MoInd 📰

Missouri’s child welfare agency has for years struggled with high turnover rates among staff who work most closely with children and families. Children’s Division, the section of the state’s social services department responsible for foster care and investigating child abuse and neglect, has also had seven directors since 2018 — and during that time faced […]

A Missouri House bill aims to increase the physical education requirements for K-12 students. Introduced by Rep. Bishop Davidson, a Republican from Republic, the legislation would require all students to participate in a minimum of 60 minutes of physical activity each school day. PE classes, additional recesses and other supervised physical activities could fulfill the […]

KANSAS CITY — A trial focused on the constitutionality of abortion access in Missouri included testimony from a range of witnesses, but only four who had undergone abortions. All four said they regretted ending their pregnancies. The state rested its case Friday after bringing to the stand a panel of witnesses who argued abortion is harmful […]

January is National Mentoring Month, a time often marked by good intentions and well-meaning reminders to “give back.” But mentoring is not a box to check or a seasonal act of generosity. In Missouri—at a time when leadership pipelines are strained, women continue to exit the workforce, and civic trust feels fragile—mentoring is essential infrastructure. […]

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration plans to expand a policy that blocks foreign aid dollars from going to organizations that discuss, refer or perform abortions to also include groups that address transgender health care or have policies on diversity, equity and inclusion, Vice President JD Vance said Friday. “We’re expanding this policy to protect life, […]

The Missouri Supreme Court on Friday threw out a law passed last year that was designed to keep politicians in control of writing ballot summaries and give the attorney general extraordinary appeal power. The bill was changed too much during its path through the General Assembly, Chief Justice W. Brent Powell wrote in the unanimous […]

As a growing number of encounters between civilians and Department of Homeland Security agents — including the widely scrutinized fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis — are scrutinized in court records and on social media, federal officials are returning to a familiar response: self-defense. In more than a handful of recent encounters, the Department […]

At least seven marijuana cultivation facilities in Missouri have been fined over the last year for breaking what’s known in the industry as the “immaculate conception rule.”  Marijuana can’t pass over state lines because it’s still federally illegal, and state law mandates that all marijuana must be grown within the state.  However, there is one […]

The latest version of a proposal meant to implement the governor’s income tax cut could also trigger a first for Missouri: sales taxes on gasoline and diesel, a result the bill’s sponsor says was accidental. Under the terms of the proposed constitutional amendment sponsored by House Speaker Jon Patterson, sales tax could be imposed “on […]

KANSAS CITY — A longtime Missouri health regulator testified Thursday that abortion clinics were subjected to heightened scrutiny that had little to do with health or safety concerns, acknowledging under questioning that the extra attention was not tied to a greater risk of noncompliance. John Langston has worked for the Missouri Department of Health and […]

Republicans on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee sought to poke holes Thursday in former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations into President Donald Trump, while Democrats on the panel commended him and Smith restated his finding that Trump sought to overturn the 2020 election results. Republicans on the panel accused Smith, a longtime prosecutor […]

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House failed Thursday to back a resolution curbing President Donald Trump’s military operations abroad, following U.S. intervention to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Thursday’s resolution tied at 215-215. If passed, it would have directed “the President to remove United States Armed Forces from Venezuela, unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war […]

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender troops came under scrutiny again in federal court Thursday — this time before a three-judge appeals panel considering the merits of the president’s executive order. The policy has been challenged in two major federal cases, one of which the administration appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court’s emergency […]

WASHINGTON — The House Thursday passed four appropriations bills to fund the government and avert a partial shutdown, but Democrats largely objected to spending on the Department of Homeland Security amid aggressive immigration enforcement in communities across the country.  Democrats have pushed for tougher oversight of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. In addition, members of […]

Changes to the organization that oversees high school athletics in Missouri are a top priority of state lawmakers this year, following allegations of discrimination under investigation by Attorney General Catherine Hanaway. State Sen. Jason Bean, a Republican from Holcomb, and state Rep. Bennie Cook, a Houston Republican, have filed bills the past two years seeking […]

State leaders who want to curb the increasingly violent arrest tactics of immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis and elsewhere are struggling to push back. They’ve promised civil rights legislation that could offer alleged victims another route to courts, ordered up official tribunals to gather video and other records, or asked cities to refuse requests to […]

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump promised Thursday his newly established “Board of Peace” will not “be a waste of time,” just after the leaders of several countries signed its charter at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.  Trump, who has been vocal about his hopes to one day win the Nobel Peace Prize, said he […]

The text messages were brief, but state Rep. Cecelie Williams told the Missouri House on Thursday that they carried her backward in time. She thought she had worked through the feelings of fear, self-doubt and the instinct to shrink and stay quiet. Last year, she publicly shared her history of domestic abuse for the first […]

Baby bottles, baby wipes and breast pump supplies would be exempt from state and local sales taxes under a bill discussed by a Missouri Senate committee Wednesday. The bill, sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Barbara Anne Washington of Kansas City, would eliminate what she described as a “parenting tax” on the items. “Anything we can […]

WASHINGTON — U.S. Supreme Court justices across the political spectrum appeared skeptical of President Donald Trump’s swift, informal dismissal of Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook, and his effort to influence the independent central bank that governs monetary policy in the United States. The oral arguments Wednesday drew a high-profile appearance in the courtroom of […]