BROWN COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating a suspect on multiple allegations after an incident in Missouri.

Just after 10:30a.m. Tuesday, Nodaway County, Missouri law enforcement notified Brown County law enforcement dispatch about a man, identified as 41-year-old Matthew Olson from Hiawatha, Kansas who was involved as a suspect in a&nbsp; "shots fired" incident in their county, according to Brown County Sheriff John Merchant.

Olson was reported driving a gold or tan SUV type vehicle with a Kansas license plate.&nbsp; Brown County deputies , KHP, Hiawatha Police, Sac and Fox, Iowa and Kickapoo Police all staged at various areas of the county to try and intercept the vehicle should Olson try and returnt o Hiawatha.&nbsp;

Just before noon, the vehicle was stopped in Hiawatha in the Carpet Plus parking lot and Olson taken into custody without incident.

Olson is being held in the Brown County jail on requested Nodaway County charges of Criminal Discharge of a Weapon, Telecom Harassment, and Possession of a Controlled Substance.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1755708670405.png" alt="Olson photo Brown County" />
 <figcaption>Olson photo Brown County</figcaption>
 </figure>BROWN COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating a suspect on multiple allegations after an incident in Missouri.Just after 10:30a.m. Tuesday, Nodaway County, Missouri law enforcement notified Brown County law enforcement dispatch about a man, identified as 41-year-old Matthew Olson from Hiawatha, Kansas who was involved as a suspect in a&nbsp; "shots fired" incident in their county, according to Brown County Sheriff John Merchant.Olson was reported driving a gold or tan SUV type vehicle with a Kansas license plate.&nbsp; Brown County deputies , KHP, Hiawatha Police, Sac and Fox, Iowa and Kickapoo Police all staged at various areas of the county to try and intercept the vehicle should Olson try and returnt o Hiawatha.&nbsp;Just before noon, the vehicle was stopped in Hiawatha in the Carpet Plus parking lot and Olson taken into custody without incident.Olson is being held in the Brown County jail on requested Nodaway County charges of Criminal Discharge of a Weapon, Telecom Harassment, and Possession of a Controlled Substance.

Kansas man captured after alleged crimes in Nodaway County

Following the passage of a law banning mobile phone use, school boards have quickly adopted policies banning the devices from bell to bell

By:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/ahanshaw/">Annelise Hanshaw</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>

Amidst a plethora of back-to-school reminders, Missouri public schools are making a special effort to inform parents about a new state law banning cell phones during the school day.

The law, signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe in July, requires school districts to set a policy barring students from using mobile devices except for in emergencies or when instructed by a teacher. And with most students returning to classrooms this week, districts have been warning parents about the new expectations.

“I don’t know any district that’s fighting this,” Susan Goldammer, policy chief for the Missouri School Boards’ Association, told The Independent. “Most of the folks that I’ve spoken to are secretly quite happy that they have a little bit of additional authority to explain to parents why (devices) are not allowed.”

Goldammer wrote the association’s model policy that many Missouri school boards have personalized and adopted within the last month. Districts have asked about details, like exceptions for students with medical issues requiring access to cell phones, but they are largely ready to start the school year with the new policy.

Some Missouri districts already had bans on cell phones, while others were considering adding restrictions. For them, the law is a welcome addition and helps fight any pushback from parents and students.

“I have been surprised at how easy it was for districts to do this, and I can’t help but think that’s because all of the adults now are realizing it is not good to have the kind of electronic connectivity that kids have all the time,” Goldammer said.

The law is more restrictive than other states by banning cell phone usage throughout the entire school day instead of only during instructional time. But it allows for some nuances, giving districts the ability to choose how to enforce the policy and how devices will be stored.

Most districts have told parents that smartwatches are barred, citing the law’s ban of any “portable device that is used to initiate, receive, store, or view communication, information, images or data electronically.”

The Rockwood School District in Eureka,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.parentsquare.com/feeds/54342171" target="_blank">in a message to parents</a>, indicated that it wasn’t completely banning smartwatches but that it expects students “to only use their smartwatch for the purpose of keeping time and not for communication purposes during school hours.”

The North Kansas City School District, though, will restrict all uses of smartwatches. The district included the question “Can my student wear their smartwatch if they aren’t using it for communication?” on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nkcschools.org/district/dept/technology/personal-device-policy" target="_blank">its website</a>, telling parents that smartwatches are barred but fitness trackers without message capabilities are allowed.

Districts also have different expectations on how devices will be stowed, though most are allowing students to have their devices turned off in their backpacks.

St. Louis Public Schools’ board of education approved a policy that allows for each school to choose its phone-collection method.&nbsp;

“This flexibility acknowledges the diverse operational needs and preferences expressed by elementary and secondary staff and families,” Superintendent Millicent Borishade wrote in her August&nbsp;<a href="https://www.slps.org/Page/81605" target="_blank">newsletter</a>.

In&nbsp;<a href="https://slps.community.highbond.com/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Id=520" target="_blank">its Aug. 12 meeting</a>, the board also approved the purchase of locking phone pouches from Yondr for Gateway STEM High School at a cost of $40,000.

Goldammer anticipates that more districts will be considering purchasing phone-storage systems and evolving their policies before next school year. With a little over a month between the law’s passage and the first day of school, districts had time to set policies, but many were not able to make large purchases that quickly, she said.

But for now, administrators will be working on the best ways to execute the policy.

“There will be a learning curve,” Goldammer said. “There will be kids that break the rules. There always are.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679496400146.jpg" alt="image Pixaby" />
 <figcaption>image Pixaby</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Following the passage of a law banning mobile phone use, school boards have quickly adopted policies banning the devices from bell to bell</h2>By:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/ahanshaw/">Annelise Hanshaw</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>Amidst a plethora of back-to-school reminders, Missouri public schools are making a special effort to inform parents about a new state law banning cell phones during the school day.The law, signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe in July, requires school districts to set a policy barring students from using mobile devices except for in emergencies or when instructed by a teacher. And with most students returning to classrooms this week, districts have been warning parents about the new expectations.“I don’t know any district that’s fighting this,” Susan Goldammer, policy chief for the Missouri School Boards’ Association, told The Independent. “Most of the folks that I’ve spoken to are secretly quite happy that they have a little bit of additional authority to explain to parents why (devices) are not allowed.”Goldammer wrote the association’s model policy that many Missouri school boards have personalized and adopted within the last month. Districts have asked about details, like exceptions for students with medical issues requiring access to cell phones, but they are largely ready to start the school year with the new policy.Some Missouri districts already had bans on cell phones, while others were considering adding restrictions. For them, the law is a welcome addition and helps fight any pushback from parents and students.“I have been surprised at how easy it was for districts to do this, and I can’t help but think that’s because all of the adults now are realizing it is not good to have the kind of electronic connectivity that kids have all the time,” Goldammer said.The law is more restrictive than other states by banning cell phone usage throughout the entire school day instead of only during instructional time. But it allows for some nuances, giving districts the ability to choose how to enforce the policy and how devices will be stored.Most districts have told parents that smartwatches are barred, citing the law’s ban of any “portable device that is used to initiate, receive, store, or view communication, information, images or data electronically.”The Rockwood School District in Eureka,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.parentsquare.com/feeds/54342171" target="_blank">in a message to parents</a>, indicated that it wasn’t completely banning smartwatches but that it expects students “to only use their smartwatch for the purpose of keeping time and not for communication purposes during school hours.”The North Kansas City School District, though, will restrict all uses of smartwatches. The district included the question “Can my student wear their smartwatch if they aren’t using it for communication?” on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nkcschools.org/district/dept/technology/personal-device-policy" target="_blank">its website</a>, telling parents that smartwatches are barred but fitness trackers without message capabilities are allowed.Districts also have different expectations on how devices will be stowed, though most are allowing students to have their devices turned off in their backpacks.St. Louis Public Schools’ board of education approved a policy that allows for each school to choose its phone-collection method.&nbsp;“This flexibility acknowledges the diverse operational needs and preferences expressed by elementary and secondary staff and families,” Superintendent Millicent Borishade wrote in her August&nbsp;<a href="https://www.slps.org/Page/81605" target="_blank">newsletter</a>.In&nbsp;<a href="https://slps.community.highbond.com/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Id=520" target="_blank">its Aug. 12 meeting</a>, the board also approved the purchase of locking phone pouches from Yondr for Gateway STEM High School at a cost of $40,000.Goldammer anticipates that more districts will be considering purchasing phone-storage systems and evolving their policies before next school year. With a little over a month between the law’s passage and the first day of school, districts had time to set policies, but many were not able to make large purchases that quickly, she said.But for now, administrators will be working on the best ways to execute the policy.“There will be a learning curve,” Goldammer said. “There will be kids that break the rules. There always are.”

Missouri districts begin new school year with state-mandated cell-phone ban

Certain raw frozen shrimp products processed by PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati (doing business as BMS Foods), a company located in Indonesia, and sold at Walmart stores in Missouri and a dozen other states, according to a statement from the FDA.

These products include the following product names, lot codes, and best by dates:&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.fda.gov/food/alerts-advisories-safety-information/fda-advises-public-not-eat-sell-or-serve-certain-imported-frozen-shrimp-indonesian-firm#ProductDesc">Additional product information is in a table below.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;

At this time, no product that has tested positive or alerted for Cesium-137 (Cs-137) has entered the U.S. commerce. FDA is working with distributors and retailers that received product from PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati after the date of first detection of Cs-137 by Customs &amp; Border Protection (CBP), but from shipments that did not alert for Cs-137, to recommend that firms conduct a recall. In conjunction with other information, FDA determined that product from PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati violates the Federal Food, Drug, &amp; Cosmetic Act in that it appears to have been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have become contaminated with Cs-137 and may pose a safety concern.&nbsp;

FDA has also added PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cms_ia/importalert_1187.html">new import alert</a>&nbsp;for chemical contamination to stop products from this firm from coming into the U.S. until the firm has resolved the conditions that gave rise to the appearance of the violation.

