A Missouri judge is being asked to decide which congressional district map — the one passed in 2022 or the one passed last year — will be in effect when candidates line up to file for office later this month. For about four hours Tuesday, Cole County Circuit Judge Brian Stumpe listened to arguments over […]
Five retail shops in Dunklin County were sued Tuesday by Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, who alleges the businesses are operating illegal gambling machines on their premises. The businesses — Discount Spirits and Tobacco, Kennett Liquor and Tobacco, and Laura’s Mini Mart in Kennett; and Dixie Package and Swindle’s Quick Shop in Malden — are […]
WASHINGTON — The head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined during a U.S. House hearing Tuesday to apologize to the families of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, the victims of fatal shootings by immigration officers in Minneapolis last month. Top Trump administration officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, had said both Minneapolis residents […]
WASHINGTON — Democratic governors headed to an annual bipartisan gathering in the nation’s capital will not participate in a traditional White House black-tie dinner after President Donald Trump disinvited several Democrats from the event. A joint statement Tuesday from the Democratic Governors Association said the state leaders “have a long record of working across the […]
Two bills that target immigrants who send money out of the country are currently moving through the Missouri House and Senate. Legislation sponsored by state Rep. Ben Keathley, a Republican from Chesterfield, and state Sen. Nick Schroer, a Republican from Defiance, seeks to require financial institutions verify the immigration status of individuals sending electronic money […]
Last month, the parents of a 7-year-old girl whose nose wouldn’t stop bleeding took her to Portland Adventist Health in Portland, Oregon, for urgent care. Before the family could get through the doors, federal immigration agents reportedly detained them in the parking lot and took them to a detention center in Texas. At Hennepin County […]
Women with breast cancer living in states that expanded Medicaid eligibility were less likely to die from the disease — but not everyone benefited equally, according to a recent study published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open. Researchers from Howard University, the University of Alabama, Henry Ford Hospital in Michigan, and others looked at […]
Twenty states have enacted laws prohibiting the use of unique merchant category codes to distinguish firearm purchases, and Missouri could be the 21st. State Sen. Jill Carter, a Republican from Granby, presented legislation to a Senate committee Monday that would create the “Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act.” The bill prohibits government entities from keeping a […]
Missouri lawmakers scrounged for unspent or underutilized funds that could be cut from next year’s budget Monday, vowing to protect programs they said are vital to the health of Missourians. Republican state Rep. Darin Chappell of Rogersville vowed during a presentation of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services to minimize proposed cuts to […]
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway has filed a lawsuit seeking to require the Census Bureau to “redo” the $14 billion 2020 Census to exclude the persons she doesn’t consider persons. The U.S. Constitution requires that every 10 years “the whole number of persons in each state” be counted for the purpose of apportioning representatives. Hanaway’s […]
Attorneys for Secretary of State Denny Hoskins spent most of Monday afternoon trying to salvage some of the language he used to describe the impact of a referendum on Missouri’s gerrymandered congressional map. After conceding that some of the ballot summary Hoskins prepared for the referendum is flawed and should be revised, Kathleen Hunker from […]
A bill requiring public schools screen all students to determine if they qualify for gifted education by the time they reach the third grade passed the Missouri House on a 142-8 vote Monday. It bolsters a state law requiring schools to provide gifted classes when at least 3% of its students are identified as gifted. […]
States that were leaders in childhood vaccination before the pandemic are among those losing ground as exemptions and unfounded skepticism take hold, encouraged by the Trump administration’s stance under U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Expanded exemptions for parents are likely to drop both Mississippi and West Virginia from the top […]
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump decided to exclude Democratic governors from a traditional annual meeting at the White House and to disinvite several others from a black-tie dinner, according to the White House, the governors and the National Governors Association. The National Governors Association organizes the bipartisan winter gathering that usually includes a working meeting […]
Editor’s note: If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org. Cindy Clemishire was 12 years old on Christmas night in 1982 when a traveling evangelist staying with her family first abused […]
“Don’t give me narcotics.” Emmalee Hortin, a doula, recalled one of her clients delivering that message to hospital staff. Doctors were operating on the woman to clear tissue after a miscarriage. But despite her patient’s pleas, clinicians still administered fentanyl via IV to manage pain, Hortin said. Her client had substance use disorder and had […]
Over the next decade, obesity rates across the nation could surge to close to half of U.S. adults, a new study published in the medical journal JAMA estimates. Researchers at the University of Washington conducted the analysis using body mass index data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and self-reported weight data from […]
For Jessica Haynes, cooking with her 21-year-old son AJ is “the most amazing thing.” When Jessica and AJ, who has autism, prepare a meal side by side in their Raytown home, Haynes told The Independent, “he gets to learn new skills, and we get to learn things right along with it.” Jessica and her husband […]
A law passed last year to add a measure for grade-level equivalency as part of Missouri’s standardized test reports may be scrapped as a casualty of the state’s budgetary woes. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education requested $1 million to add grade-level equivalency to the Missouri Assessment Program, which would largely be a one-time […]
If you ever want to know what’s really heating up in the Missouri Legislature, skip the floor debates and committee hearings. Check the lobbyist registrations at the Missouri Ethics Commission. A prime example is the push to legalize video lottery terminals — aka, those slot machines you see at gas stations. This isn’t just a […]
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