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The top Republican in the Missouri House is facing allegations he threatened to terminate the employment of a nonpartisan legislative staffer who resisted his monthslong push to hire a private company to manage constituent information.  House Speaker Dean Plocher vehemently denies the accusations, which were uncovered through public records obtained by The Independent under Missouri’s […]

The post Missouri lawmaker accused of ‘unlawful’ conduct in push for contract, drawing FBI scrutiny appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday traveled to Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers to reiterate the need for continued aid to support his country’s fight against the Russian invasion, even as the U.S. faces a partial government shutdown as soon as the end of the month. “If we don’t get the aid, […]

The post ‘If we don’t get the aid, we will lose the war’: Zelenskyy asks Congress to help Ukraine appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The health-focused targets are referred to as “95-95-95.” It means 95% of people living with HIV knowing their status;  95% of people with HIV taking anti-viral medicine; and 95%  who are being treated are virally suppressed. It’s a lofty goal, but for local governments around the globe — and some in Missouri — it’s one […]

The post St. Louis city and county see progress as part of global push to end HIV epidemic by 2030 appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans were unable for a third time Thursday to begin debate on the Defense funding bill, throwing another wrench into Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s leadership tenure. The 212-216 vote that rejected the rule for the $826 billion Defense spending measure was unexpected, coming less than a day after House GOP lawmakers gathered in a […]

The post Shutdown inches closer as U.S. House GOP fails to pass defense bill, lawmakers exit D.C. appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Jared Johnson hasn’t paid rent in four months. The trouble started when his car got towed. That cost him his job delivering groceries for Instacart. He’s been able to hold off an eviction — for now. At his eviction trial, his landlord agreed to give him until the end of September to pay his back […]

The post Rising rents leave more Kansas City tenants facing eviction appeared first on Missouri Independent.

DUBUQUE, Iowa — Former President Donald Trump defended his position on abortion following criticism from some Republicans, saying that GOP politicians need to learn how to “properly talk” about the issue in order to win elections. The former president made two stops in northeast Iowa Wednesday afternoon. After speaking in Maquoketa, Trump held a rally at […]

The post Donald Trump defends abortion position, ramps up Iowa campaign plans appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Leavenworth County officials voted unanimously Wednesday to halt discussions over whether to convert a former private federal jail into a detention center for immigration enforcement.  For years, CoreCivic, the nation’s largest private prison operator, ran a federal pretrial detention center in Leavenworth for individuals charged with — but not convicted of — federal crimes from Kansas, […]

The post Kansas county scuttles talk of converting Leavenworth jail to ICE detention center appeared first on Missouri Independent.

  The U.S. Senate confirmed a nominee for a high-ranking military post Wednesday night and advanced another, the first votes on military nominations or promotions since Alabama Republican Tommy Tuberville started blocking them seven months ago to protest Defense Department abortion policies. Tuberville did not object to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York […]

The post U.S. Senate confirms a military nominee, the first since Tuberville blockade began appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Missouri Independent recently reported on the modest decline in the number of children in Missouri’s formal foster care system. Beneath the headline, however, the story revealed the urgent need to regulate the disturbing practice of hidden foster care — which Missouri’s Children’s Division has effectively admitted to practicing. That practice violates parents’ and children’s […]

The post Missouri must reduce family separations, not only formal foster care numbers appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans led by Ohio’s Jim Jordan on Wednesday grilled U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland about how the Justice Department has handled its investigation and prosecution of Hunter Biden on felony gun charges. The questions about the president’s son came after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week asked several committees, including the […]

The post U.S. attorney general defends Hunter Biden investigation under questioning by House GOP appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Victims of nuclear contamination rallied in the nation’s capital on Wednesday in support of bipartisan legislation that would extend compensation for those harmed by radioactive waste. U.S. Sens. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, and Ben Ray Luján, a New Mexico Democrat, held a rally and press conference outside the U.S. Capitol as part […]

The post Americans sickened by radioactive waste press Congress for action on assistance appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — More than 3.5 million federal employees and military personnel — many in the Washington, D.C., area but also scattered across the states and around the globe — are bracing for another partial government shutdown, as U.S. House Republicans struggle to produce a short-term plan to fund the government past the end of the […]

The post A ‘disaster’ nears: Millions of federal workers’ paychecks would be on hold in a shutdown appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The FBI and U.S. Department of Homeland Security failed to share intelligence with the U.S. Capitol Police ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, leaving the Capitol Police under-prepared for that day’s violence, the former chief of the Capitol Police told a U.S. House panel chaired by Georgia Republican Barry Loudermilk on Tuesday. But Democrats […]

The post Former U.S. Capitol Police chief blames intelligence failures, not Trump, for Jan. 6 attack appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missourians who are arrested, deemed unfit to stand trial and ordered into mental health treatment are now detained in jail for an average of eight months before being transferred to a mental health facility. And that’s “some good news,” Nora Bock, director of the Missouri Department of Mental Health’s Division of Behavioral Health, said during […]

The post Missourians wait an average of 8 months in jail for court-ordered mental health services appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A shift is underway in the landscape of America’s utilities, and Missouri cannot afford to be left behind. For years, electric companies across the nation cited cost concerns in their resistance to clean energy. But that should be the case no longer, thanks to new federal opportunities. More of Missouri’s utilities must decide that embracing […]

The post Seizing the clean energy opportunity: Missouri’s time to shine appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Just 10 days after seeking permission to allow customers to opt out of controversial time-of-use pricing, western Missouri’s major electric utility withdrew its request with state regulators.  Under an order from the Missouri Public Service Commission, Evergy is expected next month  to implement time-of-use pricing, which places a premium on electricity prices at times of […]

The post Evergy withdraws request to make time-of-use pricing optional in Missouri appeared first on Missouri Independent.

California and Florida have become the first states to require later public school start times, a response to reams of research showing significant advantages for high school students who can get more sleep by beginning their day at 8:30 a.m. or later. But such changes come with difficult ripple effects — upended bus schedules, later starts […]

The post Hit the snooze button: States debate later high school start times appeared first on Missouri Independent.

NEW YORK — A late-pandemic surge of new arrivals from India, Venezuela and China, reflecting people with legal visas and those fleeing across the United States’ southern border seeking asylum, helped bring more than 900,000 new immigrants to the U.S. between 2021 and 2022, according to a Stateline analysis of new census data to be released Thursday. Florida […]

The post States see influx of migrants from India, Venezuela and China appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation is responding to questions about the effectiveness of the software it uses to track information about marijuana products, including the results of state-mandated testing.  In a guidance document issued on Monday, the agency addressed questions regarding testing regulations that cannabis businesses rely on to ensure product is safe — […]

The post Missouri marijuana regulators defend product testing regime in aftermath of recall appeared first on Missouri Independent.

States engaged in decades of underfunding of land-grant Historically Black Colleges and Universities, leading to a more than $12 billion disparity with comparable white institutions, leaders of the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday. “Unacceptable funding inequities have forced many of our nation’s distinguished Historically Black Colleges and Universities […]

The post States urged by Biden administration to rectify underfunding of land-grant HBCUs appeared first on Missouri Independent.