FDA’s investigation is ongoing. This advisory will be updated as more information becomes available.&nbsp;

FDA detected Cs-137 in a single shipment of imported frozen shrimp from PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati that did not enter U.S. commerce. The level of Cs-137 detected in the detained shipment was approximately 68 Bq/kg, which is below&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/food/process-contaminants-food/supporting-document-guidance-levels-radionuclides-domestic-and-imported-foods">FDA’s Derived Intervention Level for Cs-137</a>&nbsp;of 1200 Bq/kg. At this level, the product would not pose an acute hazard to consumers. Avoiding products like the shipment FDA tested with similar levels of Cs-137 is a measure intended to reduce exposure to low-level radiation that could have health impacts with continued exposure over a long period of time.

The primary health effect of concern following longer term, repeated low dose exposure (e.g., through consumption of contaminated food or water over time) is an elevated risk of cancer, resulting from damage to DNA within living cells of the body. Additional information about Cs-137 and your health is available through the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tfacts157.pdf">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry resources</a>.

FDA is actively investigating reports of Cesium-137 (Cs-137) contamination in shipping containers and frozen shrimp products processed by PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati (doing business as BMS Foods) of Indonesia. The U.S. Customs &amp; Border Protection (CBP) alerted FDA to the detection of Cs-137 in shipping containers at four U.S. ports (Los Angeles, Houston, Savannah, and Miami). FDA collected multiple samples for radionuclide analysis, with results confirming the presence of Cs-137 in one sample of breaded shrimp. All containers and product testing positive or alerting for Cs-137 have been denied entry into the country. The agency continues to coordinate with CBP to prevent any contaminated products from reaching consumers and is working with Indonesian seafood regulatory authorities to investigate the root cause of the contamination.&nbsp;

Although testing to date has not confirmed the presence of contamination in any product in commerce, the product appears to have been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have become contaminated with Cs-137 and may pose a safety concern. To date, FDA has learned that Walmart has received implicated raw frozen shrimp, imported after the date of first detection of Cs-137 by CBP, but from shipments that did not alert for Cs-137. FDA has recommended Walmart recall this product.&nbsp;

Consumers should not eat or serve certain lots of Great Value raw frozen shrimp sold at Walmart stores in AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MO, MS, OH, OK, PA, TX, and WV: &nbsp;

If you have recently purchased raw frozen shrimp from Walmart that matches this description, throw it away. Do not eat or serve this product.

Cs-137 is a radioisotope of cesium that is man-made through nuclear reactions and because it is widespread worldwide, trace amounts of Cs-137 can be found in the environment, including soil, food, and air. FDA food monitoring focuses on radioisotopes (radionuclides) that are not normally present and are generally the result of human activities. Any unexpected finding of Cs-137 in a food product is evaluated to determine if follow up action is warranted on a case-by-case basis. After being alerted to the contamination of shipping containers detected by CBP, FDA initiated sampling of products which included five different shrimp products from PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati, one of which was a sample of frozen breaded shrimp. FDA's laboratory confirmation of Cs-137 in the breaded shrimp had detectable levels of Cs-137 present at 68.48 Bq/kg +/- 8.25 Bq/kg. There was no detectable Cs-137 in the other products tested; however, this does not rule out contamination.

FDA has not detected Cs-137 in any product above the current&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/food/process-contaminants-food/supporting-document-guidance-levels-radionuclides-domestic-and-imported-foods">derived intervention levels for Cs-137</a>&nbsp;(1200 Bq/kg); however, FDA has concluded that the level detected in the breaded shrimp sample could represent a potential health concern for those exposed to this level of Cs-137 from consumption of the shrimp over an extended period of time combined with radiation that exists in the environment and from other sources such as medical procedures. Avoiding products like the shipment FDA tested with similar levels of Cs-137 is a measure intended to reduce exposure to low-level radiation that could have health impacts with continued exposure over a long period of time. FDA has taken swift action to prevent potentially contaminated product from being introduced into U.S. commerce in response to reports of contaminated shipping containers from CBP. On August 14, 2025, FDA posted a new&nbsp;<a href="https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cms_ia/importalert_1187.html">import alert (IA 99-51)</a>&nbsp;for chemical contamination under section 402(a)(4) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. &nbsp;PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati has been added to the red list of this alert due to the presence of Cs-137. The import alert ensures that no implicated shrimp products will enter U.S. commerce until the company resolves the conditions that gave rise to the appearance of the violation.&nbsp;

Certain raw frozen shrimp products processed by PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati (doing business as BMS Foods), a company located in Indonesia, and sold at Walmart stores in Missouri and a dozen other states, according to a statement from the FDA.These products include the following product names, lot codes, and best by dates:&nbsp;<ul>
 <li>Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp, lot code: 8005540-1, Best by Date: 3/15/2027</li><li>Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp, lot code: 8005538-1, Best by Date: 3/15/2027</li><li>Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp, lot code: 8005539-1, Best by Date: 3/15/2027</li>
 </ul><a href="https://www.fda.gov/food/alerts-advisories-safety-information/fda-advises-public-not-eat-sell-or-serve-certain-imported-frozen-shrimp-indonesian-firm#ProductDesc">Additional product information is in a table below.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;At this time, no product that has tested positive or alerted for Cesium-137 (Cs-137) has entered the U.S. commerce. FDA is working with distributors and retailers that received product from PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati after the date of first detection of Cs-137 by Customs &amp; Border Protection (CBP), but from shipments that did not alert for Cs-137, to recommend that firms conduct a recall. In conjunction with other information, FDA determined that product from PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati violates the Federal Food, Drug, &amp; Cosmetic Act in that it appears to have been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have become contaminated with Cs-137 and may pose a safety concern.&nbsp;FDA has also added PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cms_ia/importalert_1187.html">new import alert</a>&nbsp;for chemical contamination to stop products from this firm from coming into the U.S. until the firm has resolved the conditions that gave rise to the appearance of the violation.FDA’s investigation is ongoing. This advisory will be updated as more information becomes available.&nbsp;<h2>Health impacts of cesium exposure</h2>FDA detected Cs-137 in a single shipment of imported frozen shrimp from PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati that did not enter U.S. commerce. The level of Cs-137 detected in the detained shipment was approximately 68 Bq/kg, which is below&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/food/process-contaminants-food/supporting-document-guidance-levels-radionuclides-domestic-and-imported-foods">FDA’s Derived Intervention Level for Cs-137</a>&nbsp;of 1200 Bq/kg. At this level, the product would not pose an acute hazard to consumers. Avoiding products like the shipment FDA tested with similar levels of Cs-137 is a measure intended to reduce exposure to low-level radiation that could have health impacts with continued exposure over a long period of time.The primary health effect of concern following longer term, repeated low dose exposure (e.g., through consumption of contaminated food or water over time) is an elevated risk of cancer, resulting from damage to DNA within living cells of the body. Additional information about Cs-137 and your health is available through the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tfacts157.pdf">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry resources</a>.<h2>Recommendation</h2><ul>
 <li>If you recently purchased&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/food/alerts-advisories-safety-information/fda-advises-public-not-eat-sell-or-serve-certain-imported-frozen-shrimp-indonesian-firm#ProductDesc">one of the impacted lots</a>&nbsp;of Great Value raw frozen shrimp from Walmart, throw it away. Do not eat or serve this product.</li><li>Distributors and retailers should dispose of this product and should not sell or serve this product.</li><li>If you suspect you have been exposed to elevated levels of cesium, talk to your healthcare provider.</li>
 </ul><h2>Current Update</h2>August 19, 2025FDA is actively investigating reports of Cesium-137 (Cs-137) contamination in shipping containers and frozen shrimp products processed by PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati (doing business as BMS Foods) of Indonesia. The U.S. Customs &amp; Border Protection (CBP) alerted FDA to the detection of Cs-137 in shipping containers at four U.S. ports (Los Angeles, Houston, Savannah, and Miami). FDA collected multiple samples for radionuclide analysis, with results confirming the presence of Cs-137 in one sample of breaded shrimp. All containers and product testing positive or alerting for Cs-137 have been denied entry into the country. The agency continues to coordinate with CBP to prevent any contaminated products from reaching consumers and is working with Indonesian seafood regulatory authorities to investigate the root cause of the contamination.&nbsp;Although testing to date has not confirmed the presence of contamination in any product in commerce, the product appears to have been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have become contaminated with Cs-137 and may pose a safety concern. To date, FDA has learned that Walmart has received implicated raw frozen shrimp, imported after the date of first detection of Cs-137 by CBP, but from shipments that did not alert for Cs-137. FDA has recommended Walmart recall this product.&nbsp;Consumers should not eat or serve certain lots of Great Value raw frozen shrimp sold at Walmart stores in AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MO, MS, OH, OK, PA, TX, and WV: &nbsp;<ul>
 <li>Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp, lot code: 8005540-1, Best by Date: 3/15/2027&nbsp;</li><li>Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp, lot code: 8005538-1, Best by Date: 3/15/2027&nbsp;</li><li>Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp, lot code: 8005539-1, Best by Date: 3/15/2027.&nbsp;</li>
 </ul>If you have recently purchased raw frozen shrimp from Walmart that matches this description, throw it away. Do not eat or serve this product.Cs-137 is a radioisotope of cesium that is man-made through nuclear reactions and because it is widespread worldwide, trace amounts of Cs-137 can be found in the environment, including soil, food, and air. FDA food monitoring focuses on radioisotopes (radionuclides) that are not normally present and are generally the result of human activities. Any unexpected finding of Cs-137 in a food product is evaluated to determine if follow up action is warranted on a case-by-case basis. After being alerted to the contamination of shipping containers detected by CBP, FDA initiated sampling of products which included five different shrimp products from PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati, one of which was a sample of frozen breaded shrimp. FDA's laboratory confirmation of Cs-137 in the breaded shrimp had detectable levels of Cs-137 present at 68.48 Bq/kg +/- 8.25 Bq/kg. There was no detectable Cs-137 in the other products tested; however, this does not rule out contamination.FDA has not detected Cs-137 in any product above the current&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/food/process-contaminants-food/supporting-document-guidance-levels-radionuclides-domestic-and-imported-foods">derived intervention levels for Cs-137</a>&nbsp;(1200 Bq/kg); however, FDA has concluded that the level detected in the breaded shrimp sample could represent a potential health concern for those exposed to this level of Cs-137 from consumption of the shrimp over an extended period of time combined with radiation that exists in the environment and from other sources such as medical procedures. Avoiding products like the shipment FDA tested with similar levels of Cs-137 is a measure intended to reduce exposure to low-level radiation that could have health impacts with continued exposure over a long period of time. FDA has taken swift action to prevent potentially contaminated product from being introduced into U.S. commerce in response to reports of contaminated shipping containers from CBP. On August 14, 2025, FDA posted a new&nbsp;<a href="https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cms_ia/importalert_1187.html">import alert (IA 99-51)</a>&nbsp;for chemical contamination under section 402(a)(4) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. &nbsp;PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati has been added to the red list of this alert due to the presence of Cs-137. The import alert ensures that no implicated shrimp products will enter U.S. commerce until the company resolves the conditions that gave rise to the appearance of the violation.&nbsp;

