B. said he left Cameroon nine years ago because he was scared for his life. Authorities in the West African nation threw him in prison because of his sexual orientation, he said. After his release, he feared that if he stayed in the country, he would be killed. B., who is now 39 and who […]
While itâs great to see one of Missouriâs own, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, take a leading role at the federal level in pushing for much needed health care reform, our state should not follow along with his apparent plans for rewiring the pharmacy system. Last December, Hawley surprisingly partnered with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts […]
A Cole County judge heard arguments Wednesday over whether a proposed ban on abortion set to go to voters next year should be thrown out or revised over a provision targeting gender-affirming care for minors. The ACLU of Missouri believes the proposal, which was drafted by state lawmakers, violates the state constitution because it includes […]
WASHINGTON â The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesnât appear inclined to leave her post, despite the Trump administration announcing Wednesday that sheâs no longer running one of the countryâs top public health agencies. Attorneys for Susan Monarez, who received Senate confirmation in late July, posted that she hasnât been fired […]
WASHINGTON â The updated form to apply for federal student aid will launch for all students by Oct. 1, U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon told congressional leaders in a letter this week. The department began testing in early August for the 2026-27 Free Application for Federal Student Aid â better known as FAFSA â to address […]
WASHINGTON â Maryland federal Judge Paula Xinis barred the Trump administration Wednesday from re-deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was unlawfully removed earlier this year, until she makes a decision in an evidentiary hearing set for October. Separately, Abrego Garcia filed a claim for asylum, a longshot bid to gain legal status as the Trump administration […]
Summer heat is bearing down on U.S. prisons, where temperatures in uncooled cells can climb well into the triple digits. Facing growing pressure from advocacy groups, lawsuits and climate projections that show hotter days ahead, some state prison systems are moving to install air conditioning and expand cooling measures â though many facilities remain years […]
A new Missouri income tax cut exempting profits from the sale of investments officially takes effect Thursday, along with smaller tax changes that will remove sales tax from diapers and feminine hygiene products. All state laws passed in a regular session take effect Aug. 28 unless another date is specified. The capital gains tax cut […]
Seventeen-year-old Christopher Herrera can no longer play sports. After Christopher ingested concentrated green tea extract labelled as a âfat burning supplementâ, his liver was compromised so severely that he nearly needed a liver transplant. Although doctors managed to save his liver, Christopher now lives with the lasting repercussions of this incident. He can no longer […]
WASHINGTON â Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook will challenge her removal, her attorney said Tuesday, arguing President Donald Trump âhas no authorityâ to fire her. Trump announced late Monday that he would fire Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve Board, over allegations that she falsified documents to obtain a favorable […]
WASHINGTON â President Donald Trumpâs administration demanded Tuesday that dozens of states remove from sex education materials any references to a personâs gender departing from their sex assigned at birth, or lose federal funding. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Servicesâ Administration for Children and Families warned in letters to 40 states, the District of Columbia […]
Three states are at risk of losing some federal transportation funding because they are not enforcing President Donald Trumpâs executive order that commercial truck drivers must be proficient in English, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday. New Mexico, Washington and California will have 30 days to comply with the order or risk losing funding […]
The percentage of kindergarten students in Missouri vaccinated against diseases like measles and whooping cough is dropping each year as more parents turn in non-medical exemptions prior to their childâs first day of school. Only 90% of Missouri kindergarten students were immunized against measles, mumps and rubella last year, according to the Missouri Department of […]
Property tax rates for this year must be set by Monday in Missouriâs 2,807 local political subdivisions authorized to impose levies. That starts the annual billing cycle, with each county collector using those rates and the property values determined by the county assessor to generate tax bills mailed in October. By Dec. 31, every tax […]
Republican support for in vitro fertilization, after surging in the wake of a 2024 Alabama Supreme Court decision that threatened the procedure, may be splintering as President Donald Trump retreats from his IVF promises and more far-right voices gain ground. Earlier this year, conservatives in the Tennessee House staged an eleventh-hour skirmish over an IVF […]
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday directing state National Guard units to be ready to assist local, state and federal law enforcement, a potential step toward a dramatic expansion of Trumpâs use of military personnel for domestic policing. The order calls for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to ensure troops in the National Guard of […]
WASHINGTON â President Donald Trumpâs push to bolster the GOPâs narrow congressional majority in next yearâs elections has prompted a rare nationwide mid-decade redistricting battle that has rapidly taken shape over the past weeks. Indiana GOP lawmakersâ White House visit this week highlights how the race to redraw congressional districts for partisan advantage may soon expand beyond […]
WASHINGTON â President Donald Trump and Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley are sparring on social media over whether the Judiciary Committee chairman should abandon a century-old tradition that allows senators to block the advancement of judicial nominees who would serve in the senatorsâ home states. The practice, referred to as âblue slips,â has irked Trump, […]
BALTIMORE â Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Baltimore early Monday for a prayer vigil for the wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom the Trump administration aims to re-deport to Uganda unless he pleads guilty to Justice Department charges. As Abrego Garcia arrived for his Monday ICE check-in […]
The Missouri State Treasurerâs Office can continue to subsidize private-school scholarships from a $51 million allotment of state revenue while a lawsuit challenging the fundâs constitutionality makes its way through the system, Cole County Circuit Court Judge Brian Stumpe ruled Monday morning. Stumpe rejected arguments by the Missouri branch of the National Education Association that […]