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Iowa Republicans emphasized they were open to hearing from all 13 presidential candidates Friday at the state party’s Lincoln Dinner, but many in the audience were ready to send former President Donald Trump back for a rematch. “In Iowa, we are a neutral, objective state,” Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said. “We’re going […]

The post Iowa Republicans cheer Trump as most opponents tread carefully appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Since 2003, Missouri has set aside a weekend at the beginning of August when families won’t pay state tax on new clothes and school supplies as they prepare for the start of the school year. For just as long, every city, county and special district that imposes its own sales tax has had the authority […]

The post Missouri’s Back to School tax holiday pauses all local taxes for the first time appeared first on Missouri Independent.

As fertility rates drop and more women postpone childbirth into their 30s and 40s, more states are considering mandating that private insurers cover fertility treatments to help people start a family without the crushing out-of-pocket expenses. Such laws would help people such as Miraya and Andy Gran of Bloomington, Minnesota, who ended up spending $102,000 to have their […]

The post Fertility health coverage is still hard to come by in many states appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Who will benefit from the Supreme Court’s recent ruling striking down race as a factor in college admissions? Mostly, just wealthy white people. That’s because the ruling refused to touch so-called “legacy admissions.” Colleges are free to continue giving preferential treatment to the children of alumni, donors, and other well-connected, privileged people. Former president George W. Bush is a […]

The post The U.S. should end legacy college admissions appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The trial in a closely watched case that could settle whether video games offering cash prizes are legal in Missouri has been postponed. On Friday, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green moved the trial, which had been scheduled to start Tuesday and last up to four days, to Oct. 3, after complaints from attorneys for […]

The post Trial postponed in Torch gambling case against Missouri highway patrol appeared first on Missouri Independent.

If state regulators decide they need to investigate a licensed marijuana facility, they typically ask for certain records.  But an easy place for businesses to “hide” records is with their security companies or other contractors, said Amy Moore, director of the state’s cannabis regulation under the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Those “third-party […]

The post Missouri regulators can now subpoena records from marijuana facilities appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday finalized long-awaited new rules intended to reform how power generation projects get connected to the electric grid, seen as a major step in smoothing the path for thousands of mostly renewable power projects currently waiting to plug in. “This rule will ensure that our country’s vast generation resources […]

The post Federal regulators approve new rules to ease power connection backlogs  appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In the predawn hours of July 29, 1993, I sat with Earl Buck outside his New Franklin mobile home as the Missouri River rose two inches an hour on a sandbag levee he built with help from neighbors and volunteers. After three days of stacking, there were no more bags. In the darkness, when water […]

The post Great Flood of 1993 remains a vivid memory for those who experienced the long-running disaster appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Sherrita Jackson was a bus driver for 21 years before she got fed up with abuse from passengers and switched careers in 2021. At the time, a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, passengers were required to wear masks. A passenger not wearing a mask boarded Jackson’s bus and refused to comply with the mandate. “He […]

The post ‘We can’t keep putting our lives on the line’: KC bus drivers detail safety risks they face appeared first on Missouri Independent.

After the recent NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, it is anticipated that Sweden will soon become the alliance’s 32nd member. The heart of this alliance – which was established in the aftermath of World War II to promote the collective security of its mostly Western European members – is Article 5 of the North Atlantic […]

The post NATO isn’t the only alliance countries are eager to join – a brief history of the Five Eyes appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The U.S. Senate voted narrowly Thursday in favor of expanding a program that compensates Americans who become ill because of exposure to radiation from the country’s development and testing of nuclear weapons to cover Missourians. The proposal, offered by Sen. Josh Hawley, was attached as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which authorizes […]

The post U.S. Senate OKs Hawley proposal to expand coverage for atomic bomb-related illness to St. Louis appeared first on Missouri Independent.

As Missouri went to celebrate the first 4/20 after the state legalized recreational marijuana, a licensed cannabis business in Kansas City organized a huge festival.  For the first time, people were able to smoke pot openly at a large public event in Missouri, with approval under local government rules. “It was the first of its […]

The post Marijuana businesses could lose license if events they organize go awry appeared first on Missouri Independent.

More than 32,000 Missourians – half of them children – lost Medicaid coverage in June during Missouri’s first round of eligibility checks after the COVID public health emergency. According to a Department of Social Services announcement Thursday, out of the roughly 116,000 Medicaid recipients who had their eligibility checked in June, around 43% retained coverage, […]

The post Kids make up half of Missourians who lost Medicaid in first month of reviews appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In some states, new laws banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth are dissuading health care providers from offering mental health services and other medical care that isn’t explicitly banned by those laws. In the first few weeks after Mississippi’s law went into effect in February, nurse practitioner Stacie Pace said she was fielding calls and […]

The post Laws banning gender-affirming treatments can block trans youth from receiving other care appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Clay Bolt went looking for a rusty patched bumblebee, he would head to a city. The wildlife photographer said his best bet would be Minneapolis or Madison, Wisconsin, in a botanical garden or even someone’s backyard — as long as it was far away from crop fields and neonicotinoid pesticides. “It’s kind of ironic. Cities […]

The post EPA says three widely used pesticides driving hundreds of endangered species toward extinction appeared first on Missouri Independent.

How many AR-15s do you think Jesus would have had? It’s a question so ludicrous that it seems like a parody, but it’s not. In different times, I might have thought that the question was so preposterous on its face that the average Jesus follower would dismiss it as a statement meant to provoke a […]

The post Politicians attempt to make us believe that God wants you to have guns appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — During an otherworldly hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday, lawmakers and witnesses launched accusations that the Pentagon is stonewalling Congress and the public from information about unidentified anomalous phenomena, more often referred to as UFOs. That includes a 2014 encounter when a “dark gray or black cube inside a clear sphere” traveled within 50 […]

The post Is there evidence of extraterrestrial life? Congress tries to figure it out appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday faced off with Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, who did not directly call for his impeachment but strongly criticized his oversight of the agency. “I know that today Secretary Mayorkas is going to try to paint a rosy picture of this disastrous […]

The post Biden border policies ripped by U.S. House GOP as impeachment threats ramp up  appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. senators approved bipartisan amendments to the annual defense policy bill Tuesday night that would prohibit China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from purchasing U.S. farmland and screen American investment in high-tech ventures on foreign adversary soil. By a 91-7 vote, the lawmakers approved a measure that would require review of — and […]

The post U.S. Senate votes to curb farmland purchases by China, Iran, North Korea, Russia appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Municipalities in Missouri are attempting to restrict drag performances as obscenity or a planning-and-development concern, with Branson among the first after advancing an ordinance Tuesday night limiting drag to a small area of town. Rolla recently tried to limit drag, but an ordinance defining it as obscene, failed during a city council meeting last week. […]

The post Branson places ‘adult performance’ restrictions on drag shows appeared first on Missouri Independent.