Walmart recalls frozen shrimp sold in Missouri over potential radioactive contamination

PLATTE COUNTY—One person was injured and another arrested in an accident just after 11:30p.m. Tuesday in Platte County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 1996 Dodge Caravan driven by a 48-year-old Parkville man was northbound on Interstate 29 just south of 64th Street. The van rear-ended a 2018 Isuzu passenger vehicle.&nbsp; The Isuzu driver, later identified as a Todd M. Moulin, 48, Kansas City, Missouri, left the scene of the crash.

KC Fire transported the van driver to North Kansas City Hospital.&nbsp; The Patrol later arrested Moulin on requested charges of driving while intoxicated, leaving the scene of a crash, no valid license and for no insurance. He was released for treatment at North Kansas City Hospital.

PLATTE COUNTY—One person was injured and another arrested in an accident just after 11:30p.m. Tuesday in Platte County.The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 1996 Dodge Caravan driven by a 48-year-old Parkville man was northbound on Interstate 29 just south of 64th Street. The van rear-ended a 2018 Isuzu passenger vehicle.&nbsp; The Isuzu driver, later identified as a Todd M. Moulin, 48, Kansas City, Missouri, left the scene of the crash.KC Fire transported the van driver to North Kansas City Hospital.&nbsp; The Patrol later arrested Moulin on requested charges of driving while intoxicated, leaving the scene of a crash, no valid license and for no insurance. He was released for treatment at North Kansas City Hospital.

One injured, one accused of DUI after rear-end crash

HARRISON COUNTY —One person was injured in an accident just before 2:30p.m. Tuesday in Harrison County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2000 Peterbilt semi driven by a 66-year-old Amazonia man was westbound on U.S. 136 at Route EE in New Hampton. The semi attempted to pass a 2015 Chevy Malibu driven by a 45-year-old Bethany woman that had slowed to make a left turn.

The right front of the semi struck the left front of the car.

Grand River Ambulance transported the Bethany woman to Mosaic in Albany. The semi driver was not injured. Both drivers were properly restrained. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.

HARRISON COUNTY —One person was injured in an accident just before 2:30p.m. Tuesday in Harrison County.The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2000 Peterbilt semi driven by a 66-year-old Amazonia man was westbound on U.S. 136 at Route EE in New Hampton. The semi attempted to pass a 2015 Chevy Malibu driven by a 45-year-old Bethany woman that had slowed to make a left turn.The right front of the semi struck the left front of the car.Grand River Ambulance transported the Bethany woman to Mosaic in Albany. The semi driver was not injured. Both drivers were properly restrained. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.

Missouri woman injured after semi, car crash

In the Kansas City area, all but one carrier have asked Kansas and Missouri regulators for the right to bump up premiums — in one case by 40%

By:<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/suzanneking/">Suzanne King</a>

If you are one of the 617,000 people in Missouri or Kansas buying health insurance on&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://healthcare.gov/" target="_blank">healthcare.gov</a>, expect sticker shock when next year’s premiums are announced.

With few exceptions, insurance companies selling health coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace plan to increase rates in 2026. In the Kansas City area, all but one carrier have asked Kansas and Missouri regulators for the right to bump up premiums — in one case by 40%.

Only Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City proposed a decrease.

A&nbsp;<a href="https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/how-much-and-why-aca-marketplace-premiums-are-going-up-in-2026/#Distribution%20of%20proposed%202026%20rate%20changes%20among%20312%20ACA%20Marketplace%20insurers" target="_blank">survey</a>&nbsp;of proposed rates by KFF and the Peterson Center on Healthcare found a median planned increase of 18% among the 312 insurers participating in ACA marketplaces nationwide. That is 11 percentage points higher than last year and the steepest increase request since 2018.

Only four insurers nationwide said they would decrease rates.

According to the KFF report, insurance companies cited numerous reasons for the increases, including inflation, increasing labor costs and the high price of specialty drugs like GLP-1 weight loss medications.

But health policy experts said much of the blame should fall on new Trump administration laws and policies that will increase the cost of marketplace coverage, drive healthy people to drop out and leave behind patients who cost the most.

The first policy that will drive up prices is that enhanced tax credits are expected to expire.

Since 2021 those tax credits have offset the cost of health plans for more than 90% of people enrolled in the ACA marketplaces and made coverage more widely available. The tax credits, which helped double marketplace enrollment between 2021 and 2025, expire at the end of the year if Congress doesn’t renew them.

The second policy driving up prices involves a new&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cms.gov/files/document/cms-9884-f-2025-pi-rule-master-5cr-062025.pdf" target="_blank">Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rule</a>&nbsp;that overhauls how the marketplace operates.

Some changes will make it harder for people to enroll and keep coverage, such as shortening the enrollment period, eliminating automatic reenrollment and adding stricter eligibility checks. Other changes upend how insurance payments are formulated, which could drive up premiums and force people to pay more for deductibles and copays.

“The bottom line is that out-of-pocket premiums will go up,” said Gideon Lukens, senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, who co-authored a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/health/administrations-aca-marketplace-rule-will-raise-health-care-costs-for-millions-of" target="_blank">report</a>&nbsp;about the changes. “People will pay higher deductibles and copays, and the maximum out-of-pocket limits will also go up. … And then a lot of people lose coverage as a result.”

The ACA marketplace reached more than 24 million enrollees nationally in 2025, including&nbsp;<a href="https://interactives.commonwealthfund.org/2025/marketplace-fact-sheets/Missouri.pdf" target="_blank">417,000 in Missouri</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://interactives.commonwealthfund.org/2025/marketplace-fact-sheets/Kansas.pdf" target="_blank">200,050 in Kansas</a>. That was a record, and double the enrollment in 2021 when enhanced tax subsidies first went into effect. During that same period, Missouri’s enrollment also doubled, while Kansas’ climbed 133%.

But those enrollment highs are widely expected to plummet next year as premiums increase. In a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.khi.org/articles/marketplace-enrollment-peaks-before-expected-decline/" target="_blank">recent report</a>, the Kansas Health Institute predicted that Kansas ACA enrollment could immediately return to 2021 levels and uninsured rates could “greatly increase.”

Anything that makes insurance harder to get — and especially more expensive — leads to fewer people being covered, experts said.

And next year’s potential insurance premium increases come as the Congressional Budget Office&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2025-08/61367-Distributional-Effects.pdf" target="_blank">predicts</a>&nbsp;that policy changes from the Trump administration will lead to an annual decline in overall resources for the country’s poorest households between 2026 and 2034. The CBO said poor households will lose an average of $1,200 annually during the period, while top-income households can expect to gain $13,600.

Lukens said increased health insurance premiums caused by the expiration of enhanced tax credits and CMS rule changes could effectively lead the country back to a time before the ACA was adopted, when many people couldn’t afford insurance and found it difficult to access health care.

“It’s not a repeal of the ACA, but the size of the impact is comparable,” he said. “The way it’s done is more of a death-by-a-thousand-cuts way — a lot of changes that will just generally add a lot of red tape and make it harder for people to keep coverage, to enroll in coverage, and will raise costs. But the overall impact of it will be to increase the number of people without coverage by getting close to where we were before the ACA.”

Once the dust settles, an estimated 8 million people are expected to lose coverage through the ACA marketplace. On top of that, 9 million could lose Medicaid under federal legislation passed in July, which cuts federal spending on the program by close to $1 trillion and adds new obstacles to keep coverage, like work requirements and&nbsp;<a href="https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2025/07/25/missouri-work-requirements-medicaid-mo-healthnet/" target="_blank">documenting hours worked</a>.

