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Despite growing tensions between elected officials nationwide and the media, Missouri lawmakers are looking to educate students on media and digital literacy through a new pilot program. Bills in the House and Senate contain provisions to help elementary and secondary students navigate an online world. The bills contain identical language that originated from a model […]

The post Media literacy bill gets hearing in Missouri legislature appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky called on U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to resign during a closed-door meeting of GOP lawmakers on Tuesday, throwing more uncertainty into that chamber just months before the November elections. Massie told reporters after the meeting and just before a Johnson press conference he believed the votes […]

The post U.S. Rep. Massie joins move to oust Speaker Johnson, who vows: ‘I am not resigning’ appeared first on Missouri Independent.

After a 2014 leak of hundreds of celebrities’ intimate photos, Uldouz Wallace learned that she was among the public figures whose images had been stolen and disseminated online. Wallace, an actress, writer and social media influencer, found out the images were ones her ex had taken without her consent and had threatened to leak. Over […]

The post States race to restrict deepfake porn as it becomes easier to create appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher obstructed an investigation of his official acts through pressure on potential witnesses and refusing to issue subpoenas, bipartisan leaders of the House Ethics Committee alleged Monday.  Some potential witnesses allegedly refused to speak out of fear Plocher would use his power as speaker to retaliate against them. Others were out […]

The post Speaker Dean Plocher accused of ‘absolute obstruction’ in House ethics investigation appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A controversial landfill proposed for south Kansas City is likely dead after approval of a deal developers struck with a suburban municipality that has been fighting to kill the project.  The Raymore City Council voted unanimously Monday for an ordinance setting out the terms for  a settlement that would pay developers of the proposed landfill […]

The post Raymore city officials approve agreement meant to kill Kansas City landfill appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A group including survivors of childhood sexual abuse is hoping Missouri lawmakers will change state law to give victims more time to sue their assailants and that the attorney general will provide more oversight of boarding schools and camps. Douglas Lay, assistant director of Missouri Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, told reporters Monday […]

The post Survivors of childhood sexual abuse ask Missouri Attorney General, lawmakers for change appeared first on Missouri Independent.

NEW YORK — The trial of former President Donald Trump kicked off Monday in a lower Manhattan courtroom, marking the first time in U.S. history that an ex-president has been tried on criminal charges. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, appeared in the state of New York courtroom, where he is charged with falsifying business records to […]

The post Trump on trial: Former president faces criminal charges of falsifying business records appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In early February, Raytown High School sophomore Harper York crossed the street to pick up some M&Ms from a Casey’s store before her next rehearsal. Suddenly, she turned around from the checkout and saw a “mob fight” had broken out. When the chaos died down and she got over her initial shock, Harper made a […]

The post Raytown students wanted crackdown on violence, guns in school. Making the right changes is tricky appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Donald Trump on Monday in a New York City courtroom will make history as the first former U.S. president to stand trial in criminal proceedings. And it raises new issues for the presumptive Republican nominee for president in November, even as he builds a political brand that so far has seemed immune from accusations of […]

The post Trump’s repeated escapes from political damage to be tested in NYC trial appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri had an embarrassing trip to the U.S. Supreme Court last month, and things have gone downhill from there.  Murthy v. Missouri (formerly Missouri v. Biden), was filed in 2022 by our then-Attorney General Eric Schmitt and his Louisiana counterpart. They sued a slew of federal government agencies alleging that the agencies’ discussions with social […]

The post Missouri Attorneys General are prolific censors posing as free speech champions appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Federal appeals court judges in St. Louis on Thursday heard legal counsel for the national ACLU and the U.S. Department of Justice argue that transgender minors have a constitutional right to gender-affirming care, while Arkansas’ deputy solicitor general said a state law prohibiting such care was in the best interest of youth and not discriminatory. […]

The post Federal court in St. Louis hears arguments on Arkansas ban on transgender health care appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Nearly a quarter of adults disenrolled from Medicaid in the past year say they are now uninsured, according to a survey released Friday that details how tens of millions of Americans struggled to retain coverage in the government insurance program for low-income people after pandemic-era protections began expiring last spring. The first national survey of […]

The post Nearly 1 in 4 adults dumped from Medicaid are now uninsured, survey finds appeared first on Missouri Independent.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — High-fives, fist-bumps and hugs come with the ice cream at the Golden Scoop. Tucked into a shopping center in suburban Kansas City, the shop employs 15 people with developmental disabilities. While customers first come for the sweet treats, many are drawn in by the Golden Scoop’s mission and friendly environment. “It […]

The post Disabled workers can be paid less than the minimum wage. Some states want to end that appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — As Congress gears up for negotiations ahead of the 2017 tax law’s expiration, economists and small business owners urged U.S. lawmakers Thursday to extend or make permanent the Trump-era tax cuts. Business owners from West Virginia and Wisconsin testified at a hearing before members of the House Committee on Ways and Means, advocating […]

The post Small business owners ask U.S. House tax writers to extend Trump-era deductions appeared first on Missouri Independent.

It should be common sense: Criminal justice laws ought to make us safer. Currently, in Missouri, there are many pieces of legislation under consideration that would increase the use of mandatory minimums and roll back parole eligibility. The truth is, these bills won’t make us safer – but they will cost a lot. Mandatory minimum […]

The post Mandatory minimum sentences are an old idea, but not a good one appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Kansas City-area communities fighting a proposed landfill are hopeful negotiations with the developers will end the controversy and “eliminate” the project. For more than a year, communities that border south Kansas City have been fighting a proposed 270-acre landfill. They’ve pleaded with state lawmakers to pass legislation to kill the project, hired lobbyists and formed […]

The post After Missouri Senate filibuster, KC landfill critics hope to cut a deal with developers appeared first on Missouri Independent.

For decades, Amina Tollin struggled with mysterious, debilitating pain that radiated throughout her body. A few years ago, when a doctor finally diagnosed her with polyneuropathy, a chronic nerve condition, she had begun to use a wheelchair. The doctor prescribed a blood infusion therapy that allowed Tollin, 40, to live her life normally. That is, […]

The post States want to make it harder for health insurers to deny care, but firms might evade enforcement appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday dug into complaints against a Missouri-based student-loan servicer, though the organization’s executive director refused to attend.  Wednesday’s meeting of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs focused on the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, or MOHELA, and other loan servicers that have received widespread criticism in […]

The post U.S. Senate committee critical of MOHELA after widespread complaints appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Thursday finalized a new rule that would require anyone selling a gun to obtain a federal license and conduct background checks. The rule aims to close what’s known as the “gun show loophole.” Gun merchants who sell online, by mail or at flea markets and gun shows until now […]

The post New rule to close ‘gun show loophole’ finalized by Biden administration appeared first on Missouri Independent.

As a humanitarian aid worker, having traveled to over 40 refugee camp sites around the world throughout Europe, the Middle East and South Asia, I have seen the worst of human nature: experiencing second-hand trauma through horrific recounts of torture, sexual assault, slaughter, and oppression. Yet even after all of my field experiences, I have […]

The post Gaza and the failed lessons of the past appeared first on Missouri Independent.