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Commissioner of Education Margie Vandeven will leave her position with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education at the end of the month, ending her 19 years of work in the department. She announced her departure in October, saying it was the “right time to move on personally and professionally.” An educator since 1990, Vandeven […]

The post Missouri education commissioner discusses long-standing issues as she preps to leave job appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri’s 2024 legislative session recently concluded, and the 2025 session is seven months away. With significant turnover in both chambers, next year’s lawmakers can deliver easy and affordable wins by ensuring all who are eligible for public assistance actually enroll to receive those benefits. To narrow the gap between eligible and enrolled, incoming state lawmakers […]

The post Missouri lawmakers should make it easier to access Earned Income Tax Credit appeared first on Missouri Independent.

TikTok and its parent company argued Thursday in a federal court in the District of Columbia that the recently enacted law forcing a nationwide ban or sale of the popular platform violates the First Amendment. TikTok Inc., which operates the video-sharing service in the United States, and its parent company, ByteDance Ltd., which was founded […]

The post Congress silenced free speech in TikTok law, platform tells federal court appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The number of job openings has declined sharply in every state since 2022, better aligning the numbers of unfilled jobs and people seeking work. Nationally, for the first time since before the pandemic, the number of job openings and unemployed people is roughly in balance: a little more than one opening per person looking for […]

The post The number of job openings has declined sharply in every state appeared first on Missouri Independent.

State and local officials from Missouri denounced  Kansas legislators’ attempt to lure the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals across the state line, saying they would take steps to keep both teams. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, in a statement on Tuesday, said the city and state would continue negotiations with the teams that Missouri and […]

The post Missouri lawmakers criticize Kansas attempt to poach Royals, Chiefs appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri is violating federal disability law by unnecessarily institutionalizing thousands of adults with mental illness in nursing homes, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a scathing report published Tuesday. The report, which is based on a year-and-a-half of investigation, determined that those suffering with mental illness are “subjected to unnecessary stays in nursing facilities, […]

The post Missouri is breaking federal law by housing mentally ill in nursing homes, DOJ finds appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A lawsuit filed by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey accusing Planned Parenthood of transporting minors out of state for abortions will move forward, a judge ruled Tuesday evening. The lawsuit is based on conversations between Planned Parenthood staff and a man with Project Veritas who secretly filmed the staff while inquiring about an abortion for […]

The post Judge denies Planned Parenthood’s request to dismiss suit based on Project Veritas video appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Few images from the violent attacks on peacefully demonstrating teens from civil rights-era demonstrations convey the brutality of the era more than scenes from 1963 Birmingham and the powerful blasts from fire hoses and water cannons. Pressure from the hoses and water cannons — as much as 100 PSI — could break ribs. Rip out […]

The post ‘Lost cause’ of our nation’s brutal racism permeates society, distorting history along the way appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Missouri Republican Party is continuing its effort to remove an “honorary KKK member” from the primary ballot for governor, but his attorney says the move comes too late and the party should know it. On May 17, Cole County Circuit Judge Cotton Walker ruled that Darrell McClanahan III of Milo would remain on the […]

The post Missouri GOP files appeal in hopes of striking ‘honorary KKK member’ from ballot appeared first on Missouri Independent.

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.