Iowa Hands Free Driving Law Takes Effect

Iowa’s Hands-Free Driving Law took effect Thursday. It states that the use of electronic devices in motor vehicles while driving is prohibited unless one is hands free.

Hands-free means you can’t hold your phone in any way, scroll, type, or interact with your phone, enter in an address or GPS, stream videos or make video calls (even with voice commands), view texts, videos, or social media, or call, text, or dial using your hands.

Previously, cops could only warn for violations. Now, officers may issue citations unless the device is hands-free.

This law applies to cell phones, laptops, PDA’s, tablets, and gaming devices.

There are auxiliary cables that connect to a car speaker, vehicle mounts, and Bluetooth devices that can make your phone compliant. Many phones come with a speakerphone.

 

Anna "Jean" Adams 1932-2025

Anna "Jean" Adams, a beloved friend, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and great-great grandmother passed away peacefully on Monday, December 29th, 2025, at the age of 93. Born on Wednesday, December 7th, 1932, in Worth, Missouri, Anna spent her life nurturing her family and community with love and kindness.

Jean was a resident of Maryville, MO, where she dedicated her life to being a homemaker, a role she embraced with grace and devotion. She also worked for 12 years at the Parnell cafeteria, where she was known for her warm smile and generous spirit. Jean attended Worth County High School, completing the 10th grade before embarking on her lifelong journey of caring for others.

Jean was a mother and grandmother not only to her own family but to anyone who needed one. Her home was a sanctuary of love and support, and her legacy of compassion will be remembered by all who knew her.

She is survived by her son, Victor "Sonny" (Nancy) Adams of Maryville, MO; daughters, Francis Force of Grant City, MO, Bonnie (Steve) Moreland of Bethany, MO, and Annie (Danny) Bohon of Maryville, MO. Jean also had two additional daughters she picked up along the way; Linda Anthony and Debbie Rankin. Her brother, Clay (Susan) Maxwell of Maryville, MO, and sisters, Mary Maxwell of St. Joseph, MO, and Shirley Shoesmith of Lees Summit, MO, also survive her. Jean leaves behind a legacy of 15 grandchildren, 29 great-grandchildren, and 18 great-great-grandchildren, along with numerous nieces, nephews, and many friends.

Jean was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Victor G. Adams, in January 1981; her parents, John E. Maxwell and Susa J. Maxwell; daughters, Cora Findley and Martha Jane Wyer; an infant daughter and a baby, David; granddaughters, Shelly Straight and Christina McMichael; grandson, Danny Chapasko; brothers, Junior Maxwell and Charles Maxwell; and sister, Maye Crenshaw.

A graveside service to honor Jean's life will be held at Rose Hill Cemetery in Parnell, MO, on Saturday, January 3rd, 2026, at 2:00 pm. Pallbearers will include Eldon Maxwell, Kevin Sybert, Kolby Sybert, Kayden Sybert, Corey Adams, and Colton Straight.

The family has requested no flowers, and memorial donations may be made to Rose Hill Cemetery in Parnell, MO.

Arrangements are being handled by Bram Funeral Home. Jean's family extends their heartfelt gratitude to all who have shared in her life and legacy. She will be deeply missed but forever remembered in the hearts of those she touched.

 

Opinion -- Hawley Delivers Record Legislative, Casework Wins in 2025

By Senator Josh Hawley’s Office

In 2025, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) continued to prioritize Missourians and fight for hard-working Americans across the country as he kicked off his second term in the Senate.

2025 Quick Facts

120 bills and resolutions cosponsored.

40 original bills and resolutions introduced.

350+ local TV and print interviews.

Thousands of casework issues resolved, with a 32 percent increase in Social Security assistance by Senator Hawley’s office over last year. 

Delivering for Missouri

Historic expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) signed into law as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. In just a matter of weeks, over 400 Missourians have received $20 million in compensation.

Facilitated the nomination of five Missouri district court judges and two U.S. attorneys. So far, four judges have been confirmed to the bench.

Terminated the controversial Grain Belt Express project by successfully pushing the Energy Department to revoke taxpayer subsidies for the project.

