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TOPEKA, Kan. — Former Marion Councilwoman Ruth Herbel alleges in federal court that city officials orchestrated an illegal raid of her home — alongside the raid of the Marion County Record — as part of a conspiracy to silence criticism. The Institute for Justice, a Virginia-based law firm that says it represents “everyday people” in […]

The post Former Kansas councilwoman files federal lawsuit over ‘conspiracy’ to silence her and newspaper appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Facing ongoing concerns about rural hospital closures, Capitol Hill lawmakers have introduced a spate of proposals to fix a federal program created to keep lifesaving services in small towns nationwide. In Anamosa, Iowa — a town of fewer than 6,000 residents located more than 900 miles from the nation’s capital — rural hospital leader Eric […]

The post An obscure drug discount program stifles use of federal lifeline by rural hospitals appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Natasha Jackson was four months pregnant when she told her supervisor she was expecting. It was 2008, and Jackson was an account executive at a rental furniture store in Charleston, South Carolina — the only female employee there. “I actually hid my pregnancy as long as I could because I was scared about what could […]

The post New rules protect pregnant workers, but red states sue over abortion provisions appeared first on Missouri Independent.

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. told leading Democrats on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday he will not meet with them to discuss the court’s code of ethics, following revelations of displays of politically oriented flags at the homes of Justice Samuel Alito. Individual justices will continue to decide their own […]

The post U.S. Supreme Court chief declines to discuss Alito flag uproar, ethics with Senate Dems appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump, now a convicted felon, vowed to launch an appeal based “on many things” he considered unfair during his New York trial, he said Friday in the lobby of Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan. Meanwhile Friday, legal and political analysts predicted he will spend little if any time in jail […]

The post An angry Trump pledges to appeal ‘this scam’ conviction as Republicans vow resistance appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced a ceasefire proposal from Israel on Friday, saying the three-phase plan presented to Hamas represents the best chance to end the war. Biden, speaking from the White House, urged people around the world who have been calling for an end to the war in the Middle East to pressure […]

The post Biden urges Hamas to accept new Israeli ceasefire plan intended to end war  appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The top staff member of the Missouri House filed a lawsuit Friday accusing Speaker Dean Plocher and his chief of staff, Rod Jetton, of harassment and intimidation during battles over ethics charges and hiring decisions. House Chief Clerk Dana Miller’s lawsuit follows months allegations about misconduct by Plocher and a House Ethics Committee investigation that […]

The post Missouri House chief clerk sues Dean Plocher, Rod Jetton alleging whistleblower retaliation appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri’s Medicaid enrollment has shrunk by around 200,000 people since last summer, as the state continues the process of undoing a COVID-era pause on eligibility checks. The federal suspension on annual renewals expired last year and since then, states have been undergoing the process of re-verifying each participant’s eligibility. From June to April, Missouri’s net […]

The post Missouri Medicaid enrollment continues decline, down 200,000 since last June appeared first on Missouri Independent.

One of Montana’s largest health clinics that serves people in poverty has cut back services and laid off workers. The retrenchment mirrors similar cuts around the country as safety-net health centers feel the effects of states purging their Medicaid rolls. Billings-based RiverStone Health is eliminating 42 jobs this spring, cutting nearly 10% of its workforce. […]

The post Safety-Net Health Clinics Cut Services and Staff Amid Medicaid ‘Unwinding’ appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Reactions by Missouri politicians to the felony conviction Thursday of former President Donald Trump fell predictably along partisan lines, with Republicans condemning the verdict and Democrats expressing satisfaction or trolling their partisan foes. Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, a candidate for the GOP nomination for governor, blamed President Joe Biden for the state of New […]

The post Reactions to Trump conviction fall along party lines in Missouri appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Taxpayers across the United States could be guaranteed a free public option to file federal tax returns online as the Internal Revenue Service announced plans Thursday to make its Direct File program permanent. The pilot program offered in 12 states from March to April drew roughly 140,000 accepted returns this filing season and […]

The post Free direct filing of federal taxes may be offered soon throughout the U.S. appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Jurors in New York state court on Thursday found Donald Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to a porn star ultimately to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. The first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president wrapped up in […]

The post Trump found guilty on 34 felony counts in NY hush money trial appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Buchanan County can collect a special marijuana sales tax on dispensaries within St. Joseph city limits, a judge ruled Wednesday in the second decision granting counties the right to stack taxes on top of city levies. Circuit Judge Daniel Kellogg wrote in his two-page ruling that provisions in the recreational marijuana constitutional amendment passed in […]

The post 2nd Missouri judge rules counties can stack taxes at marijuana dispensaries appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Independence School District Superintendent Dale Herl feels targeted by the state for moving to a four-day school week. On Wednesday, Missouri Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick announced a plan to audit the district. Independence schools aren’t accused of wrongdoing, and no one asked for an audit. Rather, it’s Fitzpatrick’s first foray into conducting more routine audits of […]

The post Independence’s four-day school week draws Missouri auditor probe appeared first on Missouri Independent.

As the summer travel season approaches, new parents may be navigating airports with their babies — and the complexities of keeping them fed. Despite federal guidelines for airport agents laying out how to treat nursing moms, stories about problem encounters with security sometimes go viral. In 2023, actress and singer Keke Palmer said she was at Houston […]

The post A bipartisan push to make air travel easier for new parents packing breast milk and formula appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The addition of Negro Leagues baseball players’ statistics to MLB’s record books is bigger than baseball, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum president Bob Kendrick said Wednesday. It’s a part of American history. Negro Leagues players were added to the MLB record books this week after a multi-year project by MLB, which decided in 2020 to reclassify […]

The post ‘America at her best’: Negro Leagues museum head says stat recognition is bigger than baseball appeared first on Missouri Independent.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office on Wednesday scrapped a proposal to extend a compensation program for victims of radiation exposure without expanding it to thousands of Americans across nine states. In a statement that came less than four hours after Johnson’s office said a proposal to expand the program was too expensive, a spokesperson […]

The post U.S. House speaker reverses on radiation compensation bill that excluded Missouri appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A Jay Ashcroft campaign letter that attacked his opponents Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe as a closeted Democrat and state Sen. Bill Eigel as a “political gadfly” shows illegal coordination between his gubernatorial campaign committee and a political action committee, a complaint to the Missouri Ethics Commission states. Ashcroft’s campaign is denying the allegations. The complaint, […]

The post Complaint alleges Jay Ashcroft campaign letter runs afoul of ethics law appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Melvin White sits with his generation at a demographic Ground Zero for mental stress. The Schlagle High School junior survived COVID isolation during middle school. He’s never known a world without smartphones. And he’s finishing high school amid the FOMO energy of a social media world in its own adolescence. All of those factors, experts […]

The post More KC schoolkids are asking for help with their mental health. A few are finding it appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — As part of its ongoing effort to replace diesel-fueled school buses, the Biden administration on Wednesday said it will provide approximately 530 school districts across nearly all states with almost $1 billion to help them purchase clean school buses. The initiative, part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program rebate […]

The post Funds for clean school buses coming to hundreds of districts, White House says  appeared first on Missouri Independent.