WASHINGTON — A federal judge over the weekend allowed the Trump administration to force-feed the man charged with shooting two National Guard members, killing one and injuring another, in the District of Columbia in November. For months, Rahmanullah Lakanwal has refused to eat while incarcerated. The Aug. 29 order from U.S. District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta […]
A Massachusetts federal judge on Monday declined the Trump administration’s request to overturn the temporary restraining order she signed last week that blocks the U.S. Postal Service from carrying out a rule placing new restrictions on mail-in voting. The 14-day order published Aug. 27 was not appealable, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani wrote in a brief order […]
Jalapenos. Frozen berries. Beef. Alfalfa sprouts. A summer of food recalls, including the record-shattering cyclosporiasis outbreak tied to iceberg lettuce that has sickened thousands, has raised many Americans’ fears of contracting a foodborne illness. The recalls have focused attention on the Trump administration’s decision to cut funding and staff at several public health agencies, and […]
In 14 states, the closure of the closest rural hospital or its obstetric unit would force many Medicaid patients to drive an hour or more to get to another hospital that provides inpatient maternity care, according to an analysis released this week. Nationwide, the median drive time between hospitals providing inpatient maternity care to Medicaid […]
WASHINGTON — Just over two months from midterm elections and four months removed from a U.S. Supreme Court decision that gutted Voting Rights Act protections for majority Black U.S. House districts, and 63 years after Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech there, thousands gathered again at the Lincoln Memorial Friday. […]
Missouri’s largest charter-school sponsor entered August with nearly $3.3 million in its account, which is more than twice what it spent in the previous fiscal year. Now the Missouri Charter Public School Commission is sending some of that money back to the schools it oversees. At its August meeting, the commission approved $685,000 in rebates, […]
Pulaski County Sheriff Stacy Ball thinks Flock cameras help his deputies fight crime. But he also thinks they’re not worth keeping. Ball recently announced his office was pulling the plug on Flock Safety, the network of cameras that photographs license plates and gives police a database they can search later — and which has come […]
WASHINGTON — With less than 70 days until midterm elections, Democrats remain favored to regain the majority in the U.S. House. President Donald Trump’s anemic approval ratings amid the war in Iran, concerns over the economy and a coalitional shift within the party mark some of the largest headwinds facing Republicans heading into November, according to […]
Kansas City leaders can seem contemptuous of the voters they answer to. The Royals stadium deal, pushed through without a public vote, is the latest example. That hostility goes back more than a decade — and former Mayor Sly James’ recent column is the latest reminder. James begins an Aug. 23 essay by chastising those […]
Progressive activist Gaby Goldstein thinks her opponents are brilliant. Despite her deeply held liberal politics, she admires the work of conservative groups that for decades have built influence in state governments across the country. “We on the left have left a huge amount of power on the table,” said Goldstein, the founder and president of […]
A veteran Republican politician and attorney will take over the state department responsible for providing support services to almost every other Missouri agency, Gov. Mike Kehoe announced Friday. Kurt Schaefer, director of the Department of Natural Resources and a former state Senate Appropriations Committee chairman, will become Commissioner of Administration, Kehoe said in a news […]
WASHINGTON — A developing trade war with Canada could bite Republicans ahead of the upcoming midterm elections as voters worry about rising prices and industries in states with competitive races could suffer. Maine’s lobster industry dodged what officials had warned could be economic havoc Thursday morning when Canada reversed its decision to tax lobster imports at […]
Kansas City-based CBD American Shaman says it destroyed $10 million worth of product this week after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration placed a potent kratom-related opioid manufactured by the company into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. The DEA on Wednesday temporarily scheduled mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, along with two related compounds known as MGM-15 and […]
ROSLYN, Wash. — Francisco Martinez hefts a canister filled with a mixture of diesel fuel and gasoline. A tongue of flame dances above the nozzle. He tips the drip torch forward — whoosh — and a stream of blazing liquid races across the forest floor. In less than a minute, a long wall of fire […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service took another step Thursday in implementing a Trump administration policy to restrict mail-in voting, even as a high-stakes legal battle plays out and midterm elections approach. The agency published an FAQ about its new rule that compels states to send their voter rolls to the federal government and only deliver […]
A coalition of Missouri labor unions and reproductive rights groups announced a $1 million campaign this month aimed at defeating Republican lawmakers who voted to repeal the state’s paid sick leave requirement. Not long ago, such a partnership would’ve seemed unusual and unlikely. But years of organizing — and repeated battles with the Republican-controlled legislature […]
A federal judge is being asked to decide whether Missouri’s new law banning intoxicating hemp products is clear enough to enforce in November or so contradictory that a constitutional challenge to it should move forward. At the center of the dispute is the question of whether Missouri calls a product legal “hemp” in one part […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday sued Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington over laws that allow immigrants in the country without legal status to pay in-state college tuition in the states where they live. President Donald Trump’s administration has now sued 21 states over such laws, which enable noncitizen students who meet certain requirements access to […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Treasury’s recent proposed regulation to limit refunds for certain tax credits based on immigration status is the latest move by the Trump administration to restrict noncitizens’ access to federal benefits. In President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, he has employed a governmentwide approach to fulfilling his immigration […]
A new federal report shows the electric grid across much of the country is strained, requiring thousands of miles of new power lines and billions of dollars in investments. The National Transmission Needs Study shows that approximately 4,000 miles of powerlines will need to be replaced each year for the next few decades. The federal […]
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