The University of Missouri Extension is hosting a second annual event designed to empower women in agriculture. 

The 2025 Women in Agriculture night will take place August 21st at the R/Farm Distillery in Mound City, the second event of its kind 

Denise Ferguson with the Missouri Extension in Buchanan County says this type of event is something they are finding they need more of to access a larger audience

"So this is a partnership with the Atchison, Holt, and Nodaway counties soil, water, and conservation district, the Natural Resource Conservation Office, and the FSA office up there," Ferguson says on the KFEQmunnity show.  "They received a grant to cover three counties with Women in Ag events, so last year was the first annual and we did that in Atchison county, this year it's being held in Holt county, and next year it's going to be in Nodaway county."

Ferguson says the event will feature several local vendors and food trucks, but also educational opportunities

"For instance from 4:30 to 5:30 for about an hour, Luke Skinner from the NRCS, he's the area soil health specialist, and he's going to do demonstrations that's going to include rainfall on different ground covers, different scenarios, and he's also going to talk about the grazing schools," Ferguson explains.

&nbsp;Ferguson says this event isn't just for women, it's designed to be about creating community

"Obviously we're targeting women, but it's not limited to women, we just want to create community in the rural areas and educate and share in experiences as far as agriculture," Ferguson says.

The event will run from 4 to 7:30 pm on Thursday August 21st.  Admission is $5.  You can contact the Buchanan County Extension Office or Ferguson for more information.

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

By MATT PIKEThe University of Missouri Extension is hosting a second annual event designed to empower women in agriculture. The 2025 Women in Agriculture night will take place August 21st at the R/Farm Distillery in Mound City, the second event of its kind Denise Ferguson with the Missouri Extension in Buchanan County says this type of event is something they are finding they need more of to access a larger audience"So this is a partnership with the Atchison, Holt, and Nodaway counties soil, water, and conservation district, the Natural Resource Conservation Office, and the FSA office up there," Ferguson says on the KFEQmunnity show. "They received a grant to cover three counties with Women in Ag events, so last year was the first annual and we did that in Atchison county, this year it's being held in Holt county, and next year it's going to be in Nodaway county."Ferguson says the event will feature several local vendors and food trucks, but also educational opportunities"For instance from 4:30 to 5:30 for about an hour, Luke Skinner from the NRCS, he's the area soil health specialist, and he's going to do demonstrations that's going to include rainfall on different ground covers, different scenarios, and he's also going to talk about the grazing schools," Ferguson explains.&nbsp;Ferguson says this event isn't just for women, it's designed to be about creating community"Obviously we're targeting women, but it's not limited to women, we just want to create community in the rural areas and educate and share in experiences as far as agriculture," Ferguson says.The event will run from 4 to 7:30 pm on Thursday August 21st. Admission is $5. You can contact the Buchanan County Extension Office or Ferguson for more information.You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Local annual event empowering women in agriculture

By MATT PIKESt. Joseph Post<div><iframe data-testid="embed-iframe" style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/4AuxTgfY56qE5QqGwm86BV?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="352" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy"></iframe></div>

KFEQ Morning Sports

By MATT PIKESt. Joseph Post<div><iframe data-testid="embed-iframe" style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/4tJKw2T76gmtVw05gwQtER?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="352" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy"></iframe></div>

KFEQ Morning News

After a special board meeting of the St. Joseph School Board called due to some behind the scenes issues, LaTonya Williams remains in her seat as the school board president. 

School Board member Kim Miller called for the special meeting last night after behind the scenes issues going on between Williams and board members.  Several area residents attended the meeting and voiced their concerns on the status of the board and where their priorities are focused. 

Following the discussion from residents all seven of the board members were able to voice their opinion about Williams and her future as president.  Ultimately in the end, after 90 minutes of discussions, the board made no motion and had no vote, which lead to Williams retaining her seat.

If you missed the meeting, you can click <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tXP8yIYea4">HERE</a> to view it online.

You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

By MATT PIKESt. Joseph PostAfter a special board meeting of the St. Joseph School Board called due to some behind the scenes issues, LaTonya Williams remains in her seat as the school board president. School Board member Kim Miller called for the special meeting last night after behind the scenes issues going on between Williams and board members. Several area residents attended the meeting and voiced their concerns on the status of the board and where their priorities are focused. Following the discussion from residents all seven of the board members were able to voice their opinion about Williams and her future as president. Ultimately in the end, after 90 minutes of discussions, the board made no motion and had no vote, which lead to Williams retaining her seat.If you missed the meeting, you can click <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tXP8yIYea4">HERE</a> to view it online.You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

Williams remains school board President following special meeting

DAVIESS COUNTY —Two teens were injured in an accident just after 5:30p.m. Monday in Daviess County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2023 Polaris RZR driven by a 15-year-old Hamilton boy was westbound on Waltz Avenue one half mile west of 110th Street four miles north of Hamilton.

The vehicle struck a hump in the road as it was approaching the bridge over Morrowbone Creek. The vehicle traveled off the south side of the bridge, became airborne, struck the concrete wing wall of the bridge, struck the ground and came to rest on its passenger side.

Daviess County EMS transported a 15-year-old passenger to Cameron Regional Medical Center. The driver refused treatment of a minor injury at the scene. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.

DAVIESS COUNTY —Two teens were injured in an accident just after 5:30p.m. Monday in Daviess County.The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2023 Polaris RZR driven by a 15-year-old Hamilton boy was westbound on Waltz Avenue one half mile west of 110th Street four miles north of Hamilton.The vehicle struck a hump in the road as it was approaching the bridge over Morrowbone Creek. The vehicle traveled off the south side of the bridge, became airborne, struck the concrete wing wall of the bridge, struck the ground and came to rest on its passenger side.Daviess County EMS transported a 15-year-old passenger to Cameron Regional Medical Center. The driver refused treatment of a minor injury at the scene. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.

Two Missouri teens injured in violent UTV accident

By:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/shalina-chatlani/">Shalina Chatlani</a>

At least 12 states have received federal approval to restrict recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, from using their benefits to purchase certain foods such as soda and candy.

The states receiving waivers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture are overwhelmingly Republican. Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia received approval last week. The feds granted waivers to Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska and Utah earlier this year.

Missouri lawmakers have debated a similar ban for several years, but it has yet to win legislative approval.

SNAP&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap/key-statistics-and-research" target="_blank">served on average</a>&nbsp;nearly 42 million people a month in fiscal 2024, with about 12% of the U.S. population receiving benefits.

The trend is part of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s agenda to “make America healthy again” by inviting states to apply for waivers to change SNAP rules to limit what types of food recipients can buy.

Kennedy said in a statement that SNAP has used taxpayer dollars to “fuel America’s diabetes and chronic disease epidemics.”

“These waivers help put real food back at the center of the program and empower states to lead the charge in protecting public health,” the statement said.

Critics of these waivers say the policy could harm people in places such as food deserts, where healthy options are limited, and take away recipients’ power to make their own food choices.

