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A political newcomer joined the Democratic race for Missouri governor on Thursday, bringing a big checkbook and a message that he can stop “partisan food fights” that plague state government. Mike Hamra Springfield, CEO of Hamra Enterprises, said in an interview with The Independent that he’s jumping into the race that already includes another Springfield […]

The post Springfield businessman Mike Hamra joins Democratic race for Missouri governor appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher said he would “absolutely not” consider resigning over allegations of wrongdoing that have engulfed him in recent weeks, joining one of his most vocal supporters on Thursday in painting the saga as a conspiracy whipped up by “leftist” media, Democrats and disgruntled staff.   Plocher, a Republican from Des Peres who […]

The post Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher dismisses calls for his resignation appeared first on Missouri Independent.

James Harnden has been a longtime activist for cannabis legalization, ever since he got slapped with a low-level felony possession charge for having an ounce of weed. The 56-year old Rockford, Ill., resident says that charge has cost him job opportunities for 30 years. Earlier this year, he saw an advertisement in the Craigslist “gigs” […]

The post Applicants recruited on Craigslist competed for Missouri social equity cannabis licenses appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Before a relatively short time in elected office, new U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana was a constitutional lawyer deeply involved in religious causes. Prior to a short stint in the Louisiana Legislature, Johnson spent two decades as a public interest lawyer mainly representing clients in so-called religious liberty litigation, he said in an interview […]

The post Who is Mike Johnson? New U.S. House speaker belongs to GOP’s religious conservative wing appeared first on Missouri Independent.

House Speaker Dean Plocher took to social media on Tuesday to hit back at Republicans criticizing him over revelations he repeatedly charged the state for travel that was already paid for by his campaign. But as Plocher took aim his detractors, he continued to draw fire himself — including a possible new opponent in the […]

The post Embattled Missouri House speaker lashes out at GOP detractors as new critics emerge appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans on Wednesday voted for Louisiana’s Mike Johnson as speaker in a chamber that has been frozen for more than three weeks after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted. In a 220-209 party-line vote, all Republicans present backed Johnson, 51, a strongly conservative lawyer who represents northwest Louisiana’s 4th District. All Democrats […]

The post Mike Johnson of Louisiana elected speaker of the U.S. House after three weeks of stalemate appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Steve Allen and Eric Singsaas grew up hunting and fishing in August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area and swimming in quarries along the Missouri River in St. Charles County, never knowing they were playing near nuclear waste.  “Everything we did,” Allen said in an interview, “we did together.” Allen said he and Singsaas even attended […]

The post Weldon Spring uranium plant contaminated Missouri lakes with radioactive waste appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Six lieutenant governors from across the country joined gun violence prevention advocates to share their stories and offer solutions at a policy discussion event Tuesday. The Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association hosted the gun violence prevention policy summit, which was the first event of its kind. The DLGA partnered with the gun violence prevention […]

The post Democratic lieutenant governors, advocates, discuss solutions to prevent gun violence appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher is facing calls for his resignation following revelations that he filed false expense reports with the legislature to be personally reimbursed for travel already paid for by his campaign. Plocher, a Republican from Des Peres, chalked up the situation to “administrative errors,” vowing to review all of his expenses and […]

The post Missouri Republicans call for investigation of Dean Plocher, raise idea of resignation appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans Tuesday voted to tap Minnesota’s Tom Emmer as speaker following five rounds of ballots — but Emmer quit the race just four hours later, after he was attacked by the GOP’s most powerful figure, former President Donald Trump. After beating six candidates, Emmer, the No. 3 Republican, faced an uphill […]

The post Emmer nominated for U.S. House speaker but drops out after Trump opposition appeared first on Missouri Independent.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — After fighting extradition to the United States for more than four years, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has one more chance to convince British judges that espionage charges against him are an unjust political prosecution. If extradited and convicted, the Australian who created a website to share leaked government documents could be sentenced […]

The post Brother of Julian Assange visits Missouri to push for release of Wikileaks founder appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans Monday night gathered behind closed doors to hear the pitches of eight candidates for the speaker’s gavel, as the chamber approaches three weeks without a speaker. Monday’s nearly three-hour meeting was meant to produce a leading GOP candidate, so that when Republicans vote behind closed doors on Tuesday, there will […]

The post U.S. House Republicans mull eight new candidates for speaker in advance of votes appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Weeks after his return from a conference in Hawaii, Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher was trying to convince legislative staff to reimburse him for the cost of his trip.  He’d filed an expense report that included $1,199.60 for a plane ticket to represent Missouri at the 2023 Uniform Law Commission conference, but he was informed […]

The post Records show Dean Plocher charged the state for travel already paid for by his campaign appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON –– The eight Republican candidates to be speaker of the U.S. House were set to make their cases to their colleagues Monday evening, as the House Republican Conference restarted its process to choose a candidate. Nine had filed on Sunday to run for speaker but on Monday night Pennsylvania Rep. Dan Meuser dropped out, […]

The post Eight Republicans are running for U.S. House speaker. Here’s your guide to the field appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Across the roughly 1,300 square miles of the White Earth Indian Reservation in northwest Minnesota, tribal members harvest wild rice in waters that have sustained them for generations. They’ve been working for decades to restore sturgeon, a culturally important fish, and they harvest minnows and leeches to supply bait for anglers across the country. But […]

The post Native lands lack clean water protections, but more tribes are taking charge appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A 60-mile pedestrian and cycling trail in Arkansas, an electric street sweeper in Oregon and truck parking facilities in Florida don’t appear to have much in common — let alone any similarity with a conversion of California highways to toll roads or a roundabout in Michigan. But all of the projects will be paid for […]

The post Big federal dollars for small state projects aim to get more cars off the roads appeared first on Missouri Independent.

More than a dozen states now have near-total abortion bans following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, with limited medical exceptions meant to protect the patient’s health or life. But among those states, only Alabama explicitly includes “serious mental illness” as an allowable exception. Meanwhile, 10 states with near-total abortion bans (Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia […]

The post Medical exceptions to abortion bans often exclude mental health conditions appeared first on Missouri Independent.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley and Democrat Lucas Kunce have something big in common – their campaigns are heavily dependent on money from outside Missouri. Hawley, an Republican incumbent seeking his second term, and Kunce, who narrowly lost the 2022 Democratic primary for Senate, are the best-funded candidates in the race according to campaign finance reports […]

The post Hawley, Kunce draw heavily on donors outside Missouri to fuel U.S. Senate campaigns appeared first on Missouri Independent.

It takes concentration not to see certain realities — the mother holding the handwritten sign at the traffic light; the man sleeping under a bridge; the tent cities on public right of ways. But we make the effort. In downtown Kansas City, developers plan an entertainment district with a Ferris wheel centerpiece. There’s also talk […]

The post Our ‘thing-oriented’ society puts development ahead of human needs. We all suffer the consequences appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Biden administration asked Congress on Friday to approve nearly $106 billion in new funding for military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Israel and other countries and to improve security on the U.S.-Mexico border. The funding request includes $92.2 billion for national security, including $61.4 billion for Ukraine and $14.3 billion for Israel. The administration […]

The post Israel, Ukraine, global aid and border funding would hit $106 billion under Biden request appeared first on Missouri Independent.