponsored, wondering if it would also prohibit teaching about heterosexuality, which is a sexual orientation. “You mentioned George Washington. Who is Martha Washington?” Christofanelli asked. “His wife,” Kelley answered. “Under …