Craig Gundersen, a professor in the Department of Economics at Baylor University, told Stateline that these changes could harm the integrity of the program.

“One of the main reasons why SNAP is such a successful program is because it gives dignity and autonomy to recipients. It gives dignity to recipients by allowing them to shop in the same manner as their neighbors, friends and family, and it gives autonomy to recipients by saying to families: You are the best ones to make decisions for your families about what to purchase,” Gundersen said.

Gundersen said he worries the restrictions could stigmatize SNAP, which he called one of the best programs for fighting food insecurity.

<a href="https://stateline.org/" target="_blank">Stateline</a>&nbsp;is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754958706400.png" alt=" Sodas and chips are displayed at a convenience store in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens in New York. As of this month, 12 states, mostly Republican and in the South, have opted to limit SNAP recipients from purchasing foods such as soda and candy (Shalina Chatlani/ Stateline)." />
 <figcaption> Sodas and chips are displayed at a convenience store in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens in New York. As of this month, 12 states, mostly Republican and in the South, have opted to limit SNAP recipients from purchasing foods such as soda and candy (Shalina Chatlani/ Stateline).</figcaption>
 </figure>By:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/shalina-chatlani/">Shalina Chatlani</a>At least 12 states have received federal approval to restrict recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, from using their benefits to purchase certain foods such as soda and candy.The states receiving waivers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture are overwhelmingly Republican. Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia received approval last week. The feds granted waivers to Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska and Utah earlier this year.Missouri lawmakers have debated a similar ban for several years, but it has yet to win legislative approval.SNAP&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap/key-statistics-and-research" target="_blank">served on average</a>&nbsp;nearly 42 million people a month in fiscal 2024, with about 12% of the U.S. population receiving benefits.The trend is part of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s agenda to “make America healthy again” by inviting states to apply for waivers to change SNAP rules to limit what types of food recipients can buy.Kennedy said in a statement that SNAP has used taxpayer dollars to “fuel America’s diabetes and chronic disease epidemics.”“These waivers help put real food back at the center of the program and empower states to lead the charge in protecting public health,” the statement said.Critics of these waivers say the policy could harm people in places such as food deserts, where healthy options are limited, and take away recipients’ power to make their own food choices.Craig Gundersen, a professor in the Department of Economics at Baylor University, told Stateline that these changes could harm the integrity of the program.“One of the main reasons why SNAP is such a successful program is because it gives dignity and autonomy to recipients. It gives dignity to recipients by allowing them to shop in the same manner as their neighbors, friends and family, and it gives autonomy to recipients by saying to families: You are the best ones to make decisions for your families about what to purchase,” Gundersen said.Gundersen said he worries the restrictions could stigmatize SNAP, which he called one of the best programs for fighting food insecurity.<a href="https://stateline.org/" target="_blank">Stateline</a>&nbsp;is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.&nbsp;

A dozen states win approval to restrict soda, candy for SNAP recipients

Coming off their first preseason game, the word of the day at Chiefs Training Camp was improvement. 

After falling to the Arizona Cardinals 20-17, head coach Andy Reid said the team had many mistakes to fix and clean up when it came to penalties, having 11 in the game. 

Reid says you address that in practice by detailing your work

"You've got to focus in on the gameplan, know where you're at, and then understand the snap counts and you have to up your attention span there so you get those things covered," Reid tells reporters following practice in St. Joseph.

It was a light practice as the Kansas City Chiefs returned to Missouri Western State University after their preseason opener against the Cardinals. 

Linebacker Nick Bolton says he felt like the defense as a whole did some good things during the preseason opener

"Our tackling was pretty decent, I think our run defense showed up pretty well, got some physicality, and obviously got a turnover," Bolton says.  "So, I feel like some of the things we wanted to do this year we were able to do that, so I think it's a good start, good foundation, but a lot to improve on still."

The Chiefs defense did suffer a blow in the game, losing Deon Bush to an Achilles tendon tear with the safety expected to miss the entire season. 

Kansas City will hope to address the mistakes quickly with their next preseason game coming up on Friday against the Seattle Seahawks.

For the first time in his career not in a quarterback competition, Gardner Minshew suited up for the Kansas City Chiefs Saturday for the first time in preseason action

Minshew rushed for a touchdown and threw for 54 yards before being pulled from the game.  

Minshew says during practices and leading into the season, the biggest challenge for him from Andy Reid has just been to be aggressive

"Take shots, take chances, these practices are times to learn, figure out your limits what you can do," Minshew explains.  "So it's been good, pushing myself, trying to be aggressive, and trying to figure out where i fit in the offense."

Minshew signed with Kansas City on a one year deal in March, replacing Carson Wentz as Patrick Mahomes primary backup, coming to the Chiefs from the Las Vegas Raiders

In a 10-10-10 capacity, in shorts and shells, the Chiefs practiced for just over two hours.  There are just two more practices in St. Joseph, the first tomorrow at 9:15.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/7/1753213356048.jpeg" alt="Gardner Minshew (17) hands the ball off to Brashard Smith (30) as Patrick Mahomes and offensive coordinator Matt Nagy watch on/ Photo by Matt Pike" />
 <figcaption>Gardner Minshew (17) hands the ball off to Brashard Smith (30) as Patrick Mahomes and offensive coordinator Matt Nagy watch on/ Photo by Matt Pike</figcaption>
 </figure>By MATT PIKESt. Joseph PostComing off their first preseason game, the word of the day at Chiefs Training Camp was improvement. After falling to the Arizona Cardinals 20-17, head coach Andy Reid said the team had many mistakes to fix and clean up when it came to penalties, having 11 in the game. Reid says you address that in practice by detailing your work"You've got to focus in on the gameplan, know where you're at, and then understand the snap counts and you have to up your attention span there so you get those things covered," Reid tells reporters following practice in St. Joseph.It was a light practice as the Kansas City Chiefs returned to Missouri Western State University after their preseason opener against the Cardinals. Linebacker Nick Bolton says he felt like the defense as a whole did some good things during the preseason opener"Our tackling was pretty decent, I think our run defense showed up pretty well, got some physicality, and obviously got a turnover," Bolton says. "So, I feel like some of the things we wanted to do this year we were able to do that, so I think it's a good start, good foundation, but a lot to improve on still."The Chiefs defense did suffer a blow in the game, losing Deon Bush to an Achilles tendon tear with the safety expected to miss the entire season. Kansas City will hope to address the mistakes quickly with their next preseason game coming up on Friday against the Seattle Seahawks.For the first time in his career not in a quarterback competition, Gardner Minshew suited up for the Kansas City Chiefs Saturday for the first time in preseason actionMinshew rushed for a touchdown and threw for 54 yards before being pulled from the game. Minshew says during practices and leading into the season, the biggest challenge for him from Andy Reid has just been to be aggressive"Take shots, take chances, these practices are times to learn, figure out your limits what you can do," Minshew explains. "So it's been good, pushing myself, trying to be aggressive, and trying to figure out where i fit in the offense."Minshew signed with Kansas City on a one year deal in March, replacing Carson Wentz as Patrick Mahomes primary backup, coming to the Chiefs from the Las Vegas RaidersIn a 10-10-10 capacity, in shorts and shells, the Chiefs practiced for just over two hours. There are just two more practices in St. Joseph, the first tomorrow at 9:15.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754992861863.jpeg" alt="Nick Bolton (32) walks to practice during Chiefs Training Camp alongside linebacker Jack Cochrane (43) / Photo by Justin Peacock" />
 <figcaption>Nick Bolton (32) walks to practice during Chiefs Training Camp alongside linebacker Jack Cochrane (43) / Photo by Justin Peacock</figcaption>
 </figure>You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Improvement focus of Chiefs Training Camp after first preseason game

