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When nurses rallied outside Research Medical Center last week to kick off contract negotiations, the refrain rang familiar. “Hey HCA,” the nurses’ signs read. “Put patients over profits.” In an increasingly unionized health care industry, still recovering from the pandemic, nurses across the country demand that hospitals beef up staffing and improve working conditions. And, […]

The post Kansas City nurses kick off contract talks saying they’re prepared to strike appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Monday morning in a potentially landmark case involving the federal government’s efforts to encourage social media companies to remove misinformation from their platforms. The lawsuit was filed in 2022 by attorneys general in Missouri and Louisiana. It alleges the federal government colluded with social media companies such as […]

The post SCOTUS to hear case alleging federal government bullied social media into censoring content appeared first on Missouri Independent.

America’s media institutions have had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad start to 2024. The Messenger, a well-funded, high-profile news site, dissolved after less than a year. Big newspapers from the Los Angeles Times to the IndyStar saw major layoffs. And Sports Illustrated fell into licensing limbo while sites like BuzzFeed, Vice News, or Complex found themselves at best on life support. The over 500 media […]

The post Local news is too important for our democracy. We need a ‘Marshall Plan’ for public media appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A small Missouri city ordered to pay a heavy penalty for its attempt to “intimidate and silence” a critic dropped its appeal Thursday as deadlines approached for important legal filings. Edgar Springs, a town of 200 in southern Phelps County, must now pay Rebecca Varney $750, plus almost $80,000 in attorney fees, to satisfy a […]

The post Phelps County town drops appeal of $80,000 Missouri Sunshine Law judgment appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Christian King watched her sister lie sick in a hospital bed for days after suffering a placental abruption while giving birth. Finally, after their mother pleaded with hospital staff to run more tests, they learned her blood count was dangerously low. Two blood transfusions later, she was back on her feet.  The power of having […]

The post Missouri doulas give up wages to serve women on Medicaid. Legislators hope to fix that appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Jason Barton didn’t want to attend the Super Bowl parade this year. He told a co-worker the night before that he worried about a mass shooting. But it was Valentine’s Day, his wife is a Kansas City Chiefs superfan, and he couldn’t afford to take her to games since ticket prices soared after the team […]

The post They were injured at the Kansas City Super Bowl shooting. Now they feel forgotten appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Kansas City construction worker unions find many things to like about extending the 3/8-cent sales tax to build a new Royals stadium and maintain Arrowhead Stadium — such as new jobs. But service workers who would fill the jobs in and around a new ballpark in the Crossroads Arts District say they’re being left out. […]

The post Construction unions back the Royals stadium while low-wage workers demand more appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A state spending plan for fiscal 2025 delivered Thursday in the Missouri House cuts $2 billion from the proposal Gov. Mike Parson made in January, largely through adjustments for the depletion of pandemic-era federal funding and the decline in Medicaid enrollment.  The proposal from House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith achieves those cuts despite several […]

The post Missouri House budget chairman trims $2 billion from governor’s proposed spending plan appeared first on Missouri Independent.

An estimated 265,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen fertilizer leaked from a farmers cooperative in Red Oak, Iowa, early this week, and most of it went into the East Nishnabotna River, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. An investigation into the extent of the environmental damage is pending, but the crop fertilizer killed fish […]

The post Massive amount of crop fertilizer spills into SW Iowa river appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Kansas City-area lawmakers want to give a sales tax break to developers expected to expand a federal facility that builds non-nuclear components to “modernize and refurbish” the nation’s nuclear stockpile.  A bipartisan group of Missouri lawmakers from the metro are promoting legislation to offer a sales tax exemption on materials needed to expand the National […]

The post Missouri lawmakers push tax break to expand Kansas City nuclear weapons facility appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A Republican running for the Missouri House says he’s being sued by state Rep. Justin Hicks, the lawmaker he’s hoping to replace, for publishing information on a campaign website about a 2010 order of protection issued when a woman accused Hicks of choking her. Hicks is leaving the legislature to run for Congress. The lawsuit […]

The post GOP candidate says Missouri lawmaker is suing him over disclosure of court records appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The first – and perhaps only – chance for the public to tell Missouri House members what they think of Gov. Mike Parson’s $52.7 billion budget proposal will be Thursday. The timing is upsetting Democrats on the House Budget Committee, who said public input should have occurred weeks ago. Scheduling one hearing on all 17 […]

The post Missouri House to hold public hearing on governor’s $52.7 billion budget proposal appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a bill that effectively bans TikTok unless the company splits from its Chinese owner ByteDance because of national security concerns. The 352-65 vote occurred just a week after lawmakers introduced the bipartisan proposal and days after the powerful House Committee on Energy and Commerce unanimously advanced the […]

The post U.S. House votes to ban TikTok unless it is sold by China-controlled parent appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Business owners, CEOs and a steelworkers’ union official urged lawmakers Tuesday to quickly pass a tax policy bill that has been stalled in the U.S. Senate since the end of January. The witnesses invited to testify on manufacturing taxation before the Senate Committee on Finance told the panel that the proposal, which includes […]

The post Business owners, union leader urge U.S. Senate to move ahead soon on stalled tax package appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Senators on the U.S. Senate Rules Committee expressed concerns Tuesday that poll workers may need protection and that artificial intelligence could interfere in the fall elections. Leading members of the committee said AI has already been used to promote disinformation that has interfered with elections, while elections workers have for years experienced intimidation. […]

The post AI disinformation, threats to poll workers top U.S. Senate panel list of election worries appeared first on Missouri Independent.

When Terrence Wise explains Missouri’s initiative petition process to his children, he brings up one particularly remarkable play by the Kansas City Chiefs. The famous 13 second overtime win against the Buffalo Bills secured the Chiefs a place in the 2023 Super Bowl. As a result of the win, the NFL changed its overtime rules. […]

The post GOP senator urges Missouri House to reinstate ‘ballot candy’ into initiative petition bill appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A new poll shows plurality of Missourians support restoring abortion rights as they existed under Roe v. Wade, but a large undecided group holds the key to victory.  The St. Louis University/YouGov Poll conducted in February found that 44% of those surveyed would vote for abortion rights after hearing the ballot language, while 37% were […]

The post Missourians back initiative to restore abortion rights by small margin, new poll finds appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri Senate Democrats ended their filibuster Tuesday of a bill that seeks to expand the state’s K-12 tax-credit scholarship program — agreeing to let the legislation come to a vote after Republicans added provisions boosting public school funding and teacher retention efforts. The bill receiving first-round approval by a 20-13 vote in the Senate Tuesday […]

The post Missouri Senate strikes deal to boost public-school funding in private-school tax-credit bill appeared first on Missouri Independent.

House Speaker Dean Plocher testified Tuesday evening before a bipartisan committee investigating him over allegations of ethical misconduct.  Appearing alongside his attorneys — Lowell Pearson and David Steelman — Plocher’s testimony took place behind-closed doors. House rules require proceedings of the ethics committee to be confidential, with none of the discussions, testimony or evidence gathered […]

The post Dean Plocher testifies to the Missouri House ethics panel investigating him appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Former U.S. Justice Department special counsel Robert Hur on Tuesday defended from both Republican and Democratic critics on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee his conclusion that President Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified documents likely broke federal law but was not worthy of prosecution. Few new facts emerged from the acrimonious five-hour hearing. But Hur’s conclusions […]

The post Former special counsel in Biden classified documents probe attacked by both sides in hearing appeared first on Missouri Independent.