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WASHINGTON — Scientists debated the origins of COVID-19 on Tuesday, trading barbs over whether the bulk of evidence available points to a natural spillover event from a wild animal or a virus designed in a lab and then let loose through an inadvertent leak. The hearing in front of the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and […]

The post Scientists argue over the origins of COVID-19 before U.S. Senate panel appeared first on Missouri Independent.

TOPEKA, Kansas — The Kansas City Royals and Chiefs could receive hundreds of millions of dollars in sales tax revenue to move from Missouri and build new stadiums across the state line under legislation passed Tuesday by Kansas lawmakers. The House voted 84-38 and the Senate voted 27-8 to approve legislation that would expand a […]

The post Kansas lawmakers approve tax incentive bill to lure Chiefs, Royals away from Missouri appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Ethics Committee released a statement Tuesday saying it has “identified additional allegations that merit review” based on its investigation of prior allegations that Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz had inappropriate sexual relationships and violated rules by accepting gifts. The committee is investigating allegations that Gaetz may have “engaged in […]

The post U.S. House ethics panel adds allegations to Matt Gaetz investigation appeared first on Missouri Independent.

LAWRENCE, Kansas — On the eve of a vote that could yield $750 million for a new Kansas City Royals baseball stadium in Kansas, a team executive met with several Democratic state lawmakers at a local steakhouse. Brooks Sherman, chief operating officer for the Royals, and lobbyists hosted lawmakers at the Six Mile Chop House […]

The post Kansas Democratic lawmakers dined with Kansas City Royals on eve of stadium vote appeared first on Missouri Independent.

When a woman experiencing a second trimester miscarriage came into the hospital bleeding through her clothes, Dr. Jennifer Smith couldn’t immediately help her.  Not while her fetus still had a heartbeat. Too scared to wait for the miscarriage to progress far enough to be admitted to the hospital in Missouri, the woman and her husband […]

The post Emergency care for pregnant women at stake in Supreme Court case, Missouri doctor warns appeared first on Missouri Independent.

ST. LOUIS — A circuit court judge heard arguments Monday over whether the Missouri attorney general’s efforts to access medical records of transgender youth violate privacy protections. Monday’s hearing was convened at the request of Bailey in the hopes that the court would amend a previous order that requires patients to waive HIPAA rights before […]

The post Planned Parenthood vows to fight Missouri AG push for transgender youth medical records appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration Tuesday will announce deportation protections for long-term undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens, along with quicker approval of work permits for those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. President Joe Biden will formally make the announcement during an afternoon White House event to celebrate the 12th anniversary of […]

The post Biden to unveil protections for some undocumented spouses, easier DACA work visas appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Representatives of the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals urged Kansas lawmakers Monday to expand a tax incentive program to provide the teams millions of dollars to leave Missouri and set up shop in new stadiums across the state line. “If we want to be major league we’ve got to have major league teams,” Korb Maxwell, […]

The post Chiefs, Royals ask Kansas for incentives to allow teams to leave Missouri appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The warden of Jefferson City Correctional Center, where four corrections officers were fired earlier this year following the investigation of a December death of an inmate, has been replaced. An acting warden has taken over for Doris Falkenrath, Karen Pojmann, spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Corrections, said in an email to The Independent. Falkenrath […]

The post Warden of Missouri prison replaced after investigation of inmate death appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Twenty-four Republican state attorneys general, including Missouri’s, have interceded in the classified-documents prosecution of Donald Trump, opposing special counsel Jack Smith’s request that the trial judge bar Trump from making hostile statements against federal law enforcement. In a 27-page amicus brief filed by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, the states complain that Smith’s motion to amend the […]

The post Republican state attorneys general oppose new gag order in Trump documents case appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri’s near-total abortion ban does not fly in the face of the state constitution’s separation of church and state, a St. Louis judge determined.  The ruling came Friday, several days shy of the 2-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down the constitutional right to an abortion and paved the way for […]

The post Missouri’s abortion ban does not violate separation of church and state, judge rules appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri’s delays in processing Medicaid applications — among the worst in the nation — have the attention of federal regulators, who will conduct a “focused review” of the problem, according to a letter obtained by The Independent. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in a letter sent to the state May 22 and […]

The post Feds to scrutinize Missouri’s worst-in-the-nation Medicaid application delays appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri’s most prolific political donor dropped another $1 million into the campaign of his preferred candidate for governor last week, bringing the total he’s spent during the 2024 election cycle to almost $3 million.  Retired investor Rex Sinquefield has given more than $45 million in contributions since he became a significant donor around 2006 mostly […]

The post Rex Sinquefield drops big donations into GOP governor, AG primaries appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Cassidy Yermal, 32, began experiencing debilitating migraines when she was 17 years old. As a teenager growing up in northeastern Pennsylvania, she saw numerous neurologists and tried a variety of medications before finding one that provided relief. In 2022, her new insurer asked her to prove it. Yermal now lives in Marlboro, Maryland, where she’s […]

The post States struggle to help patients navigate insurance hurdle known as ‘step therapy’ appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The U.S. Supreme Court likely had no idea of the furor it would unleash when it overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago. You could see the justices take a tentative step backward Wednesday when they unanimously voted to preserve access to abortion pill drug mifepristone. As the ruling was a technical one, based on […]

The post Surprised by U.S. Supreme Court’s abortion pill ruling? You can thank Kansas voters. appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Tyson Foods, Inc. “devastated” a Missouri town and “chicken farmers who put everything on the line” to raise animals for slaughter when it closed its Dexter plant, a lawsuit alleges.  An owner of three poultry farms in Arkansas that raised chickens for slaughter at the plant, which closed last October, filed a lawsuit against the […]

The post Lawsuit claims ‘fraudulent scheme’ in Tyson plant closure in southeast Missouri appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday struck down a rule enacted following a 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas that defined a semiautomatic rifle equipped with a bump stock attachment as a machine gun, which is generally prohibited under federal law. The opinion, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, reduces the executive branch’s already-limited […]

The post U.S. Supreme Court overturns ban on bump stocks used in Las Vegas mass shooting appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling Thursday to maintain current access to the abortion medication mifepristone, rejecting a challenge to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s regulation of the drug, abortion-rights advocates and opponents vowed to continue their respective battles over the drug. Mifepristone is one of two drugs used to treat miscarriages […]

The post Anti-abortion groups say Supreme Court’s mifepristone ruling won’t deter them appeared first on Missouri Independent.

JETMORE, Kan. — An inch or two of corn peeks out of the dirt, just enough to reveal long rows forming over the horizon. Sprinkler engines roar as they force water from underground to pour life into dusty fields. Thunder cracks. The wind whips up dirt as a trail of dark storms looms. The crashing […]

The post ‘Time for a reckoning.’ Kansas farmers brace for water cuts to save Ogallala Aquifer appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — In his first visit to Capitol Hill since leaving office in January 2021, former President Donald J. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, mapped campaign strategy with GOP lawmakers and projected party unity ahead of the November elections. Trump said the meetings brought “great unity.” Surrounded by Republican senators who were smiling and applauding him […]

The post Trump claims ‘great unity’ after talks with congressional GOP  appeared first on Missouri Independent.