By MATT PIKESt. Joseph Post<div><iframe data-testid="embed-iframe" style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/6UeGIPGj7bZxUu6JUbBQnu?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="352" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy"></iframe></div>

By MATT PIKESt. Joseph Post<div><iframe data-testid="embed-iframe" style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/43JyRt4rQpRlq4M2XAyCz6?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="352" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy"></iframe></div>

KFEQ Morning News 

The Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation released the draft of cannabis rules that would give it more authority to keep non-compliant owners from obtaining other licenses

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/rebecca-rivas/">REBECCA RIVAS</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>

Missouri cannabis business owners who have had their license revoked for violating state rules could be prohibited from getting another license under&nbsp;<a href="https://health.mo.gov/comment/" target="_blank">proposed rules</a>&nbsp;announced by state regulators Thursday.&nbsp;

The Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation released the draft of a massive overhaul of cannabis rules giving regulators more authority to address a range of issues, including predatory practices in the state’s social-equity cannabis licenses, product recalls involving hemp-derived THC and non-compliant owners obtaining other licenses.

“We have found over the years that there’s really not a lot of structure or authority in rule… for us to address individuals in ownership or potential ownership who have been found to be either violating regulations themselves or responsible for those who are violating rules,” Amy Moore, director of the division, told The Independent Friday. “We have found that that is a gap.”

Among the rule revisions, Moore said, is a requirement for businesses to have mechanisms in place to remove owners who are responsible for violating state regulations.&nbsp;

The changes cover so much ground, Moore said, because the division hasn’t made any rule alterations since the recreational marijuana constitutional amendment passed in 2022.

“It’s the things that we’ve learned over time,” she said, “and found it needed improvement or needed to be fixed. Hopefully we’re not missing anything.”&nbsp;

Aside from revisions, a brand new rule released Thursday would establish an unlimited number of research licenses to study cannabis in Missouri.

The public can submit the feedback on the&nbsp;<a href="https://health.mo.gov/comment/" target="_blank">division’s website</a>&nbsp;until Aug. 21, and regulators will then review them and decide if they want to formally submit the rules to the Secretary of State’s Office.&nbsp;

Moore said if her team decides to move forward, they would like to do it “quickly.”

“If I thought, ‘Okay, we’ve solved everybody’s concern’…we could have it done in a couple weeks,” she said, “but we want to be sure that we are open to all the feedback and that we really consider it all.”

Nearly a year after the state stripped Robertsville-based Delta Extraction of its license in&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/11/16/cannabis-regulators-to-revoke-license-of-missouri-company-at-center-of-recall/">November 2023</a>, regulators approved one of the company’s co-owners — AJO LLC — to take over a cultivation and manufacturing facility in Waynesville in May 2024. It’s a far bigger operation than Delta Extraction, and it also involves several dispensaries as well.

Lisa Cox, spokeswoman for the division,&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/05/30/co-owners-of-missouri-company-at-center-of-marijuana-recall-got-greenlight-for-another-license/">told The Independent in May</a>&nbsp;that the rules currently do not prohibit individuals who have had a license revoked from acquiring another license.&nbsp;

Moore said Friday that the new rules would give the division “a much better standing” to deny an application for a license for an owner who’s been noncompliant previously.&nbsp;

She hopes it gives licensees “fair warning” when choosing future business partners.

“That’s part of why these new rules are so important,” she said. “This rule gives them a big heads up that that’s not going to work out for them, and they shouldn’t make that investment and get themselves tied up with individuals who have had previous non compliance.”

It also establishes an annual review of ownership for every license.&nbsp;

In February, Delta lost its appeal to get its license back, with Missouri’s administrative hearing commission concluding it had a “corporate culture of lax compliance with regulatory requirements.”

The scathing 137-page&nbsp;<a href="https://legacy.www.documentcloud.org/documents/25540171-delta-extraction-decision" target="_blank">ruling</a>, issued by Commissioner Carole Iles, informed the revisions released Thursday, Moore said.&nbsp;

Iles agreed with the division that the company’s practice of bringing in hemp-derived THC concentrate from other states and adding it to Missouri-grown marijuana products was a violation of state law.&nbsp;

“What this is doing is clarifying what we believe has always been in our rules and I think the Delta Extraction order from AHC confirms that that is what our rules mean…” Moore said, “that all the THC and THCA and those types of compounds need to originate from cannabis grown in our licensed facilities.”

The microbusiness program, which was written into the Missouri 2022 constitutional amendment that legalized marijuana, was designed for the licenses to end up in the hands of disadvantaged business owners. The eligibility criteria includes disabled veterans, those with lower incomes and people with non-violent marijuana offenses.

Since the program began in 2023, the division has struggled to prevent what some legal experts have called “fronts,” or arrangements where the profits and ownership weren’t going to people that regulators had certified were eligible.&nbsp;

Of the 96 microbusiness licenses issued so far,&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/04/15/missouri-cannabis-regulators-revoke-25-microbusiness-licenses/">regulators have revoked 34</a>.&nbsp;

For&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/10/26/applicants-recruited-on-craigslist-competed-for-missouri-social-equity-cannabis-licenses/">the last two years</a>, The Independent has documented the pattern of well-connected groups and individuals flooding the microbusiness lottery by recruiting people to submit applications and then offering them contracts that limited their profit and control of the business. A majority of the revoked licenses followed this pattern.

These kinds of agreements violate the constitutional requirement that the license be “majority owned and operated” by eligible individuals, Moore explained at a division&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/02/21/unlawful-predatory-practices-must-be-rooted-out-of-missouri-microbusiness-program-regulator-says/">town hall meeting</a>&nbsp;in February.&nbsp;

“It is not sustainable to keep going through rounds of license issuance and then having to do rounds of revocations,” she said in February. “We’re never going to get this market fully built out.”

The division first released rule changes for microbusiness licenses in December.&nbsp;The draft released Thursday includes some of the feedback the division received this winter, Moore said, but retained the core elements.

