a Better Bubble™

MoInd 📰

Missouri nurses are done normalizing violence

6 days 2 hours ago
When people hear “workplace violence,” they often picture a physical attack. But in health care settings, the more common reality is persistent threats, intimidation and verbal hostility — exposure that accumulates over time. In a Fall 2025 survey conducted by the Missouri Nurses Association, 90% of nurses reported verbal abuse and 63% reported physical violence. […]
Abby Ehrhardt

FEMA shutdown drags on amid stalemate over reforms to immigration enforcement

6 days 15 hours ago
WASHINGTON — The nation’s main agency for handling disaster response and recovery is shuttered for the third time in recent months and its workers are on the verge of missing paychecks, as members of Congress and the White House remain divided in a separate dispute over immigration enforcement. Lawmakers are raising questions about how the […]
Jennifer Shutt

E-Verify requirements draw business pushback in some Republican states

6 days 16 hours ago
Pressured by businesses on the importance of immigrant labor, some Republican states are backing off plans to require all employers to check for legal employment status before hiring workers. State and federal legislation to require that employers use E-Verify, a federal system to check legal status, has been limited this year as a push grows […]
Tim Henderson

FBI director’s plane use under scrutiny amid accusations of delayed team response to Brown shooting

6 days 16 hours ago
Rhode Island’s congressional delegates want to know more after the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday asked the congressional watchdog office to investigate FBI Director Kash Patel’s alleged misuse of government aircraft. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat and Senate Democratic Whip, accused Patel of delaying the arrival of a […]
Alexander Castro

Bill to make transgender athlete ban permanent passes Missouri House

6 days 17 hours ago
The Missouri House passed a bill along party lines Thursday that would remove the expiration date on the state’s restrictions for transgender athletes. In 2023, the General Assembly passed a law that prevents transgender athletes from competing according to their gender identity alongside a ban on gender-affirming care for minors. Democrats in the Senate filibustered […]
Annelise Hanshaw

Ousted GOP budget chair unveils alternative Missouri budget to governor’s plan

1 week ago
A Republican lawmaker stripped of his influence on the state budget for bucking GOP leadership struck back Wednesday by introducing an alternative to Gov. Mike Kehoe’s spending plan. State Sen. Lincoln Hough, a Springfield Republican, was removed as Senate Appropriations Committee chairman in September, just 20 minutes after he voted against shutting off debate on […]
Rudi Keller

USDA to give up massive DC office building as shift of staff to states begins

1 week ago
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will transfer a large office building to the General Services Administration in a step toward shrinking the department’s footprint in and around Washington, D.C., Secretary Brooke Rollins said Wednesday. More than 70% of offices at the USDA’s South Building, in Washington, sit empty on any given day, while deferred maintenance costs […]
Jacob Fischler

Red states target SNAP fraud, errors under threat of costly federal penalties

1 week ago
State officials across the country are looking to crack down on fraud and mistakes in the nation’s largest food assistance program, spurred by looming federal rules that will force states with high error rates to pay more. But the Republican proposals mostly focus on more frequently verifying the eligibility of individual households that participate in […]
Anna Claire Vollers

Missouri Senate committee debates whether to provide livestream video of proceedings

1 week ago
The Missouri Senate is one of only two legislative chambers in the country that does not provide a video livestream of its proceedings. A Senate committee debated a resolution Wednesday that would change that, though its prospects remain uncertain. State Sen. Mike Moon, an Ash Grove Republican, is sponsoring a rule change that would require […]
Jason Hancock

Missouri Senate looks at funding cuts for ‘low-earning’ college degrees

1 week 1 day ago
A bill that would prohibit state funds from going towards “low-earning” university degrees was discussed in the Missouri Senate Education Committee on Tuesday. The legislation would cut state funds for student financial aid and operational costs for students in programs where graduates do not earn more in their field than someone with only a high […]
Noah Symes

Emanuel Cleaver, four Republicans file for Missouri’s gerrymandered 5th District

1 week 1 day ago
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver was the first candidate to file for office Tuesday in Missouri, showing the 11-term Democratic incumbent will run for re-election despite uncertainty about the boundaries of the district he represents. Cleaver, a Kansas City Democrat, became a target when Missouri Republicans, acting at the urging of President Donald Trump, redrew the […]
Rudi Keller

HUD reintroduces proposed rule targeting rental aid for mixed-status immigrant households

1 week 1 day ago
As the Trump administration continues to focus on the legal immigration statuses of many across the country, a revived proposal by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development could impact many families’ ability to receive rental assistance. The proposed rule would prohibit “mixed-status” families  —  those including U.S. citizens and people without legal immigration […]
Robbie Sequeira

Missouri senator proposes creating investment fund to eliminate all state taxes

1 week 1 day ago
When state Sen. Adam Schnelting and his wife ran the numbers on how much money their investments could generate for their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, he began to think about how Missouri’s government could utilize investing, too. “We began to realize how powerful compound interest was,” Schnelting said. “So I got to thinking, ‘Why are we […]
Ceilidh Kern

Data center tax breaks are on the chopping block in some states

1 week 1 day ago
After years of states pushing legislation to accelerate the development of data centers and the electric grid to support them, some legislators want to limit or repeal state and local incentives that paved their way. President Donald Trump also has changed his tone. Last year he issued an executive order and other federal initiatives meant […]
Madyson Fitzgerald

How a handful of states and districts could decide who runs Congress

1 week 1 day ago
WASHINGTON — Republicans and Democrats will spend billions of dollars and countless hours campaigning throughout the country ahead of November’s midterm elections, even though control of Congress likely will be decided by a relatively small number of toss-up races and the voters who actually turn out to cast a ballot for their preferred candidate. There […]
Jennifer Shutt

KC metro area leans toward Kansas — more than ever

1 week 2 days ago
Each Kansas Citian has their own way of answering the tourist’s question: “Is Kansas City in Missouri or Kansas?” Some people curtly respond “Missouri,” knowing that Kansas City, Missouri, is larger in almost every way than Kansas City, Kansas. People with a bit more equanimity will explain that both states have cities with that name, […]
Eric Thomas