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Leaders of a bipartisan Missouri House committee investigating Speaker Dean Plocher over allegations of misconduct said Monday that there is no timetable for when the inquiry will conclude.  State Rep. Hannah Kelly, a Republican from Mountain Grove and chair of the House Ethics Committee, spoke to reporters following a roughly three-hour closed-door meeting of the […]

The post ‘Due process takes time’: No timetable for completion of Dean Plocher ethics investigation appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Jason Sparks is an Oklahoma man who almost single-handedly created the distillate that led to Missouri regulators’ decision to pull more than 60,000 marijuana products off the shelves in August and revoke the license of Robertsville-based Delta Extraction. Now, he’s the star witness in a hearing scheduled to begin Monday morning, where Delta will try […]

The post Hearing on recall of 60,000 Missouri marijuana products set to begin appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson drew condemnation from across the political spectrum over the weekend after he reduced the sentence of former Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid for a drunken driving crash that permanently injured a 5-year-old girl. Reid, the son of Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, was drunk in February 2021 when he […]

The post Gov. Mike Parson faces bipartisan scorn for reducing DWI sentence of ex-Chiefs coach appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Kansas City’s downtown took on a campus-like feel in early February as 8,000 visitors congregated at the downtown convention center and fanned out to nearby bars, coffee shops and tourist sites. The guests included students, immigrants, people of color and people who identified as LGBTQ, in town for the annual conference of the Association of […]

The post Apologizing for Missouri’s legislature is routine in Kansas City appeared first on Missouri Independent.

As Republican strength in Missouri has grown – no non-incumbent Democrat has won election statewide since 2008 – Republicans increasingly view a primary nomination as the ticket to victory in November. And on Thursday night, candidates from across the state traveled to Columbia for the Boone County Republican Lincoln Day dinner for a chance to […]

The post GOP contenders vie for attention at Boone County Lincoln Days appeared first on Missouri Independent.

State Sen. Bill Eigel promised Thursday that if elected governor he’d invoke a provision in the Missouri Constitution allowing him to call out the militia to round up and deport undocumented immigrants. That means mobilizing sheriffs, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the National Guard, Eigel told a crowd of about 175 party faithful at […]

The post Bill Eigel vows mass jailing, removal of undocumented immigrants from Missouri appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Anti-abortion groups, attorneys general from 25 states and more than 140 members of Congress have signed on to dozens of briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court during the past two weeks, encouraging the justices to revert use and prescribing of the medication abortion pill mifepristone to what was in place prior to 2016. […]

The post Who wants the U.S. Supreme Court to limit abortion pill access? Here’s the list appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Brenna Dwyer was in a race to buy her first home. When she and her sister decided to purchase a house together in 2020, they didn’t realize how steep the competition would be — or who they were up against. “If we would find a house we liked and needed to think about it, by […]

The post 5 companies own 8,000 Kansas City area homes, creating intense competition for residents appeared first on Missouri Independent.

During a recent debate in the Missouri Senate over a proposal to create rape and incest exemptions to Missouri’s abortion ban, one lawmaker argued against such exceptions by defaming God. Republican Sen. Sandy Crawford, who called herself “a woman of faith,” argued that while rape can be “mentally taxing,” women should be required to give […]

The post When bad theology leads to bad laws appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House on a bipartisan vote passed a short-term funding extension Thursday intended to give lawmakers a bit more time to wrap up work on the annual spending bills — trying to dodge a shutdown despite election year politics and narrow margins. The stopgap spending bill, sometimes called a continuing resolution, or […]

The post A day ahead of shutdown, Congress works on advancing stopgap spending bills appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a lawsuit Thursday against Planned Parenthood, relying on a staged, edited video from a right-wing group to accuse the organization of illegally transporting minors out of state for abortions. The lawsuit is against Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which has clinics in the Kansas City region and Columbia. Bailey is […]

The post Missouri AG sues Planned Parenthood over Project Veritas video involving fictional girl appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Between Vallerie Steele, her seven siblings and their children, there’s always a birthday or anniversary to celebrate on the family’s southwest Missouri farm. The summer months are typically a parade of pool parties and barbecues. Until last year.  The stench coming from the lagoon across the road from Steele’s home has become unbearable. It holds […]

The post Missouri House bill takes aim at ‘cesspool’ of meatpacking sludge appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A quasi-governmental organization based in Missouri that services student loans is facing lawsuits and a scathing report from a pair of education organizations accusing it of gross mismanagement that needlessly resulted in borrowers losing thousands of dollars. The accusations against the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, better known as MOHELA, were laid out in a […]

The post MOHELA faces accusations it mismanaged federal student loan forgiveness program appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi blocked a bill from passing Wednesday that would have preserved access to in vitro fertilization nationwide, stalling a push by Democrats following a landmark Alabama state Supreme Court decision. The court ruled earlier this month that frozen embryos counted as children under state law and parents could collect […]

The post U.S. Senate Republican blocks legislation protecting in vitro fertilization appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Right-wing politicians who won’t apologize for labeling Denton Loudermill as the shooter responsible for a death and almost two dozen injuries at the Kansas City Chiefs’ victory parade will have to answer for their falsehoods, he and his legal advocate told The Independent. And if Loudermill needs it, Bootheel businessman and lifelong Democrat Barry Aycock […]

The post Man wrongly accused in KC shooting weighs defamation suit, demands Missouri senators apologize appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A Republican-backed bill seeking to block Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood clinics in Missouri won initial approval in the state House Wednesday, despite pleas from Democrats to continue giving patients a broader choice of providers. The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Cody Smith of Carthage, would make it illegal for any public funds, including Medicaid […]

The post Bill blocking Medicaid money from going to Planned Parenthood advances in Missouri House appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. senators heard detailed testimony Wednesday on the economic impacts women face and how those considerations can play into whether they seek elective abortion access. The Senate Budget Committee also heard examples of the increased pressures women who need abortions for medical reasons have experienced after more than a dozen states severely restricted […]

The post Economic effects of state abortion bans debated by U.S. Senate panel appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The pitch feels noble, visceral: Prevent newborns from being discarded in dumpsters, and do it in a way that shields the mother and protects her anonymity while safeguarding the baby’s health and future. In a growing number of states, the answer to the rare occurrence of illegal infant abandonment is a baby drop-off box. It’s […]

The post More places install drop-off boxes for surrendered babies. Critics say they’re a gimmick appeared first on Missouri Independent.

After a string of scandals and amid rising bills, lawmakers in statehouses across the country have been pushing legislation to curb utilities spending ratepayer money on lobbying, expert testimony in rate cases, goodwill advertising, charitable giving, trade association membership and other costs. At least a dozen states have considered bills to limit how gas, water […]

The post Lawmakers across the U.S. seek to curb utility spending on politics, ads and more extras appeared first on Missouri Independent.

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 […]

The post Missouri candidates head to Jefferson City for first day to file for 2024 elections appeared first on Missouri Independent.