The designated contact for a microbusiness applicant must still be an eligible individual contributing to the majority ownership of the microbusiness license. And any entity who was the designated contact for a license that was previously revoked for failure to comply with the ownership and operation requirements may not be allowed to be involved in any capacity in a future microbusiness application.&nbsp;&nbsp;

In order to prevent numerous revocations, the division is proposing to adjust when its extensive application-review period occurs.&nbsp;

“Those adjustments really clarify what we are actually accomplishing here, which is ensuring that these licenses are held by eligible individuals,” Moore said. “And I think everyone really should agree that that’s the goal. I think the language that they have now is better&nbsp;focused on doing that.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754917767363.png" alt=" Amy Moore, (right) director of the Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation, speaks at the National Cannabis Industry Association’s summit on March 28 in St. Louis. At left is Mitch Meyers, partner at BeLeaf Medical marijuana company (Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption> Amy Moore, (right) director of the Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation, speaks at the National Cannabis Industry Association’s summit on March 28 in St. Louis. At left is Mitch Meyers, partner at BeLeaf Medical marijuana company (Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>The Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation released the draft of cannabis rules that would give it more authority to keep non-compliant owners from obtaining other licenses</h2>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/rebecca-rivas/">REBECCA RIVAS</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>Missouri cannabis business owners who have had their license revoked for violating state rules could be prohibited from getting another license under&nbsp;<a href="https://health.mo.gov/comment/" target="_blank">proposed rules</a>&nbsp;announced by state regulators Thursday.&nbsp;The Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation released the draft of a massive overhaul of cannabis rules giving regulators more authority to address a range of issues, including predatory practices in the state’s social-equity cannabis licenses, product recalls involving hemp-derived THC and non-compliant owners obtaining other licenses.“We have found over the years that there’s really not a lot of structure or authority in rule… for us to address individuals in ownership or potential ownership who have been found to be either violating regulations themselves or responsible for those who are violating rules,” Amy Moore, director of the division, told The Independent Friday. “We have found that that is a gap.”Among the rule revisions, Moore said, is a requirement for businesses to have mechanisms in place to remove owners who are responsible for violating state regulations.&nbsp;The changes cover so much ground, Moore said, because the division hasn’t made any rule alterations since the recreational marijuana constitutional amendment passed in 2022.“It’s the things that we’ve learned over time,” she said, “and found it needed improvement or needed to be fixed. Hopefully we’re not missing anything.”&nbsp;Aside from revisions, a brand new rule released Thursday would establish an unlimited number of research licenses to study cannabis in Missouri.The public can submit the feedback on the&nbsp;<a href="https://health.mo.gov/comment/" target="_blank">division’s website</a>&nbsp;until Aug. 21, and regulators will then review them and decide if they want to formally submit the rules to the Secretary of State’s Office.&nbsp;Moore said if her team decides to move forward, they would like to do it “quickly.”“If I thought, ‘Okay, we’ve solved everybody’s concern’…we could have it done in a couple weeks,” she said, “but we want to be sure that we are open to all the feedback and that we really consider it all.”<h2>Delta Extraction case</h2>Nearly a year after the state stripped Robertsville-based Delta Extraction of its license in&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/11/16/cannabis-regulators-to-revoke-license-of-missouri-company-at-center-of-recall/">November 2023</a>, regulators approved one of the company’s co-owners — AJO LLC — to take over a cultivation and manufacturing facility in Waynesville in May 2024. It’s a far bigger operation than Delta Extraction, and it also involves several dispensaries as well.Lisa Cox, spokeswoman for the division,&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/05/30/co-owners-of-missouri-company-at-center-of-marijuana-recall-got-greenlight-for-another-license/">told The Independent in May</a>&nbsp;that the rules currently do not prohibit individuals who have had a license revoked from acquiring another license.&nbsp;Moore said Friday that the new rules would give the division “a much better standing” to deny an application for a license for an owner who’s been noncompliant previously.&nbsp;She hopes it gives licensees “fair warning” when choosing future business partners.“That’s part of why these new rules are so important,” she said. “This rule gives them a big heads up that that’s not going to work out for them, and they shouldn’t make that investment and get themselves tied up with individuals who have had previous non compliance.”It also establishes an annual review of ownership for every license.&nbsp;In February, Delta lost its appeal to get its license back, with Missouri’s administrative hearing commission concluding it had a “corporate culture of lax compliance with regulatory requirements.”The scathing 137-page&nbsp;<a href="https://legacy.www.documentcloud.org/documents/25540171-delta-extraction-decision" target="_blank">ruling</a>, issued by Commissioner Carole Iles, informed the revisions released Thursday, Moore said.&nbsp;Iles agreed with the division that the company’s practice of bringing in hemp-derived THC concentrate from other states and adding it to Missouri-grown marijuana products was a violation of state law.&nbsp;“What this is doing is clarifying what we believe has always been in our rules and I think the Delta Extraction order from AHC confirms that that is what our rules mean…” Moore said, “that all the THC and THCA and those types of compounds need to originate from cannabis grown in our licensed facilities.”<h2>Microbusiness ‘fronts’</h2>The microbusiness program, which was written into the Missouri 2022 constitutional amendment that legalized marijuana, was designed for the licenses to end up in the hands of disadvantaged business owners. The eligibility criteria includes disabled veterans, those with lower incomes and people with non-violent marijuana offenses.Since the program began in 2023, the division has struggled to prevent what some legal experts have called “fronts,” or arrangements where the profits and ownership weren’t going to people that regulators had certified were eligible.&nbsp;Of the 96 microbusiness licenses issued so far,&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/04/15/missouri-cannabis-regulators-revoke-25-microbusiness-licenses/">regulators have revoked 34</a>.&nbsp;For&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/10/26/applicants-recruited-on-craigslist-competed-for-missouri-social-equity-cannabis-licenses/">the last two years</a>, The Independent has documented the pattern of well-connected groups and individuals flooding the microbusiness lottery by recruiting people to submit applications and then offering them contracts that limited their profit and control of the business. A majority of the revoked licenses followed this pattern.These kinds of agreements violate the constitutional requirement that the license be “majority owned and operated” by eligible individuals, Moore explained at a division&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/02/21/unlawful-predatory-practices-must-be-rooted-out-of-missouri-microbusiness-program-regulator-says/">town hall meeting</a>&nbsp;in February.&nbsp;“It is not sustainable to keep going through rounds of license issuance and then having to do rounds of revocations,” she said in February. “We’re never going to get this market fully built out.”The division first released rule changes for microbusiness licenses in December.&nbsp;The draft released Thursday includes some of the feedback the division received this winter, Moore said, but retained the core elements.The designated contact for a microbusiness applicant must still be an eligible individual contributing to the majority ownership of the microbusiness license. And any entity who was the designated contact for a license that was previously revoked for failure to comply with the ownership and operation requirements may not be allowed to be involved in any capacity in a future microbusiness application.&nbsp;&nbsp;In order to prevent numerous revocations, the division is proposing to adjust when its extensive application-review period occurs.&nbsp;“Those adjustments really clarify what we are actually accomplishing here, which is ensuring that these licenses are held by eligible individuals,” Moore said. “And I think everyone really should agree that that’s the goal. I think the language that they have now is better&nbsp;focused on doing that.”

