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Agape Boarding School’s longtime director once again won a court order Wednesday keeping his name off Missouri’s central registry for child abuse and neglect.  Cole County Circuit Court Judge Brian Stumpe granted Bryan Clemensen’s request for a preliminary injunction against Missouri’s Department of Social Services on Wednesday morning, the second time Clemensen has won a […]

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A ban on federal employees using TikTok on their government-issued phones is on track to become law after Congress included the provision in the year-end government funding bill released early Tuesday. U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley’s legislation barring the popular social media platform from federal devices was one of several bills attached to the spending measure, the last major action […]

The post TikTok ban for federal workers close to becoming law, following flurry of state bans appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Any last hopes of resurrecting the expanded child tax credit as part of Congress’ massive spending package were dashed early Tuesday when the 4,155-page bill was released without a mention of the tax benefit. The temporary expanded child tax credit, part of a COVID-19 relief deal in 2021, allowed more low-income families, including […]

The post Child tax credit expansion left out of congressional omnibus package appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Gov. Mike Parson has named Vivek Malek to serve as state treasurer, the first Indian American to hold a statewide office in Missouri.  Malek, 45, will replace Republican Scott Fitzpatrick, who was elected state auditor in November.  “We interviewed a lot of great candidates for state treasurer, all of which have promising and rewarding careers […]

The post Missouri governor taps political newcomer to serve as next state treasurer appeared first on Missouri Independent.

TC Energy has established a no-fly zone over the Kansas site where its Keystone pipeline spilled 14,000 barrels of oil following drone footage of the disaster. The Canadian company said in a statement that it did so for safety reasons. But drone footage of the spill — the largest in the pipeline’s history — was among the only means of seeing […]

The post Drone no-fly zone issued over Keystone oil spill site in Kansas appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Two death row prisoners were exonerated in 2022 as society’s ultimate sanction became more geographically isolated, with only a handful of states carrying out executions in the last year, according to a new report. The number of botched executions also reached an “astonishing” level, according to the research by the Death Penalty Information Center, a Washington […]

The post Botched executions reached ‘astonishing’ high in 2022, report finds appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in a historic vote agreed unanimously Monday to refer former President Donald Trump and others to the Justice Department for potential criminal charges, including inciting or aiding an insurrection. Trump associates, including attorneys John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro and White House Chief […]

The post U.S. House Jan. 6 panel refers Trump for criminal charges, including inciting insurrection appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Over a quarter of Missouri school districts learn on a four-day schedule. And up until last week, they were small, rural districts – some with as few as 50 students. That changed when Independence School District voted to implement the schedule for its 14,000 students next fall. Missouri policymakers are taking notice, with varying ideas […]

The post Another symptom of Missouri teacher shortage: Growing number of 4-day school weeks appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The election of Republican Scott Fitzpatrick as Missouri State Auditor on a campaign to investigate public school curricula reminded me of prior state auditors who expanded the role of the auditor’s office. Elected in 1974, Democrat George Lehr was the first auditor I covered who fundamentally expanded the scope of the auditor’s role. Prior auditors […]

The post Capitol Perspectives: Performance audits appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by Kaiser Health News. EAST ST. LOUIS, Illinois — As a child, Mykael Ash enjoyed picking up seashells near the Mississippi Gulf Coast. His grandfather lives there, so trips to the beach were a regular part of life. “It’s peaceful energy,” Ash said. “Especially when you put that seashell to […]

The post To combat gun violence, this artist turns ammunition into art appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Voters in Colorado approved a statewide affordable housing initiative in November; while voters in nine cities across the country OK’d measures to finance the construction of affordable housing, preserve existing rental properties and support renters. But as housing costs soar, analysts and advocates say more needs to be done and argue that federal action is needed. Robert […]

The post Voters embraced affordable housing initiatives. Advocates say Congress should do the same appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The homicide detective who led the investigation of the 1994 murder that landed Lamar Johnson in prison told a St. Louis courtroom that he had no evidence connecting Johnson to the murder, echoing what the prosecutor in the case said earlier in the week. Joseph Nickerson, who retired from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department […]

The post Homicide detective in Lamar Johnson’s case says he had no evidence appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In the first week of legal sports wagering in Kansas, more than 100,000 Missourians found out how precise online location tools have become when they were blocked from making bets. How many more crossed the border – or went to any of the other four legal sports wagering states adjoining Missouri to make bets – […]

The post Sports wagering, video lottery games again in conflict as legislature prepares for 2023 session appeared first on Missouri Independent.

After being imprisoned for nearly 30 years, Lamar Johnson finally got to tell his story to a courtroom on Thursday, when he testified that he didn’t kill his friend Marcus Boyd in 1995. “To this day, I don’t know why people suspect that I killed him,” said Johnson, who had been roommates with Boyd at […]

The post Lamar Johnson takes the stand to argue his innocence of 1994 murder appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The U.S. Senate late Wednesday unanimously passed a bill to ban federal employees from downloading TikTok on their work phones. Critics of TikTok, a widely popular social media platform, say the app creates national security concerns because of its ability to track users’ data — and because the Chinese government can compel that data from […]

The post U.S. Senate votes to bar TikTok from government devices as state bans multiply appeared first on Missouri Independent.

With the right to same-sex marriage now protected by federal statute, a Jackson County Republican lawmaker believes it is time for Missouri to retire a portion of the state constitution that says the only valid marriages are “between a man and a woman.” Rep. Chris Sander, R-Lone Jack, for the second year has introduced a […]

The post Missouri Republican pushes for constitutional change to recognize same-sex marriages appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Survivors of a deadly attack at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs and other advocates told a U.S. House panel Wednesday that political rhetoric and policy fights dehumanize LGBTQ people and contribute to such violence. Democrats and Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee largely sympathized with the survivors, but drew different conclusions […]

The post Club Q survivors at U.S. House hearing denounce anti-LGBTQ rhetoric appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Missouri Housing Development Commission has approved over $40 million worth of federal and state tax credits to help developers build 1,791 low-income housing units around the state.  In a meeting last week, the commission agreed to issue half the credits on an accelerated basis — the second year they’ve adopted the approach, which proponents […]

The post Missouri awards over $40 million in low-income housing tax credits appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The prosecutor in Lamar Johnson’s 1995 murder trial told a St. Louis courtroom on Wednesday that he would have never brought the case in the first place without the testimony of an eyewitness who has since recanted. “I didn’t have any evidence,” said then-assistant St. Louis Circuit Attorney Dwight Warren.  Wednesday was the third day […]

The post Former St. Louis prosecutor says Lamar Johnson conviction relied on recanted witness appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Congress is trying to wrap up its remaining must-pass bills before leaving for the holidays — but a split between Senate Republican and House GOP leaders could hamstring the all-important task of funding government operations and averting a partial shutdown. Senate Republicans are working with Democrats in both chambers to negotiate a major […]

The post U.S. House and Senate GOP at odds over massive government spending deal appeared first on Missouri Independent.