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JETMORE, Kan. — An inch or two of corn peeks out of the dirt, just enough to reveal long rows forming over the horizon. Sprinkler engines roar as they force water from underground to pour life into dusty fields. Thunder cracks. The wind whips up dirt as a trail of dark storms looms. The crashing […]

The post ‘Time for a reckoning.’ Kansas farmers brace for water cuts to save Ogallala Aquifer appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — In his first visit to Capitol Hill since leaving office in January 2021, former President Donald J. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, mapped campaign strategy with GOP lawmakers and projected party unity ahead of the November elections. Trump said the meetings brought “great unity.” Surrounded by Republican senators who were smiling and applauding him […]

The post Trump claims ‘great unity’ after talks with congressional GOP  appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A federal judge has temporarily halted enforcement of new rules from the Biden administration that would prevent discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty of Louisiana issued a temporary injunction Thursday that blocks updated Title IX policy from taking effect Aug. 1 in Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi and Montana. In […]

The post Biden’s Title IX transgender protections blocked in federal court appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Republicans in Congress got one step further in their efforts to reverse the Biden administration’s final rule for Title IX after the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce approved a measure on Thursday that would overturn the updated regulations. The U.S. Department of Education’s final rule — which seeks to protect […]

The post Biden Title IX regulation targeted by Republicans in Congress appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democrats’ attempts to bolster reproductive rights failed again Thursday when Republicans blocked a bill guaranteeing access to in vitro fertilization from moving forward. The 48-47 procedural vote came just one day after Republicans tried unsuccessfully to pass their own IVF access bill and one week after GOP senators prevented legislation from […]

The post U.S. Senate Republicans reject Democrats’ bill on IVF protections appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — When Lauren Miller flew from her home state of Texas to Colorado two years ago she felt a moment of relief when the plane took off — not because she had been delayed for hours or because she needed a vacation, but because she was about to meet with doctors who would be […]

The post State abortion bans forcing interstate travel, U.S. Senate panel hears appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Several Republican candidates for Missouri statewide office on Wednesday evening urged stronger state and federal action to clean up St. Louis-area radioactive waste and compensate victims. Parts of the St. Louis area have been contaminated for 75 years with radioactive waste left over from the effort to build the world’s first atomic bomb during World […]

The post Missouri statewide candidates decry inaction on St. Louis area nuclear waste appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a much-anticipated decision Thursday that mifepristone, one of two pharmaceuticals used in medication abortion, can remain available under current prescribing guidelines. The high court unanimously rejected attempts by anti-abortion groups to roll back access to what was in place more than eight years ago, writing that they […]

The post U.S. Supreme Court rejects attempt to limit access to abortion pill appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In a battle that pits some of the biggest players in health care against each other, the Missouri General Assembly has come down on the side of hospitals who want unlimited access to discounted drugs for their pharmacies. On the last day of this year’s legislative session, the Missouri House passed a bill making it […]

The post Billions at stake as national battle over drug pricing plays out in Missouri appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The recent UM System Board of Curators petition to remove racial and ethnic criteria from 53 donated scholarships and funds is a final step in a year-long process that has already removed such criteria from millions of dollars in student aid. University of Missouri spokesperson Christian Basi said the university awarded $12.3 million in institutional […]

The post Racial criteria removed by University of Missouri system from millions of dollars in student aid appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Months into a new Biden administration policy intended to lower drug costs for Medicare patients, independent pharmacists say they’re struggling to afford to keep some prescription drugs in stock. “It would not matter if the governor himself walked in and said, ‘I need to get this prescription filled,’” said Clint Hopkins, a pharmacist and co-owner […]

The post Biden plan to save Medicare patients money on drugs risks empty shelves, pharmacists say appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Two years have passed since Missouri outlawed abortion nearly completely. Missouri’s life-begins-at-conception law also seems to outlaw in vitro fertilization (IVF), the medical process that enables many infertile couples to conceive and bear children. If citizens of Missouri wish to protect this procedure then there will need to be a new law. How is IVF […]

The post Where’s the future of IVF and abortion care? In the hands of voters appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans voted Wednesday to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for his refusal to release audio recordings of President Joe Biden’s interviews with Department of Justice officials. The GOP lawmakers maintain the audio is valuable for their monthslong impeachment inquiry into Biden. House Republicans brought the contempt citation […]

The post U.S. House GOP votes to hold attorney general in contempt in dispute over audio recording appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON – A group opposed to wasteful government spending and a handful of U.S. House Republicans warned at a Wednesday press event that project-specific spending known as earmarks was contributing to an increase in the national debt. The event to discuss the Citizens Against Government Waste’s latest annual report, titled the 2024 Congressional Pig Book […]

The post Watchdog group, GOP U.S. House members blast ‘reckless’ earmark spending appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Alabama Republican Sen. Katie Britt’s efforts to pass legislation that would block Medicaid funding from going to states that ban in vitro fertilization were unsuccessful Wednesday when Democrats blocked the bill from advancing. Britt, who introduced the legislation earlier this year alongside Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, said during brief debate the bill […]

The post Republican IVF bill fails in U.S. Senate appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Ashly Trejo Mejia is eager to attend medical school, but she’s not sure she can pursue that dream because of an upcoming court decision that could end the Obama-era program meant to temporarily protect immigrants like her who were brought into the country illegally as children. “You’re frozen in time,” she said. The […]

The post Immigrant advocates, congressional Dems press Biden for permanent protections appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Kansas man suing three Missouri lawmakers for defamation is challenging their assertions that their statements accusing him of being involved in the shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration were made in the course of official business. In filings Monday in the federal lawsuits Denton Loudermill is pursuing against the three state […]

The post Missouri senators’ immunity claims challenged in Chiefs parade shooting defamation suit appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In Kirksville, an entire floor of the hospital sits empty. The community could easily fill beds with patients — if only it could hire nurses and other workers to tend to them. Just up U.S. 63 near the Iowa border, the Schuyler School District can’t keep teachers on the payroll. A manufacturer wants to open […]

The post Amid shortage, workforce housing becomes option in rural Missouri appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Independence School District recently completed its first school year on a four-day-a-week schedule — a change that made headlines and stirred state officials. Now, with the passage of a new state law, the district will have to ask voters to keep the four-day week by July 1, 2026.  Is that enough time to test […]

The post Missouri education law will require a vote for large districts to have 4-day schedules appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Democrats echoed Senate colleagues Tuesday in calling for U.S. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito to recuse themselves from Jan. 6 cases, and for congressional Republicans to support passing an enforceable ethics code for the entire bench. Reps. Jamie Raskin, ranking member of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight […]

The post Pair of U.S. House Dems add to chorus calling for Alito, Thomas recusals appeared first on Missouri Independent.