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A proposal to allow Missouri’s public school districts to open their boundaries is back this legislative session as the first education bill to get a hearing in the state House. The House Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education opened its first hearing of the year by considering Sedalia Republican Rep. Brad Pollitt’s open enrollment bill. […]

The post Open enrollment is the first education bill considered this year by Missouri House appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Growing up in Cut Bank, Montana, Patti Jo Ruegamer would spend most summer days going to the farm with her mother and father in Meriwether, about 25 miles west. While her parents worked, she would go to the neighbor’s place, where she and other children drank fresh milk from the cows there, and would spend […]

The post ‘What do we have to do?’: Fresh awareness of historic nuclear radiation in Montana neighborhoods appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A group of Republican lawmakers raised concerns about the death penalty and advocated for legislation that  would abolish it in Missouri during a Tuesday press conference at the state Capitol — characterizing it as an issue of restraining government overreach and protecting life.  Rep. Chad Perkins, a Republican from Bowling Green, has filed legislation to […]

The post Group of Republican lawmakers raise concerns about Missouri death penalty appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON —  A deal on changes to immigration policy remained elusive on Tuesday for top U.S. Senate negotiators. Those leading the talks — Sens. James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma, Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut and Kyrsten Sinema, independent of Arizona — have worked for weeks to strike a deal between the White House and Senate […]

The post Immigration negotiations in Congress center on parole, asylum policy appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump appeared in federal court Tuesday seeking immunity from charges that he schemed to overturn the 2020 presidential election results and knowingly fed lies to supporters who turned violent on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump, who is leading polls in the 2024 Republican presidential primary field, watched while his attorney D. […]

The post Three-judge federal panel grills Trump lawyer on claim of presidential immunity appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Billy Winters’ childhood in Florissant in the 1960s sounds enviable.  His parents bought a new house as thousands of other families flocked to the growing St. Louis suburbs. Winters’ neighborhood was full of other kids to play with. He spent almost every day splashing in a creek that ran near his home. But Winters didn’t […]

The post ‘We got mad’: Years of pain after a childhood near radioactive Coldwater Creek in Missouri appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In the medical industry, the goal is increasingly straightforward: Get bigger. Or else. Consider, for example, the merger of Kansas City’s St. Luke’s Health System with St. Louis-based BJC Health System. When the deal closed Jan. 2, the cross-state neighbors had created one of the country’s largest nonprofit health care systems, with 24 hospitals, 44,000 […]

The post Merger between Kansas City and St. Louis hospital systems could mean bigger medical bills appeared first on Missouri Independent.

More than 70 years after workers first realized barrels of radioactive waste risked contaminating Coldwater Creek, the federal government has started work to put up signs warning residents. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said in a statement Monday that it was working with the Environmental Protection Agency to add signs along the creek to […]

The post Coldwater Creek to finally have warning signs after decades of nuclear contamination appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Jefferson City police are investigating a false emergency call that on Sunday evening sent more than half a dozen armed officers to the home of Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft. Ashcroft said in an interview with The Independent that shortly after 9 p.m. he received a call from police saying they were at his home […]

The post Police investigating swatting call against Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — On the cusp of a 2024 election season like none other in U.S. history, former President Donald Trump’s legal and political worlds are set to converge. Trump’s lawyers on Tuesday will argue before a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. that he is immune from prosecution for actions he’s accused of taking while […]

The post Trump legal problems abound as first test of 2024 presidential campaign nears in Iowa appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The biggest plan for expanding the Capitol Building since its construction is still a draft, derailed prior to an approval vote last week over suspicion that Gov. Mike Parson’s administration was moving too fast on a deal for the Missouri Department of Transportation headquarters. Since 2019, the Missouri State Capitol Commission has been working toward […]

The post Future of MoDOT building puts hitch in Missouri Capitol expansion plans appeared first on Missouri Independent.

With more Missouri school districts switching to four-day weeks — including some of the largest — education leaders and state legislators are raising concerns. Four-day weeks have been an option for Missouri schools since 2011, and now over 30% of the state’s districts have adopted this shortened week — serving around 11% of the state’s […]

The post Four-day school week faces scrutiny from Missouri legislature, state education board appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The shocking events of Jan. 6, 2021, signaled a major break from the nonviolent rallies that categorized most major protests over the past few decades. What set Jan. 6 apart was the president of the United States using his cellphone to direct an attack on the Capitol, and those who stormed the Capitol being wired and ready […]

The post Jan. 6 was an example of networked incitement: Political violence orchestrated over social media appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The winner of next year’s presidential election could very well be holding the reins when it comes time to address Social Security’s complicated financial situation. The program, which millions of retirees depend on for income stability, will see benefits cut by nearly a quarter in 2033 if Congress and the White House haven’t […]

The post Presidential candidates largely mum about details on how to ‘save’ Social Security appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Nearly every abortion is illegal in Missouri.  But that hasn’t slowed the pace of anti-abortion legislation in the Missouri statehouse.  As lawmakers return to the Capitol for the 2024 legislation session, Republican lawmakers have already filed numerous bills seeking further restrictions on abortion and abortion providers. Yet even the staunchest anti-abortion activists concede it’s unlikely […]

The post With most abortions illegal in Missouri, few expect new bills will get traction this year appeared first on Missouri Independent.

While reading nursing home complaint reports, the last descriptor that tends to come to mind is “home.” Instead, one resident of a St. Louis skilled nursing facility uses some other words. “Depressing.” “Prison.” The resident wished to remain anonymous but can be vouched for by St. Louis area senior advocates. She described a recent night […]

The post Problems with oversight, staffing contribute to low quality ranking of Missouri nursing homes appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The election-year fiscal agenda for Missouri lawmakers includes big ideas like eliminating the corporate income tax or sales taxes on groceries and targeted proposals like increasing a tax credit used by low-income seniors and the disabled. The stakes in those bills are hundreds of millions of dollars, much of it earmarked for public schools or […]

The post Missouri lawmakers eye litany of tax cut proposals as Medicaid funding debate looms appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri’s second-longest serving member of Congress announced Thursday he will not seek a ninth term. U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, a Republican who turns 72 this year, said in a social media post that he made the decision to leave Congress “after a lot of thoughtful discussion with my family.” With the announcement, Luetkemeyer joins about […]

The post Blaine Luetkemeyer opts out of another term in Congress appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The 2024 battle for control of Congress is underway in the states, accompanying the accelerating race for the presidency. Republicans are preparing to funnel money and staff into a select few Senate races in an effort to flip that chamber back to their control, while Democrats are looking toward the districts President Joe […]

The post Fight for congressional majorities launches against backdrop of presidential campaigns appeared first on Missouri Independent.

If you drive around Kansas City with an eye to dialysis locations, something becomes clear. They’re clustered near the neighborhoods of people of color. Black people and, to a lesser degree, Hispanics, experience significantly higher rates of kidney failure than the white majority. Black people make up about 13% of the U.S. population, yet they […]

The post Kansas City physicians ditch rules treating white people’s kidney disease more seriously appeared first on Missouri Independent.