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A study shows about half of children in the United States have detectable levels of lead in their blood, despite federal regulations that ban or restrict its use. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) adopted a new strategy to reduce exposure, particularly in low-income and communities of color that are disproportionately affected. On Thursday, the EPA […]

The post Kids in the Midwest will get more blood screenings under EPA plan to deal with lead threat appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by the Kansas City Beacon.  Over the past seven years, Jackson County has seen three different county executives. After then-County Executive Mike Sanders resigned at the end of 2015 — and went to prison in 2018 for corruption — Fred Arbanas served for one week as interim executive until Frank White  Jr. was […]

The post After decades of Democratic dominance, GOP optimistic in Jackson County executive race appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Republicans are eyeing the debt limit and government funding deadlines as a way to force Democrats to the negotiating table for spending cuts, should the GOP regain control of Congress following the midterm elections. Republicans unhappy about government spending could move to shut down the government, a tactic unsuccessful for the GOP in […]

The post A GOP showdown over the debt limit could grip Congress and the nation next year appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Missouri Baptist Convention and Pro-Choice Missouri don’t often find themselves on the same team.  Same for the Missouri NAACP and Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.  But this year, each is part of an ideologically scattershot constellation of organizations and elected officials that have come out of the woodwork in recent weeks to urge Missourians […]

The post Opposition to Missouri marijuana amendment creating strange political bedfellows appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is awarding grants and loans that total about $759 million to 49 high-speed internet projects in 24 states and in other territories, the department announced Thursday. The total includes nearly $60 million for four Missouri projects. The federal funding is part of the department’s ReConnect Program and is partially funded […]

The post USDA announces another $759 million of grants and loans for rural internet appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The first time St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones publicly spoke about the tragic shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, it was just hours after a shooter took the lives of a 15-year-old student and a health teacher.  Jones was so visibly shaken with grief she could barely get out the words. Now […]

The post St. Louis leaders call for ban on assault rifles following school shooting appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Did you hear her screams? On Sept. 16, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, died after being arrested by “morality police” for wearing her hijab improperly. This particular segment of Iranian law enforcement exists to stop free expression of identity and specifically to target women who show even a shred of femininity. Many of us in […]

The post In Iran, women have put their lives on the line for basic rights. We barely notice appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This article was produced in collaboration with Investigate Midwest and Gray Television’s InvestigateTV. A U.S. Department of Agriculture program touted as relief for lost trade during the Trump-era trade war with China spent unprecedented amounts of money, bypassed Congressional approval and lacked checks to ensure the payments went to eligible farmers. The Market Facilitation Program, […]

The post Program meant to help farmers in trade war overspent, lacked transparency and compliance checks appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by Stateline. Some cities and states are trying to boost Black homeownership, which dropped to a 60-year low even before the economic turmoil wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Black homeownership fell in 2019 to 40.6%, down from the 2004 peak of 49.7%. The rate has rebounded somewhat since then, but […]

The post Black families fall further behind nationally on homeownership appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Roughly 9.4 million Americans have already voted in the midterm elections, casting a combination of in-person early votes and mail-in ballots, according to data compiled by the United States Elections Project. Florida as well as Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania are among the top states in terms of early voting so far. The initiative, headed […]

The post More than 9 million voters across the country have cast ballots in November elections appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WILMOT, New Hampshire — Voters in this swing state are among the relatively few Americans who will decide control of Congress during November’s midterm elections, shaping domestic and foreign policy for the next two years and delivering a verdict on Joe Biden’s presidency. Granite Staters interviewed by States Newsroom, during a mid-October week trailing U.S. […]

The post How claims about a federal abortion ban are roiling one state as the midterms near appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Republicans have had super majorities in both chambers of the Missouri legislature for the past decade. And every election cycle, Democrats vow to begin crawling out of the legislative wilderness. This year is no different. But a new legislative map — drawn by a bipartisan redistricting commission — has created more potentially competitive districts, giving […]

The post More Missouri legislative races could be competitive this year thanks to a new map appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Cough syrup. Dishwashing liquid. Salt. That’s what the Suprep bowel prep kit I drank tasted like – not that I really know what dishwashing liquid tastes like – as I prepared for my colonoscopy. When my doctor first suggested some years ago that I have a colonoscopy to screen for colorectal cancer, I told her about a […]

The post I delayed my colonoscopy during the pandemic. Don’t make the same mistake appeared first on Missouri Independent.

If Missouri voters approve Amendment 4 in the Nov. 8 general election, Kansas City will be required to increase funding for its police department.  But many voters may not understand that from the language they’ll see on the ballot.  Amendment 4 reads: “Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to authorize laws, passed before December 31, […]

The post Missouri voters to decide if the state can dictate increased Kansas City police funding appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Across the country, states are inking agreements with neighbors or striking out on their own to pursue billions in federal funding to set up “hydrogen hubs,” clustered centers for production, storage and use of the gas that many see as a crucial piece of the puzzle for decarbonizing the U.S. economy. How broad a role […]

The post States are vying for money to start ‘hydrogen hubs.’ What are they? appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Environmental and consumer advocate groups, individuals and even the city of Kansas City are pushing back against a proposed double-digit rate hike by Missouri’s largest natural gas utility. Spire, which serves almost 1.2 million customers in Missouri, hopes to boost its natural gas rates to bring in $152 million. It needs approval from the Missouri […]

The post Spire Missouri’s proposed rate hike draws ire of Kansas City officials, residents appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Like most people, McDonald County Clerk Kimberly Bell had never heard of a “cast vote record” before this summer. It’s not a report she’s ever generated after an election in the small county in southwestern Missouri, where she has administered elections for eight years.  But like many county clerks and election officials across the country, […]

The post Election deniers ramp up public records requests in Missouri, across the country appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Emily Withnall caught COVID-19 from her teenager in July 2020. In the more than two years since, the 40-year-old has suffered from debilitating fatigue, spinal pain and heart palpitations.  In addition to her primary care doctor, she regularly sees a cardiologist and says her acupuncturist and craniosacral therapy help relieve her pain and the trouble […]

The post Millions of workers are dealing with long COVID. Advocates call for expanding social safety net appeared first on Missouri Independent.

An agency charged with conserving groundwater in arid western Kansas plans to truck thousands of gallons of water from the Missouri River nearly 400 miles almost to the Colorado border. Half of the 6,000 gallons drawn from the river will be poured onto a property in Wichita County. The other half will be taken into Colorado. Groundwater […]

The post Officials plan to truck 6,000 gallons of water from Missouri River across Kansas appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A Boston biotech company was paid over $16 million in Missouri for its work operating a little-used COVID testing program that only 25 school districts opted into. Ginkgo Bioworks was originally contracted by the state last year to operate a screening COVID testing program backed by nearly $185 million in federal funds. The program had […]

The post Few Missouri school districts used a COVID testing program. Vendor was paid over $16 million appeared first on Missouri Independent.