MoInd 📰

The trustees of Missouri’s largest state employee retirement system voted Thursday to prohibit the use of pension funds for political contributions. The Missouri State Employees Retirement System board, responding to donations made this year by two smaller systems, made it the responsibility of the executive director to make sure money doesn’t flow into campaigns for […]

State officials’ hopes of rolling back Jackson County property assessment increases are floundering after a circuit court judge dismissed a lawsuit by the State Tax Commission on Wednesday.  The commission in August ordered Jackson County to reverse most of its 2023 property valuations, arguing they had been performed illegally and resulted in huge increases in […]

The outcomes of seven ballot measures in Arizona, California and Colorado reflect the stricter approach to crime that’s been seen across much of the country recently, with voters and policymakers driven by concerns over rising retail theft, homelessness, fentanyl misuse and challenges in police recruitment and retention. Voters have decided in recent years that they […]

The not-for-profit group originally set up to pay for Gov. Mike Parson’s 2021 inauguration gave $150,000 this week to the political action committee that helped get him elected. Parson is leaving office due to term limits and has said repeatedly that he does not intend to be a candidate for public office again.  The PAC, […]

A Cole County judge on Tuesday ordered the Missouri Department of Social Services to pay more than $115,000 in legal fees and a $5,000 penalty for “knowingly and purposefully” violating the state’s open records law. In September, Judge Jon Beetem determined that the department violated the Sunshine Law by wrongfully withholding public records based on […]

Imagine two fields, side-by-side. One grows genetically modified corn, the seed bought from a major firm. The other grows organic where the farmer stresses about cross-contamination. The company that produced the neighbor’s corn seed has patented its product, restricting its use. If the grower’s corn intermingles with the neighbor’s, the organic farmer worries about being […]

The Federal Reserve’s second consecutive key rate cut could mean more than just lower borrowing costs for the average consumer — state and local governments stand to benefit, too. Lower interest rates may bring changes for housing development, tax revenue, debt refinancing and bread-and-butter projects like roads, water and sewer, state and local government officials […]

As the community grapples with the closure of the Rainbow House Children’s Emergency Shelter, questions remain about what led to the shutdown of the only shelter of its kind in mid-Missouri. Allegations of misuse of funds have been raised by both community members and Rainbow House’s board of directors, and much of the blame has […]

Andrew Bailey has won re-election. For the next four years, he’ll be Missouri’s attorney general. So he no longer has to worry about potentially alienating teachers. Or conservative ministers. Or those who believe in spanking children. Or county sheriffs and other local law enforcement officials. Or business owners and leaders who want to make a […]

WASHINGTON — Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina led a charge Monday to try to ban transgender women from using women’s restrooms in the U.S. Capitol and House office buildings, following the election of a transgender lawmaker. The move, which the House Democratic leader characterized as attempting to “bully” another member, came as […]

TOPEKA, Kansas — The editor of the Kansas newspaper raided by police last year has a message for journalists struggling with their sense of purpose. Go on the offensive. Eric Meyer, editor and publisher of the Marion County Record, delivered remarks Friday as he was inducted alongside his mother, Joan, into the Kansas Press Association […]

A new federal rule will require water utilities across the country to pull millions of lead drinking water pipes out of the ground and replace them, at a cost of billions of dollars. States, cities and water utilities agree that the lead pipes need to go to ensure safe water for residents. But they say […]

The federal government is asking a judge to rule that it has the power to impose staffing requirements on nursing homes that collect billions of federal tax dollars through Medicaid and Medicare. The request was made Friday in the form of a motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit filed by the nursing home industry. […]

OZARK — Attorneys argued about culpability in Christian County Circuit Court Monday morning in a lawsuit involving a Branson-area Christian summer camp accused of conspiring with its insurer to trick a family into signing a non-disclosure agreement by concealing prior knowledge of sexual misconduct. Logan Yandell, a survivor of sexual abuse by Kanakuk Ministries’ former […]

A late report adding nearly 10,000 votes to Christian County’s election results has narrowed the margin for Missouri’s sports betting amendment and put it in range for a possible recount. The official results from Christian County, certified last week, increased the county’s vote total on Amendment 2 by 9,653, with a margin of 3,995 votes […]

President-elect Donald Trump tapped two Missouri members of the legal team for jobs in the new administration, naming D. John Sauer solicitor general and Will Scharf assistant to the president and White House staff secretary. Sauer, who lives in the St. Louis suburb of Town and Country, was Missouri solicitor general from 2017 through 2022 […]

In this year’s elections, American Dream PAC told voters to elect Mike Kehoe as governor while American Promise PAC pushed to elect Vivek Malek as state treasurer. The Committee for Liberty PAC backed Jay Ashcroft’s bid for governor and Liberty and Justice PAC supported Andrew Bailey for attorney general. Mike Hamra’s run for governor was […]

Votes have been cast and whether our candidates and issues won or loss, as concerned citizens, our most important work is ahead of us — in Missouri and Washington. Continued involvement and ongoing oversight should rule the day. This election cycle has been anything but politics as usual. But lest we forget, the people remain […]

MOBERLY — Mayme Williams sat in the lobby of the Country Villa apartments in Moberly, reminiscing about the all-Black Lincoln School in the early 1930s, when the city’s public schools were still racially segregated. At 97, Williams still remembers her childhood years at the Lincoln School: her friends, the walk to school from her family’s […]

Missourians can walk into a CBD shop right now and buy something that looks just like the canisters of marijuana buds and joints sold in state-regulated dispensaries.   Coffee shops are selling seltzers with 5mg of Delta-9 THC — an amount that would produce a strong buzz — right next to the juices in their coolers.  […]