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WASHINGTON — The U.S. House overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan bill Wednesday to expand health care and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits overseas, sending the package back to the U.S. Senate after making a minor change. Senators, who broadly support the landmark package led by Montana Sen. Jon Tester and Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran, […]

The post U.S. House passes bill expanding health care, benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits appeared first on Missouri Independent.

For 12 days, Trudy Busch Valentine never left her sister’s side as nurses and doctors did everything they could to save her.  Valentine was 17 when her 8-year-old sister was in a car accident and suffered a severe spinal cord injury. “That’s where I saw the nurses with the compassion and the competence and the […]

The post Trudy Busch Valentine was inspired to enter Missouri U.S. Senate race after family tragedies appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The name “Homer G. Phillips Hospital” is still spoken with reverence, not only in St. Louis’ Black community, but across the country.  Opened in 1937, it was the only public hospital for Black St. Louisans until 1955.  It was also a training facility, where Black doctors and nurses from around the world came to complete […]

The post Former nurses at historic St. Louis hospital file trademark lawsuit against developer appeared first on Missouri Independent.

His name tag said he was a candidate for U.S. Senate, but you wouldn’t have guessed Spencer Toder was running for anything. As he made his way through the Black Wall Street 314 Festival in Wellston Loop in St. Louis last month, Toder spent nearly all his time asking questions instead of asking for votes. […]

The post ‘Doing well by doing good:’ Spencer Toder aims for impact in Missouri U.S. Senate race appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The U.S. House panel investigating Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results described Tuesday how the president explicitly called on his supporters to come to Washington on Jan. 6, 2021 for a “wild” protest — resulting in an insurrection. Trump exerted extraordinary influence over the mob, who marched to the Capitol on […]

The post Trump tweet invited ‘wild’ mob to block transfer of power on Jan. 6, House panel says appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday began wading through the dozens of state laws that have taken effect in the two weeks since the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to an abortion, and heard from witnesses who said the effect on Black patients will be especially harsh. “People of color, specifically […]

The post Members of U.S. Senate panel fight over effects of abortion ruling on Black patients appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Back in September I asked: If each U.S. Senate primary candidate held a Texas Hold ‘Em starting hand, what would they be, and why? As a refresher, in Texas Hold ‘Em, two cards are dealt face down to each player, while five “community cards” are dealt face up in three stages — a group of […]

The post Missouri’s GOP Senate primary as a hand of Texas Hold ‘Em, part three: The turn appeared first on Missouri Independent.

To hear Eric Greitens tell it, his political ascent was sabotaged by a vast conspiracy. The woman who accused him under oath of violent sexual misconduct is part of it. So is his ex-wife, who filed an affidavit this year alleging he physically abused her and his children.  The more than 100 Republican state lawmakers […]

The post Eric Greitens’ hopes for a U.S. Senate seat hinge on how Missouri voters see his past appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri will get five times the clean energy previously promised by the developers of the Grain Belt Express transmission line, executives announced Monday.  Grain Belt Express is a 800-mile high-voltage transmission line meant to carry renewable energy from wind-swept western Kansas across Missouri and Illinois to the Indiana border.  Its developer, Chicago-based Invenergy, previously planned […]

The post Grain Belt Express announces expansion that means more clean energy for Missouri appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by The Kansas City Beacon.  Askew Elementary School has been vacant for more than a decade. The inside shows signs of the nearly 100-year-old building’s age and long disuse. Walls are peeling, debris litters the floor and some classroom ceiling panels have fallen. To enter the former school for a July […]

The post Schools for sale: What happens to Kansas City Public Schools buildings after they close appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri’s top Democratic leaders on Monday urged Gov. Mike Parson to call lawmakers into a special session to pass legislation to protect access to contraceptives and treatment of ectopic pregnancies in the wake of Missouri’s ban on nearly all abortions. In a letter sent to Parson, Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo of Independence and House […]

The post Missouri Democrats call for special session on contraception, ectopic pregnancies appeared first on Missouri Independent.

April Shabbaz lives in a Kansas City apartment with her brother, son, daughter and 20-year-old grandson.  All of the adults have low-wage jobs. This past fall, one of them abruptly lost their job, and the household fell behind on rent.  “Once you get behind on something, it is extremely hard to catch up because… you […]

The post Kansas City’s eviction legal service helps nearly 150 residents in first month appeared first on Missouri Independent.

My wife’s stepdad, Mike, was notoriously slow to soften. This was especially true if you were me, the bouncy, naive kid dating his stepdaughter. One particular interaction between us lives in family lore. I came to visit Kansas City as a mop-haired photojournalism freshman at the University of Missouri. However, a baby shower swamped the […]

The post Midwest college grudge matches vanish during conference realignment appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Former President Donald Trump tiptoed towards an endorsement in Missouri’s competitive GOP primary for U.S. Senate on Friday, ruling out U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler while praising former Gov. Eric Greitens. Early Friday evening, Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social that he did not believe Hartzler “has what it takes” to earn his […]

The post Trump says he won’t endorse Vicky Hartzler, calls Eric Greitens ‘smart’ and ‘tough’ appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s lawsuit blaming China for COVID-19 was dismissed Friday when a federal judge ruled his court has no jurisdiction over foreign governments. U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh, in a 38-page ruling, wrote that a federal law setting rules for when a sovereign foreign entity could be sued in U.S. courts doesn’t allow […]

The post Federal judge dismisses Missouri AG Eric Schmitt lawsuit blaming China for COVID-19 appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden, who has repeatedly been criticized as slow to respond to a widely expected U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended the nationwide right to an abortion, signed an executive order Friday that could preserve some access to abortion in states where the procedure remains legal. Biden in a White House speech […]

The post Biden unveils executive order on abortion access, cites case of 10-year-old Ohio rape survivor appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Eighteen months into the Biden administration, immigration reform has stalled despite campaign promises to reform the system, with the most recent movement on immigration policy doled out by the U.S. Supreme Court and in lower federal courts. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Biden administration in a 5-4 decision on June 30 that […]

The post Courts take the lead role as U.S. immigration policy remains in limbo appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by Kaiser Health News.  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is responding to the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic by proposing to hide from the public a rating that lets consumers compare hospitals’ safety records and to waive approximately $350 million in financial penalties for roughly 750 hospitals with the worst patient-safety […]

The post Feds want a policy advocates say would let hospitals off the hook for COVID-era lapses appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Nearly six years to the day after beloved St. Paul, Minn., school cafeteria worker Philando Castile was fatally shot by a police officer during an otherwise routine traffic stop, Jayland Walker died in a hail of bullets fired by police officers in Akron, Ohio. While the full picture of that shooting is still emerging as […]

The post More justice, more safety appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In late March, a poll from Trafalgar Group showed the Republican Senate primary in a dead heat. U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, with 24.9%, held a slight edge over former Gov. Eric Greitens, with Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt just behind but all within the 3% margin of error. Three months later, after nearly $10 million […]

The post TV ad spending approaches $10 million in Missouri U.S. Senate primary appeared first on Missouri Independent.