Missouri
Missouri creates group for cannabis business owners to collaborate and share information
Operators of Missouri cannabis businesses can now share their ideas in a new way with the creation of the Missouri Cannabis Regulation Collaborative, which was announced Tuesday.
The collaborative seeks to foster discussion among individuals across the state with different levels of experience in the cannabis industry, regardless of the size or type of business. Applicants who wish to apply must hold ownership or leadership positions within licensed cannabis businesses.
Topics that may be discussed in the collaborative include the potential federal rescheduling of marijuana as a less risky drug, Farm Bill revisions and other subjects related to the cannabis market in Missouri.
The effort emerged following feedback from licensees who sought more opportunities to share ideas with regulators and provide input on the cannabis industry in the state.
“We decided to have this collaborative to really give an opportunity for licensees and regulators to come together so that we can strengthen our relationships, collaborate, problem solve, and just share information and knowledge in pursuit of our mutual goals to have a successful cannabis program,” said Tara McKinney, public outreach director with the Division of Cannabis Regulation.
Staff from the Division of Cannabis Regulation and the Department of Health and Senior Services will review applications and select participants. The collaborative will have a maximum of 30 members.
Members will fill two-year terms, attend no more than two in-person workshops in Jefferson City, attend six virtual meetings per year and participate in other work between meetings as needed.
McKinney said that there isn’t yet a specific timeline for the process of forming the collaborative, but she said that she hopes that it would have its first meeting in late summer.
The application period opened Tuesday and will run until June 18. The Division of Cannabis Regulation has shared additional information on the program and the application form online.
This story was originally published by Missouri Business Alert, a fellow member of the KC Media Collective.
This Missouri lake is among the cleanest in America
A new study tracking data from 2020 to 2025 says Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks is the fourth cleanest lake in the country.
One of Missouri’s largest lakes is among the cleanest in the nation, according to a new report.
A study conducted by Lake.com, a vacation rental platform for properties near or on water, focused on the 100 largest lakes in the United States and their chemical data from Jan. 1, 2020, to July 15, 2025.
The lakes were tested for eight of the most commonly measured characteristics that can suggest their cleanliness, including pH, ammonia and lead.
What’s the cleanest lake in Missouri?
Lake.com rated the Lake of the Ozarks as the fourth-cleanest lake in the country.
The lake earned a 1.85 out of 10 in its pollution score, bolstered primarily by its low pH and sulfate levels, as well as its lack of lead and ammonia.
The report listed the following measurements for the lake:
- Dissolved oxygen: 7.5 mg/L
- Phosphorus: 0.01 mg/L
- Sulfate: 1.66 mg/L
- Turbidity: 2.3 NTU
- Difference from pH7: 2.3 pH
- Pollution score: 1.85/10
What did Lakes.com have to say about Lake of the Ozarks?
“With 54,000 surface acres and 1,150 miles of shoreline, more coastline than the entire state of California, it is the largest non-flood-control man-made lake in the United States. The lake’s distinctive serpentine shape, stretching 92 miles from Bagnell Dam to the lake’s western reach, earned it the nickname “The Magic Dragon.” The lake extends across four Missouri counties, Camden, Morgan, Miller, and Benton, with the city of Osage Beach at the busy southeastern junction of the main channel and the Grand Glaize arm serving as the region’s commercial hub.”
What are the cleanest lakes in the nation?
Lake.com lists these lakes as the cleanest in the nation:
- Lake Superior (Michigan/Minnesota/Wisconsin/Ontario)
- Lake Chelan (Washington)
- Lake Hartwell (Georgia/South Carolina)
- Lake of the Ozarks (Missouri)
- Lake Pend Oreille (Idaho)
- Lake Winnibigoshish (Minnesota)
- Kentucky Lake (Kentucky/Tennessee)
- Lake Norman (North Carolina)
- Lake Mead (Arizona/Nevada)
- Flathead Lake (Montana)
What are the dirtiest lakes in the nation?
Lake.com lists the following lakes as the dirtiest lakes in the nation:
- Lake Okeechobee (Florida)
- American Falls Reservoir (Idaho)
- Lake Texoma (Oklahoma, Texas)
- Eufaula Lake (Oklahoma)
- Lake Clark (Alaska)
- Lake George (Florida)
- Utah Lake (Utah)
- Oneida Lake (New York)
- Pyramid Lake (Nevada)
- Richland-Chambers Reservoir (Texas)
Missouri
First-generation-American students remind Missouri politicians why unity, freedom of speech are so important ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary
Phoenix’s Stage 1 fire restrictions could limit where people can use fireworks ahead of Fourth of July celebrations. Phoenix leaders say professional fireworks shows are still planned, but they’re urging residents to leave the fireworks to the pros. Under the city’s updated rules, fireworks are banned on city property and within one mile of mountain preserves, desert parks and wilderness areas. Pop-up fireworks tents are appearing across the city, but police are already checking for vendors selling without permits. Anyone caught setting off fireworks illegally could face a $2,500 fine, possible jail time and even bigger costs if they start a fire.