“The worst case scenario here is bad,” said Caitlin Donovan, a spokesperson for the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.patientadvocate.org/" target="_blank">Patient Advocate Foundation</a>, which helps people around the country with chronic and life-threatening illnesses find care. “It’s really bad.”

Ultimately, she said, when people lose health coverage they’re less likely to seek care and more likely to get sicker before getting help. That makes care cost more, puts more strain on hospitals and other health care providers and, ultimately, continues the cycle of insurance rates climbing.

“There is going to be a sicker population that’s in a much worse situation,” Donovan said.

When people who are young and healthy don’t participate in the insurance market, leaving behind people who are more expensive to cover, it can trigger a cycle of increasing premiums, said Christopher Garmon, assistant professor of health administration at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

“Anything that makes healthy people less likely to enroll is going to increase costs and cause premiums to go up, and make healthy people less likely to enroll,” he said. “And that is a vicious cycle.”

ACA premium&nbsp;<a href="https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2025/06/18/affordable-care-act-health-coverage-at-risk-unless-congress-acts/" target="_blank">changes will vary</a>&nbsp;based on where a person lives, their age and income. KFF has a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/interactive/how-much-more-would-people-pay-in-premiums-if-the-acas-enhanced-subsidies-expired/" target="_blank">calculator</a>&nbsp;that can help people know how much they may see rates increase come January.

The Commonwealth Fund&nbsp;<a href="https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/maps-and-interactives/2025/aug/what-aca-marketplaces-do-your-state" target="_blank">estimates</a>&nbsp;that people in Missouri who receive tax credits will see a $720 jump in annual premiums, while the same group in Kansas will see a $590 annual increase.

Most of the insurance companies in the Kansas and Missouri marketplaces have requested premium increases next year.

In Kansas, Celtic Insurance Co. proposed a 40% increase, the highest jump. But Medica Insurance Co. said its rates need to go up 29.3% in Kansas. In Missouri, Medica proposed an increase of 29.2%, while Celtic proposed a jump of 24.4%.

Medica provided a written statement, saying the company’s rate request “reflects the trend toward increased use of medical services as well as the expiration of enhanced subsidies for those who depend on the Affordable Care Act marketplace for coverage.”

“We urge the Congress to promptly extend assistance that promotes stability in this vital market serving millions of Americans,” the Medica statement said.

Other carriers in the Kansas City market proposing rate increases include Oscar Insurance Co., which is asking for a 14.4% increase in Kansas and an 11.7% increase in Missouri, and United Healthcare Insurance Co., which wants a 10.1% bump in Kansas and a 10.7% increase in Missouri.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City is the only carrier in the market — and one of just four in the country — planning to lower rates next year.

The company said it would drop rates 6.1% in Kansas and 4.4% in Missouri.

In a written statement, Rachel Arnett, Blue Cross vice president of sales, said the company had “evaluated our product offerings, gathered feedback from our customers, and developed a variety of options on the ACA Marketplace for health insurance in 2026.”

Those include “a new focused provider network,” which it said would bring lower premiums and predictable cost, and plans to offer its primary care model,&nbsp;<a href="https://spiracare.com/about/" target="_blank">Spira Care Access</a>, through nine area centers.

A spokesperson for the carrier declined to answer questions about the rate reduction and did not provide other details about the scope of the coverage.

Proposed rates must be approved by state insurance regulators before they are officially listed in the marketplace.

That should happen this fall in time for the ACA marketplaces’ open enrollment period, which begins Nov. 1. This year, people will have until Jan. 15 to complete enrollment. But next year that window will shorten to Nov. 1 through Dec. 15.

But many people may not realize how much the ACA will be changing next year or understand what options they may have for coverage. That’s because earlier this year the Trump administration cut funding for navigators who help people find health insurance through the ACA marketplace or, if they qualify, Medicaid.

Funding for public information campaigns about ACA coverage and the open enrollment period has also been cut, meaning some enrollees could miss deadlines or forget to reenroll, which could also add to the number of uninsured.

Justin Gust, vice president of community engagement with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.elcentroinc.com/" target="_blank">El Centro Inc.</a>, said he’s seen this play out before. The last time Trump was in the White House virtually all of the funding for public information campaigns was eliminated. And the consequences were not good.

“There was a huge reduction in people enrolling,” he said.

This&nbsp;<a href="https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2025/08/18/brace-for-sticker-shock-if-youre-buying-health-insurance-on-the-aca-marketplace/" target="_blank">article</a>&nbsp;first appeared on&nbsp;<a href="https://thebeaconnews.org/" target="_blank">Beacon: Kansas City</a>&nbsp;and is republished here under a&nbsp;<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/" target="_blank">Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1712259163846.jpg" alt="Image Pixaby" />
 <figcaption>Image Pixaby</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>In the Kansas City area, all but one carrier have asked Kansas and Missouri regulators for the right to bump up premiums — in one case by 40%</h2>By:<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/suzanneking/">Suzanne King</a>If you are one of the 617,000 people in Missouri or Kansas buying health insurance on&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://healthcare.gov/" target="_blank">healthcare.gov</a>, expect sticker shock when next year’s premiums are announced.With few exceptions, insurance companies selling health coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace plan to increase rates in 2026. In the Kansas City area, all but one carrier have asked Kansas and Missouri regulators for the right to bump up premiums — in one case by 40%.Only Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City proposed a decrease.The story is similar across the country.A&nbsp;<a href="https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/how-much-and-why-aca-marketplace-premiums-are-going-up-in-2026/#Distribution%20of%20proposed%202026%20rate%20changes%20among%20312%20ACA%20Marketplace%20insurers" target="_blank">survey</a>&nbsp;of proposed rates by KFF and the Peterson Center on Healthcare found a median planned increase of 18% among the 312 insurers participating in ACA marketplaces nationwide. That is 11 percentage points higher than last year and the steepest increase request since 2018.Only four insurers nationwide said they would decrease rates.According to the KFF report, insurance companies cited numerous reasons for the increases, including inflation, increasing labor costs and the high price of specialty drugs like GLP-1 weight loss medications.But health policy experts said much of the blame should fall on new Trump administration laws and policies that will increase the cost of marketplace coverage, drive healthy people to drop out and leave behind patients who cost the most.<h2>Expiring tax credits and new rules</h2>The first policy that will drive up prices is that enhanced tax credits are expected to expire.Since 2021 those tax credits have offset the cost of health plans for more than 90% of people enrolled in the ACA marketplaces and made coverage more widely available. The tax credits, which helped double marketplace enrollment between 2021 and 2025, expire at the end of the year if Congress doesn’t renew them.The second policy driving up prices involves a new&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cms.gov/files/document/cms-9884-f-2025-pi-rule-master-5cr-062025.pdf" target="_blank">Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rule</a>&nbsp;that overhauls how the marketplace operates.Some changes will make it harder for people to enroll and keep coverage, such as shortening the enrollment period, eliminating automatic reenrollment and adding stricter eligibility checks. Other changes upend how insurance payments are formulated, which could drive up premiums and force people to pay more for deductibles and copays.“The bottom line is that out-of-pocket premiums will go up,” said Gideon Lukens, senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, who co-authored a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/health/administrations-aca-marketplace-rule-will-raise-health-care-costs-for-millions-of" target="_blank">report</a>&nbsp;about the changes. “People will pay higher deductibles and copays, and the maximum out-of-pocket limits will also go up. … And then a lot of people lose coverage as a result.”<h2>Comparable to repealing Obamacare</h2>The ACA marketplace reached more than 24 million enrollees nationally in 2025, including&nbsp;<a href="https://interactives.commonwealthfund.org/2025/marketplace-fact-sheets/Missouri.pdf" target="_blank">417,000 in Missouri</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://interactives.commonwealthfund.org/2025/marketplace-fact-sheets/Kansas.pdf" target="_blank">200,050 in Kansas</a>. That was a record, and double the enrollment in 2021 when enhanced tax subsidies first went into effect. During that same period, Missouri’s enrollment also doubled, while Kansas’ climbed 133%.But those enrollment highs are widely expected to plummet next year as premiums increase. In a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.khi.org/articles/marketplace-enrollment-peaks-before-expected-decline/" target="_blank">recent report</a>, the Kansas Health Institute predicted that Kansas ACA enrollment could immediately return to 2021 levels and uninsured rates could “greatly increase.”Anything that makes insurance harder to get — and especially more expensive — leads to fewer people being covered, experts said.And next year’s potential insurance premium increases come as the Congressional Budget Office&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2025-08/61367-Distributional-Effects.pdf" target="_blank">predicts</a>&nbsp;that policy changes from the Trump administration will lead to an annual decline in overall resources for the country’s poorest households between 2026 and 2034. The CBO said poor households will lose an average of $1,200 annually during the period, while top-income households can expect to gain $13,600.Lukens said increased health insurance premiums caused by the expiration of enhanced tax credits and CMS rule changes could effectively lead the country back to a time before the ACA was adopted, when many people couldn’t afford insurance and found it difficult to access health care.“It’s not a repeal of the ACA, but the size of the impact is comparable,” he said. “The way it’s done is more of a death-by-a-thousand-cuts way — a lot of changes that will just generally add a lot of red tape and make it harder for people to keep coverage, to enroll in coverage, and will raise costs. But the overall impact of it will be to increase the number of people without coverage by getting close to where we were before the ACA.”<h2>A vicious cycle</h2>Once the dust settles, an estimated 8 million people are expected to lose coverage through the ACA marketplace. On top of that, 9 million could lose Medicaid under federal legislation passed in July, which cuts federal spending on the program by close to $1 trillion and adds new obstacles to keep coverage, like work requirements and&nbsp;<a href="https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2025/07/25/missouri-work-requirements-medicaid-mo-healthnet/" target="_blank">documenting hours worked</a>.“The worst case scenario here is bad,” said Caitlin Donovan, a spokesperson for the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.patientadvocate.org/" target="_blank">Patient Advocate Foundation</a>, which helps people around the country with chronic and life-threatening illnesses find care. “It’s really bad.”Ultimately, she said, when people lose health coverage they’re less likely to seek care and more likely to get sicker before getting help. That makes care cost more, puts more strain on hospitals and other health care providers and, ultimately, continues the cycle of insurance rates climbing.“There is going to be a sicker population that’s in a much worse situation,” Donovan said.When people who are young and healthy don’t participate in the insurance market, leaving behind people who are more expensive to cover, it can trigger a cycle of increasing premiums, said Christopher Garmon, assistant professor of health administration at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.“Anything that makes healthy people less likely to enroll is going to increase costs and cause premiums to go up, and make healthy people less likely to enroll,” he said. “And that is a vicious cycle.”ACA premium&nbsp;<a href="https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2025/06/18/affordable-care-act-health-coverage-at-risk-unless-congress-acts/" target="_blank">changes will vary</a>&nbsp;based on where a person lives, their age and income. KFF has a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/interactive/how-much-more-would-people-pay-in-premiums-if-the-acas-enhanced-subsidies-expired/" target="_blank">calculator</a>&nbsp;that can help people know how much they may see rates increase come January.The Commonwealth Fund&nbsp;<a href="https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/maps-and-interactives/2025/aug/what-aca-marketplaces-do-your-state" target="_blank">estimates</a>&nbsp;that people in Missouri who receive tax credits will see a $720 jump in annual premiums, while the same group in Kansas will see a $590 annual increase.<h2>Rising premiums in Kansas and Missouri</h2>Most of the insurance companies in the Kansas and Missouri marketplaces have requested premium increases next year.In Kansas, Celtic Insurance Co. proposed a 40% increase, the highest jump. But Medica Insurance Co. said its rates need to go up 29.3% in Kansas. In Missouri, Medica proposed an increase of 29.2%, while Celtic proposed a jump of 24.4%.Celtic could not be reached for comment.Medica provided a written statement, saying the company’s rate request “reflects the trend toward increased use of medical services as well as the expiration of enhanced subsidies for those who depend on the Affordable Care Act marketplace for coverage.”“We urge the Congress to promptly extend assistance that promotes stability in this vital market serving millions of Americans,” the Medica statement said.Other carriers in the Kansas City market proposing rate increases include Oscar Insurance Co., which is asking for a 14.4% increase in Kansas and an 11.7% increase in Missouri, and United Healthcare Insurance Co., which wants a 10.1% bump in Kansas and a 10.7% increase in Missouri.Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City is the only carrier in the market — and one of just four in the country — planning to lower rates next year.The company said it would drop rates 6.1% in Kansas and 4.4% in Missouri.In a written statement, Rachel Arnett, Blue Cross vice president of sales, said the company had “evaluated our product offerings, gathered feedback from our customers, and developed a variety of options on the ACA Marketplace for health insurance in 2026.”Those include “a new focused provider network,” which it said would bring lower premiums and predictable cost, and plans to offer its primary care model,&nbsp;<a href="https://spiracare.com/about/" target="_blank">Spira Care Access</a>, through nine area centers.A spokesperson for the carrier declined to answer questions about the rate reduction and did not provide other details about the scope of the coverage.<h2>Less help available&nbsp;</h2>Proposed rates must be approved by state insurance regulators before they are officially listed in the marketplace.That should happen this fall in time for the ACA marketplaces’ open enrollment period, which begins Nov. 1. This year, people will have until Jan. 15 to complete enrollment. But next year that window will shorten to Nov. 1 through Dec. 15.But many people may not realize how much the ACA will be changing next year or understand what options they may have for coverage. That’s because earlier this year the Trump administration cut funding for navigators who help people find health insurance through the ACA marketplace or, if they qualify, Medicaid.Funding for public information campaigns about ACA coverage and the open enrollment period has also been cut, meaning some enrollees could miss deadlines or forget to reenroll, which could also add to the number of uninsured.Justin Gust, vice president of community engagement with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.elcentroinc.com/" target="_blank">El Centro Inc.</a>, said he’s seen this play out before. The last time Trump was in the White House virtually all of the funding for public information campaigns was eliminated. And the consequences were not good.“There was a huge reduction in people enrolling,” he said.This&nbsp;<a href="https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2025/08/18/brace-for-sticker-shock-if-youre-buying-health-insurance-on-the-aca-marketplace/" target="_blank">article</a>&nbsp;first appeared on&nbsp;<a href="https://thebeaconnews.org/" target="_blank">Beacon: Kansas City</a>&nbsp;and is republished here under a&nbsp;<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/" target="_blank">Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.<figure>
 <img src="https://thebeaconnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/iconbeacon-150x150.png?crop=1" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://thebeaconnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=29064" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>

