by: Olivia Johnson

Posted: Jul 7, 2026 / 12:47 PM CDT

Updated: Jul 7, 2026 / 12:47 PM CDT

GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. (WDAF) – Authorities said an explosion reported early Tuesday morning was caused by a school employee hitting a firework with a lawn mower in Missouri.

According to the Grain Valley Police Department, officers responded shortly after 7 a.m. to an area near Grain Valley South Middle School, about 23 miles east of Kansas City, for a reported explosion and a person with injuries.

After arriving at the scene, law enforcement discovered a Grain Valley School District employee had been mowing near the school when they struck an apparent explosive device. The explosion caused damage to the mower, and the employee was originally reported to have suffered minor injuries.

Authorities later said the employee is reported to be in good condition with no injuries.

The area surrounding the school was blocked to the public for three hours to ensure there were no additional devices or safety concerns. The roads have since reopened, and investigators said there is no known threat to the public.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has been called to the scene to help with the investigation.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KY3) -Missouri teachers are criticizing Gov. Mike Kehoe’s plan to assign A-F letter grades to the state’s public and charter schools, saying the money would be better spent on classroom learning.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education submitted the proposed A-F School Grading Framework to the governor’s office in response to his January executive order. The order directs DESE to create yearly A-F grade cards reflecting student outcomes.

Under the framework, DESE would produce annual grade cards for districts, schools, and charter schools. Grades would be based on scores from students’ Missouri Assessment Program tests and college-readiness exams, including the ACT and SAT.

For Kindergarten through middle schools, grades would factor in student academic achievement, value-added growth, and growth toward proficiency in English Language Arts, literacy, mathematics, and science. High school grades would also include Success Ready Graduate measures and four-year graduation rates.

DESE Interim Commissioner of Education Stacey Preis, PhD, said the framework is designed to give families a clearer picture of school performance.

“The goal for the A–F school grading framework is to provide families and communities with a simple, comparable, and rigorous picture of school performance,” Preis said.DESE plans to present the proposal to the State Board of Education in August. If approved, schools could receive their first grades under the new system in the spring of 2027. The plan remains subject to change based on any revisions requested during the review process.

Setting up the program would cost $1.2 million in the first year and $715,000 each year after that. That money has not been allocated in the current state budget. That money was not allocated in the fiscal year 2027 state budget, which began July 1. The Missouri State Teachers Association said the funds should go elsewhere.

“We’re currently underfunding schools by almost $200 million, and so I think priority number one should be to make sure that we’re fully funding schools to meet the needs of those students,” said Matt Michelson of the Missouri State Teachers Association.

Michelson also questioned the emphasis on standardized testing.

“I think Missourians have wanted to move away from high-stakes testing, and to place even more emphasis on those one-time statewide tests is really concerning for a community as they look at how they can best educate their students,” Michelson said.

Kehoe said the grading system is about transparency and improvement, not punishment.

“It’s not to admonish any school; it’s to give everybody a target on how do you all get to a better level,” Kehoe said. “You have to know where you stand if you’re going to improve, and you have to have some sort of measuring tool, and that’s what A through F is.”

A bill to codify the plan into state law failed during the most recent legislative session. Kehoe said he wants to see it return.

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Missouri cannabis workers are trying to turn a string of recent union victories into broader organizing momentum across the state.

High Profile Cannabis dispensary workers in Columbia last week unanimously ratified what union officials say is the state’s first collective bargaining contract for cannabis workers, securing higher pay and paid vacation time.

“Now for the first time in Missouri, dispensary workers are FEELING THAT CONTRACT HIGH!” the United Food and Commercial Workers International Local 655 posted on its Facebook page Wednesday.

And in St. Louis, Proper Brands post-harvest workers – who process and manufacture products – won their election to unionize last week, and Vibe Cannabis post-harvest workers are scheduled to hold an election at the end of July.

“I’ve been hearing from more and more production and dispensary workers all over the state who want to find out what they need to do in order to organize their workplaces,” said Sean Shannon, organizing director at UFCW Local 655. “They basically thought it was impossible when all these companies were fighting, and now the workers are winning.”

After Missouri legalized recreational marijuana in 2023, the state saw a surge in cannabis jobs that was soon followed by a push to unionize.

Several groups of workers endured yearslong legal battles and company pushback. This year, some are finally seeing the results.

Sierra Lutz was among the employees who organized the High-Profile union petition in 2023. She’s now a trimming tech at Vibe Cannabis, where she is leading the unionization campaign. She and her fellow post-harvest workers filed a petition to unionize last month.

After hearing the news about High Profile’s contract, Lutz applauded the workers’ dedication.

“I’m so proud of their perseverance,” she said. “They deserve every second of this glory.”