Missouri cannabis regulators target rule breakers, predatory contracts

It’s national
“8-1-1 Day” – the day homeowners are reminded to call 8-1-1 before they dig.

Manager of Damage
Prevention for Spire, Alan Meyer, says it’s important to call 8-1-1 before
beginning that excavation project.

“Well, the
importance is to keep you and your community safe,” Meyer tells KFEQ/St. Joseph
Post.

And a simple, free
call to 8-1-1 can accomplish that.

“Well, I would say
no matter how big or small the project is, you have utilities below ground. The
call is free,” Meyer says. “Why not protect yourself?”

After placing the
call to 8-1-1, utility representatives will come to your property and mark
where the utility lines run under your property. It takes two to three days for
utilities to respond to the job site.

Meyer says
property owners should place the free call to 8-1-1 before beginning to dig,
even if they think it’s a small project such as installing a mailbox, putting
on a deck, or planting flowers.

“The size of the
project doesn’t matter,” Meyer says. “Whether you’re planting tulips in your
flower bed or you’re planting trees in your backyard or you’re doing an
irrigation system intact, anything like that. It doesn’t relinquish the
importance of calling.”

But, if you don’t
call and you or your contractor rupture a gas line, Meyer says you need to move
to a safe location upwind of the damage. Call 9-1-1 immediately.

“And you also need
to call 8-1-1, notify them that you’ve hit a utility and you also need to call
the gas company so that they can respond,” Meyer says. “The beauty of calling
9-1-1 is you’re going to get people in route. They’re the first responders,
typically. They’ll start making the area safe. But, again, the first thing is
to move to a safe location, upwind of the damage.”

Spire recommends
these steps for safe digging:

• Dial 811 to
request a site be marked. The call and the locating services are free.

• Call at least
three days before digging. A locator will mark lines that could be impacted by
your project. Spire lines will be marked with yellow flags and/or spray paint.

• Be careful when
digging around the markers to avoid accidentally damaging buried natural gas or
other utility lines.

• Double check the
lines have been marked and ask your contractor if you hired one. Do not allow

The annual “811
Day” initiative is led by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration.

For more
information about safe digging and excavation, visit
<a href="https://spireenergy.com/call-you-dig">spireenergy.com/call-you-dig</a>.

You can follow&nbsp;Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754672882162.jpeg" alt="Photo courtesy of Spire" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy of Spire</figcaption>
 </figure>By BRENT MARTINIt’s national
“8-1-1 Day” – the day homeowners are reminded to call 8-1-1 before they dig.Manager of Damage
Prevention for Spire, Alan Meyer, says it’s important to call 8-1-1 before
beginning that excavation project.“Well, the
importance is to keep you and your community safe,” Meyer tells KFEQ/St. Joseph
Post.And a simple, free
call to 8-1-1 can accomplish that.“Well, I would say
no matter how big or small the project is, you have utilities below ground. The
call is free,” Meyer says. “Why not protect yourself?”After placing the
call to 8-1-1, utility representatives will come to your property and mark
where the utility lines run under your property. It takes two to three days for
utilities to respond to the job site.Meyer says
property owners should place the free call to 8-1-1 before beginning to dig,
even if they think it’s a small project such as installing a mailbox, putting
on a deck, or planting flowers.“The size of the
project doesn’t matter,” Meyer says. “Whether you’re planting tulips in your
flower bed or you’re planting trees in your backyard or you’re doing an
irrigation system intact, anything like that. It doesn’t relinquish the
importance of calling.”But, if you don’t
call and you or your contractor rupture a gas line, Meyer says you need to move
to a safe location upwind of the damage. Call 9-1-1 immediately.“And you also need
to call 8-1-1, notify them that you’ve hit a utility and you also need to call
the gas company so that they can respond,” Meyer says. “The beauty of calling
9-1-1 is you’re going to get people in route. They’re the first responders,
typically. They’ll start making the area safe. But, again, the first thing is
to move to a safe location, upwind of the damage.”Spire recommends
these steps for safe digging:• Dial 811 to
request a site be marked. The call and the locating services are free.• Call at least
three days before digging. A locator will mark lines that could be impacted by
your project. Spire lines will be marked with yellow flags and/or spray paint.• Be careful when
digging around the markers to avoid accidentally damaging buried natural gas or
other utility lines.• Double check the
lines have been marked and ask your contractor if you hired one. Do not allowThe annual “811
Day” initiative is led by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration.For more
information about safe digging and excavation, visit
<a href="https://spireenergy.com/call-you-dig">spireenergy.com/call-you-dig</a>.You can follow&nbsp;Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ

August 8th - 8/11 - or National 8-1-1 Day

ATCHISON COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating a suspect for an alleged violent knife attack.

At 6p.m. on Saturday police responded to a disturbance in an alley on the north side of the 800 block Commercial Street in Atchison, according to Police Chief Mike Wilson. It was determined two men, who were known to each other, had been involved in the disturbance and both were still at the scene.&nbsp; 

A 52-year-old man had sustained a stab wound to his arm. EMS was called to the scene but he refused transport to the hospital. Police took 42-year-old Albert Goodman into custody at the scene on requested charges of aggravated battery and aggravated assault and taken to the County Jail. Police also recovered a knife used in the stabbing, according to Wilson.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754859611217.png" alt="Goodman photo Atchison Co." />
 <figcaption>Goodman photo Atchison Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>ATCHISON COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating a suspect for an alleged violent knife attack.At 6p.m. on Saturday police responded to a disturbance in an alley on the north side of the 800 block Commercial Street in Atchison, according to Police Chief Mike Wilson. It was determined two men, who were known to each other, had been involved in the disturbance and both were still at the scene.&nbsp; A 52-year-old man had sustained a stab wound to his arm. EMS was called to the scene but he refused transport to the hospital. Police took 42-year-old Albert Goodman into custody at the scene on requested charges of aggravated battery and aggravated assault and taken to the County Jail. Police also recovered a knife used in the stabbing, according to Wilson.

Police: Kansas man jailed after stabbing during dispute

DAVIESS COUNTY —One person was injured in an accident just before 5a.m. Sunday in Daviess County.

The Missouri State Highway&nbsp; Patrol reported a 2021 Polaris RZR driven by a 22-year-old Jamesport man was westbound on Topper Avenue at 320th Street one mile west of Lock Springs. The driver failed to negotiate a curve. The driver overcorrected. The vehicle overturned and he was ejected.

A private vehicle transported the driver to Hedrick Medical Center. He was not wearing a helmet, according to the MSHP.

DAVIESS COUNTY —One person was injured in an accident just before 5a.m. Sunday in Daviess County.The Missouri State Highway&nbsp; Patrol reported a 2021 Polaris RZR driven by a 22-year-old Jamesport man was westbound on Topper Avenue at 320th Street one mile west of Lock Springs. The driver failed to negotiate a curve. The driver overcorrected. The vehicle overturned and he was ejected.A private vehicle transported the driver to Hedrick Medical Center. He was not wearing a helmet, according to the MSHP.