Missourians buying health insurance on ACA marketplace face highest rate hikes since 2018

ATCHISON COUNTY—A Kansas felon is back in jail on new allegations.

On Sunday, police arrested 31-year-old&nbsp;Kasandra O. Alexander of Atchison on a Jackson County Kansas District Court warrant for failure to appear in court, according to Police Chief Mike Wilson.

She remains jailed. She has two previous drug convictions in Doniphan and Atchison County, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1755566247666.png" alt="Alexander photo KDOC" />
 <figcaption>Alexander photo KDOC</figcaption>
 </figure>ATCHISON COUNTY—A Kansas felon is back in jail on new allegations.On Sunday, police arrested 31-year-old&nbsp;Kasandra O. Alexander of Atchison on a Jackson County Kansas District Court warrant for failure to appear in court, according to Police Chief Mike Wilson.She remains jailed. She has two previous drug convictions in Doniphan and Atchison County, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Police: Kansas felon back in jail for skipping court

Northwest Missouri State University welcomes students back to its campus this month as the 2025-26 academic year begins with move-in day, information sessions and a variety of activities to help them connect with the University, its resources and the community.

Students will begin moving into campus residence halls on Thursday, Aug. 21. The day also marks the kickoff of Advantage at Northwest, an annual orientation program designed to help first-year students get acquainted with other Northwest students, learn about the campus and enjoy some entertainment before fall classes begin on Monday August 25th.

Northwest will clos some parking lots and reroute traffic during move-in times to allow students and their guests to better navigate the campus while fostering a safe move-in process. Community members also should expect an increase in traffic volume.

The following lot closures and traffic restrictions apply during move-in times:

Parking lots 10 (behind Hudson and Perrin halls), 39 (between Dieterich and Millikan halls), 42 (from Towers Suites east to College Park Drive), 41 between Millikan Hall and the Wellness Center and 57 (at the Student Union). All vehicles within these lots will be towed after 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 20.

Lot 44 between Franken and Dieterich halls, as well as College Park Drive from the intersection of Northwest Drive to Franken Hall, will be blocked during move-in hours on Thursday.

Lot 57 will allow parking along the north row of the sidewalk and ADA parking with a valid permit. 

Lots 39, 42 and 57 will be monitored throughout the day, due to increased foot traffic and late arrivals. Restrictions may be implemented for safety reasons with little to no notice.

Additionally, University Police will direct traffic as follows, beginning at about 7 a.m. Aug. 21. All traffic within move-in zones will be stopped to engage with arrivals and reduce confusion. 

Traffic on College Park Drive will be restricted between Dietrich Hall and Memorial Drive as well as from Memorial Drive to Lot 57.

Eastbound traffic on Northwest Drive will be restricted between Millikan Hall and College Park Drive.

In case of severe weather during move-in when lightning strikes within eight miles of the Northwest campus, all move-in day activities will be suspended for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Northwest will communicate the suspension of move-in day activities through Bearcat Alert, Northwest social media and Residential Life social media.&nbsp; Students and parents on the campus will shelter in their assigned buildings or the nearest accessible University building.

All incoming students and parents will be instructed to delay their arrival in accordance with procedure and best practices for safety.&nbsp; Move-in day activities will resume at the direction of University Police or the University’s emergency management coordinator.