Secured $40.5 million in additional funds for Coldwater Creek cleanup efforts by the Army Corps.

Fort Leonard Wood broke ground on 56 new military family homes with funds secured by Senator Hawley.

Secured language in budget bills to protect the hospital at Fort Leonard Wood and require the Army to plan to replace all aging military family housing on post.

Toured West Lake Landfill with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and secured a commitment to clean up the site two years earlier than planned.

Unanimously passed legislation in the Senate to designate the National Churchill Museum in Fulton as a national historic landmark.

Passed a resolution in the Senate to honor the life and legacy of former Missouri Senator Kit Bond.

Successfully fought for the creation of a Rural Hospital Fund in reconciliation legislation that will steer approximately $1 billion to Missouri’s rural hospitals.

Toured St. Louis tornado damage and secured relief funds for recovery efforts.

Assisted Missourians in processing claims with insurance companies for storm damage following Senator Hawley’s months-long investigation into the insurance industry.

Key Legislative Actions

Advanced the PELOSI Act, which would ban members of Congress from trading or holding individual stocks, out of committee.

Unanimously advanced the STOP CSAM Act out of committee. This legislation would crack down on the proliferation of online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) by allowing victims to sue companies that host it.

Advanced the STOIC Act out of committee. This legislation would provide help for police officers and other first responders struggling with substance abuse, depression, or other mental health issues.

Led bipartisan legislation to keep food stamps (also known as SNAP) funded for working Americans during the 2025 government shutdown. In the government funding bill, SNAP was funded for an entire year. 

Sponsored bipartisan legislation to speed up first contracts once workers have voted to form a union and introduced legislation to increase the federal minimum wage to $15/hour.

Introduced bipartisan legislation to cap credit card interest rates at 10 percent. 

Helped secure the pardons of pro-life prisoners incarcerated during the Biden Administration. 

Secured pro-life commitments from key Trump Administration officials (including at the FDA, HHS, and DOJ) and urged the FDA to restore commonsense safeguards for abortion drugs. 

Introduced legislation to ban abortion and gender transitions for minors from the federal healthcare exchanges, along with legislation to defund Planned Parenthood.

Subcommittee Investigations

Senator Hawley is Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, and the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Disaster Management

Chaired hearing, held a bipartisan press conference, and introduced major bipartisan legislation on protecting children from AI chatbot companions.

Launched a major investigation into fraudulent practices by the insurance industry, chaired hearing holding insurance companies accountable for failing to uphold their commitments, and got results for policyholders.

Launched a bipartisan investigation and convened a hearing with both industry leaders and fire chiefs that revealed private equity’s role in the growing equipment crisis facing fire departments across the country. 

Chaired hearing on Big Tech’s piracy of copyrighted content to fuel their AI models and introduced legislation to bar the practice. 

Notable Speaking Engagements & Op-Eds

Senator Hawley delivered a keynote address at the 2025 National Conservatism Conference on how “AI Threatens the Working Man.”

Senator Hawley spoke to over 8,000 students at Liberty University’s Convocation.

Senator Hawley delivered the 2025 Cecil Sims Lecture at Vanderbilt Law School.

Senator Hawley penned an op-ed for the New York Times "Don't Cut Medicaid." 

Senator Hawley wrote an op-ed for the New York Times "No American Should Go to Bed Hungry." 

 

Opinion -- Making Missouri and Kansas Safer in 2025

By the Kansas City FBI

As we bring 2025 to a close, I would like to take a few minutes to talk about what your FBI office here in Kansas City accomplished this year to make our communities throughout Missouri and Kansas safer. Reducing violent crime and drug-related violence was a top priority at our offices around Kansas and western Missouri. This year, our office conducted 55 large scale drug seizures. Each of these operations allowed us to remove a wide variety of illicit drugs out of our communities, including the seizure of tens of thousands of deadly fentanyl pills in just one operation. We also took hundreds of firearms, including fully automatic weapons, from subjects who possessed them illegally.

