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As heat waves sweep across the Midwest, incarcerated people in Missouri are increasingly afraid of the rising temperatures inside prisons. They live in concrete buildings that retain heat. People share close quarters, making cooling all the more difficult. As Earth’s temperatures reach their hottest recorded numbers this summer, people incarcerated in Missouri’s prisons describe conditions […]

The post ‘We’ve got hell coming’: Missourians in state prisons fear consequences of summertime heat appeared first on Missouri Independent.

AUSTIN, Texas — A lawsuit in Texas asserting that the state’s abortion ban imperils women by dissuading doctors from ending dangerous pregnancies could provide a template for similar challenges across the country. Texas is one of 14 states, including Missouri, that banned abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. The Texas […]

The post Lawsuit over Texas abortion ban could be a model in other states appeared first on Missouri Independent.

THE OLD PLANTATION — Here in Florida, we’re teaching our young ’uns the God’s own truth about history. Not what a bunch of book-reading, degree-holding, data-citing, socialist, so-called professors say. The Indians were glad to go live on reservations. The change of scenery inspired them to make a good living crafting souvenir jewelry and decorative […]

The post On slavery: Gov. DeSantis and his crack education team are all about facts appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress and Republicans competing against Donald Trump in the presidential primary quickly reacted Tuesday to the latest indictment against the former president, falling largely along party lines. This one, by a federal grand jury, stems from Trump’s alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 election after Election Day and leading up to […]

The post Congress, GOP presidential candidates split along party lines over Trump indictment appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Republican efforts to change the rules for initiatives and administrative delays that force petitioners to go to court spurred former Gov. Jay Nixon to return to political action, he said Tuesday. During an online town hall for the No Labels organization, Nixon referred repeatedly to legislation that would make it more difficult to gather signatures […]

The post ‘Off the bench’: Jay Nixon says No Labels post is reaction to initiative limits appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., indicted Donald Trump on Tuesday, alleging that Trump and co-conspirators attempted to subvert the 2020 election to keep the former president in power through a series of illegal actions that culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The former president faces four […]

The post ‘Fueled by lies,’ Trump charged with seeking to overturn 2020 election appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The ACLU of Missouri is suing the Platte County School District for banning transgender students from using restrooms and locker rooms corresponding to their gender identity. The lawsuit, filed Monday in Platte County Circuit Court, says the district’s policy discriminates on the basis of sex, transgender status and disability — violating the Missouri Human Rights […]

The post ACLU sues Missouri school district for transgender bathroom policy appeared first on Missouri Independent.

One of Missouri’s top Democratic officials asked the governor on Monday to call a special legislative session in response to news reports of the “unacceptable mismanagement” of radioactive waste in the St. Louis area.  “The problems related with this waste have festered for nearly 80 years,” House Minority Leader Crystal Quade said in a letter […]

The post Missouri Democrat calls for special session on St. Louis nuclear waste, Parson says no appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A southwest Missouri river already contaminated with E. coli could soon receive up to 350,000 gallons of wastewater daily from a meatpacking facility.  And while the facility is expected to treat the wastewater for contamination before releasing it, critics of the proposal are worried about the operators’ history of violations at the site.  “It would […]

The post Missouri may allow meatpacker to release wastewater into already-impaired river appeared first on Missouri Independent.

As we mark the anniversary of the historic passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965, we celebrate that Medicare provides health coverage, including routine preventive care, hospitalization and prescription medicines, to over 65 million seniors and people with disabilities. I’m one of those seniors, and I work with many more of them in the fight […]

The post Drug corporations sue to protect price-gouging power as Medicare turns 58 appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit alleging an Iowa newspaper publisher violated customers’ privacy rights through information sharing with Facebook. The Iowa-based newspaper chain Lee Enterprises, owner of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, is facing a potential class-action lawsuit alleging it has shared readers’ personal information, including the videos they watch on Lee […]

The post Privacy lawsuit against Post-Dispatch owner will proceed, judge rules appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A national campaign to field a third-party presidential candidate in 2024 enlisted former Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon as director of its effort to make the ballot in all 50 states next year. Nixon, a Democrat who was governor from 2009 to 2017 following 16 years as state attorney general, has generally stayed out of politics […]

The post Former Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon enlists in effort to build new political force appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Iowa Republicans emphasized they were open to hearing from all 13 presidential candidates Friday at the state party’s Lincoln Dinner, but many in the audience were ready to send former President Donald Trump back for a rematch. “In Iowa, we are a neutral, objective state,” Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said. “We’re going […]

The post Iowa Republicans cheer Trump as most opponents tread carefully appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Since 2003, Missouri has set aside a weekend at the beginning of August when families won’t pay state tax on new clothes and school supplies as they prepare for the start of the school year. For just as long, every city, county and special district that imposes its own sales tax has had the authority […]

The post Missouri’s Back to School tax holiday pauses all local taxes for the first time appeared first on Missouri Independent.

As fertility rates drop and more women postpone childbirth into their 30s and 40s, more states are considering mandating that private insurers cover fertility treatments to help people start a family without the crushing out-of-pocket expenses. Such laws would help people such as Miraya and Andy Gran of Bloomington, Minnesota, who ended up spending $102,000 to have their […]

The post Fertility health coverage is still hard to come by in many states appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Who will benefit from the Supreme Court’s recent ruling striking down race as a factor in college admissions? Mostly, just wealthy white people. That’s because the ruling refused to touch so-called “legacy admissions.” Colleges are free to continue giving preferential treatment to the children of alumni, donors, and other well-connected, privileged people. Former president George W. Bush is a […]

The post The U.S. should end legacy college admissions appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The trial in a closely watched case that could settle whether video games offering cash prizes are legal in Missouri has been postponed. On Friday, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green moved the trial, which had been scheduled to start Tuesday and last up to four days, to Oct. 3, after complaints from attorneys for […]

The post Trial postponed in Torch gambling case against Missouri highway patrol appeared first on Missouri Independent.

If state regulators decide they need to investigate a licensed marijuana facility, they typically ask for certain records.  But an easy place for businesses to “hide” records is with their security companies or other contractors, said Amy Moore, director of the state’s cannabis regulation under the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Those “third-party […]

The post Missouri regulators can now subpoena records from marijuana facilities appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday finalized long-awaited new rules intended to reform how power generation projects get connected to the electric grid, seen as a major step in smoothing the path for thousands of mostly renewable power projects currently waiting to plug in. “This rule will ensure that our country’s vast generation resources […]

The post Federal regulators approve new rules to ease power connection backlogs  appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In the predawn hours of July 29, 1993, I sat with Earl Buck outside his New Franklin mobile home as the Missouri River rose two inches an hour on a sandbag levee he built with help from neighbors and volunteers. After three days of stacking, there were no more bags. In the darkness, when water […]

The post Great Flood of 1993 remains a vivid memory for those who experienced the long-running disaster appeared first on Missouri Independent.