You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.&nbsp;&nbsp;

By MATT PIKENorthwest Missouri State University welcomes students back to its campus this month as the 2025-26 academic year begins with move-in day, information sessions and a variety of activities to help them connect with the University, its resources and the community.Students will begin moving into campus residence halls on Thursday, Aug. 21. The day also marks the kickoff of Advantage at Northwest, an annual orientation program designed to help first-year students get acquainted with other Northwest students, learn about the campus and enjoy some entertainment before fall classes begin on Monday August 25th.Northwest will clos some parking lots and reroute traffic during move-in times to allow students and their guests to better navigate the campus while fostering a safe move-in process. Community members also should expect an increase in traffic volume.The following lot closures and traffic restrictions apply during move-in times:Thursday, Aug. 21Parking lots 10 (behind Hudson and Perrin halls), 39 (between Dieterich and Millikan halls), 42 (from Towers Suites east to College Park Drive), 41 between Millikan Hall and the Wellness Center and 57 (at the Student Union). All vehicles within these lots will be towed after 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 20.Lot 44 between Franken and Dieterich halls, as well as College Park Drive from the intersection of Northwest Drive to Franken Hall, will be blocked during move-in hours on Thursday.Lot 57 will allow parking along the north row of the sidewalk and ADA parking with a valid permit. Friday, Aug. 22Lots 39, 42 and 57 will be monitored throughout the day, due to increased foot traffic and late arrivals. Restrictions may be implemented for safety reasons with little to no notice.Additionally, University Police will direct traffic as follows, beginning at about 7 a.m. Aug. 21. All traffic within move-in zones will be stopped to engage with arrivals and reduce confusion. Traffic on College Park Drive will be restricted between Dietrich Hall and Memorial Drive as well as from Memorial Drive to Lot 57.Eastbound traffic on Northwest Drive will be restricted between Millikan Hall and College Park Drive.In case of severe weather during move-in when lightning strikes within eight miles of the Northwest campus, all move-in day activities will be suspended for a minimum of 30 minutes.Northwest will communicate the suspension of move-in day activities through Bearcat Alert, Northwest social media and Residential Life social media.&nbsp; Students and parents on the campus will shelter in their assigned buildings or the nearest accessible University building.All incoming students and parents will be instructed to delay their arrival in accordance with procedure and best practices for safety.&nbsp; Move-in day activities will resume at the direction of University Police or the University’s emergency management coordinator.You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.&nbsp;&nbsp;

NWMSU ready for move in day, announces some parking restrictions

By:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jason-hancock/">Jason Hancock</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>

Only state Sens. Nick Schroer and Adam Schnelting remain in a group whose quarrels with GOP leadership defined years of Missouri Senate gridlock

Just as the Missouri Freedom Caucus appears on the cusp of its biggest legislative victories, half of its members in the Senate have quit.&nbsp;

Missouri lawmakers are poised to return to Jefferson City next month to redraw the state’s eight congressional districts in order to gerrymander the Kansas City-based seat of Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. They’re also considering changes to the initiative petition process to make it harder for Missourians to change the state constitution.&nbsp;

Both have been longtime priorities of the Freedom Caucus, a group of hard-right GOP state lawmakers whose quarrels with party leaders led to years of Missouri Senate gridlock.

Yet after years of holding outsize sway in Missouri politics, the Senate Freedom Caucus is down to only two members.&nbsp;

State Sen. Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican and former caucus chairman, quit in June following a break with the group over&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/06/09/missouri-freedom-caucus-royals-chiefs-stadium/">a $1.5 billion incentive package to finance stadiums for the Chiefs and Royals</a>.&nbsp;

State Sen. Brad Hudson of Cape Fair, who also voted in favor of the stadium bill, soon joined him. He told The Independent last week that his differences with the caucus focused on tactics, not policy.&nbsp;

“I’ve got nothing but respect for my friends in the Freedom Caucus,” Hudson said.

The departures mean only two state senators from St. Charles County — Nick Schroer and Adam Schnelting — are still aligned with the Freedom Caucus.&nbsp;

Schroer, who took over as caucus chairman after Brattin stepped down, insists the group is “stronger than ever” despite the loss of half its Senate membership.&nbsp;

There are 11 members of the caucus in the House, Schroer said, and numerous candidates likely to join the group who are running in GOP primaries for open Senate seats next year. Not to mention, he said, Missouri’s secretary of state and two congressmen are Freedom Caucus alums.&nbsp;

“I’m not concerned whatsoever that at this moment we only have two very strong senators,” he said. “And I think those numbers are going to grow. But just like in years past, there are going to be senators who may not be wearing the Freedom Caucus insignia, but they are going to be with us on 99.9% of issues.”

But the caucus’ dwindling numbers in the Senate, where its influence was always most acutely felt, has some wondering if its days in the center of the Missouri political spotlight are drawing to a close.&nbsp;

It began in 2018, when a group of GOP senators formed what they called the conservative caucus.&nbsp;

The group’s formation set off an escalating war with Republican leadership that culminated four years later when acrimony became so bad that the Senate adjourned a day early for the first time since a fixed adjournment date was set in the state constitution in 1952.

Soon after, the conservative caucus announced it was disbanding.&nbsp;

A year later, six Republican senators — most of whom were part of the conservative caucus — announced the formation of the Missouri Freedom Caucus.&nbsp;&nbsp;

And the Republican civil war resumed almost immediately.&nbsp;

The 2023 legislative session saw Freedom Caucus members using near-daily procedural maneuvers to gum up the Senate. Republican leadership responded by&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/01/23/missouri-freedom-caucus-leaders-ousted-from-senate-chairmanships-over-stall-tactics/">stripping caucus members of committee assignments</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/01/25/missouri-senate-gop-warfare-escalates-with-suggestion-of-expelling-freedom-caucus-leader/">musing about their expulsion</a>.&nbsp;

The 2024 session saw no improvement, resulting in fewer bills passed than any year in living memory, including the COVID-shortened session in 2020.&nbsp;

Throughout the turmoil, the group kept losing members.&nbsp;

State Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin, a Shelbina Republican, quit in 2021, telling The Independent at the time that&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/01/09/she-doesnt-have-a-tribe-cindy-olaughlins-new-role-tests-ability-to-bridge-factions/">she grew tired of the group’s disruptive tactics</a>. She went on to become majority leader and president pro tem of the Senate, routinely squabbling with her former caucus colleagues.&nbsp;

GOP state Sen. Jill Carter of Granby left the group last year, saying she could no longer in good conscience be a part of “<a href="https://www.missourinet.com/2024/05/08/missouri-senator-further-explains-decision-to-leave-freedom-caucus/" target="_blank">actions behind the scenes that defame grassroots and violate the needs of my constituents</a>.”

Tensions in the Senate cooled this year, with&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/01/27/dysfunction-derailed-the-missouri-senate-for-years-so-far-2025-has-been-quiet/">term limits pushing key figures on both sides of the fight out of the chamber</a>. The detente led to a much more productive session, marked more by partisan squabbling than GOP infighting.&nbsp;

That changed after Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe called lawmakers back into special session in June to pass incentives aimed at keeping the Chiefs and Royals from moving to Kansas.&nbsp;

The Freedom Caucus vowed to oppose the funding scheme, which it decried as a “handout to billionaire sports team owners.” But Brattin and Hudson voted in support of the plan after a provision was added making changes to local property tax bills.

Both were accused of betraying the caucus’ principles, with the group’s longtime political adviser publicly calling for the Freedom Caucus to “disband and join the uniparty that runs Jefferson City.”

Brattin quit soon after, saying he opposed the stadium funding but voted in favor after the property tax provisions were added that he believed would benefit his constituents.&nbsp;

“I agree with the caucus probably on 95% of the issues,” Hudson said, “and I intend to continue to be allies with them and work with them on issues that we agree on. There have been some times where tactically, there may have been some disagreements where I may have wanted to go a different direction.”

Schroer said the fact that the legislature is poised to debate a congressional map that seeks to eliminate the Democratic-leaning seat in Kansas City shows the Freedom Caucus is anything but dead.&nbsp;

“Back in 2022, the Freedom Caucus pushed for a 7-1 map and couldn’t get enough Republicans to help us,” he said. “Now we’re going to do it.”

The overarching goal, he said, is that the Freedom Caucus will pull the party to the right so the caucus will no longer need to exist at all.&nbsp;

