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This story was originally published by the Kansas City Beacon.  Nearly one month has passed since the opening of the new terminal at Kansas City International Airport, and visitors still seem dazzled as they browse in shops and admire the art in the airy shopping nodes, with the aromas of barbecue and Brazilian dishes drifting […]

The post One month into the new airport terminal, Kansas City has questions appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The State of Missouri is responsible for educating our children. To educate Missouri’s kids, the state created a system that allows citizens to form school districts through an election process, each of which is governed by a locally elected board.  This system is designed to honor our history of ensuring that control of public schools […]

The post It’s time for Missouri lawmakers to respect local control of public schools appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by Investigate Midwest. Amid rising concerns over potentially deadly flea and tick collars, the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to transfer regulation of such products to another agency drew skepticism from animal and environmental advocates at a virtual public meeting last week. The proposal and meeting came two years after a USA TODAY/Investigate Midwest story revealed the […]

The post EPA plan to transfer Seresto and other pet pesticides to FDA draws concern from advocates appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Natalie Bell was thinking about a career in art after college when a welding class and a delivery of four pizzas changed her career trajectory. “I was taking a delivery out to a construction site and I met an ironworker who I was taking the delivery to,” said Bell, who lives in Columbus, Ohio. “I […]

The post Help wanted: Women needed for U.S. chips manufacturing plan to succeed appeared first on Missouri Independent.

High employee turnover has plagued Missouri’s Department of Social Services for years. The department’s staffing woes have contributed to a range of problems — from foster children languishing in state care for longer than they should be to disabled residents waiting months to receive federal food benefits to investigators unable to keep up with child […]

The post Diversity initiatives within Missouri agencies run into GOP attack on ‘woke’ government appeared first on Missouri Independent.

When I moved from open country to the lush Missouri landscape, I quickly became aware of the many species of birds living in the tangle of green behind my home.  Pulled into the ebb and flow of their presence and their migrations, I became fascinated by the instinct that drives them, the adaptation processes of […]

The post Protecting migratory birds in Missouri can be as easy as flipping a switch appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — A roundtable of Native American agricultural leaders at a recent U.S. Senate hearing lobbied for increased sovereignty and social justice in the coming farm bill by expanding tribes’ jurisdiction over U.S. Department of Agriculture programs. It’s called “638” authority and refers to Public Law 93-638, which gives tribes the power to manage certain federal […]

The post Native American agricultural leaders detail farm bill priorities at U.S. Senate hearing appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by the Kansas City Beacon.  In a vote watched closely in Kansas City, Missourians approved a statewide ballot measure in 2012 to return control of the St. Louis Police Department to the city itself. Just over a decade later, the Missouri legislature is debating multiple pieces of legislation to reverse […]

The post What state control could mean for the St. Louis Police Department appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans on Thursday continued to press accusations that a “woke agenda” is deteriorating parents’ rights in their local school districts. The first hearing this Congress of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government convened to examine whether a 2021 Department of Justice memo played a role in […]

The post DOJ memo on threats to local school boards lambasted by Republicans at U.S. House hearing appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A U.S. House panel grilled TikTok’s CEO for more than five hours Thursday over the social media giant’s ties to China, and indicated there may be bipartisan consensus for a national ban on the platform. Members of both parties showed an unusual level of agreement during tough questioning of TikTok CEO Shou Chew. Several members […]

The post Members of Congress blast TikTok CEO as bipartisan support for U.S. ban looks possible appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Republican lawmakers rejected an effort Thursday evening to spend $900 million to assist hundreds of Missourians with developmental disabilities who lack proper residential support, including dozens languishing in hospitals, jails and homeless shelters. State Rep. Deb Lavender, D-Manchester, asked the House Budget Committee for $910 million, all from federal tax dollars, to push base pay […]

The post Push to spend $900M to help Missourians with developmental disabilities voted down appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A bill that would stop physicians from providing gender-affirming care to transgender minors who have not already begun treatment passed Missouri’s Senate Thursday in a party-line vote. The legislation originally sought to ban all gender-affirming care, but after negotiations was amended to allow transgender youth to continue their treatment if they started before Aug. 28, […]

The post Missouri Senate advances bill banning transgender care for minors appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Congress’ Joint Economic Committee released a report Thursday detailing the economic repercussions of defaulting on the nation’s debt, adding fuel to the fire as Democrats pressed Republicans to address the nation’s borrowing limit without tying action to spending cuts. The report, from Democratic staff on the bipartisan Joint Economic Committee, says that a […]

The post Democratic report on U.S. debt default predicts disrupted benefits for seniors, veterans appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Members of a U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday previewed what they would push for in bipartisan rail safety legislation likely to progress through Congress in the aftermath of the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment. Democrats and Republicans on the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hinted they wanted to strengthen requirements about reporting hazardous cargo, […]

The post Priorities for rail safety bill debated in U.S. Senate hearing with Norfolk Southern CEO appeared first on Missouri Independent.

On one end of the Missouri Capitol, House Republicans seem poised to divvy up the money Gov. Mike Parson wants to use widening portions of Interstate 70 on a bunch of smaller projects. Across the rotunda in the Senate, Appropriations Chairman Lincoln Hough is looking for ways to pour more money into the project to […]

The post Missouri House Republicans scramble for slice of governor’s I-70 money for other projects appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A year after private equity-backed Noble Health shuttered two rural Missouri hospitals, patients and former employees grapple with a broken local health system or missing out on millions in unpaid wages and benefits. The hospitals in Audrain and Callaway counties remain closed as a slew of lawsuits and state and federal investigations grind forward. In […]

The post Legal questions, inquiries intensify around rural Missouri hospital closures appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Like a lot of Missourians, Shelley Swoyer of Jefferson City was surprised to see that the state had switched from its long-used method of selecting presidential primary candidates to a caucus system last June. “I’m just a voter. I encourage people to vote, I register people to vote. We live in a democracy that extols […]

The post Lawmakers consider bill switching Missouri back to a presidential primary appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The CEO of Moderna on Wednesday defended the company’s decision to drastically increase the price of its COVID-19 vaccine later this year, arguing that an expected drop in demand, changes to its distribution process and the overall benefit of the vaccine warrant the higher cost. That decision was met with bipartisan condemnation from […]

The post Moderna plan to hike COVID vaccine price to $130 a dose rebuked at U.S. Senate hearing appeared first on Missouri Independent.

On a Friday afternoon in late December, Geri Curtis received a disturbing phone call informing her she had only five days to find a new home for a developmentally disabled person. As part of her job as public administrator for Livingston County, she had become legal guardian of a person with severe developmental disabilities two […]

The post Missourians with developmental disabilities languish in hospitals, jails, shelters appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri’s marijuana businesses have extra obstacles when it comes to getting help from financial institutions.  With recreational marijuana now legal in Missouri but still illegal at the federal level, it creates more hoops to jump through for both banks and businesses to meet federal scrutiny. Missouri lawmakers have an opportunity to streamline that process by […]

The post Missouri banks ask lawmakers to approve sharing of marijuana business inspections appeared first on Missouri Independent.