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Ballot measures seeking to fund local libraries had mixed results Tuesday, with Cole County voters striking down a 15-cent tax increase and Taney County residents narrowly approving an 18-cent levy to create a public library. The votes come at a precarious time for Missouri’s libraries, as they have increasingly been pulled into the political scrum […]

The post Push for tax hikes to fund public libraries face mixed results this year in Missouri appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Get ready, Big 12 sports fans, for Kansas State vs. Utah and the University of Kansas vs. Arizona. The new Big 12 is coming in next year. In the aftermath of the PAC-12 crumbling — and losing four of its teams to the Big 12 — you might wonder why the schools migrated toward our […]

The post Big 12 conference realignment driven by same brutal economics as youth sports appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — One of the “most significant laws ever signed to help veterans” has already assisted over 340,000 former service members and their survivors seeking care for illnesses and cancers now presumed to be connected to open burn pits and other toxins, President Joe Biden said in Utah on Thursday as he marked one year since the […]

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Consumers are getting some relief from higher prices as core inflation, which excludes food and energy, continues to show signs of cooling — an encouraging sign for the U.S. economy, according to economists. The Department of Labor’s report on Thursday showed the consumer price index rose 0.2% in July, in line with expectations, and 3.2% in the past […]

The post Consumers seeing relief in some food prices as inflation continues to slow appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Attorneys for the Biden administration argued Thursday that a district judge in Louisiana overstepped his authority by barring the federal government from communicating with social media companies to urge them to moderate information deemed harmful or misleading. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans heard arguments over whether […]

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WASHINGTON — The new Republican chairwoman of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee said just before taking over the panel that she planned to “tweak” how the chamber earmarks spending for community projects — coveted state and local funding that members of Congress request. Some of those changes hinted at by Kay Granger of Texas have infuriated Democrats, […]

The post Congress brought back earmarks. Now they’re one more point of drama in a divided House appeared first on Missouri Independent.

President Joe Biden on Wednesday said he’s interested in expanding a federal program to compensate people who have gotten sick because of the country’s nuclear weapons development and testing programs.  The Associated Press reported Biden told a crowd in New Mexico he was ”prepared to help in terms of making sure that those folks are […]

The post Biden supports expanding compensation to radiation victims in Missouri, New Mexico appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s recent veto of an an omnibus criminal justice bill with bipartisan support was a disappointing setback. In the governor’s statement, he provided his reasoning behind the veto, citing proposed changes to the state’s petition-based expungement system that he believed would have an unintended and/or unclear impact on determining who qualifies to […]

The post Governor’s veto shows we can’t settle for piecemeal changes to Missouri expungement process appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Former President Donald Trump is a defendant in three criminal proceedings. Two cases are federal, brought after investigations by Special Counsel Jack Smith. The other case is in New York state court and is being prosecuted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. A fourth indictment, on state charges in Georgia related to Trump’s efforts to […]

The post The Trump indictments: A seven-year timeline of key developments appeared first on Missouri Independent.

During the 2023 legislative session, Missouri lawmakers looked to follow the lead of other Republican-led states by curbing environmentally minded investing practices, which they disparaged as “woke.” The attempt to ban state involvement with banks that prioritize climate action or other socially driven investments fell by the wayside. That failure came as a relief to […]

The post Missouri’s secretary of state reins in environmentally minded investing appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is spending more than $3 billion to cultivate more American farmers and forest landowners as partners to mitigate climate change — even while some Republicans on Capitol Hill try to stop the program entirely. The administration launched a new farm program, Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities, this year. It is the […]

The post USDA’s climate grants for farms and forests run into Republican buzzsaw appeared first on Missouri Independent.

MENDON – An old right-of-way under the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad could become the new road for traffic diverted from a dangerous crossing where an Amtrak train derailed after colliding with a truck in June 2022, killing four and injuring almost 150. The double-tracked BNSF line crosses an old railroad corridor, first graded in […]

The post Bypass under rail line would replace crossing site of deadly Missouri Amtrak crash appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Thousands of college students will get hundreds of dollars in compensation as colleges and universities move this summer to settle multimillion-dollar lawsuits stemming from canceled classes and activities during COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns. While some of the class-action suits against the colleges and universities are still in litigation, and still others dismissed, several major cases have […]

The post Students blocked from campus when COVID hit want money back. Some are getting refunds appeared first on Missouri Independent.

ST. LOUIS — Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in a visit to Missouri on Tuesday would not commit to supporting bipartisan legislation meant to compensate people who have been exposed to radioactive material from U.S. weapons development and production. “I can’t speak for the administration on that particular piece because I just don’t know the answer,” […]

The post Energy secretary stops short of endorsing atomic waste victims fund in Missouri visit appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Lawmakers in some states have been laying the groundwork to add geothermal power to the electrical grid and pump underground heat into buildings. Now, a technological breakthrough could dramatically expand those ambitions — and perhaps unleash a new wave of policies to tap into geothermal sources. Last month, a company announced the successful demonstration in the West of […]

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When she enrolled her fourth grader at a St. Louis public school last fall, Krystal Barnett knew she was doing something that has become increasingly rare. Abandoned by thousands of families and dogged by a well-earned reputation for poor performance, the local school system shrank over the past few decades to a fraction of its […]

The post St. Louis schools face one of the steepest post-pandemic climbs anywhere appeared first on Missouri Independent.

When University of Missouri student Puna Neumeier finishes a day of classes, she can’t think about homework. Her pressing worries are getting food, paying rent and taking care of her mother, who is disabled. “As a caretaker and daughter, I have to be in charge of getting the food, cooking the food, serving the food, […]

The post Loss of benefits brings Missouri college food insecurity to the forefront appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — As a former bartender and current tipped worker, Trupti Patel knows that customers tend to get grabby when there is alcohol involved. After working in the food service industry for more than a decade, she is accustomed to dealing with drunk customers who get out of hand, especially if they become belligerent or […]

The post States seek to let teens as young as 14 serve booze in restaurants appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A pair of Republican legislators, along with an anti-abortion activist, filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the cost estimate of an initiative petition seeking to enshrine abortion rights in the Missouri constitution.  State Rep. Hannah Kelly, R-Mountain Grove, and state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, R-Arnold, are named plaintiffs in litigation along with Kathy Forck, a longtime […]

The post GOP legislators file lawsuit challenging cost estimate of Missouri abortion-rights amendment appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The year started out strong for advocates trying to make it easier for people with felony convictions to regain their voting rights. In March, the Democratic-led legislatures in Minnesota and New Mexico enacted measures that cleared a pathway for residents serving prison time for felonies to regain their right to vote upon being released. It […]

The post In reversal, some states make it harder for people with felony convictions to vote appeared first on Missouri Independent.