“When we’ve got enough of these strong-willed conservatives that are able to stand up to the establishment and stand up to special interest groups, hopefully at that point we’ll have a majority of the majority,” he said, “ and there will be no need for the Freedom Caucus.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1755512662140.png" alt=" State Sen. Nick Schroer, a Defiance Republican, offers a floor substitute to his cannabis bill on April 9, kicking off a lengthy debate of the legislation (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption> State Sen. Nick Schroer, a Defiance Republican, offers a floor substitute to his cannabis bill on April 9, kicking off a lengthy debate of the legislation (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>By:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jason-hancock/">Jason Hancock</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a><h2>Only state Sens. Nick Schroer and Adam Schnelting remain in a group whose quarrels with GOP leadership defined years of Missouri Senate gridlock</h2>Just as the Missouri Freedom Caucus appears on the cusp of its biggest legislative victories, half of its members in the Senate have quit.&nbsp;Missouri lawmakers are poised to return to Jefferson City next month to redraw the state’s eight congressional districts in order to gerrymander the Kansas City-based seat of Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. They’re also considering changes to the initiative petition process to make it harder for Missourians to change the state constitution.&nbsp;Both have been longtime priorities of the Freedom Caucus, a group of hard-right GOP state lawmakers whose quarrels with party leaders led to years of Missouri Senate gridlock.Yet after years of holding outsize sway in Missouri politics, the Senate Freedom Caucus is down to only two members.&nbsp;State Sen. Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican and former caucus chairman, quit in June following a break with the group over&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/06/09/missouri-freedom-caucus-royals-chiefs-stadium/">a $1.5 billion incentive package to finance stadiums for the Chiefs and Royals</a>.&nbsp;State Sen. Brad Hudson of Cape Fair, who also voted in favor of the stadium bill, soon joined him. He told The Independent last week that his differences with the caucus focused on tactics, not policy.&nbsp;“I’ve got nothing but respect for my friends in the Freedom Caucus,” Hudson said.The departures mean only two state senators from St. Charles County — Nick Schroer and Adam Schnelting — are still aligned with the Freedom Caucus.&nbsp;Schroer, who took over as caucus chairman after Brattin stepped down, insists the group is “stronger than ever” despite the loss of half its Senate membership.&nbsp;There are 11 members of the caucus in the House, Schroer said, and numerous candidates likely to join the group who are running in GOP primaries for open Senate seats next year. Not to mention, he said, Missouri’s secretary of state and two congressmen are Freedom Caucus alums.&nbsp;“I’m not concerned whatsoever that at this moment we only have two very strong senators,” he said. “And I think those numbers are going to grow. But just like in years past, there are going to be senators who may not be wearing the Freedom Caucus insignia, but they are going to be with us on 99.9% of issues.”But the caucus’ dwindling numbers in the Senate, where its influence was always most acutely felt, has some wondering if its days in the center of the Missouri political spotlight are drawing to a close.&nbsp;It began in 2018, when a group of GOP senators formed what they called the conservative caucus.&nbsp;The group’s formation set off an escalating war with Republican leadership that culminated four years later when acrimony became so bad that the Senate adjourned a day early for the first time since a fixed adjournment date was set in the state constitution in 1952.Soon after, the conservative caucus announced it was disbanding.&nbsp;A year later, six Republican senators — most of whom were part of the conservative caucus — announced the formation of the Missouri Freedom Caucus.&nbsp;&nbsp;And the Republican civil war resumed almost immediately.&nbsp;The 2023 legislative session saw Freedom Caucus members using near-daily procedural maneuvers to gum up the Senate. Republican leadership responded by&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/01/23/missouri-freedom-caucus-leaders-ousted-from-senate-chairmanships-over-stall-tactics/">stripping caucus members of committee assignments</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/01/25/missouri-senate-gop-warfare-escalates-with-suggestion-of-expelling-freedom-caucus-leader/">musing about their expulsion</a>.&nbsp;The 2024 session saw no improvement, resulting in fewer bills passed than any year in living memory, including the COVID-shortened session in 2020.&nbsp;Throughout the turmoil, the group kept losing members.&nbsp;State Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin, a Shelbina Republican, quit in 2021, telling The Independent at the time that&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/01/09/she-doesnt-have-a-tribe-cindy-olaughlins-new-role-tests-ability-to-bridge-factions/">she grew tired of the group’s disruptive tactics</a>. She went on to become majority leader and president pro tem of the Senate, routinely squabbling with her former caucus colleagues.&nbsp;GOP state Sen. Jill Carter of Granby left the group last year, saying she could no longer in good conscience be a part of “<a href="https://www.missourinet.com/2024/05/08/missouri-senator-further-explains-decision-to-leave-freedom-caucus/" target="_blank">actions behind the scenes that defame grassroots and violate the needs of my constituents</a>.”Tensions in the Senate cooled this year, with&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/01/27/dysfunction-derailed-the-missouri-senate-for-years-so-far-2025-has-been-quiet/">term limits pushing key figures on both sides of the fight out of the chamber</a>. The detente led to a much more productive session, marked more by partisan squabbling than GOP infighting.&nbsp;That changed after Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe called lawmakers back into special session in June to pass incentives aimed at keeping the Chiefs and Royals from moving to Kansas.&nbsp;The Freedom Caucus vowed to oppose the funding scheme, which it decried as a “handout to billionaire sports team owners.” But Brattin and Hudson voted in support of the plan after a provision was added making changes to local property tax bills.Both were accused of betraying the caucus’ principles, with the group’s longtime political adviser publicly calling for the Freedom Caucus to “disband and join the uniparty that runs Jefferson City.”Brattin quit soon after, saying he opposed the stadium funding but voted in favor after the property tax provisions were added that he believed would benefit his constituents.&nbsp;Hudson quit a month later.&nbsp;“I agree with the caucus probably on 95% of the issues,” Hudson said, “and I intend to continue to be allies with them and work with them on issues that we agree on. There have been some times where tactically, there may have been some disagreements where I may have wanted to go a different direction.”Schroer said the fact that the legislature is poised to debate a congressional map that seeks to eliminate the Democratic-leaning seat in Kansas City shows the Freedom Caucus is anything but dead.&nbsp;“Back in 2022, the Freedom Caucus pushed for a 7-1 map and couldn’t get enough Republicans to help us,” he said. “Now we’re going to do it.”The overarching goal, he said, is that the Freedom Caucus will pull the party to the right so the caucus will no longer need to exist at all.&nbsp;“When we’ve got enough of these strong-willed conservatives that are able to stand up to the establishment and stand up to special interest groups, hopefully at that point we’ll have a majority of the majority,” he said, “ and there will be no need for the Freedom Caucus.”

Missouri Freedom Caucus left with only two Senate members after summer of defections

Missouri had a total teacher turnover rate of 14.6% during the 2023-24 school year, more than double the national average

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/juliannamejia/">JULIANNA MEJIA</a>

Summertime may almost be over, but for teachers like Audra Day, the work has been nonstop.

Day is a kindergarten teacher at Hillsboro Primary School during the academic year, but has spent her break as a summer school teacher and mentor while also preparing for the upcoming school year.

She said one of the misconceptions about being a teacher is that they have the entire summer off. In reality, Day doesn’t have the opportunity to take much of a break outside of the weeks that bookend summer school activities.

“That’s only for four weeks off, which is what most people get off for vacation,” Day said.

Though she loves her job, Day said it can be frustrating.

Missouri had a total teacher turnover rate of 14.6% during the 2023-24 school year, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.primecenter.org/education-reports-database/teacher-turnover" target="_blank">a May 2025 report</a>&nbsp;led by Cameron Anglum, a researcher affiliated with St. Louis University’s PRiME Center. That’s more than double the national average of 7% during the same school year,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA956-29.html" target="_blank">according to research organization RAND</a>.

Anglum defines total teacher turnover as teachers switching districts within Missouri and teachers leaving Missouri public education altogether. He said both the pandemic and the years following were rough for teachers as online accommodations were limited and the ensuing global inflation made teacher salaries even more dismal by comparison.

“You mix all of those things together, and it was an enormously difficult two- or three-year period for teachers,” Anglum said. “Teaching in general is an enormously difficult profession, but over the pandemic, working conditions worsened pretty significantly.”

The National Education Association&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nea.org/resource-library/educator-pay-and-student-spending-how-does-your-state-rank" target="_blank">ranks Missouri</a>&nbsp;as the 49th state in the nation in both average teacher starting salary and average educator salary, as of the 2023-24 school year. As teacher turnover rates remain high, Anglum said the pressure of filling in the gaps weighs on educators and school districts.

“When schools see an increase in teachers leaving, that places a much larger burden on recruiting new teachers, and we often don’t have the supply of new teachers to fill those vacant positions,” Anglum said.

As issues with teacher retention and recruitment continue, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the state legislature have implemented policies to improve teacher pay before classes begin next month.

During the 2024 legislative session, lawmakers passed&nbsp;<a href="https://www.senate.mo.gov/24info/BTS_Web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&amp;BillID=244" target="_blank">Senate Bill 727</a>, which requires the minimum salary for teachers to increase from $25,000 to $40,000 for the 2025-26 school year, with a minimum salary of $46,000 for educators with master’s degrees and at least ten years of experience.

“This hopefully will be part of one of several strategies that will help us get more qualified teachers into the field and keep the ones that we have,” said Kari Monsees, former deputy commissioner of the Division of Administrative and Financial Services at DESE, who retired in June.

To facilitate this, lawmakers created and have provided funding for an initiative known as the Teacher Baseline Salary Grant Program. While these grants existed before, the same legislation that implemented higher minimum teacher salaries also created the formal program that will provide school districts paying wages below the minimum with funding to comply with the new state policy.

While the intent is good, some experts said the grant program could cause uncertainty for continued funding in future school years.

Caitlin Whaley is the senior director of advocacy and governmental relations for the Missouri School Boards’ Association. Whaley said that because the grant is subject to annual state appropriations that are not mandated by law, it may not be a reliable funding stream.

“We certainly appreciate that the legislature is willing to put their money where their mouth is and fund that program, but it’s just hard to rely on it year over year, when you don’t know when that funding could potentially not be renewed,” she said.

Rebeka McIntosh, president of the Missouri National Education Association and a former educator, said that increasing the teacher salary and funding certain aspects of education like transportation and the foundation formula is a good first step, but it’s the bare minimum. She said the state also made several cuts and withholdings for educational programs recently.

“Those have direct impact on our public school classrooms, and that is of great concern,” she said. “To say we need to recruit, retain, and then to cut the legs off from underneath … that will then fall again onto districts to find some sort of avenue to have to Scotch tape it together again, and our students deserve better.”

Even more, Todd Fuller, spokesperson for Missouri State Teachers Association, said the increase in minimum salary still leaves Missouri behind its neighboring states, which have also been increasing the minimum salaries for their educators.

“It’s felt like a battle to try to get us to a point where teachers are adequately compensated and we’ve finally gotten to a starting salary of $40,000, [but] the frustrating part of that is when you look at us and all the states bordering Missouri, we’re still last,” Fuller said. “Just as soon as we increase that salary, everybody else has increased their salary, and it keeps us still toward the bottom of starting salaries.”

While organizations like MSTA have been advocating for an increase in the minimum salary, Fuller said the results of&nbsp;<a href="https://msta.org/news-and-media/2025-member-survey" target="_blank">an annual survey</a>&nbsp;from the group show that the reason for high teacher turnover rates is not entirely because of pay, though it is a contributing factor for some.

“Salary is not the number one reason that teachers are leaving,” Fuller said. “Teachers are leaving because of discipline issues. They’re leaving because of unrealistic expectations for classroom management, especially when they don’t have backing from the administration.”

As an educator for 30 years, Aimee Epley, a kindergarten teacher at Hillsboro Primary School, feels that those outside of education may not realize the challenges that teachers face in their profession.

“I think they think that we’re glorified babysitters, so they don’t feel that pay is low because they don’t have an understanding of what we actually do,” Epley said. “Once you have somebody come in and observe, people are in awe of how a classroom is handled and ran.”

