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Missouri candidates head to Jefferson City for first day to file for 2024 elections

1 year 9 months ago

Political candidates who make national headlines — and those who may only be known in their hometown — descended on Jefferson City Tuesday morning for the first day of a month-long window to file to run for office in Missouri. To run for office, candidates have no choice but to show up in person. Some […]

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Annelise Hanshaw

A partial government shutdown is days away. There’s no agreement on federal funding yet

1 year 9 months ago

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden huddled with top congressional leaders at the White House on Tuesday amid a crunch over government funding as well as a familiar stalemate over assistance to two major allies — and no solution immediately in sight. Lawmakers leaving the meeting, which lasted about an hour, said it was worthwhile, even […]

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Jennifer Shutt

US Senate Dems to try to push through legislation protecting in vitro fertilization

1 year 9 months ago

WASHINGTON — A group of Democrats will attempt to pass a bill in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday protecting access to in vitro fertilization, saying its availability should not be restricted. Their push to quickly approve the health care legislation comes shortly after the Alabama Supreme CourtĀ ruled earlier this monthĀ that fertilized eggs are children under […]

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Jennifer Shutt

Missouri state treasurer removes ads on unregulated slot machines after grilling by lawmakers

1 year 9 months ago

State Treasurer Vivek Malek endured a bipartisan beatdown Tuesday as members of a House subcommittee spent two hours telling him it was a big mistake to put decals advertising the Unclaimed Property program on unregulated gambling machines. A few hours later, Malek gave in to demands from members of the House Subcommittee on Appropriations – […]

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Rudi Keller

90,000 Missouri kids are eligible for food aid they haven’t claimed that’s about to expire

1 year 9 months ago

Missouri families who haven’t claimed food benefits in a program launched during the height of the pandemic could lose out in the coming weeks unless they act quickly. Federal pandemic-era summer food benefits, referred to as P-EBT, were designed to help cover costs in summer 2022 but did not begin being disbursed in Missouri until […]

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Clara Bates

ā€˜Dark cloud’: Ethics investigation of Dean Plocher continues to hang over Missouri House

1 year 9 months ago

Dean Plocher’s last year as speaker of the Missouri House wasn’t supposed to go this way. The Republican from Des Peres was riding high at the end of the 2023 legislative session, able to point to big wins while pinning any disappointments on continued dysfunction in the state Senate. And he had amassed an impressive […]

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Jason Hancock

Missouri auditor declares victory after plaintiffs drop suit over cost of abortion petition

1 year 9 months ago

A lawsuit challenging the estimated cost of an initiative petition that sought to add rape and incest exceptions to Missouri’s abortion ban has been dismissed, with plaintiffs saying there was no reason to continue the fight now that the campaign behind the proposal is no longer active. The lawsuit was filed late last year by […]

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Anna Spoerre

Artificial intelligence already plays a part in Kansas City health care, without much regulation

1 year 9 months ago

In September, the mom of a 4-year-old boy made national news when she used ChatGPT to diagnose her son’s pain, teeth grinding and leg dragging, a diagnosis that had eluded 17 doctors over three years. It’s an increasingly common scenario: Patients are looking to artificial intelligence for health care answers. And so are medical pros. […]

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Suzanne King

Wash U. prioritizes need-based aid after years of low socioeconomic diversity

1 year 9 months ago

Washington University in St. Louis — criticized a decade ago for rock-bottom low-income enrollment — says it has carved out spaces for economically disadvantaged students as part of a new plan to increase need-based aid. Late last year, the university announced that 21% of its freshmen were Pell eligible, meaning they showed financial need after […]

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Annelise Hanshaw

Citizens must relentlessly demand sensible gun safety laws

1 year 9 months ago

Sadly, the question is not how many more innocents need to become victims of senseless mass gun violence. The real question is: When will enough of us relentlessly demand that legislators pass sensible gun laws? Laws that will not only address the growing incidents of mass shootings, but the growing epidemic of gun violence. Clearly, […]

