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Kansas county agrees to pay out $3 million over newspaper raid

3 days 9 hours ago
TOPEKA — The county involved in a small-town Kansas newspaper raid in 2023 will pay a cumulative $3 million to three journalists and a city councilor. In two of the four agreements, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office also crafted a statement admitting regret. “The Sheriff’s Office wishes to express its sincere regrets to Eric and […]
Anna Kaminski

FCC allows prisons, jails to charge more for phone and video calls

3 days 9 hours ago
The Federal Communications Commission voted to roll back limits on how much companies can charge incarcerated people and their families for phone and video calls. The 2-1 vote in late October reverses rate caps the FCC adopted last year under a 2023 law that allows the agency to set limits on prison phone and video call […]
Amanda Watford

Chiefs reportedly put out request for proposals for a new stadium in Kansas

3 days 11 hours ago
TOPEKA, Kansas — The Kansas City Chiefs put out a request for proposals to design a new stadium on the Kansas side of the state line and are negotiating for land near the Kansas Speedway, according to two reports from Kansas City area talk show hosts.  Pete Mundo of KCMO talk radio broke the news […]
Morgan Chilson

Deal ending government shutdown includes restrictions on intoxicating hemp products

3 days 12 hours ago
WASHINGTON — Kentucky’s two U.S. senators sparred this week over the future of the country’s hemp industry — one arguing that a provision attached to the package that will reopen the government will close a problematic loophole and the other contending the language will regulate the industry “to death.” Sen. Mitch McConnell ultimately prevailed and […]
Jennifer Shutt

Thousands of refugees, legal immigrants in Missouri could lose food assistance

3 days 18 hours ago
More than 3,000 immigrants who are in Missouri legally but are not citizens are expected to lose eligibility for the nation’s largest federal food assistance program this month due to the massive tax and spending bill President Donald Trump signed into law in July, according to the state’s Department of Social Services. Another 6,000 could […]
Steph Quinn

PAC tied to Jay Ashcroft’s 2024 Missouri governor campaign fined for violating ethics laws 

3 days 20 hours ago
The PAC backing Republican Jay Ashcroft’s 2024 bid for governor improperly coordinated with his campaign on a letter attacking his opponents, according to a consent agreement approved by the Missouri Ethics Commission. The Committee for Liberty, which spent $2.9 million promoting Ashcroft’s losing effort, must pay $536 and avoid future violations, states the agreement posted […]
Rudi Keller

Shutdown battle ebbs, but Trump won’t give up trying to withhold full SNAP benefits

3 days 20 hours ago
The Trump administration continued Monday to press the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn lower court decisions requiring the federal government pay for full benefits for a major food program, even as Congress appeared to approach an end to the record-breaking government shutdown. Late Sunday, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Rhode Island […]
Jacob Fischler

Here’s the list of newly pardoned Trump fake electors, other allies

4 days 10 hours ago
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced on Monday he pardoned his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani and other people allegedly involved in the attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, but the president’s federal pardon does not shield members of the group from state charges. Posting to social media early Monday, U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin released the […]
Ariana Figueroa

FDA to remove black box warning from hormone replacement therapy drugs

4 days 10 hours ago
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Monday it plans to remove warnings from hormone replacement therapy drugs that can be used to address symptoms of menopause, saying the statements are no longer needed.  The black box warning, the strongest caution possible from the FDA, was added in the early 2000s after a […]
Jennifer Shutt

The midterm ballot measure battles have already begun

4 days 17 hours ago
When Missouri Republican lawmakers approved a new district map in September to help their party in Congress, progressive activist Richard von Glahn was ready. Hours after the state legislature passed the gerrymandered map, von Glahn had submitted a proposed ballot petition to put it to the voters. It would be more than a month before […]
Jonathan Shorman

New Trump administration rule could override state medical debt protections

4 days 18 hours ago
A new Trump administration rule issued late last month could override state laws that prevent consumers’ credit reports from including medical debt, potentially weakening financial protections for millions of Americans. In recent years, more than a dozen states have taken steps to keep medical debt from hurting residents’ credit scores, passing laws with bipartisan support. […]
Anna Claire Vollers

‘Blood, sweat and tears’: Missouri cannabis microbusiness owners begin to see light

4 days 20 hours ago
Samantha Blum hasn’t been able to secure investors for her small-scale marijuana cultivation facility in the two years since Missouri awarded her a microbusiness license. So she and her longtime partner, Anthony La Pietra, decided to give up and fund the entire operation themselves, cashing in La Pietra’s retirement to build a greenhouse in Adrian, […]
Rebecca Rivas

Missouri GOP using incest victims, miscarrying women as bait to re-ban abortion

4 days 20 hours ago
Most Missourians, like most Americans, do not want abortion to be a crime.  This is a problem for Missouri Republicans, who demonstrated last legislative session that their top priority is not the business of the state and attending to Missourians’ needs, but the reinstatement of the abortion ban that voters just rejected.  Because they know […]
Bridgette Dunlap

US Senate advances bill to end record-breaking government shutdown

5 days 3 hours ago
This report has been updated. WASHINGTON — Seven U.S. Senate Democrats and one independent joined Republicans on Sunday night in advancing legislation to reopen the government and temporarily keep it afloat until the end of January, after a record-breaking shutdown that began Oct. 1. Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Maggie Hassan […]
Ashley Murray

States told by Trump administration to ‘undo’ full SNAP benefits paid for November

5 days 13 hours ago
Following a late Friday emergency ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Trump administration has instructed states that authorized full November nutrition assistance benefits to return a portion, another unprecedented reversal for a program that helps 42 million people afford groceries. A Saturday memo from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service said states […]
Jacob Fischler

Air travel snarls as cutbacks due to government shutdown begin

1 week ago
The first flights affected by a new Federal Aviation Administration directive led to widespread delays and cancellations Friday. The FAA will ramp up to a 10% reduction in flights at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports by Nov. 14, starting with a 4% reduction Friday.  More than 1,000 flights had been canceled by 5 p.m. Eastern  […]
Jacob Fischler

Trump administration issues November SNAP benefits, then asks Supreme Court to intervene

1 week ago
This report has been updated. The U.S. Department of Agriculture told states Friday it was releasing full November funding for the nation’s major food assistance program that helps 42 million people afford groceries, complying with a federal court order issued Thursday. The midday memo to states contradicted the Trump administration’s weeks-long position that funding the […]
Jacob Fischler