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Missouri House ethics hearing focuses on obscene text sent by Democratic lawmaker

4 hours 38 minutes ago
The Missouri House Ethics Committee on Wednesday wrapped up an investigation into an obscene text message sent from one lawmaker to another during September’s legislative special session. State Rep. Lane Roberts, a Republican from Joplin and chairman of the ethics committee, said after the panel adjourned that he does not plan any more hearings into […]
Rudi Keller

Report: Cancer rates rising among young people in the Corn Belt

5 hours 2 minutes ago
The six states that lead in corn production — Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana and Kansas — have seen higher rates of cancer among young people than other states over the past decade, according to Washington Post reporting published this week.  The Washington Post data analysis found that six corn belt states have cancer rates […]
Madison McVan

Shutdown double whammy: SNAP food benefits ending and federal workers go unpaid

9 hours 2 minutes ago
HYATTSVILLE, Maryland — Ginette Young lined up with hundreds of furloughed federal workers ahead of a special food bank distribution on Tuesday in a suburb just outside the District of Columbia. Ginette Young, a 61-year-old auditor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, waits in line for a special Capital Area Food Bank distribution to furloughed […]
Ashley Murray

Trump claims immunity, seeks to erase felon status with appeal in NY court

9 hours 3 minutes ago
President Donald Trump sought to remove his status as the only felon to be elected president by appealing his conviction on 34 New York state charges just before midnight Tuesday, arguing, in part, that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling giving the president broad immunity invalidated the conviction. In a 96-page appeal nearly 18 months after […]
Jacob Fischler

Missouri auditor adds intrigue to agency’s work through ‘World’s Greatest Audit Podcast’

14 hours 30 minutes ago
If a podcast episode titled “The audit of Ray County and the mystery of the 76 hams” seems worth listening to, then Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick has succeeded. Unbeknownst to many, “The World’s Greatest Audit Podcast,” is recorded here in the Show-Me State. “Well, you know, it’s a low bar,” said Fitzpatrick, whose team’s […]
Tyler Kirwan

Missouri warns consumers of health risks associated with 7-OH products

1 day 7 hours ago
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services issued an advisory Tuesday warning consumers of health risks it says are associated with a product called 7-OH. The name, 7-OH, is short for 7-hydroxymitragynine, and it’s made by chemically converting the main opioid-inducing element in kratom. Products containing it are sold in smoke shops, gas stations, […]
Rebecca Rivas

Democratic AGs, governors sue Trump over SNAP benefits as shutdown hits day 28

1 day 7 hours ago
A coalition of Democratic state officials sued the Trump administration Tuesday, asking a federal judge to force the release of food assistance funds for 42 million people that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has said cannot be paid during the ongoing government shutdown. Attorneys general representing 22 states and the District of Columbia and three […]
Jacob Fischler

Racial health disparities could widen as states grapple with Trump cuts, experts warn

1 day 9 hours ago
Racial health disparities may widen as states, universities and nonprofits grapple with federal funding cuts to programs that were aimed at filling gaps in care, public health experts say. As part of its federal restructuring and crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, the Trump administration has been shuttering federal offices and rescinding grants […]
Nada Hassanein

Thousands of preschoolers could lose access to Head Start due to shutdown

1 day 14 hours ago
WASHINGTON — Funding for scores of Head Start programs hung in the balance as the government shutdown continued Monday without an end in sight. Unless a deal is reached to end the ongoing funding lapse that began Oct. 1, more than 65,000 children in 140 local Head Start programs across 41 states and Puerto Rico […]
Shauneen Miranda

Pay for Trump and Congress continues in shutdown, unless they ask it be held

2 days 4 hours ago
WASHINGTON — Some members of Congress are asking for their salaries to be withheld during the government shutdown, while federal workers on Friday missed their first full paycheck since many operations closed on Oct. 1. With no movement toward a deal to end the shutdown, the House remained on a prolonged break from Capitol Hill, […]
Jennifer Shutt

Federal shutdown fight in intensifies as food aid nears end, union calls for stopgap

2 days 4 hours ago
WASHINGTON — The stakes of the ongoing government shutdown rose Monday as the U.S. Department of Agriculture doubled down on its position that food benefits for November could not be paid and a union for federal workers implored lawmakers to pass a stopgap measure. As the government shutdown entered day 27, President Donald Trump’s administration […]
Ariana Figueroa, Jennifer Shutt

Missouri judge upholds ballot summary of amendment targeting private school vouchers

2 days 9 hours ago
A ballot summary describing a proposed amendment to Missouri’s Constitution as “limiting parental choice in education” is sufficient, a Cole County judge ruled last week. Secretary of State Denny Hoskins must only correct a drafting error for his description of the initiative petition to be “concise, neutral and sufficient,” Judge Cotton Walker wrote. The lawsuit, […]
Annelise Hanshaw

Congressional Dems, Alaska’s Murkowski tell high court to nix emergency tariffs

2 days 9 hours ago
WASHINGTON — More than 200 Democratic lawmakers and one Republican are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down President Donald Trump’s sweeping global emergency tariffs. The 207 members of the U.S. House and Senate argued in an amicus brief late Friday that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, does not authorize the president […]
Ashley Murray

THC beverage boom faces Missouri crackdown amid regulatory concerns, safety risks

2 days 11 hours ago
A recent economic study on THC beverages found the industry has the potential to reach between $9.9 billion and $14.9 billion in national sales.  In Missouri — where the product faces attacks from law enforcement, state legislators and local governments who say it’s part of a public health crisis — that potential is $75.4 million […]
Rebecca Rivas

Missouri should empower patients with choice in glucose monitors

2 days 14 hours ago
Missouri is currently facing a diabetes crisis. Over 598,000 adults — about 10.6% of our state’s population — live with diabetes, and the numbers keep increasing. Each year, more than 31,000 Missourians receive a new diagnosis, adding to the already heavy burden on our health care system. Diabetes impacts communities unevenly. Rural residents, low-income families […]
Douglas Dunsavage

USDA won’t shuffle funds to extend SNAP during shutdown, in about-face from earlier plan

5 days 5 hours ago
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a memo Friday the agency’s contingency fund cannot legally be used to provide food assistance benefits for more than 42 million people in November, as the government shutdown drags on. The position is a reversal from the department’s earlier stance, according to a since-deleted copy of the USDA’s […]
Shauneen Miranda, Ariana Figueroa