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Janice Ellis

Missouri treasurer fires back at critic of ads on unregulated slot machines

1 year 9 months ago

State Treasurer Vivek Malek on Friday accused a southwest Missouri lawmaker of making claims without facts about advertisements for the state Unclaimed Property program on unregulated cash prize games that proliferate around the state. On Wednesday, State Rep. Scott Cupps, chairman the House Subcommittee on Appropriations – General Administration, excoriated Malek for failing to appear […]

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Rudi Keller

More than 500 new Russia sanctions levied by White House after Navalny death

1 year 9 months ago

The Biden administration will impose a new round of economic sanctions targeting Russian fuel exports and military-industry imports, the Treasury Department announced Friday. Coming one week after Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in the custody of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government and one day short of the two-year anniversary of the country’s invasion of […]

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Jacob Fischler

Lawmaker makes final bid for cursive writing requirement in Missouri schools

1 year 9 months ago

For six straight years, Democratic state Rep. Gretchen Bangert has filed a bill that would require cursive handwriting to be taught in Missouri public schools. The bill has failed each time, never making it out of the House and only twice getting initial approval. Yet Bangert, of Florissant, isn’t letting the issue go. In December, […]

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Dmitry Martirosov

Missouri Senate passes bill making it harder for voters to amend the constitution

1 year 9 months ago

Legislation to add a new barrier to amending the Missouri Constitution by initiative petition passed the state Senate Thursday on a party line vote. With 22 Republicans in favor and nine Democrats opposed, the Senate sent the House a proposal that would require a statewide majority and a majority vote in five of the state’s […]

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Rudi Keller

Bail clampdowns don’t match what research says about suspects, experts say

1 year 9 months ago

Crime is shaping up as a potent election issue, and one of the key points of debate is over bail: Which suspects should be jailed before trial, and which ones should be released on bond — and for how much money? Some conservatives argue that lenient bail policies put suspects who are likely to commit […]

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Amanda Hernandez

Springfield Sen. Lincoln Hough joins race for Missouri lieutenant governor

1 year 9 months ago

After weeks of flirting with the idea, state Sen. Lincoln Hough of Springfield jumped into the Republican Primary for lieutenant governor on Thursday. Hough, who is serving his second term in the Missouri Senate, joins a field that includes a colleague, state Sen. Holly Thompson Rehder of Scott City, House Speaker Dean Plocher, Franklin County […]

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Rudi Keller

Biden unveils latest round of student loan cancellation to aid 153,000 borrowers

1 year 9 months ago

President Joe Biden expanded his push to eliminate student loan debt Wednesday, saying during a speech the initiative is part of a campaign promise to address the ā€œbrokenā€ system. ā€œWhile a college degree is still a ticket to a better life, that ticket is too expensive,ā€ Biden said. ā€œAnd too many Americans are still saddled […]

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Jennifer Shutt

Missouri Treasurer faces scrutiny over state advertising on unregulated slot machines

1 year 9 months ago

A southwest Missouri lawmaker blasted state Treasurer Vivek Malek Wednesday for refusing to answer questions about new ads for the state Unclaimed Property Program appearing on unregulated games that offer cash prizes. Malek declined to appear at a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Appropriations – General Administration, angering Chairman Scott Cupps.Ā  Cupps said he […]

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Rudi Keller

More taxpayer money benefits pro sports owners amid ā€˜stadium construction wave’

1 year 9 months ago

As sports stadiums built in the 1990s show their age, many professional sports teams are looking for new facilities — and public money to pay for them. ā€œWe are just in the heating up phase of the next stadium construction wave,ā€ said J.C. Bradbury, a Kennesaw State University economics professor who has researched the issue. […]

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Kevin Hardy

When will housing affordability improve? Spoiler alert: It will take some time

1 year 9 months ago

Inflation is slowing and job growth has surged, but many Americans still feel the burden of expensive housing — fueled in part by high demand, low inventory and mortgage rates. Home prices across the U.S. rose 5.5% over the past year in December 2023 and they are projected to increase 2.8% year over year by […]

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Casey Quinlan