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ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Robert Tracy’s appointment as St. Louis’ police chief came with a sweetener: In addition to a $175,000 annual salary from the city, a nonprofit organization made up of local business leaders pays […]

The post St. Louis police chief gets third of pay from foundation, raising concerns of divided loyalties appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A Democratic filibuster that stretched more than 20 hours ended Tuesday when Senate Republicans stripped provisions critics derided as “ballot candy” from a proposal to make it harder to pass constitutional amendments proposed by initiative petitions. By an 18-12 vote, with nine Republicans joining nine Democrats in the majority, language that stated non-citizens could not […]

The post Democrat filibuster forces removal of ‘ballot candy’ from Senate initiative petition bill appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Tuesday again urged U.S. House Republican leaders to hold an up-or-down vote on military assistance for Ukraine and said a new sanctions package against Russia is on the way, citing the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny as placing new pressure on Western democracies to rally against the […]

The post White House preps new sanctions package against Russia after Navalny death appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Local governments in the St. Louis area could request radioactive waste testing from the state under a Missouri House bill that would appropriate money to a long-unfunded program.  The Missouri House Conservation and Natural Resources Committee on Monday heard testimony on a bill that would transfer $300,000 to a radioactive waste investigations fund created six […]

The post Missouri House bill would allow further testing for St. Louis radioactive waste appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Republicans are shelving bills allowing concealed weapons in churches and exempting firearms from sales tax to avoid a public “freak out” in the wake of Wednesday’s mass shooting during the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration, Missouri House Democrats said Monday. During his weekly news conference Monday, House Majority Leader Jonathan Patterson, a Lee’s Summit […]

The post Democrats hope to put gun safety measure on ballot following Kansas City mass shooting appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A Boone County Republican said Monday he will emphasize national security experience, avoiding intra-party fights and that he actually lives in the district he wants to represent in a GOP primary for the 3rd Congressional District. Taylor Burks of Hartsburg, a former Boone County clerk, became the third Republican seeking the nomination to replace U.S. […]

The post Central Missouri Republican joins race for 3rd District congressional seat appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The burst of gunfire that killed a young mother and wounded almost two dozen others could have turned out even deadlier. But one critically injured young man made it to the operating room at University Health Kansas City within minutes after being hit. Had he not been triaged at the scene and rushed to the […]

The post Kansas City hospitals had plan for tragedies like the Chiefs parade mass shooting appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In the coming years, a nuclear power plant on the shores of Lake Michigan could become the first in the country to restart operations after shutting down. The Palisades plant in southwest Michigan could be revived by a $1.5 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Energy, Bloomberg reported. Federal officials have not yet confirmed […]

The post Federal money could supercharge state efforts to preserve nuclear power appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Federal law enforcement and cybersecurity officials are warning the nation’s state election administrators that they face serious threats ahead of November’s presidential election. Secretaries of state and state election directors must be ready for potential cyberattacks, both familiar and uncomfortably new, according to the feds. And they must remain vigilant about possible threats […]

The post Feds deliver stark warnings to state election officials ahead of November appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In the months before the Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia was forced to stop providing abortions in 2018, Emily Wales spent long nights calling patients to make back-up plans.  The clinic’s license was in jeopardy as it faced a court battle over hospital admitting privileges. Wales was among the staff calling women across Missouri as […]

The post ‘Uncharted territory’: How would abortion-rights amendment impact Missouri TRAP laws? appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Hundreds of pages of recently released documents provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Services affirm what the overwhelming majority of the public has known for decades: Marijuana is therapeutically useful. And its harms are not on par with those of heroin — which federal regulations currently consider it akin to — or even alcohol. […]

The post Will the DEA finally abandon its ‘flat earth’ cannabis policy? appeared first on Missouri Independent.

For starters, experts suggest, get the kids back into school. Routines matter in the raw aftermath of trauma. Child health experts say the shooting that killed a mother and wounded several children at the close of Kansas City’s celebration of the Chiefs’ latest championship likely left kids traumatized. Whether they were near Union Station or, […]

The post How to help kids traumatized by Kansas City Super Bowl parade mass shooting appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Age should not preclude either Joe Biden or Donald Trump from serving another four years as president, a group of aging experts said Thursday at a webinar organized by the American Federation for Aging Research. If Biden, 81, and Trump, 77, are the candidates on Election Day, as appears likely right now, they would break […]

The post Worried Biden and Trump are too old to be president? Calm down, experts on aging say appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump’s days fighting criminal charges in two courts could be arriving soon. Special Counsel Jack Smith urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday not to pause federal election interference proceedings and a New York state judge on Thursday set a late March trial date on charges related to hush money […]

The post Trump’s calendar becoming crowded as legal battles escalate in New York, D.C. appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Danny Werfel told lawmakers on Capitol Hill Thursday that his agency is “poised to move quickly” on a bipartisan tax bill that would temporarily expand the child tax credit and revive several corporate tax breaks. But, he cautioned, taxpayers should not wait to file. The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act […]

The post Expanded child tax credit could be in place quickly if passed by Congress, IRS chief says appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The case of Christopher Dunn, who has spent over three decades in prison for a murder he consistently claims he did not commit, starkly highlights a critical deficiency in our justice system. Despite persuasive evidence, including alibi witnesses and recanted trial testimonies, Dunn remains behind bars. The core issue stems from a 2016 Missouri Supreme […]

The post The unfinished journey of Missouri’s wrongfully convicted appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Before state Rep. Maggie Nurrenbern left home Wednesday for the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory celebration, she took a marker and wrote her husband’s telephone number on her sons’ arms. A former high school teacher, Nurrenbern said in an interview with The Independent, it was a precaution she learned during active shooter drills. “We’re […]

The post After Kansas City mass shooting, Missouri Democrats demand stricter gun laws appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcies in the United States, and more than 2 in 5 American adults have some. In many cases, the money people owe to health care providers forces them to cut spending on food or utilities, forgo other medical care or take on even more debt. Medical debt can […]

The post Governments can erase your medical debt for pennies on the dollar — and some are appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate is expected to head to trial later this month after House Republicans impeached Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Tuesday in a historic move against a sitting Cabinet member. A special core set of impeachment rules that were last revised in the 1980s requires the body to consider resolutions containing impeachment […]

The post What happens next in the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas? appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Biden administration will send close to $1 billion to airports across the country to upgrade terminal facilities, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced Thursday. The $970 million in grants will go to 144 airports in 44 states and three territories. Earmarked for terminal improvements, Buttigieg and other administration officials said the grants would fund projects to improve […]

The post Biden administration picks airports for nearly $1 billion in terminal upgrades appeared first on Missouri Independent.