As rewarding as her career has been, Epley was relieved when her daughter didn’t pursue work in education despite being interested in that vocation.

“I knew she had the heart of a teacher. I was afraid of that, because I didn’t want her to be a teacher, because I didn’t want her to struggle financially in ways I have had to struggle,” Epley said.

Still, Epley remains hopeful for the future of education.

“I think we’re going to be on a struggle bus for a while, and then I think it’ll eventually swing back,” Epley said. “I don’t think there’s a point where we’re not appreciated for the job we do. I [just] don’t think we’re fiscally supported for the job that we do.”

This story originally appeared in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.missouribusinessalert.com/government/on-a-struggle-bus-educators-await-increase-in-starting-teacher-pay-amid-high-turnover-rates/article_8bb8e10d-1a94-49ef-826a-c224e7f3208b.html" target="_blank">Missouri Business Alert</a>, a digital newsroom covering businessand the economy in Missouri.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1755398942914.png" alt=" Aimee Epley is a kindergarten teacher at Hillsboro Primary School (photo submitted)." />
 <figcaption> Aimee Epley is a kindergarten teacher at Hillsboro Primary School (photo submitted).</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Missouri had a total teacher turnover rate of 14.6% during the 2023-24 school year, more than double the national average</h2>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/juliannamejia/">JULIANNA MEJIA</a>Summertime may almost be over, but for teachers like Audra Day, the work has been nonstop.Day is a kindergarten teacher at Hillsboro Primary School during the academic year, but has spent her break as a summer school teacher and mentor while also preparing for the upcoming school year.She said one of the misconceptions about being a teacher is that they have the entire summer off. In reality, Day doesn’t have the opportunity to take much of a break outside of the weeks that bookend summer school activities.“That’s only for four weeks off, which is what most people get off for vacation,” Day said.Though she loves her job, Day said it can be frustrating.Missouri had a total teacher turnover rate of 14.6% during the 2023-24 school year, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.primecenter.org/education-reports-database/teacher-turnover" target="_blank">a May 2025 report</a>&nbsp;led by Cameron Anglum, a researcher affiliated with St. Louis University’s PRiME Center. That’s more than double the national average of 7% during the same school year,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA956-29.html" target="_blank">according to research organization RAND</a>.Anglum defines total teacher turnover as teachers switching districts within Missouri and teachers leaving Missouri public education altogether. He said both the pandemic and the years following were rough for teachers as online accommodations were limited and the ensuing global inflation made teacher salaries even more dismal by comparison.“You mix all of those things together, and it was an enormously difficult two- or three-year period for teachers,” Anglum said. “Teaching in general is an enormously difficult profession, but over the pandemic, working conditions worsened pretty significantly.”The National Education Association&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nea.org/resource-library/educator-pay-and-student-spending-how-does-your-state-rank" target="_blank">ranks Missouri</a>&nbsp;as the 49th state in the nation in both average teacher starting salary and average educator salary, as of the 2023-24 school year. As teacher turnover rates remain high, Anglum said the pressure of filling in the gaps weighs on educators and school districts.“When schools see an increase in teachers leaving, that places a much larger burden on recruiting new teachers, and we often don’t have the supply of new teachers to fill those vacant positions,” Anglum said.As issues with teacher retention and recruitment continue, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the state legislature have implemented policies to improve teacher pay before classes begin next month.During the 2024 legislative session, lawmakers passed&nbsp;<a href="https://www.senate.mo.gov/24info/BTS_Web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&amp;BillID=244" target="_blank">Senate Bill 727</a>, which requires the minimum salary for teachers to increase from $25,000 to $40,000 for the 2025-26 school year, with a minimum salary of $46,000 for educators with master’s degrees and at least ten years of experience.“This hopefully will be part of one of several strategies that will help us get more qualified teachers into the field and keep the ones that we have,” said Kari Monsees, former deputy commissioner of the Division of Administrative and Financial Services at DESE, who retired in June.To facilitate this, lawmakers created and have provided funding for an initiative known as the Teacher Baseline Salary Grant Program. While these grants existed before, the same legislation that implemented higher minimum teacher salaries also created the formal program that will provide school districts paying wages below the minimum with funding to comply with the new state policy.While the intent is good, some experts said the grant program could cause uncertainty for continued funding in future school years.Caitlin Whaley is the senior director of advocacy and governmental relations for the Missouri School Boards’ Association. Whaley said that because the grant is subject to annual state appropriations that are not mandated by law, it may not be a reliable funding stream.“We certainly appreciate that the legislature is willing to put their money where their mouth is and fund that program, but it’s just hard to rely on it year over year, when you don’t know when that funding could potentially not be renewed,” she said.Rebeka McIntosh, president of the Missouri National Education Association and a former educator, said that increasing the teacher salary and funding certain aspects of education like transportation and the foundation formula is a good first step, but it’s the bare minimum. She said the state also made several cuts and withholdings for educational programs recently.“Those have direct impact on our public school classrooms, and that is of great concern,” she said. “To say we need to recruit, retain, and then to cut the legs off from underneath … that will then fall again onto districts to find some sort of avenue to have to Scotch tape it together again, and our students deserve better.”Even more, Todd Fuller, spokesperson for Missouri State Teachers Association, said the increase in minimum salary still leaves Missouri behind its neighboring states, which have also been increasing the minimum salaries for their educators.“It’s felt like a battle to try to get us to a point where teachers are adequately compensated and we’ve finally gotten to a starting salary of $40,000, [but] the frustrating part of that is when you look at us and all the states bordering Missouri, we’re still last,” Fuller said. “Just as soon as we increase that salary, everybody else has increased their salary, and it keeps us still toward the bottom of starting salaries.”While organizations like MSTA have been advocating for an increase in the minimum salary, Fuller said the results of&nbsp;<a href="https://msta.org/news-and-media/2025-member-survey" target="_blank">an annual survey</a>&nbsp;from the group show that the reason for high teacher turnover rates is not entirely because of pay, though it is a contributing factor for some.“Salary is not the number one reason that teachers are leaving,” Fuller said. “Teachers are leaving because of discipline issues. They’re leaving because of unrealistic expectations for classroom management, especially when they don’t have backing from the administration.”As an educator for 30 years, Aimee Epley, a kindergarten teacher at Hillsboro Primary School, feels that those outside of education may not realize the challenges that teachers face in their profession.“I think they think that we’re glorified babysitters, so they don’t feel that pay is low because they don’t have an understanding of what we actually do,” Epley said. “Once you have somebody come in and observe, people are in awe of how a classroom is handled and ran.”As rewarding as her career has been, Epley was relieved when her daughter didn’t pursue work in education despite being interested in that vocation.“I knew she had the heart of a teacher. I was afraid of that, because I didn’t want her to be a teacher, because I didn’t want her to struggle financially in ways I have had to struggle,” Epley said.Still, Epley remains hopeful for the future of education.“I think we’re going to be on a struggle bus for a while, and then I think it’ll eventually swing back,” Epley said. “I don’t think there’s a point where we’re not appreciated for the job we do. I [just] don’t think we’re fiscally supported for the job that we do.”This story originally appeared in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.missouribusinessalert.com/government/on-a-struggle-bus-educators-await-increase-in-starting-teacher-pay-amid-high-turnover-rates/article_8bb8e10d-1a94-49ef-826a-c224e7f3208b.html" target="_blank">Missouri Business Alert</a>, a digital newsroom covering businessand the economy in Missouri.

Missouri educators await increase in starting teacher pay amid high turnover rates

ATCHISON COUNTY —A St. Joseph couple are in custody after a police investigation in Atchison.

On Thursday, police arrested 35-year-old&nbsp;Christopher C. Cash and 43-year-old Crystal L. Cash both of St. Joseph in the 11000 block U.S.59. He was booked into jail in connection with a Nodaway County Missouri warrant for stealing, according to Atchison Police Chief Mike Wilson.&nbsp;

She was jailed on a Nodaway County Missouri warrant for stealing and a Doniphan County Ks warrant for failure to appear in court.&nbsp;&nbsp;

ATCHISON COUNTY —A St. Joseph couple are in custody after a police investigation in Atchison.On Thursday, police arrested 35-year-old&nbsp;Christopher C. Cash and 43-year-old Crystal L. Cash both of St. Joseph in the 11000 block U.S.59. He was booked into jail in connection with a Nodaway County Missouri warrant for stealing, according to Atchison Police Chief Mike Wilson.&nbsp;She was jailed on a Nodaway County Missouri warrant for stealing and a Doniphan County Ks warrant for failure to appear in court.&nbsp;&nbsp;

St. Joseph couple jailed for alleged theft in Kansas

The Maryville City Council has a new member, filling the open seat vacated by Tye Parsons, the city announced following a special meeting on Monday.&nbsp;

According to a news release from the City of Maryville, the City Council&nbsp;voted to appoint Erin Allen. Allen's term will begin Aug. 25, and she will aid in the ongoing work to address community needs, support city services and guide the future growth and development of Maryville.

By MATT PIKEMaryville PostThe Maryville City Council has a new member, filling the open seat vacated by Tye Parsons, the city announced following a special meeting on Monday.&nbsp;According to a news release from the City of Maryville, the City Council&nbsp;voted to appoint Erin Allen. Allen's term will begin Aug. 25, and she will aid in the ongoing work to address community needs, support city services and guide the future growth and development of Maryville."We are confident that Erin will bring valuable insight and dedication to the Council," Mayor Dannen Merrill said in the news release. "We look forward to working with her to serve our community.Allen will serve in the role until April 2026 in the next municipal election.You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Local