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Michael Mullen donates blood plasma every Tuesday and Thursday. He has for 12 years. The money it brings in — a little over $100 a week — augments what he makes as a chef. He’s come to rely on it. “It helps supplement bill paying,” he said recently, smoking a cigarette outside the Biomat USA […]

The post Plasma donors in Kansas City are helping fuel a $34 billion industry appeared first on Missouri Independent.

It is not every day that a prosecutor takes the extraordinary step of asking a court to vacate a criminal conviction, let alone one carrying a death sentence. In the case of Marcellus Williams, St Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell did so after he reviewed the case and found “clear and convincing evidence” that […]

The post St. Louis County prosecutor thinks Marcellus Williams is innocent. He’s still set to be executed appeared first on Missouri Independent.

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump pitched to undecided voters Thursday night during the first debate of the presidential campaign — trading insults over their policy differences, immigration and who represents a threat to democracy. During the debate from CNN’s headquarters in Atlanta, the two men argued over who can do better for […]

The post Biden and Trump trade insults, accusations of lying in acrimonious presidential debate appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Hundreds of earmarked items in the $51.7 billion budget passed by lawmakers this year will be vetoed, Gov. Mike Parson said Thursday, just days before the new fiscal year begins. Speaking with reporters after groundbreaking for a new multi-agency state laboratory, Parson had two criticisms for the budget plan — it goes overboard on earmarks […]

The post Missouri Gov. Mike Parson says he plans to veto hundreds of earmarked spending items appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Prominent members of the GOP on Wednesday strongly criticized the Biden administration’s final rule for Title IX, including U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairwoman Virginia Foxx and former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. As the fate of a key Biden administration effort to protect LGBTQ students from discrimination […]

The post House Speaker Johnson, Betsy DeVos lead attack on Title IX rule that protects LGBTQ+ kids appeared first on Missouri Independent.

As expected after the court said it inadvertently uploaded the opinion prematurely on Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision Thursday remanding a case about emergency abortions in Idaho back to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for now. The decision was 6-3, with conservative Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas dissenting. It was issued […]

The post U.S. Supreme Court sends Idaho abortion case back down to lower courts appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON – Despite policies the Biden administration has championed to target climate change, recent findings show carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is at an all-time high, raising the stakes for November’s presidential election among advocates for aggressive climate action. Recent data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicate that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been […]

The post Presidential election seen as climate turning point as CO2 hits record appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Attorneys representing transgender minors and health care providers squabbled with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office Wednesday over thousands of documents both sides say are being wrongfully withheld. At its core, the case seeks to determine whether the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors is lawful. The lawsuit was filed by the families of three […]

The post Hearing over Missouri’s ban on gender-affirming care focuses on withheld documents appeared first on Missouri Independent.

For years, state Sen. Mike Moon has railed against the unfairness of businesses being told they owe money when the Missouri Department of Revenue revises the list of things covered by the state sales tax. That happened after 2008, when the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that fitness clubs were places of “amusement, entertainment or recreation” […]

The post State budget loaded with earmarks nears deadline for action by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court has yet to rule on whether presidents enjoy total criminal immunity, delaying one of the most consequential legal decisions in U.S. history and likely closing the door on former President Donald Trump facing his federal election interference trial before November. Trump, the presumed Republican presidential nominee who is entangled […]

The post Delayed Supreme Court ruling makes Trump trial on 2020 charges unlikely before election appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected arguments by Missouri and Louisiana that the federal government violated the First Amendment in its efforts to combat false, misleading and dangerous information online. In a 6-3 decision written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the court held that neither the states nor seven individuals who were co-plaintiffs in […]

The post SCOTUS rejects Missouri lawsuit alleging feds bullied social media into censoring content appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Republican Will Scharf and Democrat Elad Gross disagreed on almost every issue Monday night during a forum of attorney general candidates in St. Louis.  They aren’t on the same page on dealing with violent crime or protecting speech on campus. They crossed swords over abortion rights and access to contraception. And they couldn’t agree on […]

The post Missouri GOP and Democrat AG rivals agree on one thing: state government is ‘viciously corrupt’ appeared first on Missouri Independent.

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will get a crucial opportunity to reach undecided voters and set the terms for the 2024 presidential campaign at Thursday night’s debate in Atlanta. Partisans on either side have already made up their minds about which candidate they’ll support. And with this year’s race serving as a […]

The post Undecided voters are the prize for both Biden and Trump in Thursday presidential debate appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will pardon U.S. military veterans who were discharged or convicted under military law for consensual same-sex relations, the administration announced Wednesday. The White House could not provide an exact number of veterans who will be pardoned, but the administration estimates thousands were convicted over several decades and may be eligible. […]

The post Biden to pardon vets discharged for same-sex relationships appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A Missouri House committee began a new phase Tuesday of a years-long process to create a formula to fund the state’s higher education institutions. Led by state Rep. Brenda Shields, a Republican from St. Joseph, the Special Interim Committee on Higher Education Performance Funding is hoping to pick a performance-based formula that would determine funding […]

The post Missouri committee sets goal to enact performance funding formula for higher education appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday that four states will launch voluntary pilot programs in the days ahead to test bulk milk tanks on dairy farms for bird flu — a move that’s aimed at making it easier for farmers to ship herds across state lines and for public health officials to […]

The post Four states to begin voluntary testing for bird flu in dairy farm milk tanks appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Will Scharf’s hopes of winning the GOP nomination for Missouri attorney general got a massive financial boost on Tuesday, when a group connected to influential conservative activist Leonard Leo donated $2 million to the effort.  Tuesday’s check came from the Concord Fund, an organization bankrolled by groups connected to Leo — a prolific fundraiser credited […]

The post Will Scharf gets another $2M for Missouri AG campaign from group tied to Leonard Leo appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Republican members of the U.S. Senate striving for a takeover of their chamber in the November elections have a wish list for what they’d like to see in Donald Trump’s running mate. A “little calmer” than Trump. Confident. Conservative. Military experience. Good relationships with senators. Ready to take over as chief executive if […]

The post Calm, conservative, confident: What GOP senators want in Trump’s vice presidential pick appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Federal judges in Kansas and Missouri on Monday blocked the full implementation of a student-loan forgiveness program proposed by the Biden administration that was set to launch July 1. The SAVE Plan, an acronym for Saving on a Valuable Education, has been partially rolled out. The provisions already in effect may remain, United States District […]

The post Federal rulings out of Kansas, Missouri put Biden student-loan forgiveness on hold appeared first on Missouri Independent.

It’s time for the turn card in the poker hand that is the Missouri governor’s race. Quick review for poker neophytes: in Texas Hold ‘Em, two cards are dealt face down to each player, while five “community cards” are dealt face up in three rounds – first, a group of three cards (“the flop”), then […]

The post Missouri’s GOP gubernatorial primary as a hand of Texas Hold ‘Em, part two: The turn appeared first on Missouri Independent.