Missouri man injured after UTV overturns

Hospitals across Missouri are preparing for reduced revenue and increased costs under President Donald Trump’s new budget plan, which will slash more than $1 trillion from Medicaid spending over the next decade

By:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/megcunningham/">Meg Cunningham</a>

Missouri’s 67 rural hospitals are pondering a dramatically different future under President Donald Trump’s new budget plan.

The recently approved budget bill will slash federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over the next decade. By some estimates, it could lead to 8.6 million people nationwide losing health coverage.

Various estimates conclude that between 130,000 and 170,000 Missourians could lose coverage under the&nbsp;<a href="https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2025/07/11/medicaid-mo-healthnet-kancare-changes-2025/" target="_blank">state’s Medicaid program, known as MO HealthNet</a>, over the next decade.

And even if you have commercial insurance, the impact on hospital operations and finances could still affect your health care. As people delay treatment for their health conditions due to a lack of insurance, they’ll start relying more on the emergency room as their primary form of health care, experts say.

That will lead to more crowded emergency departments. Moreover, the burden to pay for uninsured patients will shift onto the hospitals that provide the care, and eventually back to patients.

With the budget plan in motion and spending cuts materializing, Missouri’s hospitals are now taking a look at their finances and preparing for an uptick in costs.

For rural Missourians, even those who aren’t on Medicaid, it means the types of health care available to them in the form of obstetric units, primary care providers or specialty providers could be changing.

Or their nearby hospital could be gone altogether.

“We are likely going to see rural hospital closures,” said Sheldon Weisgrau, the vice president of health policy at the Missouri Foundation for Health, in a press briefing.

“We have not had any rural hospitals close since we expanded the Medicaid program,” he said. “We are likely to see rural hospitals close because they operate on the financial edge.”

What do worsening hospital finances under Medicaid cuts mean for you?&nbsp;

Mercy, which is based in the St. Louis area, operates 112 hospitals and emergency rooms across Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas and has a large footprint in rural Missouri. Mercy estimates that the budget will lead to bigger revenue losses every year.

Five years from now, they estimate, they’ll lose $300 million in revenue annually.

“That’s going to mean we’re going to have to radically look at how we deliver care differently — that is still responsive to our communities,” said Cheryl Matejka, the executive vice president and chief financial officer at Mercy. “It’s going to be different for us to survive and thrive.”

Under the plan, Missouri stands to lose an estimated $23 billion in federal funding over the next decade, according to the Missouri Foundation for Health.* Much of Missouri’s federal money covers the cost of Medicaid for the Affordable Care Act expansion group, which voters approved coverage for with an amendment to the state constitution in 2020.

The new federal budget restricts how states and hospitals can pay for the services they provide by limiting the fees that states can collect from health care providers. It also puts limits on what states can pay hospitals to help them fill gaps in their finances for treating Medicaid patients.

Broken down by year, Missouri’s federal funding for Medicaid will drop about 20% annually as the plan moves forward, Weisgrau said.

“All of this is going to have a disproportionate impact in rural communities,” Weisgrau said.

The Missouri Foundation for Health analyzed the budget plan, he added, and found that rural health care providers could lose 21 cents of every dollar they currently get from Medicaid.

According to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/key-facts-about-hospitals/?entry=rural-hospitals-rural-profit-margins" target="_blank">KFF</a>, hospitals overall had an operating margin of 5.2% in 2023. For rural hospitals, that margin was 3.1%.

The bulk of the concern stems from an expected rise in uncompensated care — hospitals treating patients even if they cannot pay.

“When folks lose their insurance coverage, it doesn’t mean they don’t continue to get sick,” Weisgrau said. “A lot of them stay out of the health care system because they know they can’t afford it.”

Once their health deteriorates to a certain point, they go to the emergency room, where they are required to be treated, even if they cannot pay for that care.

Mercy, for example, sets aside part of its budget to account for that cost.

“We give away about half a billion dollars of uncompensated or unreimbursed care,” said John Mohart, the executive vice president and chief operation officer for Mercy. “Some of that is for Medicaid patients already, because it doesn’t cover the costs that we have.”

But for smaller hospitals, the flexibility to provide that uncompensated care isn’t there. Fewer insured people will only increase costs.

“If you see an uninsured patient, then you probably have to assume that there is a pretty good chance you’re just going to have to eat those costs,” said Timothy McBride, a public health expert and economist at the Washington University School of Public Health.

As a result, even those covered by commercial insurance could see their premiums rise to help cover the care.

“These costs are passed on to the rest of us,” Weisgrau said. “We will see private insurance premiums going up. Even folks who have good coverage from their employers and think they might be immune from some of these Medicaid cuts&nbsp;&nbsp;will see impacts of this down the line.”

How far will the rural hospital fund go in saving at-risk hospitals?&nbsp;

To help offset some of the costs rural hospitals are taking on, senators in Washington lobbied for the inclusion of a rural hospital stabilization fund. The budget included $50 billion for rural hospitals over the next five years with the possibility of renewing the fund in the future.

Half of it will be distributed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, while the other half will flow to states to then send to hospitals.

But the fund won’t be enough to offset the losses rural hospitals are anticipating.

Medicaid spending in rural parts of the country is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/allocating-cbos-estimates-of-federal-medicaid-spending-reductions-across-the-states-enacted-reconciliation-package" target="_blank">expected to fall by $137 billion</a>&nbsp;over the next decade — $87 billion more than was allocated to the rural hospital fund, according to KFF.

And even those estimates, KFF said, are modest because they don’t account for how states may change the way they fund Medicaid.

During negotiations surrounding the budget bill, senators asked the University of North Carolina Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/sheps_response.pdf" target="_blank">analyze</a>&nbsp;how many rural hospitals may be at risk under the plan.

Their report found that nearly 340 rural hospitals were at risk nationwide, based on the rate of Medicaid patients they serve and their consecutive years of financial losses.

In Missouri, four hospitals were considered at-risk, while in Kansas, six hospitals were listed.

One of those hospitals is Bothwell Regional Health Center in Sedalia, the city’s largest employer with more than 1,000 employees.

In 2024, the hospital posted its first profit since 2018, Bothwell CEO Lori Wightman said in a press release in July. Notably, Medicare and Medicaid provided 78% of the payments for its patients.

“These programs pay well below the actual cost of providing care,” Wightman said in the release. “Commercial insurance alone cannot close the gap, and that is where subsidies available to rural hospitals are essential. Unfortunately, the cost of providing care, from personnel to technology, continues to rise making a difficult situation harder to stabilize.”

Other Missouri hospitals included on the list were Scotland County Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Parkland Health Center in Bonne Terre and Lafayette Regional Health Center in Lexington — Sen. Josh Hawley’s hometown.

<a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-%20brief/a-look-at-rural-hospital-closures-and-implications-for-access-to-care/" target="_blank">Studies</a>&nbsp;show that after a rural hospital closure, low-income and elderly patients were more likely to defer or skip their health care altogether because of transportation challenges.

