The gerrymandered congressional map pushed through the General Assembly by Republicans meets constitutional requirements for districts to be compact and contiguous, a Jackson County judge ruled Thursday. The decision from Circuit Judge Adam Caine is the third Missouri court ruling to reject a constitutional challenge to the plan intended to shift the 5th Congressional District […]
The proposed constitutional amendment asking Missourians if they want to replace the income tax by adding a sales tax to services and other transactions moved one step closer to the ballot Thursday when it passed the state House on an almost pure party-line vote. If it passes the Senate and is approved by voters, the […]
The Missouri House this week passed bills cutting extraneous teacher training requirements and adding supports for literacy in elementary schools. At the halfway point of the legislative session, the House has approved eight education bills. The Senate has passed one bill related to education, which would allow students in urban school districts to miss school […]
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration Wednesday made an emergency request to the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the revocation of legal status for more than 350,000 Haitians, opening them up to deportations. U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the justices to block a lower court’s ruling that found the Trump administration unlawfully ended Temporary Protected […]
Passengers at a handful of airports this week waited in hours-long security lines as the government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security dragged on. Though Transportation Security Administration officers are required by law to work during a lapse in funding, more than usual have been absent after receiving only a partial paycheck during the […]
WASHINGTON — The Department of Defense must quickly release the results of its investigation into whether the U.S. military bombed a girls’ elementary school in Iran that left at least 168 people dead, according to a letter sent Wednesday that was signed by nearly every Senate Democrat. “To be clear, the war against Iran is […]
The plan to completely overhaul the way Missouri funds higher education survived a committee vote Wednesday despite bipartisan misgivings about the impact on state colleges and universities. And the House Budget Committee also backed Chairman Dirk Deaton’s proposal to cut almost $52 million from child care payments and abandon plans to change how those payments […]
A Republican state senator temporarily pumped the brakes Wednesday on a bill honoring a Kansas City firefighter who was killed last year, saying the move was payback for Democrats dragging out debate all session. State Sen. Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican, pulled the legislation from a Senate fast-track calendar reserved for noncontroversial bills. His objection […]
The Missouri House on Wednesday voted to advance a bill that would extend the statute of limitations for survivors of childhood sexual abuse to file civil action. The bill, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Brian Seitz of Branson, would also decrease the statute of limitations for personal injury lawsuits and civil claims against insurance companies […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democrats and education advocates Wednesday marked one year since the U.S. Department of Education initiated sweeping mass layoffs. Those layoffs set the stage for more unprecedented efforts from President Donald Trump’s administration over the past year to wind down the 46-year-old agency as part of his quest to return education “back […]
WASHINGTON — Members of Congress have not formally authorized a war in Iran, though they may soon be expected to approve emergency funding for the endeavor without any projection from the Trump administration as to how long it may last or the full cost, not just in dollars but in American troop and civilian lives. […]
LEAVENWORTH — CoreCivic will reopen its private prison in Leavenworth to house immigration detainees after city commissioners approved the company’s special use permit on Tuesday, the result of a process one commissioner called “agonizing.” Two people were arrested and multiple people were ejected as they shouted profanity during an hour of public comments and 30 […]
A bill to protect ballot summaries written by politicians from judicial revision passed the Missouri House on Wednesday, as lawmakers moved to restore a law struck down earlier this year by the state Supreme Court. The legislation would give the secretary of state three chances to revise ballot summaries found to be insufficient or unfair […]
Legislation in at least eight states would expand the rights of doctors, nurses, hospitals and even insurance companies to refuse to provide or pay for care — from contraception and fertility services to medical marijuana and childhood vaccines — that conflicts with their religious or moral beliefs. For years, most states have had so-called medical […]
Every child who starts at Lemay Child and Family Center in St. Louis County receives a developmental screening during their first month of attendance. Based on these screenings, kids can receive speech or occupational therapy at the center, and staff can connect families with community support like help sourcing healthy food. “The economy right now […]
There are 32 attorneys, investigators and specialists in the Missouri State Public Defender Office dedicated to preventing the wrongful execution of innocent people on death row. The agency spends almost $3 million each year on salaries for these personnel, said Matthew Crowell, director of Missouri’s public defender system. “We’re also using 16 of my best […]
Recent murders in Kansas City and St. Louis — one at a nightclub, the other at a coffeeshop — have people asking why the assailants, both with histories of violent crime, were out on the streets in the first place. When violence strikes, anger is natural. It often translates into demands for harsher sentences. The […]
The Missouri Senate unanimously approved legislation Tuesday clarifying that pregnant women can get divorced, making it the first non-budget bill to be sent to Gov. Mike Kehoe this year. The bill, filed by state Reps. Cecelie Williams, a Republican from Dittmer, and Raychel Proudie, a Democrat from Ferguson, also received unanimous approval in the House […]
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats tasked with overseeing defense left a classified briefing Tuesday incensed about President Donald Trump’s war with Iran, as the United States and Israel continue their joint bombardment and families prepare to bury seven American service members killed in the conflict. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who sits on the Senate Armed Services […]
A proposed constitutional amendment that would give lawmakers broad authority to expand the state sales tax and use the revenue to eliminate the income tax won initial approval in the Missouri House Tuesday. The bill needs another vote in the House before it heads to the Senate. If it wins approval there, it would go […]
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