Her work with High Profile taught her some key lessons she’s bringing to the Vibe campaign, she said. The main one: “Patience is everything.”

“The workplace won’t change overnight, but change will come,” Lutz said. “That’s been my biggest point I’ve been communicating to Vibe employees.”

Other Vibe employees are also organizing veterans after participating in the unionization effort at BeLeaf Medical’s Sinse cultivation facility in St. Louis. In May, Sinse workers won a significant legal precedent for post-harvest workers after nearly a three-year battle, with a decision affirming their right to unionize under federal labor law.

“More and more workers are feeling empowered,” Shannon said, “and I believe we’re going to see a huge wave and a rise in workers rising together.”

‘A seat at the table’

Katie Hazelwonder, a trainer in Proper’s post-harvest department, said she was overjoyed that workers voted 25-21 to unionize on July 1.

“We put a lot of work into this, and I’m so thankful to everyone that stood together to make this happen,” Hazelwonder said. “That’s honestly the only way we got through this: we stood together and never backed down.”

Hazelwonder acknowledged this was a stressful month for “both sides of the vote,” but said she believes the effort will result in better pay, job security and working conditions.

“This victory is about all of us having a voice and having a seat at the table,” she said, “and we’re looking forward to negotiating a fair contract that reflects the hard work and dedication of everyone.”

John Pennington, founder and CEO of Proper Brands, said in an email to The Independent that the company respects the post-harvest team’s decision and their right to determine how they want to be represented.

“Proper Brands has always believed that our people are the foundation of our success, and that commitment remains unchanged,” Pennington said. “As we move forward, our focus will be on building a constructive relationship rooted in mutual respect, open communication, and our shared goal of producing the highest-quality cannabis products for Missouri.”

Pennington also said the company remains committed to “providing a safe, supportive workplace where every team member has the opportunity to grow and contribute to our continued success.”

“We are pleased to be a part of this process,” he said, “and look forward to working with the UFCW.”

Hazelwonder previously told The Independent that the Proper team was encouraged by a May decision from the National Labor Relations Board, which decides labor disputes and sets national policy on union organizing.

The board rejected another St. Louis marijuana company’s argument that post-harvest employees are agricultural workers, who are excluded from a federal law that protects most private-sector employees’ right to unionize without fear of retaliation.

“Thanks to the recent NLRB ruling, we have the opportunity to sit at the table and make it better for us and the others to come,” Hazelwonder said.

Vibe

Proper Cannabis post-harvest employees talk with Sean Shannon, lead organizer with UFCW Local 655, on July 2 about union contracts at a bar in St. Louis, where the group was celebrating winning a union election vote the day before. Vibe Cannabis employees also attended to support the win. (Photo – Rebecca Rivas/The Missouri Independent)

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At Vibe, Lutz said she and other production workers were told they’d have the federal Juneteenth holiday off this year. But then a few days before the holiday, she says managers told them they would have to work. They later learned the company paid for another department’s employees to go to Six Flags theme park on Juneteenth.

It’s part of the favoritism, such as free meals and other perks, her team doesn’t get to enjoy.

“I love that that department gets all of that extra stuff, like, genuinely,” Lutz said, “but our department gets absolutely nothing.”

Juneteenth was the last straw for post-harvest employees who were on the fence about unionizing, Lutz said, and Shannon filed the petition to unionize on June 18.

Katie Parker, human resources manager for Vibe, said the company had no comment on the petition or the issues raised by employees.

Since the petition was filed, Lutz said workers have been required to meet individually with two consultants, who told employees the company hired them to educate workers on the union process.

Lutz works in the trim department, where she operates the Mobius trimming machine, she said. During the summer, she said, the room is often 80 degrees with poor air circulation.

“They’ve told us many times that the thing that they are worried about getting above 80 degrees in that room is not our well-being as employees,” she said, “but the well-being of the product.”

She said she and her colleagues do challenging work that’s vital to the quality of Vibe’s product, but they don’t see the pay raises other departments do.

Bird Herndon, who has worked in Vibe’s post-harvest department for about a year, agreed with Lutz.

“Cannabis cultivation and processing are physically demanding and almost always impact respiratory health,” Herndon said. “Making sure we have consistent access to safety equipment like respirators is a top priority.”

Herndon said a structured collective bargaining process would allow the team to “work collaboratively with management to formalize, streamline, and uphold high-standard safety procedures and equipment protocols for everyone.”

Among the group’s demands is the option of a 401(k) so they can plan for retirement.

Vibe employees have been in touch with organizers at Proper and BeLeaf, Herndon said, to learn from their experiences.

“We can all help each other,” Herndon said. “More minds on the problem leads to a better solution for everyone.”