A Missouri judge on Friday blocked a licensing requirement for abortion clinics that providers argued was a key obstacle to renewing access to the procedure across the state. Hours later, Planned Parenthood clinics announced they would begin offering abortion services in Missouri. “Abortion care will be restored immediately,” said Emily Wales, President and CEO of […]
A Republican lawmaker is proposing to raise taxes on Missouri farmers who participate in wind or solar energy projects. As utilities and energy developers increase solar and wind power, people in rural areas across the nation have been offered opportunities to lease their land to house a wind turbine or a field of solar panels. […]
An influential GOP lawmaker upset with the rulings of a Republican judge in Cole County filed a bill trying to force him into a primary — or out of the Missouri judiciary altogether. The proposal from House Speaker Pro Tem Chad Perkins of Bowling Green targets Cole County Circuit Judge Cotton Walker, who was elected […]
Missouri lawmakers have rekindled a crusade against diversity, equity and inclusion programs with a handful of bills seeking to outlaw DEI in state-funded entities. In 2022, just two bills named DEI as a target. But the number grew to 14 in 2024. None have been signed into law. Within the first month of this year’s […]
For some people in rural Missouri, soaring egg prices have little impact on their shopping habits. They have backyard chickens that save them the trouble of dealing with a nationwide shortage. But for those who don’t have access to a homegrown grocery store in their backyard, rising prices mean changes to their weekly shopping list. […]
A bill to remove the state income tax on profits from the sale of long-term investments passed the Missouri House Thursday on an almost pure party-line vote. The bill, projected to cost the state treasury $341 million in the first year and $237 million in subsequent years, exempts money known as long-term capital gains, money […]
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said Thursday that the backlog of public records requests his office has struggled to work through for years is finally over. Testifying to the Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee, Bailey said his office has received 1,465 requests under the Sunshine Law since he took over in January 2023 — and managed […]
The whistleblower who revealed financial transactions he felt were potentially unlawful by a nonprofit that bankrolled travel and entertainment for Kansas City’s mayor says he is now being targeted with defamation and retaliation. Tom Keating has worked on ethics compliance for political campaigns for two decades, including for Lucas’ campaign and for a nonprofit called […]
Access to affordable, high-quality child care is not just a family issue — it’s an economic imperative. In Missouri, parents, especially women, are forced to make difficult choices between going to work and ensuring their children are safe and taken care of. Gov. Mike Kehoe’s recent commitment to addressing this crisis in his 2025 State […]
Members of the Missouri House Budget Committee on Wednesday made Attorney General Andrew Bailey defend his request for millions in additional funding and his decision to sue Starbucks for allegations it discriminated against white applicants in hiring and promotions. Republican members of the committee led the questioning of Bailey’s request for new funds, asking why […]
The debate over how much to spend on public schools could turn into the first big disagreement between Gov. Mike Kehoe and the GOP-dominated Missouri General Assembly. Kehoe, a Republican who took office in January, refused to recommend a $300 million boost to public school funding in his first budget proposal. But education advocates in […]
Missouri’s highest court heard arguments Tuesday over whether a school district’s denial of multi-stall bathrooms and locker rooms to a transgender student is a form of sex discrimination. The case may decide if the Missouri Human Rights Act covers legal sex, such as when a birth certificate is amended after gender transition, or is limited […]
The Missouri House on Tuesday gave initial approval to legislation that would ban the state from seizing the Social Security benefits of foster children.
Emily Tavis was on a first date in December when she looked up and realized they were driving past the downtown Kansas City, Missouri, intersection where a bullet ripped through her leg at last year’s Super Bowl victory parade. “Oh f—,” Tavis said, bewildering her date. She lives 35 miles away in Leavenworth, Kansas, and […]
A major soybean research project, which collaborates with the University of Missouri, will shut down April 15 due to President Donald Trump’s dismantling of funding to the U.S. Agency for International Development. The Soybean Innovation Lab, based at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, formed in 2011 to provide researchers and organizations with the resources needed […]
Missouri universities and research organizations will need to cut about $100 million from administrative costs for research funded last year by the National Institutes of Health or replace the money from other sources if President Donald Trump’s attempt to reduce indirect costs is successful. There were 1,553 grants worth $901 million issued by the NIH […]
Grain Belt Express has filed nearly 40 eminent domain petitions against Missouri property owners since 2021 as it prepares to build a transmission line across the state. The first eminent domain petition in Callaway County was filed last month for an easement of nearly an acre of land owned by Jordyn and Mitchell Christensen. Grain […]
For the first time in years, Democrats in the Missouri Legislature think they are about to feel the power of a fully operational Republican supermajority. Factional fighting in the state Senate made that body “a dumpster fire” last year, state Sen. Rick Brattin, chairman of the Missouri Freedom Caucus, said Thursday. The Freedom Caucus initiated […]
With the stroke of a pen, efforts to create an equal playing field for all Americans irrespective of race and gender are being eliminated under the guise that they promote unfairness and incompetence. Nothing could be further from the truth. History is our witness. There seems to be amnesia about whether this country has always […]
WASHINGTON — Less than three weeks into his second term, President Donald Trump and those working under his auspices — most prominently billionaire Elon Musk — are making no apologies for barreling over institutions and flouting the law. The Trump administration’s sweeping actions tee up a major test for the guardrails Americans, red or blue, […]
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