Healthcare fraud: Hundreds charged by DOJ
Justice Department officials announced they are charging 455 defendants over schemes involving more than $6.5 billion in alleged false claims.
Fox – Fox 9
The U.S. Department of Justice has charged more than 450 people — including more than two dozen Missouri residents — in connection with global health care fraud schemes totaling a record $6.5 billion.
The DOJ wrote in a news release on June 23 that the alleged fraud and opioid abuse schemes involved 455 people across 45 states who submitted false claims to Medicare, Medicaid and other health care programs and “caused significant patient harm, including death.” Ninety doctors and other licensed medical professionals are among those charged in the schemes.
In all, 56 federal districts and 50 state Medicaid Fraud Control Units participated in the investigation ― the most in the DOJ’s history.
“Health care fraud steals from taxpayers, exploits vulnerable patients, and puts lives at risk,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said. “Today’s historic enforcement action sends a clear message: if you use our health care system to enrich yourself at the expense of patients or the American people, we will find you, we will prosecute you, and we will hold you accountable.”
Luxury cars, fine art and a hotel in the Philippines
Since June 8, hundreds of defendants have been arrested in connection with the schemes, in what the DOJ is calling the 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown.
In one case in Arizona, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said a corporate executive allegedly took $1 billion in taxpayer funds after billing for wound grafts and charging more than $1 million per patient. The money was later allegedly used to buy million-dollar homes, luxury cars and even build a hotel in the Philippines.
In another case in Florida, three defendants were charged for their roles in an $118 million allograft fraud scheme where a nurse practitioner allegedly used the proceeds to fund their lavish lifestyle, including a luxury box at an NFL stadium and over $400,000 in fine art.
How many Missourians have been charged in the 2026 National Health Care Fraud Take Down?
Twenty-four Missourians have been charged in the state for their alleged participation in health care fraud, with three others being charged out of state. The most common charges include “false statement to receive a health care payment” and “stealing by deceit in connection with Medicaid fraud.”
Two of the complaints allege that the accused parties fraudulently pocketed more than $100,000.
- Michelle Terry, 48, of Saint Peters, was charged with Medicaid fraud and stealing. Terry, who owns an adult daycare center, is accused of submitting false claims for purported services to four Medicaid recipients from May 2023 to September 2024, collecting $114,480.32 in Medicaid funds in the process.
- Chontell Wilkes, 34, and Sandra Wilkes, 55, of St. Louis, were charged with Medicaid fraud and stealing. The pair owns Smiles Adult Day Care, and are accused of submitting 1,418 false claims for adult day care services that were not provided. Through this scheme, Medicaid paid the Wilkeses more than $121,362.20 for services not provided.
In total, the cases cost the state more than $613,000, Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said in a news release.
What is health care fraud?
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation states that health care fraud is defined as intentionally deceiving the health care system to receive illegal benefits or payments. It can be committed by medical providers, patients and other individuals.
What are the most common types of health care fraud?
The FBI lists the following as some of the most common types of health care fraud committed by medical providers:
- Double-billing: Submitting multiple claims for the same service.
- Phantom billing: Billing for a service visit or supplies that the patient never received.
- Unbundling: Submitting multiple bills for the same service.
- Upcoding: Billing for a more expensive service than the patient actually received.
Common types of fraud committed by patients and other individuals include:
- Bogus marketing: Convincing people to provide their health insurance identification number and other personal information to bill for non-rendered services, steal their identity, or enroll them in a fake benefit plan.
- Identity theft/identity swapping: Using another person’s health insurance or allowing another person to use your insurance.
- Impersonating a health care professional: Providing or billing for health services or equipment without a license.
Common types of fraud involving prescriptions included:
- Forgery: Creating or using forged prescriptions.
- Diversion: Diverting legal prescriptions for illegal uses, such as selling your prescription medication.
- Doctor shopping: Visiting multiple providers to get prescriptions for controlled substances, or getting prescriptions from medical offices that engage in unethical practices.
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