Rural hospital closures also lead to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/abs/10.1377/hlthaff.2019.00916" target="_blank">loss of physicians</a>. One study found that the closure of a rural hospital led to an 8.3% drop in primary care physicians and a 4.8% drop in obstetricians and gynecologists.

“Health care providers are big employers,” Weisgrau said. “They are big users of local supplies and commodities. All of that will have to be reduced. People will lose jobs. Economies will decline as a result of these cuts.”

*Meg Cunningham’s coverage of rural health is funded by the Missouri Foundation for Health.&nbsp;

This&nbsp;<a href="https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2025/08/08/rural-hospitals-missouri-medicaid-cuts-at-risk-2025-closures/" target="_blank">article</a>&nbsp;first appeared on&nbsp;<a href="https://thebeaconnews.org/" target="_blank">Beacon: Missouri</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/2025/6/1750514507439.png" alt="Google image" />
 <figcaption>Google image</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Hospitals across Missouri are preparing for reduced revenue and increased costs under President Donald Trump’s new budget plan, which will slash more than $1 trillion from Medicaid spending over the next decade</h2>By:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/megcunningham/">Meg Cunningham</a>Missouri’s 67 rural hospitals are pondering a dramatically different future under President Donald Trump’s new budget plan.The recently approved budget bill will slash federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over the next decade. By some estimates, it could lead to 8.6 million people nationwide losing health coverage.Various estimates conclude that between 130,000 and 170,000 Missourians could lose coverage under the&nbsp;<a href="https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2025/07/11/medicaid-mo-healthnet-kancare-changes-2025/" target="_blank">state’s Medicaid program, known as MO HealthNet</a>, over the next decade.And even if you have commercial insurance, the impact on hospital operations and finances could still affect your health care. As people delay treatment for their health conditions due to a lack of insurance, they’ll start relying more on the emergency room as their primary form of health care, experts say.That will lead to more crowded emergency departments. Moreover, the burden to pay for uninsured patients will shift onto the hospitals that provide the care, and eventually back to patients.With the budget plan in motion and spending cuts materializing, Missouri’s hospitals are now taking a look at their finances and preparing for an uptick in costs.For rural Missourians, even those who aren’t on Medicaid, it means the types of health care available to them in the form of obstetric units, primary care providers or specialty providers could be changing.Or their nearby hospital could be gone altogether.“We are likely going to see rural hospital closures,” said Sheldon Weisgrau, the vice president of health policy at the Missouri Foundation for Health, in a press briefing.“We have not had any rural hospitals close since we expanded the Medicaid program,” he said. “We are likely to see rural hospitals close because they operate on the financial edge.”<h2>What do worsening hospital finances under Medicaid cuts mean for you?&nbsp;</h2>Mercy, which is based in the St. Louis area, operates 112 hospitals and emergency rooms across Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas and has a large footprint in rural Missouri. Mercy estimates that the budget will lead to bigger revenue losses every year.Five years from now, they estimate, they’ll lose $300 million in revenue annually.“That’s going to mean we’re going to have to radically look at how we deliver care differently — that is still responsive to our communities,” said Cheryl Matejka, the executive vice president and chief financial officer at Mercy. “It’s going to be different for us to survive and thrive.”Under the plan, Missouri stands to lose an estimated $23 billion in federal funding over the next decade, according to the Missouri Foundation for Health.* Much of Missouri’s federal money covers the cost of Medicaid for the Affordable Care Act expansion group, which voters approved coverage for with an amendment to the state constitution in 2020.The new federal budget restricts how states and hospitals can pay for the services they provide by limiting the fees that states can collect from health care providers. It also puts limits on what states can pay hospitals to help them fill gaps in their finances for treating Medicaid patients.Broken down by year, Missouri’s federal funding for Medicaid will drop about 20% annually as the plan moves forward, Weisgrau said.“All of this is going to have a disproportionate impact in rural communities,” Weisgrau said.The Missouri Foundation for Health analyzed the budget plan, he added, and found that rural health care providers could lose 21 cents of every dollar they currently get from Medicaid.According to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/key-facts-about-hospitals/?entry=rural-hospitals-rural-profit-margins" target="_blank">KFF</a>, hospitals overall had an operating margin of 5.2% in 2023. For rural hospitals, that margin was 3.1%.The bulk of the concern stems from an expected rise in uncompensated care — hospitals treating patients even if they cannot pay.“When folks lose their insurance coverage, it doesn’t mean they don’t continue to get sick,” Weisgrau said. “A lot of them stay out of the health care system because they know they can’t afford it.”Once their health deteriorates to a certain point, they go to the emergency room, where they are required to be treated, even if they cannot pay for that care.Mercy, for example, sets aside part of its budget to account for that cost.“We give away about half a billion dollars of uncompensated or unreimbursed care,” said John Mohart, the executive vice president and chief operation officer for Mercy. “Some of that is for Medicaid patients already, because it doesn’t cover the costs that we have.”But for smaller hospitals, the flexibility to provide that uncompensated care isn’t there. Fewer insured people will only increase costs.“If you see an uninsured patient, then you probably have to assume that there is a pretty good chance you’re just going to have to eat those costs,” said Timothy McBride, a public health expert and economist at the Washington University School of Public Health.As a result, even those covered by commercial insurance could see their premiums rise to help cover the care.“These costs are passed on to the rest of us,” Weisgrau said. “We will see private insurance premiums going up. Even folks who have good coverage from their employers and think they might be immune from some of these Medicaid cuts&nbsp;&nbsp;will see impacts of this down the line.”<h2>How far will the rural hospital fund go in saving at-risk hospitals?&nbsp;</h2>To help offset some of the costs rural hospitals are taking on, senators in Washington lobbied for the inclusion of a rural hospital stabilization fund. The budget included $50 billion for rural hospitals over the next five years with the possibility of renewing the fund in the future.Half of it will be distributed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, while the other half will flow to states to then send to hospitals.But the fund won’t be enough to offset the losses rural hospitals are anticipating.Medicaid spending in rural parts of the country is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/allocating-cbos-estimates-of-federal-medicaid-spending-reductions-across-the-states-enacted-reconciliation-package" target="_blank">expected to fall by $137 billion</a>&nbsp;over the next decade — $87 billion more than was allocated to the rural hospital fund, according to KFF.And even those estimates, KFF said, are modest because they don’t account for how states may change the way they fund Medicaid.During negotiations surrounding the budget bill, senators asked the University of North Carolina Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/sheps_response.pdf" target="_blank">analyze</a>&nbsp;how many rural hospitals may be at risk under the plan.Their report found that nearly 340 rural hospitals were at risk nationwide, based on the rate of Medicaid patients they serve and their consecutive years of financial losses.In Missouri, four hospitals were considered at-risk, while in Kansas, six hospitals were listed.One of those hospitals is Bothwell Regional Health Center in Sedalia, the city’s largest employer with more than 1,000 employees.In 2024, the hospital posted its first profit since 2018, Bothwell CEO Lori Wightman said in a press release in July. Notably, Medicare and Medicaid provided 78% of the payments for its patients.“These programs pay well below the actual cost of providing care,” Wightman said in the release. “Commercial insurance alone cannot close the gap, and that is where subsidies available to rural hospitals are essential. Unfortunately, the cost of providing care, from personnel to technology, continues to rise making a difficult situation harder to stabilize.”Other Missouri hospitals included on the list were Scotland County Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Parkland Health Center in Bonne Terre and Lafayette Regional Health Center in Lexington — Sen. Josh Hawley’s hometown.<a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-%20brief/a-look-at-rural-hospital-closures-and-implications-for-access-to-care/" target="_blank">Studies</a>&nbsp;show that after a rural hospital closure, low-income and elderly patients were more likely to defer or skip their health care altogether because of transportation challenges.Rural hospital closures also lead to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/abs/10.1377/hlthaff.2019.00916" target="_blank">loss of physicians</a>. One study found that the closure of a rural hospital led to an 8.3% drop in primary care physicians and a 4.8% drop in obstetricians and gynecologists.“Health care providers are big employers,” Weisgrau said. “They are big users of local supplies and commodities. All of that will have to be reduced. People will lose jobs. Economies will decline as a result of these cuts.”*Meg Cunningham’s coverage of rural health is funded by the Missouri Foundation for Health.&nbsp;This&nbsp;<a href="https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2025/08/08/rural-hospitals-missouri-medicaid-cuts-at-risk-2025-closures/" target="_blank">article</a>&nbsp;first appeared on&nbsp;<a href="https://thebeaconnews.org/" target="_blank">Beacon: Missouri</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>.

