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In early 2020, Peapod Learning Center in Springfield had a waiting list years out.  The nature and farm preschool earned state recognition as it continued to expand after opening more than a decade earlier. “It was off the charts wonderful,” said owner and director Carly Walton.  Then the pandemic hit. By June 2020, the farm […]

The post Missouri child care crisis a top priority for governor, bipartisan group of lawmakers appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The greatest choice voters will have to make during the 2024 presidential election is whether to stand for truth or go along with the lies. But how can voters discern and distinguish truth from lies, facts from fiction? It seems truth and facts have become expendable commodities in the public square. We must wonder whether […]

The post The 2024 elections will be a choice between truth and lies appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Less than a day after a draft letter from state Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden’s home Republican county committee demanding his resignation began circulating on social media, the party’s chairman tried to retract it. The letter, which also called for Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin of Shelbina to resign, was never intended to be […]

The post Boone County GOP committee retracts demand for resignation of Missouri Senate leaders appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Although it’s spotty and inconsistent in many places, wastewater testing is pointing to a new wave of COVID-19 infections, with as many as one-third of Americans expected to contract the disease by late February. With pandemic fatigue also in full force, and deaths and hospitalizations well down from peaks in 2021 because of high vaccination […]

The post Wastewater tests show COVID infections surging, but pandemic fatigue limits precautions appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Kansas City Royals want voters to promise four more decades of tax money to underwrite a new stadium. Parking attendants, beer vendors and the other people who tend to fans want more leverage on their wages. And the Royals say the team stands willing to bargain, offering to enter into a community benefits agreement […]

The post Jackson County sent the Royals stadium tax to the ballot. Labor gears up for tough talks appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A Missouri man investigating his son’s death filed a lawsuit this week against a Louisiana district attorney who’s demanding more than $18,000 for copies of investigation records related to the case. Since his son’s death nearly seven years ago, Bob Arthur has pursued justice with little to no help from police or prosecutors. He has […]

The post Missouri man sues Louisiana DA over $18,000 fee to access records of son’s death appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Top U.S. Senate negotiators said Thursday that final details on an immigration policy deal remain under debate in the U.S. Senate, despite outside pressure from GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump to sink any agreement as he makes immigration his central campaign message. The No. 2 Senate Republican and GOP whip, Sen. John Thune, […]

The post U.S. Senate Republicans insist they won’t bow to Trump demands to quit immigration talks appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The factional fights making the Missouri Senate a public spectacle are bad enough that Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin told reporters Thursday that she’d vote to expel the leader of the Freedom Caucus from the chamber. Speaking to the assembled editors and publishers from the Missouri Press Association during their annual visit to the Capitol, […]

The post Missouri Senate GOP warfare escalates with suggestion of expelling Freedom Caucus leader appeared first on Missouri Independent.

  WASHINGTON — Bipartisan U.S. senators are sounding the alarm on cost, workforce shortages and dangerous incidents at assisted living facilities across the country as the needs of aging Americans are forecast to sharply increase. Sen. Bob Casey, chair of the Senate Committee on Aging, led a hearing Thursday to highlight the panel’s fact finding mission. Unlike […]

The post U.S. Senate panel examines quality, costs of assisted living centers appeared first on Missouri Independent.

  WASHINGTON — Congress has spent more than six years avoiding its responsibility to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program, using a series of stopgap bills to extend the life of the program that has issued nearly 5 million policies. The lackadaisical approach to brokering a five-year reauthorization of the program was one of several […]

The post Major changes in federal flood insurance program urged by U.S. Senate panel appeared first on Missouri Independent.

One of the nation’s last primary aluminum smelters, which employs more than 400 workers in the Missouri Bootheel, will reportedly close its doors. The Magnitude 7 Metals plant, in the southeast Missouri town of Marston, announced Wednesday it would curtail operations, according to Industrious Labs, an industry analysis group. In a press release, Industrious Labs […]

The post One of nation’s only aluminum smelters set to close in Missouri Bootheel appeared first on Missouri Independent.

After years of court losses and legislative stalemates, Republicans and anti-abortion advocates in Missouri are once again trying to block Planned Parenthood from receiving money through Medicaid. A Senate committee debated legislation Wednesday that would change Missouri law to make Planned Parenthood ineligible to receive reimbursements from MO HealthNet, the state’s Medicaid program. Though the […]

The post Missouri Republicans push bill to defund Planned Parenthood after years of legal fights appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Leading Republicans — and the Biden presidential campaign — on Wednesday rushed to identify former President Donald Trump as the presumptive GOP nominee after he won decisively in New Hampshire’s Republican presidential primary. Trump bested Nikki Haley, his former United Nations ambassador, by more than 10 percentage points in a moderate state with an open primary that […]

The post On to November: Trump win in New Hampshire sets up 2024 rematch with Biden appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In his final address to a joint session of the Missouri General Assembly, Gov. Mike Parson on Wednesday pointed to outlawing abortion, increasing infrastructure spending and appointing five statewide office holders as the legacy of his six years in office. “I’ll be leaving here with my head held high,” Parson told lawmakers during his annual […]

The post Missouri governor’s final State of State touts abortion ban, infrastructure spending appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Spending from large federal grants and a shrinking but substantial state surplus will propel Missouri to record spending in the coming year if lawmakers adopt the $52.7 billion budget proposal from Gov. Mike Parson. Unlike last year’s budget proposal, which included nearly $900 million from general revenue to improve Interstate 70, Parson has no large […]

The post Gov. Mike Parson proposes record $52.7 billion Missouri state budget appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Legislation seeking to create a “parents bill of rights” in Missouri was amended in committee Tuesday morning to add prohibitions on transgender students accessing restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity. A House hearing on standalone bills that sought to regulate school bathrooms took up the majority of a nearly nine-hour meeting […]

The post Bathroom restrictions for transgender kids added to Missouri ‘parents bill of rights’ appeared first on Missouri Independent.

State lawmakers were informed last week that it will cost taxpayers $1.2 million to defend a rule on investment brokers that Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft says is designed to stop “politically motivated” financial advisers who want to “fritter away Missourians’ money.” Ashcroft issued a new rule in July targeting environmental, social and governance, or […]

The post Jay Ashcroft seeks $1.2 million to defend anti-ESG investing rules in federal court appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Republican civil war in the Missouri Senate reached a new crescendo of strife Tuesday, when Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden stripped four members of their committee chairs and declared he was acting against “a small group of swamp creatures.” The action toward members of the newly formed Freedom Caucus took away traditional prerogatives […]

The post Missouri ‘Freedom Caucus’ leaders ousted from Senate chairmanships over stall tactics appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Republican lawmakers’ latest attempt to change Missouri’s century-old initiative petition process was met with widespread opposition Tuesday.  Hanging over the proceedings, though hardly discussed on Tuesday, were a pair of initiative petition campaigns seeking to put an amendment on the statewide ballot rolling back Missouri near-total ban on abortion.  One of the campaigns has already […]

The post GOP renews push to make it harder to amend Missouri constitution by initiative petition appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan agreement that would make the most substantial changes to immigration policy in 30 years hinges on funding disputes, key senators said Tuesday. While senators have not finalized the text of the agreement, they are discussing changes to the White House’s use of parole authority to grant temporary protections to migrants by […]

The post Funding seen as a last hurdle to final U.S. Senate immigration deal appeared first on Missouri Independent.