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When people are checked into the Clay County Detention Center, they all have to pay an intake fee of $8. But for women on their periods, entering the jail used to cost them extra. Incarcerated women at the facility used to be charged about $6 for two packages of 12 pads. If they didn’t have […]

The post With new law and state funds, some Missouri jails lift fees for tampons and pads appeared first on Missouri Independent.

As we begin to resume some sense of normalcy in our lives during this holiday season, and as we gather with family and friends, it behooves us to think about and discuss a not so simple question: “Who are we?” Who are we becoming, as a nation, as a city, as a community or as […]

The post A time to think about who we are and who we are becoming | Opinion appeared first on Missouri Independent.

For years now we’ve been subjected to an endless stream of nonsense from those who deny the inescapable reality that our planet is overheating due to human-caused pollution in the atmosphere. It’s now apparent that the cascading effects of global baking — and the concurrent lack of action by our politicians and lawmakers — are […]

The post Climate change is killing our future | Opinion appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A thick blanket of fallen leaves completely covered the hikers’ feet on Turkey Ridge Trail in St. Louis County.  A leafless forest is great for spotting Missouri’s largest bird — the wild turkey — this time of year, said Ed Leutwiler, a longtime volunteer with Missouri Department of Conservation. But unfortunately, the loud crunching sounds […]

The post Conservationists work to keep Missouri’s wild turkey numbers up appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Four of the five members on Evergy’s finance committee, tasked with recommending management and investment decisions to the board of directors, were selected by activist hedge funds that critics worry are asserting undue influence over the electric utility. That involvement, consumer advocates say, could drive up rates for Evergy’s 1.6 million customers in Kansas and […]

The post Consumer advocates fear hedge funds’ influence could mean rate hikes at Evergy appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Marshall Klimasewiski and his nine-year-old daughter, Amna, were among hundreds of runners and walkers who lined up for the Race for Refugees in St. Louis on Saturday morning. The International Institute, the city’s refugee resettlement agency, has aided thousands of people fleeing their countries during its 100 years of service, Marshall said. And the agency […]

The post Missourians come together to welcome Afghan refugees appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri has so much money, coming so fast, from federal COVID-19 relief bills that it is in danger of losing almost $2 billion dedicated to schools. As Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven last week sought support for projects to improve teacher retention, members of the legislature’s Federal Stimulus Spending Subcommittee wanted to know how a key […]

The post Looming deadline leaves Missouri at risk of losing $2 billion in federal education funding appeared first on Missouri Independent.

If we were not still in the grip of a deadly pandemic, with the seven-day average U.S. death toll from the coronavirus hovering just over 1,100 a day, I probably would not have thought of giving thanks this year for the medical researchers who have given this country protection against many life-threatening illnesses. Back in […]

The post Giving thanks to America’s medical community for life-saving vaccines | Opinion appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Cole County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Green on Tuesday ruled that health orders designed to stop the spread of COVID-19 that were issued by local health departments violated the Missouri Constitution. At issue in the case were regulations issued by the Department of Health and Senior Services allowing directors of local health agencies to issue […]

The post Missouri judge strikes down local health officials’ power to impose COVID-19 orders appeared first on Missouri Independent.

One day earlier this month, a company called Phoenix Home Care cut $120,000 worth of checks to six different Missouri political action committees.  A few months earlier, a pair of companies suing the state to block a crackdown on unregulated slot machines combined to drop $350,000 into the same six PACs.  The companies and all […]

The post ‘Exploiting a loophole’: PACs tied to Missouri lobbyist draw new criticism  appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Alden Global Capital, a New York-based hedge fund that this year became the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States, has made an offer to purchase Lee Enterprises, the media company that owns 75 daily newspapers, including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Dennis Swibold, a professor of journalism at the University of Montana and author […]

The post Alden Global Capital moves to buy Lee Enterprises, owner of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Gov. Mike Parson wants to do big things with the budget surplus of billions of dollars and federal aid coming to Missouri, state lawmakers were told last week. During a hearing of the Federal Stimulus Spending Subcommittee, higher education leaders offered their wish-list for projects the state couldn’t afford in the past. Southeast Missouri State […]

The post Gov. Mike Parson wants ‘big ideas’ for using Missouri budget surplus appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by The Kansas City Beacon. Patients who arrive at an abortion clinic in Overland Park, Kansas, have often traveled long distances. Many began their journeys in Missouri, sometimes driving hours to their appointment. “We’ve heard these stories from Missourians and other people in our region for years,” said Emily Wales, […]

The post Nearly half of abortions in Kansas are for Missourians. A vote next year could change that appeared first on Missouri Independent.

TOPEKA, Kansas — Trauma still grips survivors and first-responders exposed to the nightmare collapse of concrete, steel and glass skywalks in the atrium of the Hyatt Regency Hotel during a popular Friday evening big-band dance contest in Kansas City. As many as 2,000 people were in the one-year-old hotel lobby for the weekly Tea Dance […]

The post Anguish of Hyatt Regency Hotel collapse reverberates 40 years after catastrophe appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft is confident Missouri’s 2020 election was safe and secure.  And while he has concerns about things that transpired in other states last year, he dismisses the idea that fraud cost Donald Trump the presidential election.  “Under our Constitution, Joe Biden was duly elected by our presidential electors. End of story,” […]

The post Jay Ashcroft touts integrity of Missouri’s 2020 election, but supports an audit appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The state has paid private attorneys more than $30,000 since 2019 to defend former Gov. Eric Greitens from an age discrimination lawsuit filed by a former employee of the Missouri Department of Revenue.  Mark Ausmus filed a lawsuit in 2018 alleging he was fired from a senior counsel position during the early months of Greitens’ […]

The post Missouri has paid $30K to defend Eric Greitens in age discrimination lawsuit appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri energy regulators want to know everything Spire has told its natural gas customers since this summer about the Spire STL Pipeline after finding the utility was overstating the risk to St. Louis residents’ service.  Spire Missouri’s communications with its customers, according to staff of the Missouri Public Service Commission, “appear to reflect an attempt […]

The post Spire’s messages on pipeline ‘overstate the likelihood of closure,’ per Missouri regulators appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri’s COVID-19 death toll increased by more than 20 percent Thursday afternoon, to more than 15,000 fatalities. The 2,771 deaths added to the report aren’t news to local health departments. They have been frustrated for months by the Department of Health and Senior Services’ unwillingness to recognize deaths where the patient’s diagnosis was confirmed by […]

The post Reporting change adds almost 2,800 COVID-19 deaths to Missouri total appeared first on Missouri Independent.

“Are there even Jews there?” The answer to that question, more than any other, was what my friends and family wanted to know when I committed to the University of Kansas. Were there any Jews where I was headed? Growing up in the New York metropolitan area, I was surrounded by a vibrant Jewish community. […]

The post Comparing COVID-19 mandates to Holocaust fuels antisemitism | Opinion appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A Missouri conservative group cannot go ahead with an event featuring Donald Trump Jr. despite a reversal from the nation’s largest bank saying it will broker tickets for the speech, organizers said Thursday. There is too little time left to make the Dec. 3 Defense of Liberty PAC event in St. Charles a success, said […]

The post Despite Chase Bank reversal, Donald Trump Jr. event in St. Charles remains canceled appeared first on Missouri Independent.