Rural hospitals in Missouri struggle to turn a profit. Medicaid cuts could force some to close

CLINTON COUNTY—A Missouri man died in an accident just after 3p.m. Saturday in Clinton County.

The Missouri State highway Patrol reported a 1997 Ford Ranger driven by a 27-year-old Breckenridge man was southbound on MO 33 nine miles north of Platttsburg. The pickup traveled off the west side of the road, returned to the road, traveled off the east side of the road, came back on the road and rolled onto its top

The driver was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to Forensic Medical. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.

CLINTON COUNTY—A Missouri man died in an accident just after 3p.m. Saturday in Clinton County.The Missouri State highway Patrol reported a 1997 Ford Ranger driven by a 27-year-old Breckenridge man was southbound on MO 33 nine miles north of Platttsburg. The pickup traveled off the west side of the road, returned to the road, traveled off the east side of the road, came back on the road and rolled onto its topThe driver was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to Forensic Medical. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.

Missouri man dies after pickup rollover accident

DAVIESS COUNTY —One person was injured in an accident just before 4p.m. Saturday in Daviess County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2013 Ram 2500 driven by a 63-year-old Jamesport man was eastbound on U.S. 69 in Winston.

The pickup rear-ended a 2014 Kia Forte driven by a 16-year-old Gillman City boy who had slowed to make a left turn and a 2021 Ford Bronco driven by a 51-year-old Trenton man.&nbsp;

A private vehicle transported the teen driver to Cameron Regional Medical Center.&nbsp; All three drivers were properly restrained, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longe releases named of accident victims.

DAVIESS COUNTY —One person was injured in an accident just before 4p.m. Saturday in Daviess County.The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2013 Ram 2500 driven by a 63-year-old Jamesport man was eastbound on U.S. 69 in Winston.The pickup rear-ended a 2014 Kia Forte driven by a 16-year-old Gillman City boy who had slowed to make a left turn and a 2021 Ford Bronco driven by a 51-year-old Trenton man.&nbsp;A private vehicle transported the teen driver to Cameron Regional Medical Center.&nbsp; All three drivers were properly restrained, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longe releases named of accident victims.

Missouri teen injured after 3-vehicle rear-end crash

HARRISON COUNTY—One person was injured in an accident just befor 4p.m. Friday in Harrison County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 1999 Sea-Doo XP Limited driven by a 51-year-old Bethany man was on Harrison County Lake northeast of the old boat ramp.

The watercraft traveled into the path of a 1997 Sea-Doo XP driven by a 48-year-old Trenton man. The front of the 1997 watercraft struck the right side of the 1997 watercraft.

Harrison County EMS transported the 51-year-old to Liberty Hospital. There were not other injuries. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.

HARRISON COUNTY—One person was injured in an accident just befor 4p.m. Friday in Harrison County.The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 1999 Sea-Doo XP Limited driven by a 51-year-old Bethany man was on Harrison County Lake northeast of the old boat ramp.The watercraft traveled into the path of a 1997 Sea-Doo XP driven by a 48-year-old Trenton man. The front of the 1997 watercraft struck the right side of the 1997 watercraft.Harrison County EMS transported the 51-year-old to Liberty Hospital. There were not other injuries. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.

Missouri man injured after jet skis collide

GRUNDY COUNTY—A Missouri man died in an accident just before midnight Friday in Grundy County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2011 Ford F150 driven by an 82-year-old Trenton man was southbound on U.S. 65 two miles south of Spickard. The driver attempted to pass a 2003 Toyota Tundra driven by a 25-year-old Gallatin man as the vehicles approached the crest of a hill. The Ford struck a northbound 2021 Ford Expedition driven by a 21-year-old Spickard woman head-on.

After impact, the F150 skidded back into the southbound lanes and struck the Toyota. The impact pushed the Toyota into a utility pole and a fence. The F150 skidded off the west side of the road, struck an embankment and overturned.

Grundy County ambulance transported the F150 driver and a 72-year-old female passenger to Wright Memorial where the 82-year-old was pronounced deceased. The 72-year-old was later transferred to St. Lukes's on the Plaza. Mercer County EMS transported the 21-year-old SUV driver to Wright Memorial.&nbsp; There were no other injuries. The 82-year-old was not wearing a seat belt, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.

GRUNDY COUNTY—A Missouri man died in an accident just before midnight Friday in Grundy County.The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2011 Ford F150 driven by an 82-year-old Trenton man was southbound on U.S. 65 two miles south of Spickard. The driver attempted to pass a 2003 Toyota Tundra driven by a 25-year-old Gallatin man as the vehicles approached the crest of a hill. The Ford struck a northbound 2021 Ford Expedition driven by a 21-year-old Spickard woman head-on.After impact, the F150 skidded back into the southbound lanes and struck the Toyota. The impact pushed the Toyota into a utility pole and a fence. The F150 skidded off the west side of the road, struck an embankment and overturned.Grundy County ambulance transported the F150 driver and a 72-year-old female passenger to Wright Memorial where the 82-year-old was pronounced deceased. The 72-year-old was later transferred to St. Lukes's on the Plaza. Mercer County EMS transported the 21-year-old SUV driver to Wright Memorial.&nbsp; There were no other injuries. The 82-year-old was not wearing a seat belt, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.