This summer, FBI Kansas City, along with our partners in Homeland Security Investigations, stood up Homeland Security Task Forces (HSTF) in both Kansas and Missouri. The mission of the HSTFs is to combat international drug cartels operating in the U.S. and around the world. The HSTFs will accomplish this mission the same way our Joint Terrorism Task Forces have countered terrorist threats for over three decades, by creating a whole of government approach that allows each participating federal, state and local law enforcement partner to bring their own unique authorities and capabilities to our common mission of reducing illegal drugs in our communities and the drug-related violence they bring. The HSTF has already had a positive impact on our community, and I will post links to several of our offices’ operational successes at the end of this article.

We also remained dedicated to protecting the most vulnerable among us through our multi-agency Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force (CEHTTF). Unfortunately, the CEHTTF is one of the most operationally active squads here in KC. Nearly every day, this squad is either conducting searches or arrests of subjects suspected of sexually abusing children here in our area, around the U.S., or around the world. When I speak about this threat with those outside of law enforcement, it always shocks them when they hear about the scale of this problem. I ask if you or anyone you know suspects that a child is being exploited or sexually abused, please contact your local police or our office.

While I am very proud to speak about our accomplishments countering our traditional criminal threats, I also want to acknowledge the quiet work our personnel did behind the scenes to uphold our national security mandate. Our professionals upheld our national security responsibilities by protecting the region from terrorist attacks, as well as, from our adversaries attempting to steal the technology driving our economy or attack the infrastructure critical to maintaining our way of life.

Protecting the United States from terrorism is the FBI’s number one priority. Here in Kansas City, our counterterrorism efforts resulted in the arrests and prosecution of US citizens and foreign nationals executing or planning attacks here in the US or abroad. These counterterrorism efforts will continue next year as Kansas City hosts the 2026 World Cup. The FBI’s Agents, Intelligence professionals and special capability teams will continue working with all our local, state and federal partners to protect the hundreds of thousands of visitors to the area throughout the World Cup and all of 2026.

Lastly, I’d like to mention the importance of our relationships with our law enforcement partners. While statistics are important, I prefer not to focus on numbers in this type of commentary because, without context, numbers usually mean little to the people reading them. Instead, our preferred metric for our work is the relationships we have with other law enforcement professionals and agencies that we work with every day on our common mission. In 2025, the FBI office in Kansas City endeavored to be an indispensable partner to our local, state and federal partners tasked with making our communities safer.

I hope next time you have the opportunity to speak with one of the dozens of Police Chiefs or Sheriffs throughout our region you will ask about their agency’s relationship with the FBI and the value we provide.

As we head into 2026, I will continue our office’s dedication to strengthening the relationships we have and forging new ones across both states to further reduce violent crime, get illegal drugs out of our communities, defend the most vulnerable, and protect our national security.

Stephen Cyrus

Special Agent in Charge

 

Area Courthouse, Police, and Crime Reports for December 31st, 2025

On December 22nd, Harrison County Prosecutor Michael Wulff filed charges against Cory Kreiling (21) of Lee’s Summit alleging two counts Financial Exploitation of Elderly Person (Felony). An affidavit from the Bethany Police Department alleges that the defendant offered to cut a Bethany victim’s trees and clean up her property. The defendant allegedly billed the victim $25,000 for the first day and $9,500 for the next day. The transactions were flagged by a local bank. The affidavit states the defendant is under investigation in Lamoni for two similar cases. Bond was set at $50,000, cash only.

On December 23rd, Harrison County Prosecutor Michael Wulff filed charges against Richard Moad (43) of Bethany alleging two counts Child Abuse (Felony). Bond was set at $15,000, cash only.

On December 23rd, Nodaway County Prosecutor Tina Dieter filed charges against Nicholas Haidsiak (40) of Maryville alleging Domestic Assault (Felony). Bond was set at $5,000, cash or corporate surety.

On December 28th, at around 5:20 am, the power went out in most of Bethany. Service was restored later that morning. Other parts of town were flashing on and off.

On December 29th, Nodaway County Prosecutor Tina Dieter filed charges against Joseph Huber (23) of Maryville alleging Operating Motor Vehicle While Using Electronic Device (Property Damage Over $5,000).

Charges listed are merely allegations. Evidence in support of the charges must be presented before a court of competent jurisdiction whose duty it is to determine guilt or innocence. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.